Advice on workshop flooring

[ScottM]

I may (big may) have the opprortunity to build a worksop next year. Size wise it would be 20 x 30. My immediate question is what type of floor (concrete slab vs wood floor built on piers). Lemme know what you folks think and why. Yes cost is a factor.

 

[FredP]

If the shop will not house the family car then a wood floor would be great. It's much easier on the back, legs and feet. cost is about the same if you put down a finished floor over the subfloor. If you go concrete figure in a good pair of shop shoes.:gar-La;

 

[froglips]

I'd second a wood floor. Or, cement slab with a wood flooring system built on top of it.

Just so many times its nice to run things under the floor. Be it dust, power, water or hamster......

Wood is also more forgiving should you ever drop a tool......

I also believe you increase the humidity with a slab floor.

Jim

 

[McRabbet]

Scott -- since you have an opportunity to built a shop building from scratch, I would definitely go with a wood floor and I'd raise it enough so I could put some of your electrical and duct runs under the floor ala Alan in Little Washington. My shop is set up with all of my duct runs under the floor and I have strategically placed 220V outlets for my tablesaw, shaper and Woodmaster drum sander in the floor, too. With your past experience, you should know where the key tools in your shop will be laid out and setting up trap doors for access should be no problem. I would also insulate the floor considering you will be building in the Lake Gaston area where it gets plenty hot in the summer time. As others have said, wooden floors are easier on your back.

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

Yup, no question about it- wood floor. As Rob said, it is great for running electrical, shop air, dust collect, etc. where ever you want. My shop is above my garage so I have unlimited space for that stuff, but just a crawl space will do. As far as flooring, though I would like hardwood and may upgrade someday if my boat ever comes in, the "Advantech" subfloor that I painted with porch and deck enamel has been fine. It is sturdy, rigid, and durable- much tougher than OSB or ply.

 

[scsmith42]

Scott -- since you have an opportunity to built a shop building from scratch, I would definitely go with a wood floor and I'd raise it enough so I could put some of your electrical and duct runs under the floor ala Alan in Little Washington. My shop is set up with all of my duct runs under the floor and I have strategically placed 220V outlets for my tablesaw, shaper and Woodmaster drum sander in the floor, too. With your past experience, you should know where the key tools in your shop will be laid out and setting up trap doors for access should be no problem. I would also insulate the floor considering you will be building in the Lake Gaston area where it gets plenty hot in the summer time. As others have said, wooden floors are easier on your back.

+1. I went the concrete route, but in my instance I need the strenghth for the weight of the equipment as well as the forklifts, etc that I operate inside.

However, the thing that I don't like about it is running the infrastructure, especially the dust collection.

Scott - in a perfect world you would build the shop on a slope, with the entrance to the shop on the "upslope" side, ie a flat drive-in, and a 24" or taller crawlspace opening up on the backside of the hill.

 

[Ken Massingale]

Wood. Our old smaller shop had a wood floor and the new one has concrete. I prefer wood after using the concrete. But, wood was extra with the builders I had quotes from, however when the quotes were done building materials were higher than now.
Oh Scott, consider making the shop 24 by 36 or so. I think you'll find the additional footage won't add that much more to the cost. Also try to add a 12/14' wide leanto on at least one long side. That has been one of the better decisions I made. On ours a 12 wide 36 long leanto with slab added $2500, well worth it IMHO.

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

On size, I agree with Ken M.

My shop started out 38' x 25'. I gave up a little at one end for a sink, commode room, and tiny office, so shop space is actually only about 35' long- that is fine.

The width, however, is restricted to a little over 20' because of a kneewall and sloped roof. The space behind the knee wall is not wasted, I use it for storage, but I sure wish it was 5' more of floor space for machines/aisles.

You will find your tools, benches, machines, etc. expand to fill the available space, but I think I would have been much happier if my shop was 5' wider.

 

[Skymaster]

If n ya got a choice go wood for all the above reasons;
Maaaaaaaaaannnnnnnn Youze guys iz killin me :}:} Here in NJ i have been struggling in an oversize single car garage for years, NOW I am having my house bilt in Zebulon with a Finished, insulated,airconditioned pre wired for my tools, 3 car garage and I thought It was a great thing LOL LOL to listen to you guys I will put wife in garage and keep the 2300 sq ft house for the tools :rotflm::gar-La;:rotflm:

 

[Glennbear]

When I erected my 24x24 shop a few years ago because of the building site topography and the fact that it doubles as a garage I was limited to a concrete slab. As has been said, a slab floor is not foot friendly but I have worked around that with cushioned mats. The advantages of a slab floor is 0% maintenance and the slab acts as a kind of energy flywheel making it easier to heat and cool. When my slab was poured the concrete contractor put poly and rock dust down first and I have had no dampness issues. :wsmile:

 

[Outa Square]

I found that taking labor out of the equation that a slab versus wood was a wash. Of Course, i over built the floor system but that is what i wanted, and everything from the subfloor down is pressure treated. I was limited to 400 square foot because i was reluctant to do a permanent foundation and the code allows certain structures to be on a temporary foundation. The reason for the reluctance was that i am planning on replacing the garage at some point and i did not won't the shop to stop me from doing what i want, and at 16 x 24' shouldn't be too hard to move. As far as size, as everyone always build it as big as possible and plan for expansion. Don't just think square footage thing cubic footage, i did a rafter and ridgebeam so i could have cathedral ceilings. With the collar ties in place i'll have 13'~ of clear space and because of the 7:12 pitch i have about 10' with in 3' feet of the walls.

I hope this helps. I know this kind of feedback helped me when i was designing my shop, now if i can finish but it has'nt been a year yet/:rotflm:

 

[JimmyC]

For comfort and convenience I'd go with a wood floorbecause we aren't getting any younger.

BUT, I'd still go for a concrete floor, under which I'd run a hot water radiant heating system, which is fairly inexpensive to run and more comfortable than any other system. For the diccomfort that you'd lose with the hardness of the floor would come back in the comfort you get when it gets cold. My bones ache in the cold weather as bad as my back hurts the rest of the year from a hard floor.

Good luck, and I'm shocked that Cary would allow you to build an exterior structure more than 100 sq/ft. :gar-La;.

 

[Charlie]

Scott, I built my shop to be used specifically as a woodshop. The floor is pickup bed level for loading/unloading. All electrical supply to the equipment is up through the floor. All dust collection, including the blowers are located underneath the shop. It really makes a great setup. You can find photos on my gallery. I live just south of Lake Wheeler if you would like to visit and take a look for ideas. I know you are in the planning/thinking stage and you may get some ideas on tool layout, etc. Shoot me a PM if you wish to come and take a look. The invitation is open to anyone and everyone that may be interested.
Charlie

 

[CrealBilly]

Scott my 2 cents so take it for worth (about 2 cents). The floor in mine shop is 1 1/4" T&G AC subfloor plywood over 2x12 12" center joists. I envisioned one day topping it off with 1" thick random width T&G WO but probably will never get around to it. Cement is hard on the foot, wood is softer even if it's just subfloor. I've sticked some mighty big sliced up logs in there and have not had any problems yet, thank God. I still have a slabbed up 28" diameter RO butt that's 12' long on sticks on the north side. It's been there a good 5 years and no floor sag that I can tell. One of these days I'll get around to making something out of it.

 

[SteveHall]

Scott, do you have the grade to make the space under a wood joist floor system usable? If I had headroom to make the space beneath the floor for a combination of storage and access for dust collection piping and electrical, I might consider it. But it means considerably more cost, foundation wall nearly a story high is expensive. You'd need a site with some grade change to ensure both the shop and storage levels have grade level access, too. Otherwise you might have to consider Alan's winch system.

It's much cheaper and nearly as serviceable to put down a concrete slab with sleepers and flooring over it. If you use 2x6/8 joists resting on the slab, bridging would be a minimal obstruction and portions of the flooring could be made reasonably easy to remove for access to the piping and electrical. Put a good vapor barrier directly over the slab before placing sleepers to get good humidity control. This solution would have nearly the load capability of concrete, with the cushion of wood and the possibility of having piping and electrical in the floor... at a lower cost than a foundation/crawlspace.

 

[buildingplans]

I highly recommend AdvanTech engineered subflooring. If you go to their website there are a lot of videos, photos and charts showing the advantages over the competition.

 

[walnutjerry]

On size, I agree with Ken M.

My shop started out 38' x 25'. I gave up a little at one end for a sink, commode room, and tiny office, so shop space is actually only about 35' long- that is fine.

The width, however, is restricted to a little over 20' because of a kneewall and sloped roof. The space behind the knee wall is not wasted, I use it for storage, but I sure wish it was 5' more of floor space for machines/aisles.

You will find your tools, benches, machines, etc. expand to fill the available space, but I think I would have been much happier if my shop was 5' wider.

:gar-La; My shop is 32 x 50, and sometimes I still cant lay a sheet of plywood down on the floor!!!

I have a habit of holding on to too much "stuff". If I would just get rid of all the "junk" I would have plenty of room. The point is----------no matter how big you make it, you will fill it up.

Jerry

 

[Mike K]

Wood, Wood ,and Wood. My shop is 24x30 and it started out as a concrete slab. Very hard on the back and very chilly in the winter time. Went to a wood floor and all is very nice. I was able to get flooring from the guy that did my house that was left over from random jobs. Flooring guys can't give this stuff away. It was a little tough to work with but it came out real nice. A wood floor is the way to go..Mk

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

I recently saw a shop floor done in the lowest grade of oak. They either filled or ignored knots, didn't worry about missing tongues, or other flaws. They sanded it, then applied an oil which resulted in a slightly darkened, flat finish- It is absolutely gorgeous!!! I'm going to keep my eye on Lumber Liquidators and Craigslist. LL used to sell the bad stuff for $.29 a sq. ft.

 

[riderkb]

I had an all-concrete floor in my old shop and went with 1/2 and 1/2 for my new shop. The half of the shop in front of the garage door is concrete with nonskid paint. The other half is T&G subfloor on treated 2x4 sleepers.

Part of the decision to do the wood floor was comfort, but the concrete was not even close to flat or smooth, so I was able to shim the subfloor to make it pretty close to flat. I also used the space under the subfloor to run some power into the middle of the space, which is nice. Some people use outlets that are flush with the floor, but I was worried that sawdust would get into them, so I mounted the outlets in a hollow wooden box that is about 12" tall. I also rigged up an outlet right on top of a workbench, which is very handy.