shop floor thoughts

[Ryf]

I am getting a workshop, wife approved (she wants to be able to use the garage again), location (due to cost) requires elevated floor. I will have a concrete pad in front of it to weld on (I am a hobbyist, so not going to cost me money when it rains), but would like to put maybe tile or some sort of reasonably safe flooring for welding/grinding small projects and general upkeep. I am looking for ideas, but inexpensive basic tile is looking good. I wont work on any cars in it. shop size will be 26x20, 10 ft walls so I can have tall shelf storage.

point of post. when concrete isn't an option, what kind of reasonable cost tile or other flooring is best?

[forhire]

I have a basement under part of my shop... the floor over that section is concrete over joist. I think the concrete is about 2 or 3 inches thick. The building was built in the 30's and has held up very well. I just need to remember not to get the forklift over that section or it will be in the basement.

They have new concretes designed specially for floor topping. The can go down as thin as 1/4" and hold up well.

[wb4rt]

It's hard to beat plain concrete on a shop floor. Almost any ceramic tile will crack when you drop something heavy and the grout lines are just a lot more effort to sweep. Vinyl tile is a possibility, but will burn and stain with much use. You could patch and paint the concrete if necessary, but use the epoxy garage paint. It will not burn or wear as much as standard floor paint.

[gwiley]

I use bare concrete for a shop floor and really like it. I had the concrete guys put a good polish on it so it is very smooth - easy to roll stuff on and easy to sweep. I hate the idea of having to maintain epoxy or paint - especially since I end up welding on the floor from time to time.

[Ryf]

Originally Posted by forhire

I have a basement under part of my shop... the floor over that section is concrete over joist. I think the concrete is about 2 or 3 inches thick. The building was built in the 30's and has held up very well. I just need to remember not to get the forklift over that section or it will be in the basement.

They have new concretes designed specially for floor topping. The can go down as thin as 1/4" and hold up well.

this is a good idea, they make all kinds of self leveling type mixes now, could definitely be done this way, most of the durability of concrete floor without the problems I face with a concrete pad/foundation.

[Charleyhorse]

Originally Posted by Ryf

I am getting a workshop, wife approved (she wants to be able to use the garage again), location (due to cost) requires elevated floor. I will have a concrete pad in front of it to weld on (I am a hobbyist, so not going to cost me money when it rains), but would like to put maybe tile or some sort of reasonably safe flooring for welding/grinding small projects and general upkeep. I am looking for ideas, but inexpensive basic tile is looking good. I wont work on any cars in it. shop size will be 26x20, 10 ft walls so I can have tall shelf storage.

point of post. when concrete isn't an option, what kind of reasonable cost tile or other flooring is best?

I don't think tile is a good idea. Any shop floor supported by wooden floor joists will be flexing and moving a bit. Tile is expensive to buy and install, and can break if you drop heavy objects on it. I would suggest using just thick tile backer board, the stuff is fireproof, flexible, easy to screw down, and durable. It will stain badly so you could paint it with epoxy garage floor paint and add some fine sand to the mixture to make it non slippery.

[Ryf]

Charley, do you mean Cement board?

[Charleyhorse]

Originally Posted by Ryf

Charley, do you mean Cement board?

Yes. It would be lighter and easier to install than pouring a layer of concrete over an existing floor. Ordinarily, it's used screwed and glued down for tile installations, but just for a floor covering it's not necessary. Cement board is flexible and won't crack like a layer of poured concrete. Also, if it's just screwed down, it can be quickly removed again if necessary. The stuff has fiberglass in it to make it flexible and non cracking. With cement board, if the floor is out of level, it won't matter, but if you are pouring a wet mix on a floor, leveling becomes an issue. The self leveling floor mix products that are available work well, but that stuff is quite expensive and is more labor intensive to use. Where it gets thin, it is more prone to cracking. Self leveling mixes are primarily used in tile installations.

[Bruce]

Concrete, paddled very smooth, don't paint, or you'll be painting it the rest of your life!
BTW, I wouldn't do the tile either, ceramic or vinyl.

[X hunter]

What about Terrazo, like you would see in jails and older schools.

[Jack Olsen]

I think there are a lot of misconceptions about tile -- based mostly on what people have installed in their bathrooms. Porcelain tile is the strongest. But even lowly ceramic tile is -- in many ways -- significantly stronger than the concrete it sits on.

As with concrete, tile is stronger in compression than tension; so any voids underneath it will make it vulnerable to cracking under weight. In a bathroom installation, this isn't a big deal, so the contractor will just dab enough thinset to make things stick. In a shop installation, you butter both the tile and the floor surface.

When I had to remove some of my tiles for my lift install, I set a video camera on the floor and took a 4-lb sledge to the old tiles. You can see the camera jumping from the impacts to the floor. But the tile doesn't crack.

You Tube

You Tube

I've had tile in my garage for four years, now. I bought the cheapest stuff Home Depot carried. It was .59/sf. It's held up great -- even rolling a 500-lb engine over it perched on a floor jack or sliding 800-lb cabinets over it. I've jacked cars up on it and dropped a lot of tools and other stuff. If it does crack, it's easy to replace a tile. I don't agree with gwiley. It is MUCH easier to sweep than bare concrete, since bare concrete never looses its abrasive surface or stops producing concrete dust (unless it's treated or polished). The tile surface is smoother than concrete and non-porous. You can clean dried spraypaint off off it with a razor blade or a 3M pad.

I've had bare concrete before -- I prefer the tile.

However, it is susceptible to burns from welding or grinding. (I've got a lot of tiny pinhole-type burn marks.) And it does need to be installed on a non-flexing surface.

[brucer]

How about VCT (vinyl composition tile) on the rear part of the shop and leave the front part of the shop bare and seal it?

[fortyonethirty]

Concrete. Back when I was a carpenter, we did several raised floor garages with concrete over wood framing. You might be surprised how affordable it is. The floor sheathing can be much lighter and cheaper with 3 1/2" of concrete over the top. Also, concrete is pretty easy and could be done DIY to save more money.

[Bruce]

Hey Jack,
I remember when you did some of your garage, VERY nice, I'm eating my words already.

[LIGoomba]

I would either go epoxy,which is what I did or have the concrete sealed.I have seen that done.Its easy to clean up.My epoxy floor has held up great considering the abuse I put it through.Its 12 years old and no peeling lifting etc....Go on Garagejournal Board.com, some great ideas.

[Ryf]

I like the demo Jack, jeez your garage could be my kitchen! I am jealous lol.

I like the cement board as an idea, will have to trial it on my garage floor or something,

I am still thinking about the cement over board as well, I would love any of these ideas probably, alot of decisions lol.

[dubl_t]

Originally Posted by Ryf

..... location (due to cost) requires elevated floor......point of post. when concrete isn't an option, what kind of reasonable cost tile or other flooring is best?

Ryf,
I don't understand why concrete wouldn't be an option, when, it's one of the cheapest building materials there is. Of course depending on locality. If you put a 3" topping slab over a plywood deck, the mud would come up to just under 5yds. At $100/yd, you're looking at about $1.04 for concrete, add a little more for reinforcing wire, and beauty of it is, you're done. No more maintenence to speak of.
Now, put a 5" slab over metal deck, and you've got a floor you could drive on; which would be ALOT more useful to you and the next owner.

[Ryf]

sorry about the slow response, I have 4 problems with a whole concrete foundation slab right now, 1, cant find a reliable concrete guy, so the risk of having to do it twice isn't pretty. 2. I live on a hill so it requires a more substantial foundation/slab than just poor and go. 3. the distance from the road combined with hill is apparently enough that it will be a costly venture in man hours to get it done. I can build a floor frame myself which means zero man hours money wise. 4. i live on a hill, this hill is part of a much bigger foot hill, when it rains we get immense amount of water traveling down off the hill, the building will be at the edge of the property at the lowest point the cost of redirecting that water without dumping it in the neighbors yard is prohibitive, and it would have to be redirected to keep it from going inside.

if you go metal floor with slab on top, is it held up by steel or wood or?? 5" of concrete is pretty dang heavy, just not sure how thats supported

[forhire]

Originally Posted by Ryf

if you go metal floor with slab on top, is it held up by steel or wood or?? 5" of concrete is pretty dang heavy, just not sure how thats supported

You can do some neat stuff with reinforced concrete. A 5" slab is enough to be self supporting with enough steel in it. Have an engineer run you up some drawings, he'll specify the thickness of the mix and the amount of steel and the footing design. After the pour you can remove all the forms. If the slab is large the engineer may have you erect steel beams and pour over a pan which will all remain. While concrete is an inexpensive material it can get expensive in a hurry with labor and steel.

[dubl_t]

Originally Posted by Ryf

if you go metal floor with slab on top, is it held up by steel or wood or?? 5" of concrete is pretty dang heavy, just not sure how thats supported

steel beams with a pan deck, that's how most parking garages are done.
Sorry you can't find a reliable mason, wish I was there

[Ryf]

Originally Posted by dubl_t

steel beams with a pan deck, that's how most parking garages are done.
Sorry you can't find a reliable mason, wish I was there

I tried not to rant about the local bs I am dealing with... but I am really frustrated by this areas service, I called 10 people, all suggested by the local concrete company, local builders, etc. most wont even call back at all the ones that do say they will come look dont even show up or call, I have not been able to get more than a guesstimate on the phone, and it was astronomical. for the economy being in the dumper and nothing being built right now, everyone appears too busy for me (or found other jobs or it isn't worth coming off unemployment for). I would blame them but its pretty much that way with all the services around here. I had to find someone through a friend to get my biggest tree cut down, and it was the same nonsense to get anyone to do an estimate. I have been starting this project for almost a month trying to find a concrete guy while getting access setup and other details worked out(trees removed stumps ground etc) and at this point, to move forward there has to be something to put it on, and right now thats on me I guess if I want to get it going sooner than later.