Flooring makes a difference, and moving benches is always fun

[mike stenson]

At my last shop, I had old school linoleum and some remnants of cork flooring that we did in the kitchen for floors. This shop's all concrete, and I hated it.

I have a weird step up in the slab (I have no idea what the PO was thinking when he built the building, none of it made sense), so I decided to make that all bench area, and put down dricore subflooring. It's made a seriously noticeable difference standing and working in that area, and was far cheaper than 8mm rubber mats would have been (about 25% of the cost of the mats). The other thing that I always liked about it, is that things hitting the floor isn't as necessarily detrimental as concrete is. If/when I build another bench, I rather suspect that the metal bench will migrate. I still have a lot of work to do, but it's finally starting to fell like a work space.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-S8XXd3V/0/ae443225/L/i-S8XXd3V-L.jpg

[ken hatch]

Looking good Mike.

would love to have your room. I think the raised area is part of the building code, my newer house in Houston was the same

ken

[Robert LaPlaca]

Mike,

Maybe the P.O. was going to use the space where your tablesaw is located for garage, I believe you need that change in grade for code if the space is going to be used for cars/trucks. The step contains fuel spills.

[mike stenson]

So, the building was split into 2 sheds, two small 'shops' and a carport when I got it (so 5 rooms instead of one). It's old enough he could have easily made a single pour and been code legal in this geo. It's a pain to deal with.. but it's working out well as a bench area. It just really limits what can be done.

It's also a separate building, and the raised area is opposite the side closest to the house. I do like it, it's just odd. My last shop was a 18x20 shop sharing a wall with the living room. I'm very happy about my new space :)

[ken hatch]

So, the building was split into 2 sheds, two small 'shops' and a carport when I got it (so 5 rooms instead of one). It's old enough he could have easily made a single pour and been code legal in this geo. It's a pain to deal with.. but it's working out well as a bench area. It just really limits what can be done.

It's also a separate building, and the raised area is opposite the side closest to the house. I do like it, it's just odd. My last shop was a 18x20 shop sharing a wall with the living room. I'm very happy about my new space :)

Mike,

Interesting, with the additional info like you not a clue why. Was it a two pour job? But if it was why not make it level. Other than I'm sure over time I would trip and/or fall off the ledge (and I did), it does make a defined work area.

ken

[Thomas Crawford]

Just consider it your stage to amaze the world with what you make.

[mike stenson]

Yep, there was a positive side effect of putting the dricore up there. It's easier to 'see' the different height areas. I've tripped off of it in the past, so that's a serious benefit. It's just awkward, so I scratch my head trying to figure out what the guy who built it was thinking. I'm also hitting the point where I may elicit ideas about things, or at least knock them around a bit. Neither dog is helpful in that regard.