workshop flooring

[Richard Hughes]

Greetings,

I will be building a new home next spring with a detached 3-car garage. 2 bays will be a dedicated workshop space separated from the 3rd bay by a wall. The inside dimensions of the shop space are 21' x 24'.

http://i389.photobucket.com/albums/oo334/sailor99/SouthElevGarageRevised10-30-08.jpg

I would appreciate hearing your opinions on what type of flooring I should consider.

Thanks,

Rick

[Maurice Ungaro]

Welcome to The Creek!
If you're going to make it that nice, I'd put in oak or maple. You can get the inexpensive "shop floor" quality from Lumber Liquidators for about .99 a foot.

[Frank Drew]

Looks like you've got the beginnings of a nice shop, Richard.

I like wood for the tool friendliness of it; it also seems a bit kinder to feet than concrete, although that might be imaginary. If you applied wood (or ply) over sleepers you could insulate and that would definitely be warmer than concrete.

My shop was in a old RR depot with flooring of 1.5" thick, wide Old Pine, worn smooth by time.

[Von Bickley]

Richard,

Welcome to "The Creek".... Looks like you will have a super nice building. Looks like you are going with the "Bungalow" style with the tapered columns and exposed rafters. What will the loft area be used for ( work area or storage ). Regardless of the use, I would use 3/4" T&G Advantech for the sub-floor and then you can use whatever you want to for the finished flooring. I would use the same sub-floor for the house.

Some pictures of the future house plans would be nice.....:)

I think the "Advantech" flooring has a 50 year warranty. Much better than plywood or OSB.

[Maurice Ungaro]

I second the Advantech for ALL your subflooring!

[Andrew Joiner]

I have a concrete shop floor on my main floor. I wear cushy shoes. I like concrete.
I have been in shops with wood floors that get a little rough and slivery. Sliding heavy stuff across the floor can bring up slivers and glue drops build up on wood.

For the new second floor in my shop will be mostly storage. I will use T+G plywood or Advantech for the finished floor.

I have a chunk of Advantech I'm testing. It seems to be harder and denser than fir plywood. In fact I can't get a sliver to pop up even if I scrape it hard.
Fir ply would have a few voids and after you slide hardwood boards on it, deep scratches will bring up slivers.
It's only storage so either one will work. I'm leaning toward the Advantech, but @ 20lbs more a sheet I don't like the idea of getting it up to the second floor.

[Matt Ocel]

Hey -
where were all you osb guys when we had the great debate over ply vs osb?
It was if I stood alone on the osb side:D

Any way - Welcome abord Richard, nice lookig shop!!

[Maurice Ungaro]

Hey -
where were all you osb guys when we had the great debate over ply vs osb?
It was if I stood alone on the osb side:D

Any way - Welcome abord Richard, nice lookig shop!!

Matt,
Since the coming of Advantech, looks like you'll still be the only one standing up for OSB flooring. Personally, I used OSB for the lower 48" of wall space and for the decking of my loft space, but that's about it.

[Mike Wilkins]

Why am I getting a red 'X' instead of a photo???

[Richard Hughes]

Thank you all for the replies. I like the idea of a maple hardwood floor for my workshop. How would you attach the advantech subfloor to the concrete slab? Tap-con directly to the slab? Poly or no poly?

We are putting the final tweaks on the house drawing and I should have something posted within a week.

Thanks

Rick

[Maurice Ungaro]

Rick,
You would have to put down some 2 x 4, or 2 x 6 "sleepers". These would elevate the Advantech off of the floor, and prevent moisture from seeping through. Sleepers can be attached with Tapcons, or a Ramset, etc.

[Jeremy Layden]

Richard, have you poured the slab yet? If you haven't, might I suggest pex-radiant heat!!! We built our shop last fall. It's 1200sqf and with a smaller bosch-tankless water-heater it keeps the whole building nice and comfy at 65 degrees all winter long. That's with 10ft ceilings too! You would still be able to use subfloor and hardwood but make sure your anchors don't penetrate the tubing!