Shop flooring over concrete?

[Jim Becker]

Yea... the combination of decent footwear (which can be an individual thing...there is no one good solution there), mats where one spends the most time standing on the hard floor and reasonable off-the-feet breaks during the day is always a good idea.

[Cameron Wood]

I put 3/4" T&G on 2x4 PT sleepers laid flat with floor paint on the plywood. I researched the whole moisture barrier issue and decided to forego it, mostly for the number of holes you must inevitably put in the barrier - my slab was 3 years old, I have decent drainage under and away from my slab, and I think the mold thing is overblown largely. I posted the process and results in my shop build thread.

Best thing I have ever done for my floor. As Jim Mentioned - I do have the interlocking square foam panels between my 2 benches where I spend most of my time.

YMMV.

You considered moisture issues- that's good.

The worst example I've seen was a dance studio in a commercial storefront. Old slab, upslope behind the building, sleepers, plywood, and dance floor covering.
The water vapor that came up had nowhere to evaporate to, & rotted the plywood to failure.

AFAS vapor barrier, if the slab is pretty flat, the sleepers don't need to be fastened, and holes from fasteners don't make that much difference. On one project I made an entirely floating floor- one piece plastic vapor barrier, 1 1/2" rigid foam insulation, two layers of 1/2" plywood- one on bias, screwed together, carpet. If it was a shop, I'd use two layers 5/8".

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I have been curious about this product. I might have an opportunity to try it out soon.

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[Jim Becker]

Maurice, my local Orange store usually has a small amount of DriCore in-stock so if your's does, you can take a close look at it. It's a decent product, AFAIL, although I'm not sure I'd personally like the OSB surface.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Thanks Jim I will take a look. I have seen OSB as a final floor in 2 spaces. One was coated with Titebond II. A very thick coat applied with a fluffy roller. The other has 4 coats of porch and floor oil enamel. Both are better than I had imagined they would be. I have recommend heavy duty vinyl.

[Bob Coates]

I have installed horse stall mats for about 20 yrs and find them worth while. They were about 3/4" thick. One side is ribbed and the other side has bubles to provide air space. I got them at local tractor supply. I installed them with the ribbed side up which when use at lathe will get the shaving in the ribs. I will sometimes take take the time to brush out.

[Mel Fulks]

Don’t forget just riding around in good neighborhoods and watching for people discarding perfectly good carpeting !

[Bryan Cramer]

Yep I too have only a 8’ ceiling and this summer I covered the entire floor of my 24x26 garage with DriCore standard not the insulated. It’s been really great and much warmer this winter. It’s holding up just fine, however I painted it and that’s not working out well as it’s peeling off. I might have to cover it all with a roll garage floor.

[Bob Riefer]

Jim B. linked the mats I like earlier, but I also had tried horse stall mats years ago and have a couple observations that might be helpful:

1 - Horse stall mats aren't very "precision cut" in my experience, so edging them side by side either leaves gaps or you must attend to the gaps somehow

2 - They are able to be cut... but not very easily. So if you're working around obstacles, have some extra blades for jigsaw nearby.

3 - They are not very soft in terms of being noticeable by humans (they're meant for far heavier horses after all). Better than concrete? Of course. Protects a dropped tool? Yes. Can you roll heavy tools over them? Yes (a good thing if that's common in your shop) Noticeable cushion for general walikng? Not really (in my opinion).



As an unrelated side note, horse stall mats make wonderful outdoor covers for things... Weatherproof and heavy as to not blow in a heavy wind. We use them to protect our outdoor cornhole sets, I've cut them to shape as lids, I even temporarily use them to cover spots where our puppy wants to dig.

[Daniel O'Neill]

I just finished laying 3/4 ply on 2x4 sleepers for the same reason, my feet hurt, concrete is cold, concrete is hard. My shop floor is also 5 inches out of level so shimming the sleepers made things level. I didn't use T&G because if I ever need to pull up a section of floor, I just have to remove the screws.

Jim

Mine floor was out of level too. I did sleepers to level it out over T&G 3/4 advantech subflooring. At the time it was only $3-4 more than a regular sheet and since I didn't need that many it worked okay to get the upgrade. One thing I didn't do was insulate the "bays" between the sleepers. Just for sound I wish I had. Now it's super loud whenever I'm doing something over some of the deeper parts of the floor (like sanding). Feels like it echoes a lot more than if it was a more insulated situation. We did treated sleepers secured with tapcons. Just a few to hold the 2x4 and then some to countersink through the plywood into the concrete to keep it all in place. No movement and it has been good to the chisels that walk of the table....

[Bryan Hall]

I wonder how soft/spongy the insulated dricore panels are. I've got a few machines that need to roll around and I wonder if that would cause a struggle, or if it would be okay?

[Paul J Kelly]

I had similar issues with my back and my feet on concrete.

When I re-did the shop I added 1/2" rubber rolls to the shop. They are the kind of products you see in a gym.

I purchased them in 4' wide rolls which meant I could move and rearrange them it I needed to.

I got them at rubber flooring on the web. The shipping is the killer... But my back and feet are so much happier. The shop is quieter and they look nice.

They generally have a 28% off discount code.

https://www.rubberflooringinc.com/ru...duty-roll.html

PK

[Wayne Cannon]

I've cautioned about mats before. Any mats should be quite firm. Any "squishiness" and your legs will tire from the small rocking movement that results.

I've found good results from Red Wing shoes that have a cork insole. The cork conforms to your foot (from warmth?) but provides solid, non-squishy, support.

Ask your work shoe retailer for "Post Office approved" shoes .

[Jim McCue]

Over on the garagejournal forums there's lots of threads or a whole subforum about flooring. A lot of recommendations for snap together tiles, Racedeck is a common recommendation. They have a lot of the same concerns as woodworkers moving heavy toolcarts, cars, jackstands, etc. I decided to get some racedeck when the time comes but haven't yet.

[Cameron Wood]

I have a couple of pieces of Paul J Kelly's rubber flooring listed above in my shop, and it's good- sturdy, sweepable, cushion but not soft, and 1/2 the cost of Racedeck.
(of course the pieces I got for free...)
Same as in commercial gyms.