A good and inexpensive floor treatment for a woodworking shop's concrete floor.

[Coop]

4 minutes ago, wdwerker said:

No tablet or laptop you can post with?

He’s still breathing. We were concerned about ya! 

[wdwerker]

I had a red headed visitor this weekend that kept me busy. I figured y'all could fend for yourselves. 

[Coop]

Damn, tried to like this multiple times but couldn’t. 

[ktb15]

https://www.epoxy-coat.com/full-kit-premium-color-flake-blends.html

i used these kits, put it down about 4 years ago and it still looks great. Not the cheapest and I grinded the floor to prep but i figured it was something I’m only doing once so I wanted it to be done right. The clear coat makes it super shiny and reflects a lot of light that just makes the shop feel brighter even though there’s tons of lights. Concrete floor does feel hard on the feet all day so I just put some anti fatigue mats in front of benches and machinery. Got a bunch of craftsman 2x3 mats for $10 I believe and they’ve held up for about 2 years now. 

[JosephThomas]

9 hours ago, shaneymack said:

The engineered 2x4's I used were around 28$ each IIRC.  The total job for the floor was less thst 1500$. Pretty cheap and easy compared to chipping out all the concrete and re pouring a new floor. 

Sure. But you could rent a machine to grind a new finish onto the surface of the existing concrete for far less. I agree your solution leads to the most ideal end product though, I would love to have that for my shop someday

[wtnhighlander]

These things are awesome on my shop floor:

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/4-ft-x-6-ft-x-3-4-in-thick-rubber-stall-mat

Much firmer than the interlocking floor mats, yet still offer a huge about of relief from standing on concrete.

[shaneymack]

4 hours ago, JosephThomas said:

Sure. But you could rent a machine to grind a new finish onto the surface of the existing concrete for far less. I agree your solution leads to the most ideal end product though, I would love to have that for my shop someday

This was not an option for me as the concrete was heavily pitted. Probably from old age and the previous owners parking their car in the winter.  Our roads are salted here in the winter so it does a number on the concrete. 

[Chestnut]

50 minutes ago, shaneymack said:

previous owners parking their car in the winter.

NO! The horror!

lol jokes i park in my garage and i noticed that from the last owners the floor was starting to get pitted. Is it to late for epoxy garage floor for me? The pitting isn't bad.

[shaneymack]

45 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

NO! The horror!

lol jokes i park in my garage and i noticed that from the last owners the floor was starting to get pitted. Is it to late for epoxy garage floor for me? The pitting isn't bad.

Lol. 

 

Good question. I think you'd probably have to put some sort of resurfacer before doing epoxy to fill the little voids. 

[Tpt life]

Hydraulic cement is fantastic. It sets so very fast and bonds well. 

[new2woodwrk]

I have rubber mats laid down where ever my car is not.

I have the ones from HF behind my workbench, and I have thinner rubber mats at each station.

Works fine for me - not really interested in making it look "pretty" - the way i work, it would just get messy after a few days anyway.

Either way, what ever you decide - take some pics - let's see how it looks when you're done

[Cliff]

In March I'm doing the same thing @shaneymack did. I've priced it out at about $860 US for an 18x18 garage. Not including the epoxy stuff, which I'm not sure I'm going to do yet or not. I'm going to use treated 2x4's though. Took me a long time to decide between pouring concrete and this. But it's just reached the point where I can't deal with the floor as is anymore. It's like an air conditioner during the winter and I trip every time I move. I've thought of doing the floor tiles Marc used around the tools, but the way I like to wheel around on stools I might want to do epoxy instead. 

[wdwerker]

Treated 2x 4's are always wet. Regular adhesives don't stick to wet wood. I pick up a few straight  treated 2 x 4's and let them dry out in the shop so I have some dry stock to work with. If your buying all the wood at once there are some construction adhesives that will stick to wet wood. Tapcon screws are another decent choice. A hammer drill is very handy if you've got plenty of Tapcon screws to drill for.

[pkinneb]

10 hours ago, Cliff said:

...I've thought of doing the floor tiles Marc used around the tools, but the way I like to wheel around on stools I might want to do epoxy instead. 

Cliff FWIW I wheel around on my stool on the floor tiles obviously more friction then a cement floor but no issues either. I would not want to move tools around on them though, having said that I have never actually tried too.

[drzaius]

10 hours ago, wdwerker said:

there are some construction adhesives that will stick to wet wood.

I think the urethane subfloor adhesives are designed to work on wet lumber, since a lot of framing is done in crappy weather.

 

10 hours ago, wdwerker said:

if you've got plenty of Tapcon screws to drill for.

Just a tip for Tapcons; use an impact driver to drive the screws. It will cam out much less than if using a drill.

[shaneymack]

1 hour ago, drzaius said:

I think the urethane subfloor adhesives are designed to work on wet lumber, since a lot of framing is done in crappy weather.

Correct. They actually work better when wet. It is recommended to wet the material before applying. Same thing for Gorilla glue. 

[shaneymack]

12 hours ago, Cliff said:

In March I'm doing the same thing @shaneymack did. I've priced it out at about $860 US for an 18x18 garage. Not including the epoxy stuff, which I'm not sure I'm going to do yet or not. I'm going to use treated 2x4's though. Took me a long time to decide between pouring concrete and this. But it's just reached the point where I can't deal with the floor as is anymore. It's like an air conditioner during the winter and I trip every time I move. I've thought of doing the floor tiles Marc used around the tools, but the way I like to wheel around on stools I might want to do epoxy instead. 

If you can afford it, get the full length timberstands. It will be much easier, faster and they are dead straight. Might cost you a few hundo extra but you will be happy you did. Lie them down one end to the other and shim the middle- badaboom, floor framed. Took me and my buddy a few hours to frame and sheath it. 

[Woodenskye]

2 minutes ago, shaneymack said:

If you can afford it, get the full length timberstands. It will be much easier, faster and they are dead straight. Might cost you a few hundo extra but you will be happy you did. Lie them down one end to the other and shim the middle- badaboom, floor framed. Took me and my buddy a few hours to frame and sheath it. 

Shane I forget if you mentioned when you did the write up after you moved, but did you do the floor in 12" or 16" on center?

[shaneymack]

3 minutes ago, Woodenskye said:

Shane I forget if you mentioned when you did the write up after you moved, but did you do the floor in 12" or 16" on center?

12" OC. Im super happy how it came out. This is the route i would go it i had to do it all over again.

[Chet]

On 1/21/2018 at 5:17 PM, shaneymack said:

I won't post anymore journals untill the site is back on tapatalk.

Can't you just use you phones browser?  If I remember correctly that is what Ice does when he posts his gif's and photos in his journals.

[shaneymack]

2 hours ago, Chet said:

Can't you just use you phones browser?  If I remember correctly that is what Ice does when he posts his gif's and photos in his journals.

I could it just takes way longer than with tapatalk. Forum was way better with tapatalk.

[Chestnut]

I'm impressed by the phone screen typing many of you do. My typing is atrocious already and it just gets worse when i have to do it on a touch screen.

[Cliff]

20 hours ago, wdwerker said:

Treated 2x 4's are always wet. Regular adhesives don't stick to wet wood. I pick up a few straight  treated 2 x 4's and let them dry out in the shop so I have some dry stock to work with. If your buying all the wood at once there are some construction adhesives that will stick to wet wood. Tapcon screws are another decent choice. A hammer drill is very handy if you've got plenty of Tapcon screws to drill for.

I never thought of that. I was planning on buying the 2x4's in the next couple of weeks and storing them. Just buy a few things every check or two. 

 

8 hours ago, shaneymack said:

If you can afford it, get the full length timberstands. It will be much easier, faster and they are dead straight. Might cost you a few hundo extra but you will be happy you did. Lie them down one end to the other and shim the middle- badaboom, floor framed. Took me and my buddy a few hours to frame and sheath it. 

Is that the same thing as this? https://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/trusses-i-joists-engineered-lumber/laminated-veneer-lumber-lvl-strand-lumber/lp-reg-solidstart-reg-2-x-4-laminated-strand-lumber/p-1444438200157.htm 

It's not a problem for possible moisture coming up through the floor and whatnot? Though I guess the plastic would minimize that. 

[wtnhighlander]

4 hours ago, Chestnut said:

I'm impressed by the phone screen typing many of you do. My typing is atrocious already and it just gets worse when i have to do it on a touch screen.

Two words: Voice Type.

Look for a microphone button on your phone's keyboard. Many variations of Android support it, I dunno about those fruity phones.

[shaneymack]

1 hour ago, Cliff said:

I never thought of that. I was planning on buying the 2x4's in the next couple of weeks and storing them. Just buy a few things every check or two. 

 

Is that the same thing as this? https://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/trusses-i-joists-engineered-lumber/laminated-veneer-lumber-lvl-strand-lumber/lp-reg-solidstart-reg-2-x-4-laminated-strand-lumber/p-1444438200157.htm 

It's not a problem for possible moisture coming up through the floor and whatnot? Though I guess the plastic would minimize that. 

Yes those look to be the same, just a timberstrand knock off.