Shop flooring recommendations

[SoonerFan]

I went with the default of epoxy flooring with flakes and a top coat.  Only had it two weeks in this shop but had it before for several years.  It is great!  Durable, super easy to clean and IMO looks great.  I did the floors and stem walls.  Next is nickel gap tongue and groove for the walls and then finally add piping for dust extraction so I don’t have to wheel the Jet dust collector around tool to tool.

I'm building a new garage and am verrrrrrry interested in where you've landed. A post or two would be very appreciated.  [thumbs up]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] here are a couple photos of the floor.  As [member=167]neilc[/member] pointed out, it's hard to find screws, washers, etc. that are dropped with this color.  I had this color at my old house and liked it so stuck with it this time around.  I use a magnetic roller if needed.

 

[Cheese]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] here are a couple photos of the floor.  As [member=167]neilc[/member] pointed out, it's hard to find screws, washers, etc. that are dropped with this color.  I had this color at my old house and liked it so stuck with it this time around.  I use a magnetic roller if needed.

Thanks for that [member=28223]SoonerFan[/member]  that looks great,  [thumbs up]  I was especially curious about the intersection of the floor and the base, it looks like you just rolled it over both items.
Now for the questions... [big grin]
1. Did you apply this yourself?
2. Is there any sagging on the vertical base surfaces?
3. Was there any special floor prep that was needed?
4. I assume it was new cement, how long did it have to cure before it could be epoxied?
5. Do you ever pull a car into the garage?
6. Is the floor slippery when wet?

 

[BarneyD]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] , Are you going to heat your slab? I poured mine back in 1986 and every winter I kick myself for not having snaked some tubing to heat the concrete. Would have been so easy back then. Now, not so much.

Good luck.

 

[SoonerFan]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] here are a couple photos of the floor.  As [member=167]neilc[/member] pointed out, it's hard to find screws, washers, etc. that are dropped with this color.  I had this color at my old house and liked it so stuck with it this time around.  I use a magnetic roller if needed.

Thanks for that [member=28223]SoonerFan[/member]  that looks great,  [thumbs up]  I was especially curious about the intersection of the floor and the base, it looks like you just rolled it over both items.
Now for the questions... [big grin]
1. Did you apply this yourself?
2. Is there any sagging on the vertical base surfaces?
3. Was there any special floor prep that was needed?
4. I assume it was new cement, how long did it have to cure before it could be epoxied?
5. Do you ever pull a car into the garage?
6. Is the floor slippery when wet?

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] here you go:

1. Did you apply this yourself? No.  I had it professionally installed.

2. Is there any sagging on the vertical base surfaces?  It did my shop, a small shed attached to the back of my shop and the garage.  No sagging issues.

3. Was there any special floor prep that was needed?  Prep included checking moisture content, removing loose/cracked concrete (only existed on the 30 year old garage floor) and replacing, grinding the surface and filling the expansion joints.  After that it was paint, apply flakes, wait 24 hours, and finally apply top coat.  Then I needed to wait 72 hours to move in the heavy tools.

4. I assume it was new cement, how long did it have to cure before it could be epoxied?  Shop was built in 2020 so I waited about 2.5 years.  Some epoxy companies say you need to wait 6 months.  The company that did my concrete work suggested 18 months.   

5. Do you ever pull a car into the garage?  In the shop we almost never pull in a vehicle.  In the garage we back in and out everyday.
 
6. Is the floor slippery when wet?  We did not notice a big difference at our old place.  Current shop never gets wet.  New garage has not gotten too wet yet but assume it will be able the same as our old place.

Couple other points.  (1) I was thinking about just having them apply paint and the top coat.  I wanted grey but wanted to be able to find dropped washers, nails, etc. easier.  I learned the flakes add lots of protection.  The company applied about 360 lbs. of flakes per 1,000 sq. feet (~160 kilos per 93 sq. meters for our metric friends).  They mentioned that hardly any paint is showing on my floor.  (2) The first time I used epoxy/flake/top coat the top coat of poly did not have UV protection.  In that garage/shop I worked with the garage door open lots.  The floor did yellow a bit after several years of sun.  (3) They did roll on all the paint and used a brush where the floor meets the stem wall. (4) The curing process stinks.  I covered the back side of door into the house from the garage with a .7MM plastic tarp and used masking tape to seal the top, bottom and and sides.  It helped a bunch.

Also here are a few pictures of the garage.  One show the stem wall which is tall than the stem wall in the shop.  Another show how the epoxy terminates ant the end of the garage floor.  Finally one show the entry into the house.  I built new stairs and added bullnose treads to have something nicer than what we had before.

Let me know if you have more questions, would like close up pictures or whatever else I can do to help your planning.

 

[leakyroof]

I’ve had epoxy floor in my last shop as well as my current shop.  Total of 23 years of use. 

I did have an abrasive mixed in with the epoxy to reduce any chance of slipping.  It has worked really well.  Easy to clean up. 

But you do want to be mindful of flake colors.  My old shop was black and grey which made it next to impossible to find a dropped bolt or nut on it.  The new shop is tan and black - far easier to see things on it.

  Yes on the horrible camouflage effect with a Black and Grey or Black and Sliver flake color floor. Black plated bolts, or zinc plated bolts just disappear right into the floor....  [doh] [doh] [doh]
We currently have that coloring on our shop floor, and are getting rid of it once the epoxy coating is due for a recoat, just for the lost labor time in looking for dropped hardware. This was brought to a higher level Manager's attention right after we moved into the shop and discovered the horror of dropping hardware, then looking for it for minutes on end.  Floors were brand new with the paint at that time...
His spectacular response, was," So Don't Drop Anything."  [mad] [mad] [mad]

 

[rvieceli]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] Here's my unsolicited take on floors.  [big grin]

I'm a big fan of very nicely worked plain old concrete. Sealed or not.

Here's my reasons, for a small shop and even a larger one, by the time you add in machines, storage racks, shelves etc There isn't a giant expanse of bare floor.

Being an old guy  [scared], I'm also very very fond of the thick cushy anti-fatigue mats and have several scattered in front of every place I stand for more than a couple of moments. Those remove even more floor from the equation, so why go to the expense of an epoxy coating.  [wink]

+1 on the radiant tubing though.

Ron

 

[Alanbach]

I know how popular epoxy floors are and I appreciate how nice they look but at 64 years old I absolutely HATE woodworking on a concrete floor. When I was younger and I did not have enough spare time to have long periods of time in the shop my body did not mind the hard floor. As I got older and was able to spend longer stretches of time in the shop the concrete started to take a toll on my legs, hips and back. Mats help but they don’t solve the problem unless you put them everywhere. Personally I would strongly suggest a wood floor over 1x4 screeds. Ideally use tongue and groove decking over screeds. It is cheap, super comfortable to work on and it won’t damage your tools if you happen to drop one. Later, if you want a nicer looking floor you just lay almost any type of flooring over the decking.

 

[Packard]

I heard someone bragging about Dricor for basements.  Never used it.  Sounds like it would work.  Also sounds like a project.

The link did not work.  Watch it here: https://dricore.com/products/dricore-subfloor/

 

[Cheese]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] , Are you going to heat your slab? I poured mine back in 1986 and every winter I kick myself for not having snaked some tubing to heat the concrete. Would have been so easy back then. Now, not so much.

Good luck.

Well Barney that's always been the original idea...however now I'm undecided.  [tongue]  Talking to some local folks that have in-floor heating, they both decided to install a space heater for make-up heat when the large garage door is opened in the winter. They mentioned it took too long for the in-floor heating to recover and heat the space.
I've also talked with a couple of people with mini-splits and they really like the idea that the mini-split also conditions the air and will remove excess moisture. And then in the summer they also have the AC option.

I helped my neighbor install & run pex in-floor in a basement addition he added under a new garage so I'm pretty familiar with the necessary procedures, actually that's what convinced me to install in-floor...until recently.  [sad]

I'm going to go to Menards and check into prices today.

 

[Cheese]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] Here's my unsolicited take on floors.  [big grin]

I'm a big fan of very nicely worked plain old concrete. Sealed or not.

Here's my reasons, for a small shop and even a larger one, by the time you add in machines, storage racks, shelves etc There isn't a giant expanse of bare floor.

Being an old guy  [scared], I'm also very very fond of the thick cushy anti-fatigue mats and have several scattered in front of every place I stand for more than a couple of moments. Those remove even more floor from the equation, so why go to the expense of an epoxy coating.  [wink]

+1 on the radiant tubing though.

Ron

Thanks for the input Ron, the good thing is I still have some time to come to a decision as evidenced by SoonerFan's comment on a 18 month cure time.  [smile]

My first experience with coated floors goes back 50+ years ago when I was renting several stalls for cars & motorcycles. It took me days to clean the imbedded oil/grease off the floor in the stalls, acid etch the cement, let everything dry and then apply the "paint" because that was really all it was at the time. Industrial flooring paint that came in a total of 3 colors, gray, tan & black.
However, the take-away at the time was that any antifreeze, oil or grease spilled on the floor was easily wiped up...I still distinctly remember that luxury.

This will be a working garage in that the cars will be stored in there along with motorcycles and metal working & woodworking equipment. Seems like I've already run out of room.  [eek]

 

[woodbutcherbower]

Finding a dropped screw, nut or bolt is real easy. Take off your shoes & socks, and walk around barefoot. You'll find it.

Trust me. You'll find it.

 

[rvieceli]

Unfortunately I don’t think there is a perfect solution. Especially for multi use spaces.

Mini splits are quite the thing. Thinking about dropping a couple in the house. I have friend that has 2 installation one in his shop and the other in his condo in Florida. He really likes the remote access and monitoring functions from an app on his phone.

On the space issue, never big enough.

Although if you wouldn’t mind moving to Burlington Iowa, I’ve been lusting after a Facebook Marketplace listing for a square block of what appears to be a bunch of brick multi story warehouses built around the beginning of the last century. 330,000 square feet down by the river. Oh my!  [eek]
https://www.facebook.com/marketplac...h&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post

Ron

 

[Cheese]

Oh my is right, the building and the space appears to be in great condition and it’s on a railhead. You could ship out those lamps by the boxcar load.  [big grin]  The price seems pretty cheap, but I wouldn’t want to pay for the heating.

 

[BarneyD]

Sorry, Cheese. I thought you were building a shop, not a functioning garage. So, yeah, the radiant may not be for you. But I can attest to the value of mini-splits. Our home has hot water baseboards for heat (no central air). To install central air would mean a complete duct $y$tem and air handler. We opted for three mini-splits for cooling and could not be happier. Unlike window AC units these make no noise. I even installed a mini-split in my remote shop. I don't use it much for heat because I have a gas heater out there. But it's awesome in the summer for cooling.

 

[John T.]

So much great input, thanks everyone. I'm leaning towards epoxy with a few anti-fatigue mats, but haven't ruled out engineered wood yet either.

I expect I do need to decide before they frame/install the sliding glass door as the height will need to be set based upon the expected flooring height. Maybe not, and if I go with wood flooring it'll just come closer to the lip of the door tracks.

This will be a new concrete pour, so as some mentioned I'll have some time to consider details of an epoxy coating while waiting for the concrete to cure. I like the look of these matte, smooth epoxy floors, but I'm still doing research what is available.
https://www.promixfloor.com/self-levelling-resin-flooring-solutions/

 

[Cheese]

So much great input, thanks everyone. I'm leaning towards epoxy with a few anti-fatigue mats, but haven't ruled out engineered wood yet either.

Well, thanks for starting this thread, there's a lot of good info contained within and a great place to park all of that info. [smile]

FWIW...I will be adding a 4" barrier of Owens Corning FOAMULAR® 250 between the class 5 and the poured cement floor even if I decide not to install in-floor pex heat. It's worth at least a 15º temperature differential which is huge.

[attachimg=1]

 

[Packard]

So much great input, thanks everyone. I'm leaning towards epoxy with a few anti-fatigue mats, but haven't ruled out engineered wood yet either.

Well, thanks for starting this thread, there's a lot of good info contained within and a great place to park all of that info. [smile]

FWIW...I will be adding a 4" barrier of Owens Corning FOAMULAR® 250 between the class 5 and the poured cement floor even if I decide not to install in-floor pex heat. It's worth at least a 15º temperature differential which is huge.

[attachimg=1]

Homeowner injured in fall tripping over 4” flooring irregularity.  [eek] [big grin]