Shop Flooring

[otis04]

I have a walk-out basement for a shop.  It is very dry with no moisture issues.  I am going to finish the basement this winter and I am considering using laminate flooring.  Does anybody have any experience with this specifically, will it get slippery with sawdust on the floor?

 

[jmbfestool]

I have a walk-out basement for a shop.  It is very dry with no moisture issues.  I am going to finish the basement this winter and I am considering using laminate flooring.  Does anybody have any experience with this specifically, will it get slippery with sawdust on the floor?

Yes

 

[Deansocial]

Death trap comes to mind

 

[galwaydude18@gmail.com]

Ya as dean says death trap! I have fitted too many shop before I got my festool mini and the saw dust that tools create on laminate flooring is lethal especially if your in a rush you will end up slipping and hurting yourself

 

[leakyroof]

Take some sawdust in a bag with you and visit a flooring section of a store, or a flooring store-. Sprinkle some of your sawdust on a board-put one foot down and see how slippery it is. Once you've fallen, and gotten back up, thank the store owners and tell them you're ok, no lawsuit is coming. Go home, and rethink your shop flooring options-- [embarassed] [embarassed] [embarassed]

 

[lambeater]

Nah you guys are all wimps Kinda like the English and Irish rugby teams when they come up against the NZ All Blacks [laughing]. Ive had hardwood oak with a satin finish in my shop for about 4yrs now. Do like to wear my vans skater shoes in shop. But even with dust does not seem to get slippery.

Lambeater.

Floor when it was first done a few years back

Floor now after some abuse

 

[peter halle]

A laminate floor is super slick with sawdust on it.  A hardwood floor with finish is less.  As a suggestion you might want to look at a cork floor if the basement is as dry as you say.

Peter

 

[leakyroof]

A laminate floor is super slick with sawdust on it.  A hardwood floor with finish is less.  As a suggestion you might want to look at a cork floor if the basement is as dry as you say.

Peter

Interesting idea- How does a heavy machine fair with it? Sink down? Or can the cork resist compression?

 

[jmbfestool]

Nah you guys are all wimps Kinda like the English and Irish rugby teams when they come up against the NZ All Blacks [laughing]. Ive had hardwood oak with a satin finish in my shop for about 4yrs now. Do like to wear my vans skater shoes in shop. But even with dust does not seem to get slippery.

Lambeater.

Floor when it was first done a few years back

Floor now after some abuse

Your floor ain't laminate so how are we wimps.  I think you need to try out a laminate floor with some fine dust on it. 

I have layed a few laminate floors and have slipped few times because of the dust I created settled on the floor and also dust sheets don't grip very well on it either.    Its when you do a sudden turn or movement your feet suddenly slip from underneath you  but just normal walking is fine.

Jmb

 

[Deansocial]

A freind of mine has of pine floor in his work shop and was really dangerous to the point that he had to paint it with santex type paint. Too many near misses slipping near machinery

 

[Scott B.]

Radiant concrete with epoxy coating, non slip additive and flecks. Most everything in the shop is castered and we are constantly moving stuff around. Easy to vac or mop and pretty bulletproof.

[attachimg=#]

 

[jmbfestool]

Radiant concrete with epoxy coating, non slip additive and flecks. Most everything in the shop is castered and we are constantly moving stuff around. Easy to vac or mop and pretty bulletproof.

[attachimg=#]

I remember you posting about your flooring a while ago!  Its what I think I would like to use on my flooring.  Just cost!!

JMB

 

[Deansocial]

Radiant concrete with epoxy coating, non slip additive and flecks. Most everything in the shop is castered and we are constantly moving stuff around. Easy to vac or mop and pretty bulletproof.

[attachimg=#]

I remember you posting about your flooring a while ago!   Its what I think I would like to use on my flooring.   Just cost!!

JMB

Yeah its not cheap. At least you can do it yourself.

 

[Scott B.]

Radiant concrete with epoxy coating, non slip additive and flecks. Most everything in the shop is castered and we are constantly moving stuff around. Easy to vac or mop and pretty bulletproof.

[attachimg=#]

I remember you posting about your flooring a while ago!   Its what I think I would like to use on my flooring.   Just cost!!

JMB

JMB

We did the initial application on the floor shown in the photo, which is our production shop, last December. At the same time we re-did the concrete floor in our spray shop (which had been done 8 years ago and abused since), and both floors are doing very well.

Applying an epoxy coating on a concrete floor is basically an advanced diy level application. Its easy to do, but the prep is the key to long term performance.

If you or anyone here is considering this finish, I would be happy to start a thread showing the prep and finish steps. We did photograph the process but I have not had the time (or any requests) to share the process info anywhere.

The products are pricy, but you cant compromise. I have seen coatings like this fail and it is miserable. You can do this yourself.

 

[Deansocial]

I think shotblasting the floor is the most important step and a deep clean if its old

 

[Scott B.]

I think shotblasting the floor is the most important step and a deep clean if its old

Thats interesting. I usually do it the other way around. If the concrete is new, we do chemical prep. If it is old, we do mechanical prep.

 

[jmbfestool]

Radiant concrete with epoxy coating, non slip additive and flecks. Most everything in the shop is castered and we are constantly moving stuff around. Easy to vac or mop and pretty bulletproof.

[attachimg=#]

I remember you posting about your flooring a while ago!   Its what I think I would like to use on my flooring.   Just cost!!

JMB

JMB

We did the initial application on the floor shown in the photo, which is our production shop, last December. At the same time we re-did the concrete floor in our spray shop (which had been done 8 years ago and abused since), and both floors are doing very well.

Applying an epoxy coating on a concrete floor is basically an advanced diy level application. Its easy to do, but the prep is the key to long term performance.

If you or anyone here is considering this finish, I would be happy to start a thread showing the prep and finish steps. We did photograph the process but I have not had the time (or any requests) to share the process info anywhere.

The products are pricy, but you cant compromise. I have seen coatings like this fail and it is miserable. You can do this yourself.

yeah da be mint!

I want my work shop floor BANG ON I MEAN BANG ON flat and level ill be doing it my self  or ill be monitoring who ever does the concrete floor for me.    Now if I was to apply this epoxy could it affect the flatness of the floor?!

JMB

 

[Scott B.]

Radiant concrete with epoxy coating, non slip additive and flecks. Most everything in the shop is castered and we are constantly moving stuff around. Easy to vac or mop and pretty bulletproof.

[attachimg=#]

I remember you posting about your flooring a while ago!   Its what I think I would like to use on my flooring.   Just cost!!

JMB

JMB

We did the initial application on the floor shown in the photo, which is our production shop, last December. At the same time we re-did the concrete floor in our spray shop (which had been done 8 years ago and abused since), and both floors are doing very well.

Applying an epoxy coating on a concrete floor is basically an advanced diy level application. Its easy to do, but the prep is the key to long term performance.

If you or anyone here is considering this finish, I would be happy to start a thread showing the prep and finish steps. We did photograph the process but I have not had the time (or any requests) to share the process info anywhere.

The products are pricy, but you cant compromise. I have seen coatings like this fail and it is miserable. You can do this yourself.

yeah da be mint!

I want my work shop floor BANG ON I MEAN BANG ON flat and level ill be doing it my self  or ill be monitoring who ever does the concrete floor for me.    Now if I was to apply this epoxy could it affect the flatness of the floor?!

JMB

Are you pouring a new slab or working an existing one? If you are pouring a new slab, it is important that the concrete guy doesn't burnish the floor. It needs to have some "tooth" to it. Also, make sure that they kerf cut the floor. Mine is split into quadrants, which helps the concrete not to crack, and also makes the floor finishing easier. After we finished our floor, I put a color matched sikaflex in the kerfs and flecked them to blend them in. That makes it so you never have to suck dust out of the kerfs with a vac.

One of the advantages to chemical prep on a floor is that you can assess flatness during the prep stage (based on where water gathers during rinsing) and address as needed. The epoxy is not a terribly thick product, and I would not consider to have an effect on the flatness of your floor, in either direction. If you had valleys in your floor, you would want to do some troweling to level it prior to finish application. I have not seen a concrete floor yet that was dead nuts flat. But usually they are within a tolerable range.

 

[Nigel]

If you want flat why not use a leveling compound?

 

[jmbfestool]

Radiant concrete with epoxy coating, non slip additive and flecks. Most everything in the shop is castered and we are constantly moving stuff around. Easy to vac or mop and pretty bulletproof.

[attachimg=#]

I remember you posting about your flooring a while ago!   Its what I think I would like to use on my flooring.   Just cost!!

JMB

JMB

We did the initial application on the floor shown in the photo, which is our production shop, last December. At the same time we re-did the concrete floor in our spray shop (which had been done 8 years ago and abused since), and both floors are doing very well.

Applying an epoxy coating on a concrete floor is basically an advanced diy level application. Its easy to do, but the prep is the key to long term performance.

If you or anyone here is considering this finish, I would be happy to start a thread showing the prep and finish steps. We did photograph the process but I have not had the time (or any requests) to share the process info anywhere.

The products are pricy, but you cant compromise. I have seen coatings like this fail and it is miserable. You can do this yourself.

yeah da be mint!

I want my work shop floor BANG ON I MEAN BANG ON flat and level ill be doing it my self  or ill be monitoring who ever does the concrete floor for me.    Now if I was to apply this epoxy could it affect the flatness of the floor?!

JMB

Are you pouring a new slab or working an existing one? If you are pouring a new slab, it is important that the concrete guy doesn't burnish the floor. It needs to have some "tooth" to it. Also, make sure that they kerf cut the floor. Mine is split into quadrants, which helps the concrete not to crack, and also makes the floor finishing easier. After we finished our floor, I put a color matched sikaflex in the kerfs and flecked them to blend them in. That makes it so you never have to suck dust out of the kerfs with a vac.

One of the advantages to chemical prep on a floor is that you can assess flatness during the prep stage (based on where water gathers during rinsing) and address as needed. The epoxy is not a terribly thick product, and I would not consider to have an effect on the flatness of your floor, in either direction. If you had valleys in your floor, you would want to do some troweling to level it prior to finish application. I have not seen a concrete floor yet that was dead nuts flat. But usually they are within a tolerable range.

It will be a brand new building so a new slab   size about  150sqaure meters

JMB