Shop Flooring

[Splinter]

Questions for those here that have hardwood (real or imitation) flooring over concrete in your shop:

1. Does it help with leg/feet fatigue opposed to just concrete?
2. Is the floor slippery when it has sawdust on it?
3. Would you use it again if you were to do another shop?
4. Did you use the thin foam padding under the wood flooring?
5. Is yours real hardwood or the snap down floating type?
6. Do you scar up the floor much when moving tools, etc. around in the shop?

Any other comments welcome.

[gator]

I have 3/4" oak flooring over a sub-floor (crawlspace). It is great for the feet/legs. I did not finish it, except with spilled stains, paint, or various thinners (it is a shop after all not a living room or guest area). It is not slippery with sawdust (or chips).

George

[dino drosas]

I have the wood grain laminate flooring. It is a floating floor system with 1/8 inch high density foam rubber backing. I placed it right over a concrete slab with a plastic vapor barrier. It has made a world of difference in as far as comfort but is quite slippery. Its greatest fault is that if a sharp object is dropped on it , it chips. I have very heavy machines on rollers and they have no impact on the floor. It looks great and very easy to keep clean but I wouldn't use it again. Total cost was about 2.00 / sq ft. If I were doing it again I would go with the pre finished bamboo at about the same cost. That stuf is bullet proof.

[NCPete]

Dino, WHERE have you found pre-finished bamboo for $2.00/ft?????

[Gotcha6]

Lumber Liquidators, maybe?
http://www.lumberliquidators.com/cat...gory;274500007

[NCPete]

Thanks Dennis, I had looked there before, but do not recall seeing bamboo that cheep. I recently priced it at about $4.80???

[brenthenze]

Bamboo flooring: it's true that the stuff is pretty durable. But it does groove a bit if you slide something on it (just like hardwood floors do). We put bamboo in our kitchen a few months ago. It looks terrific, but in a couple places where a piece of furniture (table, cart, etc.) was inadvertently dragged or pushed, the legs leave a depression. (Not through the finish--just an indentation.)

It's noticeable only because the boards are otherwise so perfectly flat, smooth, and shiny. A rougher surface would hide these marks a lot better. (This is the one downside to the factory finish on this stuff: it'll take forever to "mellow"!)

[Alan in Little Washington]

A little outside your questions, but the floor in my shop is 3/4" super-hard underlayment called Advantech (over framing). It is like OSB but much, much denser, harder, smoother "A" side, and VERY waterproof. To make it look nice I painted it with two coats of enamel deck/porch paint. Looks nice, but is a bit slippery. If I were going to go with hardwood- I would use real hardwood and not finish it.

[jeff...]

Originally Posted by Alan in Little Washington

A little outside your questions, but the floor in my shop is 3/4" super-hard underlayment called Advantech (over framing). It is like OSB but much, much denser, harder, smoother "A" side, and VERY waterproof. To make it look nice I painted it with two coats of enamel deck/porch paint. Looks nice, but is a bit slippery. If I were going to go with hardwood- I would use real hardwood and not finish it.

You could go with QS oak how big is your shop - 1000 board foot?

[McRabbet]

I'd love to floor my 800 sf shop, too -- I have 3/4" OSB structural siding/underlayment on mine now and it would look lots better in hardwood. On my most recent perusal of Lumber Liqudators website, I noticed they have some "utility grade" unfinished oak as low as $0.89/sf (for 1,000 sf), but it probably has a fair amount of waste... Can you meet that price, Jeff?

[gator]

The 3/4" oak I used in my post above, I found up in Virginia about three/four years ago for 25¢/sqft. It was cutoffs from a flooring mill. Stuff that was just a shade too thin when planed and had some rough dips in the middle of the boards; cut-offs to make the ends of the good stuff square; some that the tongue or some of the side of the groove had broken off; etc, etc. I checked recently and the source had dried up. It was great stuff for an unfinished shop floor. You might do a really good search for flooring mills (actual mills not just dealers) and see what you can find.

George

[jeff...]

Originally Posted by McRabbet

I'd love to floor my 800 sf shop, too -- I have 3/4" OSB structural siding/underlayment on mine now and it would look lots better in hardwood. On my most recent perusal of Lumber Liqudators website, I noticed they have some "utility grade" unfinished oak as low as $0.89/sf (for 1,000 sf), but it probably has a fair amount of waste... Can you meet that price, Jeff?

Will have defects, knots, open knots, missing tongues, machine burns, splits in the wood and short pieces (12"-8").

[Gotcha6]

When I bought my present house I wanted to use prefinished 3/4" oak in several rooms. The dealer (Lumber Liquidators) advised me that full thickness or any other nailed type flooring would not be suitable for application over particle board underlayment. I would have had to remove all the particle board & apply directly to the subfloor or to plywood underlayment, as the nails in the flooring just cause the underlayment to disintegrate around them over time. You may want to ask that same question of your supplier if you're considering nailing. I don't know about the OSB or hi density products. I wound up with a floating floor.

[McRabbet]

Aw Jeff, that's just a minor defect... A little TB II and we can close that 'lil gap up easily... Adds character...

[jeff...]

Originally Posted by McRabbet

Aw Jeff, that's just a minor defect... A little TB II and we can close that 'lil gap up easily... Adds character...

(waves hand) better oak is what you want (pause) (waves hand again) to much work that flat sawn oak is, even for skilled craftsman like you. (waves hand again) Quarter Sawn Oak, yes... Quarter Sawn Oak is what I want.