Workshop floor?

[mpooley]

Hi
I am starting a new workshop next month YAY!
and I am not sure which way to go as far as the floor is concerned.
Its easiest to just lay an uninsulated slab- and as the workshop wont be heated- there is a cost argument for this option.

I could do a normal jablite insulated slab?
Or as a friend has done laid jablite over a slab and chipboarded over that to make a floating floor? he says this is very warm on the feet!

Or Finally no slab just a suspended floor?

It is going to be a bigish workshop at 15mtrs by 5mtrs and there are going to be some fairly heavy machines nothing industrial just the Tablesaw - planer- bandsaw etc
Cost is a factor but not the overriding one so i would appreciate any comments or advice you can give.

(I will be asking for lots more advice later )
and i will post piccies of the build if anyone is interested?

Thankyou all
Mike

 

[Jorden]

Hi Mike

You are going to be spending a long time standing on that floor, and especially in winter it is amazing how cold your feet can get on an uninsulated slab. Then the first time you drop your chisel onto a concrete floor you'll regret not having a put in that floating wooden floor.

Dennis

 

[beech1948]

Hi,
I have worked on both concrete and wooden floors and can say with my aching feet that concrete is unsuitable as a floor in a woodworking workshop.

A wooden floor provides, insulation, better surface to stand on, less fatigue and thus less mistakes, safer place to drop tools on compared to concrete ( thats only happened once but it was my favourite chisel and finally its more welcoming than cold concrete. Wooden floors are warmer, provide better insulation, absorb sound better, are easier to maintain, don't create concrete dust etc etc.

You know it makes sense.

regards

alan

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Mike

Everything that Alan said.

I have a concrete base with 3" x 2" cls at 24" centres covered by 8' x 4' ply and then carpet tiles.

It is just so cosy.

Cheers
Neil

 

[AndyG]

Neil,
Slightly off-topic, but what does CLS stand-for? B&Q are selling 8ft 2x3 for £1.70ish - seems a good price. I've bought a load for building some new workshop fittings. There are same dodgy bits on the pallet, but with a bit of searching there are some good bits of timber in there.
Andy

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Andy

CLS stands for Canadian Lumber System.

You're right about having to check each piece. :wink:

Cheers
Neil

 

[AndyG]

Ahh... Don't feel so stupid now, never would have thought of that one!!
Thanks for the info
Andy

 

[woodbloke]

I'd go for a wooden floor every time - a concrete floor doesn't take prisoners, either on your feet or edged tools - Rob

 

[George_N]

Hi Andy

CLS stands for Canadian Lumber System.

You're right about having to check each piece. :wink:

Cheers
Neil

Canadian Lumber Standard, I think. Some of the lengths of B&Q CLS I've bought in the past would be suitable for Alf's opportunist propeller maker.

 

[mpooley]

Thanks all
what do you think then a slab with a jablite sheet and a floating floor above or a suspended wooden floor.
I spose its more a matter of cost tho with a suspended floor its easier to run cables etc?

Mike

 

[Shultzy]

I'm in the throws of designing my shed and although its not as big as yours (16'x8') I'm going to lay a suspended floor.
Starting from the bottom:-
4" hardcore - bricks or type one
2" sharp sand
1 1/2 slabs
Engineering bricks
DPC
hardboard
4"x2" @ 16" ctrs with 4" polystyrene or fibreglass infill
5/8" t&g floorboards
walls on top

I would'nt put any cables under the floor as they are diffficult to get at if anything goes wrong

 

[mpooley]

Thats a nice solid floor!
though with my one being larger i think if i were to go for suspended floor i'd just dig trench for foundation walls and maybe a cuple of strip walls in the middle and hang the floors off the walls IYSWIM.
laying all that slab and not using it seems expensive solution for me but i can see why you are doing it differently -
Mike

 

[Shultzy]

Don't forget Mike that if you are going to suspend the floor with heavy machines on top you will need heafty joists as you are spanning 5 metres

 

[stewart]

I've read this thread with great interest as today I was able to pick up 7 rolls of fibreglass insulation - more than I 'll need to insulate the roof on my 16 by 8 workshop - so there'll be plenty to do the floor as well. should there be an air gap for ventilation anywhere or can the insulation go directly onto the dpc between joists and then ply/chipboard etc laid directly on top?

Cheers
Stewart

 

[Woody Alan]

what do you think then a slab with a jablite sheet and a floating floor above

IMHO I wouldn't do it quite that way. The reason is my dad built a house using that method and after a few years, where there was most foot traffic, the jablite started to collapse/compress it's the classic pressure per square inch, how women used to ruin dance floors with their stillettos (I digress). My own solution has been in two parts one a concrete slab and the other an extension to the workshop 2" jablite with concrete slab over. On top of both a polythene dpm and then the 1/4"-3/8" inch green fibre underlay for laminate floors followed by moisture resistant chipboard. Over the years I can't say I've "noticed" a difference with the jablite under compared to not but the fibre although it's only 1/4"-3/8" with the chipboard provides just enough spring for comfort with no danger of collapse , and it's certainly warm enough for me. The other solution is to put in joists/battens and insulate between. I'm no builder though so just food for thought.

Cheers Alan

 

[Shultzy]

Stewart - I don't think there is any need for ventilation. As you can see from my post I intend to lay hardboard under the joist, mainly to stop the creepy crawlies from getting into the fibreglas. If you are having any heavy point loads I would put down floorboards instead of plywood, and certainly not chipboard.

 

[stewart]

Thanks, Shultzy.
be nice to hear how you get on.
Cheers
Stewart