I have a garage w/shop with the ½ inch gap similar to others as mentioned in their replies. Its only been set up from last Summer (2003) so I don’t have much experience to go on, but I protected my machinery (planner, thicknesser, sawbench (aluminium), and band saw) with car wax/polish. They did shine quite nicely! I also noticed it was much easier to push the wood over the saw table. And, in spite of managing to get the garage floor completely soaked in water in the middle of last winter, there was not a bit of rust anywhere. I also covered the machines with some of the Axminster machine covers. Now I did not use the workshop much in the winter (about three weekends) so I guess I did not do enough to rub the polish off and one polishing session in October worked last winter. No doubt someone will tell me if using car polish is a dumb idea (if it is then please do, I would hate to think the stuff is really detrimental to the longevity of my saw table). :?: