Floor colour

[Phillemare]

My father painted his garage workshop floor for many of the above reasons, but also because it's much easier to sweep a painted surface than a raw concrete one. The dust from the latter is awful. Dad was a notorious miser though, so any old leftover paint would do for him, resulting in a tastelessly multi-coloured surface. Pragmatic though and he wasn't bothered about what others thought as no one else resorted to his workshop domain, apart from mum who would bring him a cuppa. He was also quite eccentric and once painted a pair of work trousers black because he didn't like the colour. Hardly a fashion victim and he was most annoyed that using gloss paint on a pair of trousers would make them go "all hard and uncomfortable". He was a civil engineer! There truly is no such thing as "common" sense - it's a rare attribute.

Would love to see a picture of your fathers floor

 

[Cabinetman]

Sorry to digress, picture of somebody in the last few days in heavy frost had left his jeans on the line and he could hold them up horizontally frozen solid ha ha. You’re right about common sense being in short supply.
Sorry to hear about the fire, I nearly lost mine recently so I know how you must feel. Depends really if the garage is being used for car mechanics or woodwork. Pale grey for cars /metalwork. For woodwork my preference is 0SB, T and G and then three coats of water-based floor varnish, Nice to stand on, warmer, less damage to dropped tools and just a generally pleasing colour -hue. Ian

 

[Timthetangent]

Well dad passed 34 years ago Phillemere and the floor got a coat of all white after that. It could probably do with another coat, but the house is now being sold as mum has gone into a care home and it's in a poor state of repair now (long story, but half finished refurbishment by builders who went bankrupt). I'm about to have my first COVID ***, so will go back to Wales after that and some relaxation on movements to sort the house out. His old bench that he built was there for 55 years, but is now in my new workshop.

 

[recipio]

Black is funereal and red is alarming ! The psychology of colour is subtle but important. I'd stick to grey or green.

 

[eribaMotters]

A couple of thoughts. Is the floor concrete and if so is it new as you would have to leave it several months before painting. Grey would be my preferred colour. Dark enough to hide dust but bright enough to reflect light.
Big rubber mats could be a problem over concrete as the floor will sweat underneath.

Colin

 

[Lazurus]

Another vote for grey

 

[eribaMotters]

Confession time now. My previous garage and workshop were both painted with Leyland Oil based floor paint.I found paint chipping to be an issue as the workshop floor surface was not brilliant, so every few years I would scrape small areas back, seal with unibond, spot a and then give the whole floor a single coat.
Present garage/workshop is about 55m2 and I thought about a 2 part paint like used in garages and fire stations. The £600+ cost put me off. As my floor was new and clean I decided not to paint it. I've used a 5L tub of builders pva 50/50 with water and give in two coats. Three years later the surface is showing no signs of wear. In another couple of years I'll probably give it another coat in the high traffic area. This was a quick, cheap and efficient solution and if I have another new concrete floor I think I'd do the same again.

Colin

 

[Barlow]

Agree with Robgul about having something on floor. Concrete hard and cold. I've got 18mm OSB

I quite fancy that idea of OSB covering the concrete floor. What did you use to fasten it down? Adhesive or screws or both? Many thanks.

 

[Barlow]

Agree with Robgul about having something on floor. Concrete hard and cold. I've got 18mm OSB

I quite fancy the idea of covering my concrete floor with OSB. How did you fasten it down - adhesive, screwed or both?
many thanks

 

[Phillemare]

[

Agree with Robgul about having something on floor. Concrete hard and cold. I've got 18mm OSB

I keep coming back to the OSB idea and wonder how many others have done this and have you painted it?

 

[Cabinetman]

No don’t paint it, it would look horribly cheap and nasty. I think it’s quite attractive as it is with 2 or 3 coats of water based floor varnish to preserve it's look and to stop it getting dirty.

 

[Phillemare]

No don’t paint it, it would look horribly cheap and nasty. I think it’s quite attractive as it is with a few coats of floor varnish to preserve it's look and to stop it getting dirty.

OK I won't paint it, but what if I did it with a good floor paint? I am thinking of a previous comment about loosing small items on the floor and the ease to find them

 

[Cabinetman]

Well you’re either painting it or you’re not.

 

[Robbo60]

I quite fancy the idea of covering my concrete floor with OSB. How did you fasten it down - adhesive, screwed or both?
many thanks

I didn't fasten it down and it hasn't gone anywhere? Just a tight fit to the walls. If need be I'd just use some silicon sealant so it could be taken up if needed

 

[Barlow]

Thanks Robbo

 

[Phillemare]

A clear and clean pallet, as you can see, I followed the advice, and I now have a grey floor, and to reduce the harshness of pure white walls are sandstone, new garage doors arrive soon. The first job will be assembling the saw bench and offer up a router table, and then work around this setup and see how the rest of the workshop fits in

 

[Doug B]

Looks a good space @Phillemare, happy sawdust trails.