New Workshop - old floor

[VornCreative]

Hi all,

New to the forum, and have began my journey into Woodworking with my first little workshop. (I out-grew my old "covered workbench" at home). I spent the weekend clearing out the previous occupants stuff, and in the process of dismantling the old units. However I'm a little stumped what to do with the floor.

It's an old building that was used for storage, the floor on one half seems to be cobbles/stones & the other is old brick. It's solid, but un-even, and ideally I need a level floor for some of the thing's I'll be making.

Does anyone have any (ideally low-cost) ideas? I was thinking of making a floating floor by leveling joists & putting down thick OSB or similar.

Any help is appreciated!
Craig

 

[MikeG.]

Welcome. That looks a beautiful building. Have you some photos of the outside? Is your house Listed?

 

[That would work]

It may be inconvenient, but its a lovely floor... shame to cover it!

 

[Selwyn]

Seems a shame.

Rubber tiles?

 

[That would work]

I would be thinking of concrete pads to place machines on and 'rubber' mats where you want to work.

 

[Inspector]

Self levelling concrete/grout would do it if allowed and you would loose the least amount of headroom. That floor would be an interior designers =P~ delight here. I can see why you would want it smooth and levelled though. A beast to keep clean, impossible to roll heavy stuff over and maybe even tripping on it if you aren't surefooted. My problem. :roll:

Pete

 

[MikeG.]

Self levelling concrete/grout would do it if allowed.......

That's why I asked if the building was Listed. If it was, then that wouldn't be allowed. It's in York, where there are umpteen Listed buildings.

 

[VornCreative]

Hi all,

Thanks for the comments! It is a beautiful old building, definitely in the need of some TLC. It's been used as storage on a farm/stately home for a few years. Interestingly the smaller sliding doors open out into further units left & right of my workshop, currently they're just used for storage as well. I'm in the process of renovating the whole workshop - so it may be worth doing a "workshop log" on here to show progress!

The floor is great, but it's a classic "stone on dirt" style build, that undulates quite a bit towards the rear. It has a layer of mud/guano on it already that I would like to remove!

Spoke to a few local suppliers & friends, and the plan is so far to put down a timber framed floor consisting of a tanalised frame (I can get this free/low cost through my current job) & then P5 Chipboard flooring on top (again dropped lucky with this, the local builders merchant will give me damaged boards for free. First phase will to do this on the rear half of the workshop where the undulation is the worst, finishing where the small alcoves begin.

Luckily head-height isn't an issue here, and I'm leaning towards timber due to it being a bit warmer, easier to sweep & I can secure things down easier. Plus in total I can board the first half for around £100!

Thoughts?

 

[MikeG.]

Yep, that's the right answer. Two things to remember/ take account of. Firstly, you will need good ventilation under the floorboards (and you'll need to keep vermin out) You need to create air paths such that air can get in at one end and out of the other. Dead air is a nightmare in a building, and even worse where you have the potential at least of having damp.

Secondly, chipboard is extremely slippery with sawdust. You will need to manage sawdust extremely effectively in there, because you will go base over apex otherwise.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I can recommend Caberfloor as a top layer. Hard-wearing and non-slip. I did mine with it and would do the same again in a heartbeat.
S

 

[VornCreative]

I can recommend Caberfloor as a top layer. Hard-wearing and non-slip. I did mine with it and would do the same again in a heartbeat.
S

Hi Steve - it'll be Caberfloor I'm using! Seem's a good option.

Yep, that's the right answer. Two things to remember/ take account of. Firstly, you will need good ventilation under the floorboards (and you'll need to keep vermin out) You need to create air paths such that air can get in at one end and out of the other. Dead air is a nightmare in a building, and even worse where you have the potential at least of having damp.

Secondly, chipboard is extremely slippery with sawdust. You will need to manage sawdust extremely effectively in there, because you will go base over apex otherwise.

I'll keep that in mind Mike, thanks for the that! I'll also look at some non-slip options, I am tempted to pva coat it, then apply a non-slip paint or similar.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Caberfloor comes with a PU top layer. It's already sealed and is non-slip. No need for any treatment at all, just lay it down and walk on it.

 

[VornCreative]

Caberfloor comes with a PU top layer. It's already sealed and is non-slip. No need for any treatment at all, just lay it down and walk on it.

Perfect! I'm oversight from myself

 

[VornCreative]

Hi all,

Thought I'd give you a quick update of the floor in question.

I made a frame from pressure treated timber and levelled it with "stumps" I scribed from below. I boarded it with 22mm P5 flooring sheet from the local BM (i got 5 sheets free!). Many screws later and I have a solid, level & slightly warmer workshop floor.

I've only done half of the space for now, depending on my requirements in the future I'll look at extending it further. Next on the list is to make some hardware, timber & general storage on the shorter wall with the missing floor panel.

Cheers

 

[VornCreative]

Another Update!

Recycled some bits of chipboard & other materials to make up some units on the back wall. I plan to use all this as storage, with 2 banks of 4 drawers in-between the cupboards.

Next up is sorting a top (thinking 18mm MDF), as well as drawer boxes & fronts. I plan to mount some sheets of OSB to the wall to have some french cleat storage (perhaps a over-counter cupboard or two for glue etc), but first I need to figure a way to actually fix it!

Cheers

 

[VornCreative]

A march update:

Lots of progress, added drawers, a top & some cupboard doors to the rear units. As well as a tool board that I'm toying with the idea of a shallow wall mounted cabinet on to hold paints/finishes etc. To the right of that is "tea facilities" and a shelf unit I'm making for different short lengths of wood.

More wall storage & mitre station next.

Cheers