New shop. Wood floor or concrete slab?

[LeeB]

Alas, due to Lindy's health, we had to move to a single story home on flatter ground. I had to give up my shop and will now build a new one. Looking for pros and cons of wood floor versus concrete. Any opinions?  :P

[Weekend_Sawyer]

My father worked in a machine shop that had 4x4s cut into 2" pieces and laid like tile. it was a really cool looking floor and he said it was much more comfortable to stand on for 8 hours a day.

[LeeB]

wood on top of concrete, like tiles?

[Hilltop366]

For just wood working I would use a wood as I find it a lot easier on the feet and legs, I did end up putting a concrete floor in my shop because I also want to be able to weld and work on my tractor in it.

One of the bad things about a concrete floor in the winter is it tends to make my feet cold rather quickly so to help I put in-floor heat, one of the good things about concrete in the summer is it helps keep the shop cooler.

Pricing out both might help you make up your mind.

[Den Socling]

Yes, if you use concrete, put in radiant heat. It's easy and a warm floor = warm feet = warm feeling.

[YellowHammer]

Concrete is my preference, more for the ease of clean up and the fire prevention issues. 

[Larry]

Alas, due to Lindy's health, we had to move to a single story home on flatter ground.

One of the reasons we moved and built a new house.  The house is on a slab, 3/4" plywood, than real hardwood floors throughout except for tile in bathrooms and kitchen.  Floors are easy on the feet and I don't think cold at all.  Have a conventional heat pump for HVAC.  Its an expensive floor.

Shop floor is concrete.  A lot of guys buy foam mats to put down so I tried that idea.  Helped with cold floors and easier on the feet.  I lot of my machines are on wheels and the mats proved to be a pita for me.  Several machines are close to 2,000 pounds so need a lot of support.  I would go with concrete again if I had a do-over.  Good shoes help a lot.  I would consider hot water heat in the floor.

Eureka Springs School of the Arts just broke ground for a new wood shop.  I think they are doing some kind of wood over concrete.  If your in the area swing by and take a look.

[woodworker9]

My shop, since I built it 16 years ago, has a concrete floor.  Great for moving heavy machinery around inside with a pallet jack, and for parking my truck or boat inside for working on it, but not so great on this aging back of mine. 

A very good friend of mine has a wood floor in his commercial furniture shop, and I absolutely love it.  I'm getting ready to build another workshop on my property, dedicated solely to woodworking, and my current shop will transition into staying the metalworking shop ( I have a large Monarch lathe, Kearney and Trecker universal mill, and other metalworking machinery that is very heavy), as well as OWWM restoration shop.

I find it necessary to keep my woodworking business and materials separate from the machine shop stuff, as oil and sawdust make seriously bad company together.  My new woodshop will have a wood floor, at least in the bench and finishing and assembly area's.  The machine area will be up for debate, but my pallet jack will roll around nicely on a hardwood floor, as long as it's pretty smooth.  I've been cutting a ton of ash that I get for free from the tree guys and will be turning it into flooring for the new shop.

[David Freed]

For many years, and several times recently, I've heard people complain about back/leg/foot pain from working on a concrete floor. That's why I went with a OSB on wood joist floor.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,92454.msg1427753.html#msg1427753

[bluthum]

I built my wood shop 34 years ago with a wood floor. It's true you can't weld or drive in there but I figure these activities belong in their designated areas anyway. It is a very comfortable space and I over built the floor a bit so  the few really heavy tools in there can be accommodated. The big stuff does have to be in certain places so  organization is slightly compromised. Only big drawback to me is you can't stack big piles of boards. A 3 foot or more tall stack of unstickered lumber gets pretty heavy...... 

If I had to rebuild I'd have trouble deciding on wood vs. concrete, both have their pros and cons. 

[red]

Weekend Sawyer is referring to End Grain Flooring . . we have talked about it a few times  . . great for machine shops and some people run electric thru the floor to each work station

[LeeB]

The electric through the floor seems like a really big plus but I always wonder about dust collecting in the sockets and creating a fire hazard. Any thoughts or experience on this point?

[rjwoelk]

Here in Canada you can go floor mount plugins with brass place covers , that what I was told by a log house builder. He had them in the floor so he did not have to drill through his logs. Not sure why the Brass covers. ???  If you over build your floor  you should have no problems with heavy equipment.

[Just Me]

I work about half in the shop, half on site. On site is always wood floors, shop is concrete. Wood floors hands down.

I have a pole barn I am going to convert to the shop when money permits, and it will be a hybrid. Concrete inside the garage door, then mostly wood with a couple of concrete machine bases for heavy tools.

[LeeB]

As appealing as the wood floors sound, I'll probably go with a slab. Still not 100% decided though.

[OneWithWood]

Wood floors are nice but concrete affords a lot more options - especially when it comes to holding weight.  You can always put down anti-fatigue mats over the concrete.

[LeeB]

I've been walking and working on iron and concrete all my life. I guess I can handle it for a little while longer. I still have time to think about it. The new shop won't be going up any time real soon. Too many other things to build first, hay barns and critter sheds.

[DDW_OR]

I put in a 30x64x12 pole barn with gravel floor.(cheaper on taxes)
then inside on the back wall i am putting in my 16x30 wood shop with plywood floors covered with rolled linoleum. putting one electric floor socket for the table saw with a dust collector connection.


 

the well house will be used to handle all of the food products from the chicken coop, and Honey extraction from my 4 hives.