Workshop floor advice please

I worked in the large Aircraft Hangar at Brize Norton for a number of years, it has underfloor heating, it mind sound luxurious but it is not pleasant to spend all day standing on it, your feet and ankles do suffer, given a choice I would steer well clear of underfloor heating for any workspace. Dave W

I have been involved in a few large workshops and they were screeded in 40Nm concrete with fibres mixed in for extra strength. These were 40 to 50 mm thick on top of a double mesh concrete base about 300 mm thick. This was left at least a month go cure before the screed was applied. We finnished the surface with an epoxy resin surface paint after another month of setting. The working areas had a rubber mat go stand on about 10mm thick.

David

Thanks again for all your guidance and experience.

Whilst I like the idea of a 'plastic' floor (especially the epoxy resin), I think a cementitious (that's a new word for me!) screed is probably going to be the best final solution. But the jury is still out. Today the hardwall plastering began. That will be completed tomorrow. Then whilst it dries, the electrician and then plumber will be doing their bits. So I have plenty of time to come to a firm decision on the floor finish.

I must have walked on of thousands factory and laboratory floors during my time on this earth. I just wish I paid more attention to them now....

Gerry

My shed floor has 50mm bearers on top of the concrete base with insulation between them. On top of that they laid 19mm wood floor boards. I then added 9mm ply over the top and then used floor paint. It’s nice underfoot - certainly far better than the bare concrete I’ve had before, and easy to keep clean. I wouldn’t hesitate to use this method again if I move house.

Hi guys

My workshop was a concrete garage which now has a new wing courtesy of panels from another donor concrete garage. There was already a large concrete hardstanding so no need for fresh concrete. However' the new section stood on a slope and had a furrow in its middle which needed levelling. Two independent builders advised using a latex levelling compound which I finally got around to doing last weekend. I first fixed a length of 19mm ply to the original garage floor which will also have levelling compound added once its clear of junk. The compound went down well and is now cured, need to wait about a month before it can be painted. I was advised to use No Nonsense levelling compound, there are a couple of grades, I have used the one that ranges from 3mm to 50mm in depth, the later being the max depth in one pour, you can add more. I followed the guide and used a SBR primer to seal the concrete first. Only time will tell if the builders were right but accorfing to them this stuff is very hard. The reason for the ply was to both stop the compound from spreading below the 3mm onto the garage floor and also give me a lip of more than 3mm for the next stage to meet.

Hope this is of interest.

Pete

Yes Pete, that was useful. My builder also said that latex based materials were hard. I didn't quite believe him but I've dug up the relevant standards (BS13813 etc) and they do seem to be pretty strong !

oh and interestingly their hardness builds up steadily with time so one needs to wait a month before they are at their best.