"Anthony" wrote in message

Some Idea's:
1. Redo the slab, make it a 'floating' foundation typical of use in soft-
soil areas. (Floating foundations are built by creating a steel lattice
of the entire floor and footers, which are then all poured at one time.
This creates a solid strong structure which will withstand quite a bit of
shifting of the dirt underneath.)
2. Pour the floor at least 6" thick if you plan to put machinery on it,
8" would be better if you plan on having larger equipment in the future.
The use of fibered high-strength concrete is advisable also.
3. Install plenty of electrical service reserve capacity. If you only
need a 200 Amp service now, install a 400 Amp service to make sure you
have enough capacity for expansion in the future.
4. Install plenty of outlets.
5. Install plenty of air outlets in the pneumatic plumbing.
6. Run the pneumatic plumbing of sufficient size to allow for expansion.
(The price difference between 1/2" pipe and 3/4" pipe is not that much.)
7. Very important!.. Do a full lay-out of the shop, including ALL
equipment, power connections, pneumatics, computers, data lines, and
everything else BEFORE you start construction. Lots of headaches can be
avoided by doing this.

That's a good list.

In the grand scope of things, concrete is cheap and is a good investment.
There's no point in even considering a slab thinner than 6" for a serious
shop. Go with fiber mix and/or rebar but don't bother with wire mesh.
Doesn't help that much and at worst makes it much harder to remove.

Figure out how big a shop you need, and then either build it bigger, or make
sure the design accomodates expansion.

I'm partial to nice clean white drywall with all the utilities concealed.

In the "dense" area with the smaller machines, benches and such I'm
installing a group of 120V, 240V, 3 phase and air outlets and an empty box
with a conduit run every 4' to 6'.

Bob