On Monday, April 25, 2016 at 1:46:49 PM UTC-4, Fredd Wright wrote:
On Monday, April 25, 2016 at 1:20:57 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Monday, April 25, 2016 at 12:56:59 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Mon, 25 Apr 2016 07:42:27 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

On Monday, April 25, 2016 at 10:23:41 AM UTC-4, dadiOH wrote:
Fredd Wright wrote:
On Monday, April 25, 2016 at 7:56:03 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Monday, April 25, 2016 at 7:39:04 AM UTC-4, dadiOH wrote:
Fredd Wright wrote:
On Sunday, April 24, 2016 at 9:00:08 PM UTC-4, whit3rd wrote:
On Saturday, April 23, 2016 at 3:01:51 PM UTC-7, Fredd Wright
wrote:
I have a crawlspace in the basement that has a dirt floor right
now. I'd like to lay some sheets of 4x8 plywood (or other
material) on it to make a surface suitable for crawling on or
putting things on.

For crawling, a few planks of 1/2" plywood (exterior) would be
useful.
For storage, consider that you'd like ventilation around the
stored
items; I'd try some old pallets, with optional 'wood preservative'
painted on (they won't weather, so stain or real paint are a
waste).
I'm lazy, I just strap on some knee pads and a hard hat when it's
time to crawl.

Good ideas here. I have to admit that when i first posted, i
wasn't
thinking about the termite angle. I like the idea of the concrete
but i have a feeling i'd make a mess of it as i don't know what i'm
doing. However, the paver idea sounds interesting. I priced it and
the pavers cost the same per square foot as 3/4" plywood and they
would last indefinitely. However, that's also something i've never
done. Do i just level the ground and lay the pavers on top letting
gravity keep them in place or is there something else i need to do
to
secure them?

Use pressure treated ply and termite concerns go away.

Around here - central Florida - a sheet of PT 1/2" x 4' x 8' is
about 25
bucks. That's about $0.78 sq/ft; pavers run from about $2.00 sq/ft
up. An
exception is a 12" x 12" x 1 3/4" concrete "stepping stone"' that
is $1.31.

My experience with PT ply is that it will cup unless well secured.
Pavers are a great idea. Place over a vapor barrier such as 6mil
visqueen on leveled grade. You could always spread sand or quarry
fines on top of the existing soil to make leveling more easy, but in
your application, I really don't see where that is necessary. I
would keep an eye on your local craigslist for pavers. Around here
they are pretty plentiful...

I'm in NJ. 1' square pavers (or "step stones") are about $1.56 each.
Not out of the question. visqueen will add about $100. What does
the plastic do? What would be the downside if i just decided to
level the ground and put pavers right on top of it? Do you put
anything between the pavers in the cracks (i.e. like grout in
bathroom tiles)?

You don't need visqueen. You don't need anything under the stepping
stones...just use the back side of a rake to level the ground to a
reasonable degree. You don't need anything in the joints, they aren't going
to move; the exception might be those along an edge if you push them while
crawling around. In that case, just put them back. Or, cut some rebar into
1' lengths and hammer one into the ground at the side of and below the top
side of each stepping stone (I wouldn't bother).

Somone mentioned that ply would warp. It will. So?

"So" will depend on how much warpage, the use of the space, what is stored
on it, etc.

If there is a need to slide items to get them in or out or get to items
behind other items, raised edges (or middles) of warped plywood could make
that very difficult.

Excessive warpage could certainly make crawling around more difficult.