I am building a shop with a concrete floor.
I think that smooth concrete would be best for the floor due to easy
cleaning.
I also think a rough finish would be better to keep from slipping.
Maybe a trade-off.
What is the consensus?

Thanks in advance

"Diamond Dave" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 04:03:04 GMT, "knowone" wrote:

I am building a shop with a concrete floor.
I think that smooth concrete would be best for the floor due to easy
cleaning.
I also think a rough finish would be better to keep from slipping.
Maybe a trade-off.
What is the consensus?

Smooth concrete with rubber floor mats where ever you'll be standing for
extended times.

I agree, but with pallets instead of mats. Pallets allow for a place for
chips to go, so you don't have to stand in or on them. You can build
something from scrap lumber. It need not be tall, just some 1" stuff will
work fine. It's not only better for chip control, but keeps you off the
hard concrete floor. That can be nice if you stand for prolonged periods,
and even nicer if your floor is cold and you don't like cold feet.

Harold

In article ,
"knowone" wrote:

I am building a shop with a concrete floor.
I think that smooth concrete would be best for the floor due to easy
cleaning.
I also think a rough finish would be better to keep from slipping.

I went with a steel-trowelled (smooth) finish, caulked the control
joints, and then painted with flat white floor paint (no traction
additives needed, the paint itself is not slippery; and it's cheap &
easy to recoat). Rolling things on a rough surface gets old, fast, as
does sweeping. I've had no trouble with slipping so far.

Insulate under and put radiant heat tubing in the slab, even if you
presently don't think you'll want to heat the slab - it's cheap and easy
at this point, expensive and a hassle to retrofit later. If it looks
expensive now, find a different supplier.

Use plenty of re-bar, bend corner pieces, and put extra in around the
doors.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

In article , knowone says...

I am building a shop with a concrete floor.
I think that smooth concrete would be best for the floor due to easy
cleaning.
I also think a rough finish would be better to keep from slipping.
Maybe a trade-off.
What is the consensus?

Will you be running coolant on any of the machines in the shop?

Water based coolant on a painted concrete floor is slippery as
hell, that would be one case where a broom finish would be
better.

Jim


--
==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at pkmfgvm4 (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================

On Sun, 04 Dec 2005 20:47:13 -0800, Harold and Susan Vordos wrote:


I agree, but with pallets instead of mats. Pallets allow for a place for
chips to go, so you don't have to stand in or on them. You can build
something from scrap lumber. It need not be tall, just some 1" stuff will
work fine. It's not only better for chip control, but keeps you off the
hard concrete floor. That can be nice if you stand for prolonged periods,
and even nicer if your floor is cold and you don't like cold feet.

Harold

I believe Harold is correct on the wooden risers to stand on. I
previously used rubber or some type of neoprene mats, the problem I
had is swarf sticking into the mat. When I switched to a harder rubber
mat, it just wasn't comfortable. I made my riser out of 2 X 2 and it works
fine,
very comfortable even after 6 or 7 hours.

knowone wrote:
I am building a shop with a concrete floor.
I think that smooth concrete would be best for the floor due to easy
cleaning.
I also think a rough finish would be better to keep from slipping.
Maybe a trade-off.
What is the consensus?

Thanks in advance


Absolutely, make it as smooth troweled as possible. A grain of sand
will cause a heavily laden metal wheeled dolly to stop or hesitate, so a
rough floor definitely will. Also, you'll never seem to get a rough
floor really clean. Slipping has never been an issue with me.

--
Gary Brady
Austin, TX
www.powdercoatoven.4t.com

Steel trowled, preferably with a machine to get the densest top surface.
Top coat with epoxy to control the oil stains.

knowone wrote:

I am building a shop with a concrete floor.
I think that smooth concrete would be best for the floor due to easy
cleaning.
I also think a rough finish would be better to keep from slipping.
Maybe a trade-off.
What is the consensus?

Thanks in advance

Absolutely, a hard trowel (smooth) finish. Heat tubes in the floor is a
great idea. Radiant heat in the floor is the most comfortable. Have your
contractor use a shake-on colored hardener when he pours the floor. My
choice would be white. You'll never have to paint the floor, because the
color is in the concrete. This isn't colored concrete. its added to the top
of the 'crete after striking off and before floating. it goes about 1/4"
deep. If your contractor doesn't know what it is or how to use it, find one
that does.
Tom
30 years in construction.
"knowone" wrote in message
.net...
I am building a shop with a concrete floor.
I think that smooth concrete would be best for the floor due to easy
cleaning.
I also think a rough finish would be better to keep from slipping.
Maybe a trade-off.
What is the consensus?

Thanks in advance

On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 04:03:04 GMT, "knowone"
wrote:

I am building a shop with a concrete floor.
I think that smooth concrete would be best for the floor due to easy
cleaning.
I also think a rough finish would be better to keep from slipping.
Maybe a trade-off.
What is the consensus?

Power troweled as smooth as possible and with no slope. It's a hell
of a lot easier to level machines on an already level surface.

Radiant floor heat is something I didn't do and kick m'self every day
for not doing. My contractor also said I didn't need a vapor barrier
or insulation under th' pour since th' ground drains so well... wish I
wouldn't have listened to that either.

Snarl

And DO NOT let them put in chloride to accelerate the curing process.
Your floor will crack. If they don't want to take the time to do it
right, find someone else. I told my contractor not to. He still did
it. Ticked me off, but there wasnt' much I could do about it that
point, once it's poured you're stuck with it.

We worked it out, but he wont' ever do work for me again.

JW


C.W. Thomas wrote:
I reccomend smooth

Let it cure for 30 days then seal or paint it.

Makes it a lot easier to clean and less dusty.

C
"knowone" wrote in message
.net...
I am building a shop with a concrete floor.
I think that smooth concrete would be best for the floor due to easy
cleaning.
I also think a rough finish would be better to keep from slipping.
Maybe a trade-off.
What is the consensus?

Thanks in advance

I reccomend smooth

Let it cure for 30 days then seal or paint it.

Makes it a lot easier to clean and less dusty.

C
"knowone" wrote in message
.net...
I am building a shop with a concrete floor.
I think that smooth concrete would be best for the floor due to easy
cleaning.
I also think a rough finish would be better to keep from slipping.
Maybe a trade-off.
What is the consensus?

Thanks in advance

"Diamond Dave" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 04:03:04 GMT, "knowone" wrote:

I am building a shop with a concrete floor.
I think that smooth concrete would be best for the floor due to easy
cleaning.
I also think a rough finish would be better to keep from slipping.
Maybe a trade-off.
What is the consensus?

Smooth concrete with rubber floor mats where ever you'll be standing for
extended times.

The next time I get a floor done I'm going to hire an artist to paint little
pictures of nuts, bolts and screws all over the floor.

On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 07:35:03 -0600, Rastus
wrote:

On Sun, 04 Dec 2005 20:47:13 -0800, Harold and Susan Vordos wrote:


I agree, but with pallets instead of mats. Pallets allow for a place for
chips to go, so you don't have to stand in or on them. You can build
something from scrap lumber. It need not be tall, just some 1" stuff will
work fine. It's not only better for chip control, but keeps you off the
hard concrete floor. That can be nice if you stand for prolonged periods,
and even nicer if your floor is cold and you don't like cold feet.

Harold

I believe Harold is correct on the wooden risers to stand on. I
previously used rubber or some type of neoprene mats, the problem I
had is swarf sticking into the mat. When I switched to a harder rubber
mat, it just wasn't comfortable. I made my riser out of 2 X 2 and it works
fine,
very comfortable even after 6 or 7 hours.

Many of the shops I service..use wooden "matts", which are no more
than 3/4" wood frames with a layer of wooden lath stapled across the
frame, spaced about 1-1.5" apart. Has some spring to it..allows you to
find the bits you dropped G and is simple to pick up and sweep
under. Size tends to be about 24" x 48" long.

Pulling up the interlocking plastic square matts is a pain in the ass
as they tend to come apart while doing it, and they can get hard with
years of oil spillage on them.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire.
Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us)
off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give
them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the **** out of you
for torturing the cat." Gunner

On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 13:46:24 GMT, Gary Brady
wrote:

knowone wrote:
I am building a shop with a concrete floor.
I think that smooth concrete would be best for the floor due to easy
cleaning.
I also think a rough finish would be better to keep from slipping.
Maybe a trade-off.
What is the consensus?

Thanks in advance


Absolutely, make it as smooth troweled as possible. A grain of sand
will cause a heavily laden metal wheeled dolly to stop or hesitate, so a
rough floor definitely will. Also, you'll never seem to get a rough
floor really clean. Slipping has never been an issue with me.


Never been in an Acme Gridley shop I take it? G

They really really require special soles on your boots.

Leather soles..instant Icecapades.....

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire.
Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us)
off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give
them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the **** out of you
for torturing the cat." Gunner

In article , Gunner Asch says...

Leather soles..instant Icecapades.....

Yeah, that shop I worked at during nights a while ago was like that.

They had a Kasto cutoff saw running full time, and the thing used
water-based coolant. The floor were like a sheet of ice.

There were a couple of times when guys would go to start pulling
a bin of parts on a pump jack, and their feet would just go out
from under them. Pretty dangerous really.

Jim


--
==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at pkmfgvm4 (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================

What a great group. I hadn't considered pallets or even heated pipe or
colored/top colored concrete.

Well, he is going to pour this week or rather pump so not sure if I can do
all of this or not. Can one use PVC for warm - not hot- water for heating
the floor?

He has the slab divided into quarters due to the center beams that will go
in.

I definitely will do the smooth finish, I am not sure that I can do the
heated floor and besides, what do you heat it with or, how do you heat the
water?

How much does the colorant cost and where does one get it?

I had planned to use rubber mats but now, after reading the suggestions, I
will build pallets - great idea.

Not planning on using coolant.

Thanks everyone.



"knowone" wrote in message
.net...
I am building a shop with a concrete floor.
I think that smooth concrete would be best for the floor due to easy
cleaning.
I also think a rough finish would be better to keep from slipping.
Maybe a trade-off.
What is the consensus?

Thanks in advance

In article et,
"knowone" wrote:

Well, he is going to pour this week or rather pump so not sure if I can do
all of this or not. Can one use PVC for warm - not hot- water for heating
the floor?

Probably not a good idea - PEX (crosslinked polyethlyene) is made for
the job, and pretty commonly available.

I definitely will do the smooth finish, I am not sure that I can do the
heated floor and besides, what do you heat it with or, how do you heat the
water?

Depending one the heat load, a hot water heater, or a hot water furnace.
Some contribution from solar panels is also a possibility.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 21:44:18 GMT, "knowone"
wrote:

What a great group. I hadn't considered pallets or even heated pipe or
colored/top colored concrete.

Well, he is going to pour this week or rather pump so not sure if I can do
all of this or not. Can one use PVC for warm - not hot- water for heating
the floor?

Nope. Do a google search on radiant floor heating, there's a ton of
info available. You may want to seriously consider rescheduling your
pour to accommodate this. I sure as hell wish I would have!

I definitely will do the smooth finish, I am not sure that I can do the
heated floor and besides, what do you heat it with or, how do you heat the
water?

Usually natural gas or propane, but it can also be done electrically.
Make a few phone calls to contractors in your area who specialize in
this. Your concrete contractor should know some as well.

From what I understand, running th' pipe correctly is pretty easy for
a DIY project. Depending on heat source and number of zones, you
might want to have that part done by a professional.

Snarl

The next time I get a floor done I'm going to hire an artist to paint little
pictures of nuts, bolts and screws all over the floor.

Nah, just get real ones, and embed them in the epoxy coating instead of
sand...
--Glenn Lyford

On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 21:44:18 GMT, "knowone" wrote:

What a great group. I hadn't considered pallets or even heated pipe or
colored/top colored concrete.

Well, he is going to pour this week or rather pump so not sure if I can do
all of this or not. Can one use PVC for warm - not hot- water for heating
the floor?

He has the slab divided into quarters due to the center beams that will go
in.

I definitely will do the smooth finish, I am not sure that I can do the
heated floor and besides, what do you heat it with or, how do you heat the
water?

How much does the colorant cost and where does one get it?

I had planned to use rubber mats but now, after reading the suggestions, I
will build pallets - great idea.

Not planning on using coolant.

Thanks everyone.



Make damn certain that the mix is as strong and low water as can be pumped. I
got a mix (in my second load) that had too much sand and too much water. This
has lead to some of the floor being decidedly soft. I am going to have to use
a hardener on it to get the finish I need. My slab is 8" concrete on top of 4"
EPS foam. I power floated it to get it as level as I could and will grind the
bits that aren't quite right with a diamond cup wheel to get the "perfect"
finish. I am planning to use an epoxy floor paint to finish it.

http://www.test-net.com/workshop/week50.html


In my Garage (pre-workshop) I built duck-boards using 2x4s and decking boards
to en able my 10 year old son to reach the lathe. These were very comfortable
to stand on. of course, he doesn't need them now, since he is now 13 and
taller than me :-(


Good luck with the project and keep us posted


Mark Rand
RTFM

On 5 Dec 2005 14:47:41 -0800, wrote:

The next time I get a floor done I'm going to hire an artist to paint little
pictures of nuts, bolts and screws all over the floor.

Nah, just get real ones, and embed them in the epoxy coating instead of
sand...
--Glenn Lyford
My Aunt (now deceased) and her daughter, my Cousin, are both artists
and work with many materials. In her house is a beautiful kitchen and
dining room. Big restaraunt stove and ovens. They painted the floor as
if it was the surface of a pond. It has many layers of clear coat. It
is so realistic that you feel as if you are walking on water. It makes
you think you will sink into it. There are fish, plants, frogs, etc.
in the water. I wish I had that floor.
ERS

There is a way of troweling that produces a very hard and smooth finish.
This prevents the floor from dusting and is much easier to
sweep/clean. No paint required. I have heard it called a "burned"
finish and I think a hardening chemical is used during the troweling. A
neighbor had his done like this and it's far superior to my own smooth,
but not "burned", floor.
Bob

On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 15:53:56 -0800, with neither quill nor qualm, Eric
R Snow quickly quoth:

On 5 Dec 2005 14:47:41 -0800, wrote:

The next time I get a floor done I'm going to hire an artist to paint little
pictures of nuts, bolts and screws all over the floor.

Nah, just get real ones, and embed them in the epoxy coating instead of
sand...
--Glenn Lyford
My Aunt (now deceased) and her daughter, my Cousin, are both artists
and work with many materials. In her house is a beautiful kitchen and
dining room. Big restaraunt stove and ovens. They painted the floor as
if it was the surface of a pond. It has many layers of clear coat. It
is so realistic that you feel as if you are walking on water. It makes
you think you will sink into it. There are fish, plants, frogs, etc.
in the water. I wish I had that floor.

I saw a picture of a tromp l'oel bathroom floor last year where the
setting was you in mid air with nothing but air and clouds below you.
It was so realistic that I'd be willing to bet it was covered in
either vomit or fainted people half the time. (I've just had no luck
finding a copy on my computer.)


----------------------------------------------------
Thesaurus: Ancient reptile with excellent vocabulary
http://diversify.com Dynamic Website Applications
================================================== ==

On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 20:16:00 GMT, "Tom Gardner"
wrote:
"Diamond Dave" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 04:03:04 GMT, "knowone" wrote:

I am building a shop with a concrete floor.
I think that smooth concrete would be best for the floor due to easy
cleaning.
I also think a rough finish would be better to keep from slipping.
Maybe a trade-off.
What is the consensus?

Smooth concrete with rubber floor mats where ever you'll be standing for
extended times.

The next time I get a floor done I'm going to hire an artist to paint little
pictures of nuts, bolts and screws all over the floor.

Nah, just get the epoxy floor coating with the color flakes that you
sprinkle on top while the top coat is still wet.

The tan epoxy with slightly darker tan sprinkles doesn't appear to
be too bad at camouflage. But if you use the light gray epoxy with
the flakes being black and three shades of gray, I can assure you
it'll be just as effective and a lot cheaper than custom painting
those scattered bolts and nuts on the floor.

(Stick with the solid color epoxy for floors that will be worked
over. I saw a garage done in gray/black today, and that was the first
thought that popped into my head - "What were they thinking?" It
looks great, till the first time you drop something. Then you're
going to go bonkers.)

-- Bruce --

--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.

Larry Jaques wrote:


I saw a picture of a tromp l'oel bathroom floor last year where the
setting was you in mid air with nothing but air and clouds below you.
It was so realistic that I'd be willing to bet it was covered in
either vomit or fainted people half the time. (I've just had no luck
finding a copy on my computer.)


You mean this one? (watch out for line wrap)

http://www.catholic-convert.com/Port...7/Bathroom.jpg


technomaNge
--
"Subject: human YOUR D!CK IS TOO SMALL, BIGGER IT NOW purpose"
Funny spam subject line. I wonder if they also send spam to
non-human addresses.

On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 23:16:41 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm,
technomaNge quickly quoth:

Larry Jaques wrote:


I saw a picture of a tromp l'oel bathroom floor last year where the
setting was you in mid air with nothing but air and clouds below you.
It was so realistic that I'd be willing to bet it was covered in
either vomit or fainted people half the time. (I've just had no luck
finding a copy on my computer.)


You mean this one? (watch out for line wrap)

http://www.catholic-convert.com/Port...7/Bathroom.jpg

YES, that's it! Isn't that a -great- floor?

P.S: I meant "trompe l'oeil" there, too.


----------------------------------------------------
Thesaurus: Ancient reptile with excellent vocabulary
http://diversify.com Dynamic Website Applications
================================================== ==

Well, he is going to pour this week or rather pump so not sure if I can do
all of this or not. Can one use PVC for warm - not hot- water for heating
the floor?

Probably not a good idea - PEX (crosslinked polyethlyene) is made for
the job, and pretty commonly available.

PEX is pretty cheap and can be gotten at nearly any major hardware
store now. 1/2" should run you about $.20/ft. For a shop you can go
pretty wide at about 15" centers on the loops. Figure ~ 1' for 1sq ft
and you will come out pretty close.

If you have big doors(garage doors, etc) or areas where you know you
will have higher heat loss, put a higher concentration(8-10") there and
if possible try to make them the hot end of the loop.

Each circuit should be no more than 250' for a practical limit. 300'
is a max without having to go to a high pressure pump. If you need
multiple loops, try to keep them similar lengths. It will avoid having
to add balancing valves and other stuff.

Do a google on radiant heat and design and you will find plenty of good
info.

I have a 80gal water heater that I rewired to use both elements
simultaneously. My electric bill goes up about $50 in the winter.
This is Minnesota winter, so it's a pretty good load. An electric
boiler would be smaller. Debatably more efficient.

FYI: Figure it will take 2 days to do everything. One day to prep the
base and lay down all of the foam and make sure it's all correct. 1
day to layout the lines. Depends on the crew, but it's not hard to do
just time consuming. If you have a drawn out plan and make marks on
the foam and then have someone put in clips it's easy to follow back
again with the PEX line.

I definitely will do the smooth finish, I am not sure that I can do the
heated floor and besides, what do you heat it with or, how do you heat the
water?
It's up to you, but for $2-300 to have the easy option to add heated
floor, would be worth it to me. Heated floor is REALLY nice, and you
are going to have to add some sort of heat eventually.


Depending one the heat load, a hot water heater, or a hot water furnace.
Some contribution from solar panels is also a possibility.

I vote for smooth. But nobody has mentioned strength yet. My concrete
always used to crack until I went to 4000-4500 psi concrete and 6 ionch
thick floors with fiberglass. Many contractors don't seem to want to
even discuss higher strength concrete- I think they are afraid that
since it costs more, you will go find someone else.

My latest shop has all of the above. The concrete is sitting on top of
2 inches of high density foam and had 2" foam 2 feet deep imbedded all
the way around the edges.

Pete Stanaitis
-----------------

Ecnerwal wrote:
In article ,
"knowone" wrote:


I am building a shop with a concrete floor.
I think that smooth concrete would be best for the floor due to easy
cleaning.
I also think a rough finish would be better to keep from slipping.


I went with a steel-trowelled (smooth) finish, caulked the control
joints, and then painted with flat white floor paint (no traction
additives needed, the paint itself is not slippery; and it's cheap &
easy to recoat). Rolling things on a rough surface gets old, fast, as
does sweeping. I've had no trouble with slipping so far.

Insulate under and put radiant heat tubing in the slab, even if you
presently don't think you'll want to heat the slab - it's cheap and easy
at this point, expensive and a hassle to retrofit later. If it looks
expensive now, find a different supplier.

Use plenty of re-bar, bend corner pieces, and put extra in around the
doors.

On Tue, 06 Dec 2005 10:51:30 -0600, spaco wrote:

I vote for smooth. But nobody has mentioned strength yet. My concrete
always used to crack until I went to 4000-4500 psi concrete and 6 ionch
thick floors with fiberglass. Many contractors don't seem to want to
even discuss higher strength concrete- I think they are afraid that
since it costs more, you will go find someone else.

LOL. This reminds me of when I had a large pole barn built.
I had 3 bays 14X16. I told the cement contractor to leave the fourth
bay with just a gravel floor, as I wanted to park my Cat D-8 in
there. He told me I wouldn't have any problem parking it on
6 inch reinforced concrete. He said if I cracked it he would replace
that section at his expense. You can guess what happened when I
pulled the D-8 in there. I didn't force him to replace the concrete,
I just had him bust it out of there and replace with gravel like
I wanted in the first place.

Rastus wrote:
On Tue, 06 Dec 2005 10:51:30 -0600, spaco wrote:

I vote for smooth. But nobody has mentioned strength yet. My concrete
always used to crack until I went to 4000-4500 psi concrete and 6 ionch
thick floors with fiberglass. Many contractors don't seem to want to
even discuss higher strength concrete- I think they are afraid that
since it costs more, you will go find someone else.

LOL. This reminds me of when I had a large pole barn built.
I had 3 bays 14X16. I told the cement contractor to leave the fourth
bay with just a gravel floor, as I wanted to park my Cat D-8 in
there. He told me I wouldn't have any problem parking it on
6 inch reinforced concrete. He said if I cracked it he would replace
that section at his expense. You can guess what happened when I
pulled the D-8 in there. I didn't force him to replace the concrete,
I just had him bust it out of there and replace with gravel like
I wanted in the first place.

6" - for a D8?. Wow. I wouldn't have made the claim that guy did. I
would think given enough time to cure and a really solid base, you
"might" be ok. I wouldn't guarantee that it woudn't. 8" would be the
minimum. You can get some pretty good point loads on a steel tracked
crawler.

I agree with the glass thing though. Even if you do add glass, I would
still recommend, at the minimum, wire and for good insurance rebar.
Rebar is cheap. A ton is $80, at least around here. A ton of 1/2
rebar will go a long way.

JW

"jw" wrote in message
oups.com...
snip-------

I agree with the glass thing though. Even if you do add glass, I would
still recommend, at the minimum, wire and for good insurance rebar.
Rebar is cheap. A ton is $80, at least around here. A ton of 1/2
rebar will go a long way.

JW


Wow, JW, have you checked prices lately? They're paying more than that for
steel scrap. The Chinese have driven the markets out of sight.

Harold

"knowone" wrote in message
nk.net...

How much does the colorant cost and where does one get it?
Google 'concrete dry shake color' There's a bunch of info on the web. Your
contractor should be able to get it for you. It is dusted on before the
floating operation.
Good luck,
Tom

Thanks. I did Google it and I would need over 1200 pounds of the stuff.

The contractor is pumping Thursday so it is too late for that and the
heating pipe.

I appreciate everyone's help.



"Tom Wait" wrote in message
m...

"knowone" wrote in message
nk.net...

How much does the colorant cost and where does one get it?
Google 'concrete dry shake color' There's a bunch of info on the web. Your
contractor should be able to get it for you. It is dusted on before the
floating operation.
Good luck,
Tom

I used to visit a PCB fab shop. This was in the 70's.
The entire shop was built up on pallets - so the runoff wouldn't
flow on their shoes. I think the floor was dipped to the center with
a large drain...

Hose down to flush whatever down. The ugly days before OSHA cleaned up those shops.
(one of the good things they did)
Martin Eastburn
@ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder



Harold and Susan Vordos wrote:
"Diamond Dave" wrote in message
...

On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 04:03:04 GMT, "knowone" wrote:


I am building a shop with a concrete floor.
I think that smooth concrete would be best for the floor due to easy
cleaning.
I also think a rough finish would be better to keep from slipping.
Maybe a trade-off.
What is the consensus?

Smooth concrete with rubber floor mats where ever you'll be standing for
extended times.


I agree, but with pallets instead of mats. Pallets allow for a place for
chips to go, so you don't have to stand in or on them. You can build
something from scrap lumber. It need not be tall, just some 1" stuff will
work fine. It's not only better for chip control, but keeps you off the
hard concrete floor. That can be nice if you stand for prolonged periods,
and even nicer if your floor is cold and you don't like cold feet.

Harold



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Harold and Susan Vordos wrote:
"jw" wrote in message
oups.com...
snip-------

I agree with the glass thing though. Even if you do add glass, I would
still recommend, at the minimum, wire and for good insurance rebar.
Rebar is cheap. A ton is $80, at least around here. A ton of 1/2
rebar will go a long way.

JW


Wow, JW, have you checked prices lately? They're paying more than that for
steel scrap. The Chinese have driven the markets out of sight.

Harold

That's what I paid for it about 2 months ago.

Just set a pad for a new(to me) grain bin.

Our scrap steel/iron used to be around $150/ton. Now it's down to
about $60.

Concrete(for reference) was only $74/yd. I was surprised by that. I
thought for sure it would have been closer to $100. That was for
"standard" 3000psi 6" slump.

JW

"jw" wrote in message
oups.com...

Harold and Susan Vordos wrote:
"jw" wrote in message
oups.com...
snip-------

I agree with the glass thing though. Even if you do add glass, I
would
still recommend, at the minimum, wire and for good insurance rebar.
Rebar is cheap. A ton is $80, at least around here. A ton of 1/2
rebar will go a long way.

JW


Wow, JW, have you checked prices lately? They're paying more than that
for
steel scrap. The Chinese have driven the markets out of sight.

Harold

That's what I paid for it about 2 months ago.

Just set a pad for a new(to me) grain bin.

Our scrap steel/iron used to be around $150/ton. Now it's down to
about $60.

Concrete(for reference) was only $74/yd. I was surprised by that. I
thought for sure it would have been closer to $100. That was for
"standard" 3000psi 6" slump.

JW


I'm not really up to speed on prices, but this link appears to value scrap
steel higher, although there are some varieties that go for even lower
prices.

http://www.recycle.net/Metal-I/scrap/index.html

Regards concrete, I think it's regional. I was pleasantly surprised to find
that I could purchase concrete for building our shop and house for prices
that were comparable to those I paid in the early 80's when I lived
elsewhere. We're paying about $70 for six sack mix.

Harold