Moved last year to a place with no shop so I need to build one now
that most everything else is done. It will be concrete slab on grade.
I will use 2 X 4 sleepers on the concrete with plywood over the
sleepers.
My last shop was done this way and I liked being able to run airlines
and some wiring under the floor.
Somewhere I saw a picture of a shop with a plywood floor and the
plywood had 2 or 3 coats of poly on it.
Anyone on the list use this approach.

Jim

On Thursday, February 18, 2016 at 4:42:14 PM UTC-6, swalker wrote:
Moved last year to a place with no shop so I need to build one now
that most everything else is done. It will be concrete slab on grade.
I will use 2 X 4 sleepers on the concrete with plywood over the
sleepers.
My last shop was done this way and I liked being able to run airlines
and some wiring under the floor.

Assuming that you did this earlier, your actual question isn't about power access hidden in the floor. I have seen this in commercial applications and thought it was pretty slick.

Somewhere I saw a picture of a shop with a plywood floor and the
plywood had 2 or 3 coats of poly on it.
Anyone on the list use this approach.

Use the right kind of plywood, and coat it with a real floor coating. Regular poly isn't close to being abrasion resistant enough to make a good choice for coating.

You have a lot of choices in clear floor coatings, and even paint. When I was a kid there were several old shops I was in that had the wood floors painted with "deck paint" that was a super hard oil based enamel used on metal and wood at that time. It wore great and was easily repaired or renewable. With the newer products sold as "deck paint" or "deck coating" meant to coat and do minor crack filling on your backyard home deck, these products are more likely to be found as "marine deck paint" or "boat deck paint".

Robert

On Thu, 18 Feb 2016 15:54:41 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

On Thursday, February 18, 2016 at 4:42:14 PM UTC-6, swalker wrote:
Moved last year to a place with no shop so I need to build one now
that most everything else is done. It will be concrete slab on grade.
I will use 2 X 4 sleepers on the concrete with plywood over the
sleepers.
My last shop was done this way and I liked being able to run airlines
and some wiring under the floor.

Assuming that you did this earlier, your actual question isn't about power access hidden in the floor. I have seen this in commercial applications and thought it was pretty slick.

Somewhere I saw a picture of a shop with a plywood floor and the
plywood had 2 or 3 coats of poly on it.
Anyone on the list use this approach.

Use the right kind of plywood, and coat it with a real floor coating. Regular poly isn't close to being abrasion resistant enough to make a good choice for coating.

You have a lot of choices in clear floor coatings, and even paint. When I was a kid there were several old shops I was in that had the wood floors painted with "deck paint" that was a super hard oil based enamel used on metal and wood at that time. It wore great and was easily repaired or renewable. With the newer products sold as "deck paint" or "deck coating" meant to coat and do minor crack filling on your backyard home deck, these products are more likely to be found as "marine deck paint" or "boat deck paint".

Robert



Marine grade coating would probably work although the price of
anything "marine" is going to be very expensive. I probably need to
visit a store that sells coatings for hardwood floors.

Jim

I'd take pictures and with measurements.
Once sheeted, you might need to find a board to tie to or a raceway.

I did that on my library.

Martin

On 2/18/2016 4:41 PM, swalker wrote:

Moved last year to a place with no shop so I need to build one now
that most everything else is done. It will be concrete slab on grade.
I will use 2 X 4 sleepers on the concrete with plywood over the
sleepers.
My last shop was done this way and I liked being able to run airlines
and some wiring under the floor.
Somewhere I saw a picture of a shop with a plywood floor and the
plywood had 2 or 3 coats of poly on it.
Anyone on the list use this approach.

Jim

On Thu, 18 Feb 2016 16:41:59 -0600, swalker wrote:

I should have been clear in my question.

I didn't think about what plywood to use but comments on this would be
welcome.

And what kind of coating to use.

I used porch/deck paint before and it didn't hold up well but at the
time the shop floor got a whole lot more abuse than this one will.

Jim


Moved last year to a place with no shop so I need to build one now
that most everything else is done. It will be concrete slab on grade.
I will use 2 X 4 sleepers on the concrete with plywood over the
sleepers.
My last shop was done this way and I liked being able to run airlines
and some wiring under the floor.
Somewhere I saw a picture of a shop with a plywood floor and the
plywood had 2 or 3 coats of poly on it.
Anyone on the list use this approach.

Jim

On Fri, 19 Feb 2016 09:29:43 -0600
swalker wrote:

On Thu, 18 Feb 2016 16:41:59 -0600, swalker wrote:

I should have been clear in my question.

budget is always important

but there are one or two places that sell used data center raised
flooring

meant for heavy stuff and traffic but not sure about a dusty environ

probably not cheap but it is modular


if you go plywood you would want to use the best you can afford
and be prepared to maintain the floor

how much head space do you have because if you have enough you
could go with 2x6 or 2x8 etc and have some storage in the floor

Electric Comet wrote in news:na7f67$li3$1
@dont-email.me:

On Fri, 19 Feb 2016 09:29:43 -0600
swalker wrote:

On Thu, 18 Feb 2016 16:41:59 -0600, swalker wrote:

I should have been clear in my question.

budget is always important

but there are one or two places that sell used data center raised
flooring

meant for heavy stuff and traffic but not sure about a dusty environ

probably not cheap but it is modular


if you go plywood you would want to use the best you can afford
and be prepared to maintain the floor

how much head space do you have because if you have enough you
could go with 2x6 or 2x8 etc and have some storage in the floor

One more question to consider... And this time with punctuation. :-)

How are you going to remove the pieces of the floor when you need to get
to the stuff underneath? A 4x8 sheet of plywood is awfully big...

Puckdropper

On Fri, 19 Feb 2016 17:00:20 +0000, Puckdropper wrote:

How are you going to remove the pieces of the floor when you need to get
to the stuff underneath? A 4x8 sheet of plywood is awfully big...

That's an important point. Almost requires some sort of modular flooring
in smaller sizes (32"x32"?). Or a preternatural ability to know all
future electrical requirements :-).

If moving equipment around is not a requirement, I'd just seal the
plywood and put down some sort of resilient flooring or mats.


--
When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and
carrying a cross.

On 2/19/2016 11:00 AM, Puckdropper wrote:
One more question to consider... And this time with punctuation.:-)

How are you going to remove the pieces of the floor when you need to get
to the stuff underneath? A 4x8 sheet of plywood is awfully big...

Pretty sure Captain Obvious will have a "goes-without-saying",
non-punctuated, answer for you. lol

--
eWoodShop: www.eWoodShop.com
Wood Shop: www.e-WoodShop.net
https://www.google.com/+eWoodShop
https://plus.google.com/+KarlCaillouet/posts
http://www.custommade.com/by/ewoodshop/
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)

On Fri, 19 Feb 2016 11:51:01 -0600, Swingman wrote:

On 2/19/2016 11:00 AM, Puckdropper wrote:
One more question to consider... And this time with punctuation.:-)

How are you going to remove the pieces of the floor when you need to get
to the stuff underneath? A 4x8 sheet of plywood is awfully big...

I hadn't considered the need to get underneath because in 17 years in
my last shop I never had a reason to. The airlines were copper pipe
and the wiring never a problem.

I should ponder this some more but removing a sheet of plywood is
possible unless it is T&G. Might need some help even then.

On Thu, 18 Feb 2016 16:41:59 -0600
swalker wrote:

I will use 2 X 4 sleepers on the concrete with plywood over the
sleepers.

fyi raised floors in data centers are fast becoming obsolete so maybe
you can find a data center that is converting back to slab and fan walls

is your equipment stationary

if it is then you could have grates and dust collectors in the floor

you might be the envy of the woodworking community

Data center raised flooring is very often concrete filled metal panels sitting in a gridwork of steel framing on pedestals adhered to the slab at precise locations...special vacuum/suction cup lifters are usually required to set and/or lift and the panels are HEAVY (with plenty of punctuation)
A link to typical installation follows:
https://www.accessfloorsystems.com/i...llation-guide/

On Friday, February 19, 2016 at 1:33:30 PM UTC-5, Electric Comet wrote:
On Thu, 18 Feb 2016 16:41:59 -0600
swalker wrote:

I will use 2 X 4 sleepers on the concrete with plywood over the
sleepers.

fyi raised floors in data centers are fast becoming obsolete so maybe
you can find a data center that is converting back to slab and fan walls

is your equipment stationary

if it is then you could have grates and dust collectors in the floor

you might be the envy of the woodworking community

wrote in message
...

Data center raised flooring is very often concrete filled metal panels
sitting in a gridwork of steel framing on pedestals adhered to the slab at
precise locations...special vacuum/suction cup lifters are usually
required to set and/or lift and the panels are HEAVY (with plenty of
punctuation)
A link to typical installation follows:
https://www.accessfloorsystems.com/i...llation-guide/

An issue with raised flooring that may come into play with this shop is the
amount of head room available and the height difference between the doors
and the raised floor... raised floors from computer centers burn up a lot
of space. Not that this couldn't be designed around but it would drive the
cost up. The 2X sleepers would be a cost effective alternative and still
provide chases for wiring and air lines. The raised floor system might be
justified however if an extensive dust collection piping system were to be
constructed under it... there was no mention of that in the OP's message
however.

Depending upon the climate it may make sense to insulate the floor system...
or at least provide a thermal break by putting sill sealer foam between the
sleepers and concrete. This can make a big difference in comfort and in the
air conditioning costs (heating and/or cooling).

Re the flooring, 3/4" T&G subflooring on 2x4 sleepers is a good start.
Depending upon how good the concrete job turns out, if you want a truly flat
floor you will may have to scribe the sleepers but that is not a big deal. I
had my sons scribe a 16x22 foot room for me when they were about 7 and 9
years old... After the first sleeper I didn't check any more as it was
perfect. I just cut what they marked using my bandsaw. They did a fine job
(they were a lot closer to the floor back then!). I also left the floor
independent of the walls with a small gap that was insulated. The drywall
and baseboard covers the gap. A similar approach could be used in a shop to
leave access to the chases for future runs... maybe a 1x4 or 1x6 border that
is screwed down? A flat level floor can be handy for getting bench and tool
top heights to match and co-planer and it is real handy to have a flat and
level floor when assembling things. Finish... I'd probably use a good floor
paint after priming with tinted primer (to help hide future scratches). I
put poly on a couple sheet good shop floors in the past and they were
nothing to write home about... if looks are important.

On Fri, 19 Feb 2016 15:02:16 -0500, "John Grossbohlin"
wrote:


wrote in message
...

Data center raised flooring is very often concrete filled metal panels
sitting in a gridwork of steel framing on pedestals adhered to the slab at
precise locations...special vacuum/suction cup lifters are usually
required to set and/or lift and the panels are HEAVY (with plenty of
punctuation)
A link to typical installation follows:
https://www.accessfloorsystems.com/i...llation-guide/

An issue with raised flooring that may come into play with this shop is the
amount of head room available and the height difference between the doors
and the raised floor... raised floors from computer centers burn up a lot
of space. Not that this couldn't be designed around but it would drive the
cost up. The 2X sleepers would be a cost effective alternative and still
provide chases for wiring and air lines. The raised floor system might be
justified however if an extensive dust collection piping system were to be
constructed under it... there was no mention of that in the OP's message
however.

Depending upon the climate it may make sense to insulate the floor system...
or at least provide a thermal break by putting sill sealer foam between the
sleepers and concrete. This can make a big difference in comfort and in the
air conditioning costs (heating and/or cooling).

Re the flooring, 3/4" T&G subflooring on 2x4 sleepers is a good start.
Depending upon how good the concrete job turns out, if you want a truly flat
floor you will may have to scribe the sleepers but that is not a big deal. I
had my sons scribe a 16x22 foot room for me when they were about 7 and 9
years old... After the first sleeper I didn't check any more as it was
perfect. I just cut what they marked using my bandsaw. They did a fine job
(they were a lot closer to the floor back then!). I also left the floor
independent of the walls with a small gap that was insulated. The drywall
and baseboard covers the gap. A similar approach could be used in a shop to
leave access to the chases for future runs... maybe a 1x4 or 1x6 border that
is screwed down? A flat level floor can be handy for getting bench and tool
top heights to match and co-planer and it is real handy to have a flat and
level floor when assembling things. Finish... I'd probably use a good floor
paint after priming with tinted primer (to help hide future scratches). I
put poly on a couple sheet good shop floors in the past and they were
nothing to write home about... if looks are important.


I am in AL so we don't really get a lot of cold weather but we do get
some hot and humid days. The shop will have AC and heat. Heat type to
be determined.

One thing I absolutely need to remember is to make sure that the wall
covering does not overlap the floor along the edges. Removing the
floor would be very difficult without cutting the drywall.

A perfectly flat floor isn't really all that necessary as long as I
can level the equipment.

On Fri, 19 Feb 2016 10:31:01 -0800, Electric Comet
wrote:

On Thu, 18 Feb 2016 16:41:59 -0600
swalker wrote:

I will use 2 X 4 sleepers on the concrete with plywood over the
sleepers.

fyi raised floors in data centers are fast becoming obsolete so maybe
you can find a data center that is converting back to slab and fan walls

is your equipment stationary

if it is then you could have grates and dust collectors in the floor

you might be the envy of the woodworking community

Truly raised floors like in data centers is not something I want to
even attempt to do.

I am mostly a wood turner and my 16X42 inch lathe, once leveled will
not be moved. Ditto for other items.

On Fri, 19 Feb 2016 18:26:01 -0600
swalker wrote:


I am mostly a wood turner and my 16X42 inch lathe, once leveled will
not be moved. Ditto for other items.

are you going to route your dust collection under the floor too

if your equpment is stationary having grates in places might be nice

turn on the dust collector and sweep into the in floor grate