Alternitives to wooden flooring ?

[sean@oz]

Currently I have accsess to a tin shed on my girlfreinds property,which she has kindly said I can set up for my workshop. (God bless her soul..The best present Iv'e ever had ..a shed all to my self !)

Shed is a car garage approximatley 5x6 mts. Would be perfect to set up shop in but the main problem is that it only has a dirt floor.

The dirt floor also has a slight slope of about 10 degrees from one side to the other.Complete with a varitey of 2-4 inch tree roots runing across the floor.

Have been thinking of getting quotes on having it concreted but shudder at the thought of how much this may cost (any ideas?) So starting to think about a wooden floor instead. Especially as Iv'e had some experience with laying wooden foors and verandahs. The only thing I know about concreting is to leave it to the experts.

Also if I decide to go with the "wood" idea I can get most of the sub-structer (stumps.joists etc) at a pretty good price (I hope...unless the "old-man" decides he needs yet another farm shed "fingers crossed" he decides in your's truley's favour)

The only thing I can't get for "cheep" is the timber flooring" All been used up on the other sheds or has feed way too many generations of white ants.

So of late I see quite a few builders using sheets of "yellow tounge" sheeting (I think it's called) Comes with a red tounge also but I have no idea what the diffirence is. Looks like big sheets of chip board with the "tounge" runing down the side which is used to lock the sheets together in a tounge and groove fashion.

Has anyone had any experience with this "yellow/red tounge" sheeting? Any ideas on how much it is per sheet and what sizes do the sheets come in ?

Standard flooring joist have centers of aprroximatley 450mm.,when using hardwood flooring. If I remember correctly.

For this sheeting stuff, do the joists need to be set much closer together? I do intend to set up a table saw also (aproximatley 140kg in Wgt) So I'll definetly be adding extra sub flooring support around where the table saw will sit.

And finally the only places I have seen it layed down is in situations where carpet or someother type of floor covering is to be layed over the tops of the sheets.

As I don't think I'll be going for the shag piled carpet look for the work shop floor. I was wondering if I could use a decking sealer or paint instead?

Any thougjts from the "community brain-bank" out there would help me finally decide on what type of floor (concrete V wood "sheeting") to go for.

Then I can finally get some decent sleep! :D

Thanks for your time...

Sorry about the spelling mistakes ..but dislexia is a right royal pain in the butt !

[journeyman Mick]

Sean, the stuff you refer to sells under a few different names, depending on manufacturer. Structafloor is one name, but if you ring around getting prices and ask for yellow tongue most places will know what you're on about. It's pretty good stuff, use same joist spacing as t&g. Manufacturers actually rate it for up to three months of weather exposure as long as small drainage holes are drilled in it to prevent water "ponding". It will work fine as a workshop floor with a coat or two of paint or polyurethane on it.

Mick

[sean@oz]

Mick
Thanks for the info
Have hunted down a couple of good sites for information on structafloor. Seems to be pretty good stuff
I even now know what the diffirent coloured tounges mean;)

[Marc]

Sean

As you probably know by now, the colour code on the tongue has to do with the quality and how much the sheets resist rain water.

Unfortunately that "resistance" is more nominal than anything else and if you plan to build a floor as close to the dirt as I imagine you will, your floor is not going to have a very dry future.

Two possible solutions: build with enough under floor ventilation if you ahve enough head room, or my preferred choice, build your floor by filling your shed with decomposed granite or blue metal dust. Level and compact it with a mechanical compactor real nice. It compacts like concrete but it's quicker and easier.

[julianx]

have you considerded paving your floor, if you don,t mind the colour you can pick up seconds and end of runs pretty cheap.

[coastie]

I would go with the timber.kinder to your legs after standing on it for a while ,rather than concrete,plus the warmth factor.You may have to do a little excavation to get bearers and joists in, but.....

[John G]

"The dirt floor also has a slight slope of about 10 degrees from one side to the other"
Does this mean that the shed is just resting on the dirt, and the whole shed is leaning 10 degrees? Or are the sides packed so that the shed itself is level?
Maybe you need to put in some decent footings first before you worry about a floor? Then raise the whole shed a couple of inches above the ground?

[journeyman Mick]

If it's like most farm sheds I know it'll be poles in the ground, skillion roof on top and girts between poles to take some secondhand iron for cladding, so no need to have a level floor which is kinda helpful anyway when cleaning machinery.

Mick