Shop Flooring

Giving a little bit of attention to the flooring in your shop can make your shop more inviting and more comfortable to work in.

- Logan Wittmer

When's the last time you took a good hard look at your shop floor? I know that's an odd question. But if you think about it, it's the one thing in your shop you're always touching. If you're like me, you're used to working in a shop with an old, cracked, cold concrete floor that's unsightly and hard on the joints. But, that doesn't mean you have to be stuck with it. Here, I'm going to offer up a few options to brighten up your space, and make it a bit more comfortable to work in.

The Flooring Surface

Now, I'm going to make an assumption to start that most of us are working on concrete floors. If you have something different, you can skim over this part.

Concrete is a great surface. It's hard, durable, and can support the weight of all your tools. However, those same properties make it not-so-nice to stand on. Plus, it can get really cold in the winter. Just because you have a concrete floor doesn't mean that you're stuck with it.

A great option for some shops is the ability to lay sleepers and a sub-floor. Take a look at Photo 1 on the next page. Sleepers are basically two-by material, laid on their face on the existing floor (obviously, with proper moisture barriers in place, depending on local codes). A sub-floor is then laid over top of the sleepers.

Why, might you ask, would you add wood over a concrete floor? Well, first off the sub-floor is much easier on your knees and back for working in the shop. The slight give of the floor is a much nicer working surface. The voids created by the sleepers also offer up a space to run stuff such as electrical, insulation, and even dust collection lines (depending on sleeper orientation). In addition, the sub-floor model can actually help deaden sound in your shop, especially if you insulate underneath.