Shop floor is dirt

37chief · Dec 6, 2011

My shop floor is dirt. When the barn was built back in the late 1800's I am sure cenent was not even a consideration. Dad used it to store his hay. Dad had a small area where he did some mechanic work on small things. Tractors were always repaired outside, except for a few times when the barn was empty. The hay has been gone for over 40 years. I have the barn now, and do a lot of my repairing in it, from motorcycles to tractors. The problem is the floor is still dirt. I have put down plywood, and cover it with carpet, a real trip hazard. I am sure I am not the only person in the US with a dirt shop floor. I just wonder what others do with a dirt floor. At this time in my life I just can't justify pouring cement. Stan

Ken Macfarlane · Dec 6, 2011

Grew up in a house with dirt basement, workshop was down there. We dug it out by hand, mixed and poured about 250 square ft a year.

If you have dirt now, a bit of plastic and a 1 to 2" slab is a massive improvement.

My outside shop was just a sand floor, like you I kept old carpet around to work off off. It wasn't that bad except rolling jacks.

Have big shop now, but its full. Still do 90% of my work outside in the dirt.

Dean Olson · Dec 6, 2011

I started buying 18"x18"x2" concrete pads from Home Depot. I eventually got the floor of an old shed covered without a big expense.

super99 · Dec 6, 2011

I have a 50 x80 steel building. Cement would be nice, but not in my budget(probably won't be either). When I was a kid, neighbors used to get a load of lime and dump in livestock sheds to make a hard floor, so I figured I'd try that(MISTAKE!!!!)!!! The floor is fairly smooth, DUSTY as heck, and any metal that touches it rusts. Thinking about ripping it out and putting dirt back in. I keep plenty of cardboard around to lay on when working on anything. The grandkids like it, but their Moms's HATE it!! Has to be something better. Chris

ShepFL · Dec 6, 2011

I roll on my belly like a reptile

I used carpet until I built my shop. Here in FL dirt quickly becomes mud and not easy to work in - harder still when you drop small parts.

Bob Huntress · Dec 6, 2011

my shop floor is dirt. When I have to jack something up, I often do the job outside the shop on pavement. If I have to work on something that requires a very clean work area, such as fuel injectors and injector pumps, I work on them in the kitchen. This coming spring, I want to pour a concrete floor and expend my shop, but for now, I manage. My shop has an office with a carpeted floor and a porch, as originally it was a deer hunting cabin.

Lansford · Dec 6, 2011

I used 11/4 inch ply wood put indoor out door short nap carpet and went 3 wide makes for a nice floor last about 4-6 yrs depends if you let others use they tend to drip oil and spill coffee on the carpet even the best of friends don't take good care of surface it makes fir good cheap fix.

old · Dec 6, 2011

With my bad back I am very happy I have a dirt floor. If it was cement I could not do half what I do now. I use plywood in the middle of the floor area and that works well but my bay os only about 12 foot wide

Paul from MI · Dec 6, 2011

I worked on and restored 5 tractors and one military Jeep on a gravel floor. Finally poured it about 3 years ago after 35 years of gravel. Two major improvements. Concrete is so much better to work on and it forced me to really clean out the place. Should have bit the bullet and done it 35 years ago.

Bob Huntress · Dec 6, 2011

Paul, I want to pour mine this spring. How thick did you make yours? I'm thinking 4" should be enough. Did you mix your own or buy it from a cement truck. I have a son age 20 and a daughter age 16 to help mix, but for the quickcrete and rebar for a 16'x15' four inches deep will cost me $500. I think it would be only a little more off the mixer truck. Take a few minutes and share about pouring yours, please.

bill b va · Dec 6, 2011

mine is covered with 2 layers of 1/2 osb . first i leveled if off and screeded it just like finishing concrete . compacting all the while and wetting it down until i had a flat solid floor . laid one layer of osb then the next layer in the oppsite direction so the were no cracks alinged. screwed the top layer to the bottom layer with counter sink screws . easy on the feet and not cold like concrete in the winter . easier to heat without the concrete sucking up the heat . pole building site was graded for drainage in all directions before building . if hard dirt and grease builds up i just back my tractor in with scraper blade and scrape id down . may turn over top sheets some day. i don't like creepers so i just use a piece of card board or carpet when i need to lay on the floor .

john in la · Dec 6, 2011

My shop/shed had a dirt floor.
Years ago they built a container yard next to where I was working out of 4" concrete pavers and threw all the cut offs and pieces they did not want in a big pile.
I hauled a couple pickup loads home each week till I had enough to do the whole floor.

You can not use a creeper on it but heck it was free and sure beats a dirt floor.

JMOR · Dec 6, 2011

(quoted from post at 23:37:47 12/06/11) Paul, I want to pour mine this spring. How thick did you make yours? I'm thinking 4" should be enough. Did you mix your own or buy it from a cement truck. I have a son age 20 and a daughter age 16 to help mix, but for the quickcrete and rebar for a 16'x15' four inches deep will cost me $500. I think it would be only a little more off the mixer truck. Take a few minutes and share about pouring yours, please.

een down that path. Bad in that couldn't mix enough, fast enough to get it spread, & worked before too hard in places to work well. Turned out very disappointed. Think about how many mixer loads & bags it will need & how long per batch.

Paul from MI · Dec 6, 2011

My shop is 24' x 32'. I had some post repairs to do before pouring concrete, barn was 35 years old at the time. I dug a trench about 8" x 18" all the way around the building to give a little more strength at the edges & across the large doorway. Also drilled holes thru the posts about 6" below the finish level and put 1/2" rod thru them to anchor posts to the floor. I aimed for a 4" minimum thickness, most was around 5" or more. I had three guys to help pour, and we had a power screed, which really helped striking it off. We used a power trowel and did not try for a fine finish. A little rough is better when you have some snow and ice to contend with. I still don't have any heat in the building. I put 1" styrofoam in the walls covered with 1/4" pegboard and 7/16 OSB board. No insulation in the ceiling yet, but if I ever come up with some heat it will be next. Concrete is so much more stable if you have something up on blocks. I really like it, except that now I have to sweep it instead of taking a whack with a broom rake twice a year.

JerryS · Dec 6, 2011

When I moved to my land in the country I had to quickly throw up a 12 x 36 open sided shed to cover my stuff. Through the years I've added on until I've got about 1200 feet under roof, all with a dirt floor. Since I retired I have been walling and flooring half of that. I put down floor joists and covered them with 3/4 plywood. In my little inner "office" I'm also laying laminated hardwood flooring.

Unlike most of you guys I'm not going to be working on equipment in here, mostly woodworking. The part I've left unfloored and unwalled is for parking the JD 1020 and the 8N, as well as the JD zero turn, the Cub Cadet and some other equipment. My dirt is very sandy; when you walk you raise dust. I am now in the process of tilling in lots of bags of portland cement; it doesn't turn it into a concrete floor exactly, but it really firms it up and eliminates the dust.

Anonymous-0 · Dec 6, 2011

Has anybody used the self levelling concrete, ?
The slump would be a total failure.
Wonder if it worth the effort.

bison · Dec 6, 2011

My old 20 x 60 shop floor is dirt and gravel.
I rebuild many a engine and transmission in there,took whole tractors apart,i rebuild plenty injectors in there to,i never had a problem.
There has been so much oil spilled over the years that dust was not really a problem.

But after 18 years in it i did build myself a new 46'x70'shop this summer. i 'm just about ready to move in and it has a [b:5d29ccae3c]concrete [/b:5d29ccae3c]floor and lotsa windows + 2 big overhead doors.

Bob Huntress · Dec 6, 2011

My shop will keep the front wall which is bat & board, and the wall between the work area and the office(which is nice) will remain wood, but I want to use 6" block around the rest. For heat, I plan to use an old wood stove, which is another reason for the block wall. I think that with only the weight of the roof, a 6" block filled should be stout enough. The poles that are already in place will remain to help bear the weight, though I'll need to have a door height of 13.5'.

george md · Dec 6, 2011

Bob,

I have 6000 sq ft of floor, some office ,
some machine shop and some service bays and
none is more than 4 inch. In the bays I have
had 977l and hein werner C-14B in without
problem. Machine shop has a 3 inch spindle
boring mill and 26 & 30 inch swing lathes
& also 14 x 48 cylindrical grinder that is
about 5 tons ,boring mill is 8+ tons lathes
are about 3 tons each.

I highly recomend that you do NOT use rebar
in 4 inch floor , as it will cause cracks in
thin floors, works best in 6+ inch floor. I
have no rebar in any of my floors.

george

Bob Huntress · Dec 6, 2011

George, when you discourage rebar in a 4" slab, you are not refering to the mess reenfocement, are you? I would be very leary of not using any reenforcement. I'm in Tenn, where we don't get much freezing, but I am still worried about the cracks caused by freezing and thawing. I've read about fibers that are currently added to concrete to replace rebar. Are you recommending this?

george md · Dec 7, 2011

Bob most of my floors are older than the use of
fiber.
Mesh is alright but I don't think it does a
great amount of good in thin floors.

I'm in Md and it is probably as cold or more
so than where you are.

Local fellow built a pole barn ,was short of
$ so poured 4 in with no bar and no mesh , has
no cracks. The builder for his house poured
both the garage and basement with both bar and
mesh , has cracks . builder is mad enough to
chew nails and spit rust.

george

Bob Huntress · Dec 7, 2011

George, I could have 10,000 lbs on the trailer on the deck. Do you feel that would change whether I should use rebar? I'm new to the idea of not using rebar, as you can tell.

Bob Huntress · Dec 7, 2011

George, Please check your email.

george md · Dec 7, 2011

Sent you an email

george

George Rausch · Dec 7, 2011

I started with dirt floor, in my barn, then after many years put down about 3" - 4" of dirty base rock. What an improvement! And cheap. Haven't seent he need for concrete yet.

showcrop · Dec 7, 2011

I am very fortunate to have the 2,000 sq ft. concrete floor building that I had built for my business to use now as my shop. I believe that just the added safety in jacking anything is worth some considerable $. A few large pieces like the discbine don't fit in the 10 ft. door, so I use a piece of heavy canvas to lie on. I would offer that you find out how many yards the redimix truck holds then work backwards to calculate square footage for a pour for a work area only, and do that much leaving the areas that are just storage as dirt. Getting one full load would kind of maximize cost per yard. You wouldn't need to form except at the entrance that you will drive over.

Ultradog MN · Dec 7, 2011

Well at least I have a concrete floor in my shop.
But sometimes I wish I had a roof over it.

mkirsch · Dec 7, 2011

(quoted from post at 21:50:18 12/06/11) Has anybody used the self levelling concrete, ?
The slump would be a total failure.
Wonder if it worth the effort.

Self leveling concrete has no strength. It is meant for leveling floors in houses with foot traffic and a solid structural base underneath.

If you put it on dirt or gravel it will break up and be worthless after a short time of rolling tractors and equipment on it.

RLA · Dec 7, 2011

As for me I built a 30"x 30" pole building
from hemlock I cut off my property. At the
time it was all could afford to do & this
building seved it"s purpose fine. But the
floor is dirt, I put gravel in by hand, just
bank gravel. & for years it did well, but it
was dirt.... I own"d a grove of white oaks &
some of the trees interfeared with the farming
so I cut them & into 16" 4x4"s & 2" stock.
Had to cut a few extra to have enough lumber.
Leveled the floor, I had enough height I thought
& used brick to help support the low spots,
Lotts of 1/2" all thread & it doesn"t look much
differnt now than it did 20 years ago. Holds up
a 730 diesel, a 60. 620, 630, 530. 1941 B & a M
john deere 4 lawn mowers & a gravity box load
of corn in there now. Once in awhile I hafta use
a sledge to drive down a nail head, or now bend
it over. It was cheaper than cement then & it"a
warmer to lay on than cement now. But I owned
the timber. White oak is AWESOME lumber to
last.

jm. · Dec 7, 2011

Bob I am in North middel Tenn. Haave several shops, poured on good solid rock foru inches thick WITH what is called concret wire or mesh not rebar. Have had doser and heavy equipment on them and no problems. Did have one apron outside poured with the fiber added. Was not satsified because the fiber shows or tried to seperate at places..Hard surface, good base, and good concret is the key. You can get your concrete furnisher to discuss concret strength with you., ie. 5 bag or 6 bag mix..

dpendzic · Dec 7, 2011

Rebars, mesh and fibers are put into slabs on grade to limit the size of cracks that may develop and hold the concrete together.--Usually placed at the top area of the slab to counter act the tensile stresses due to shrinkage and temperature change. If you have very substantial concentrated loads then reinforcement in the bottom of the slab helps prevent that area from cracking. The key to having a slab not crack is to have a very good subase under it that will provide proper support, low water content to reduce shrinkage, and a good quality concrete of a minimum of 3000 psi compressive strength

paul · Dec 7, 2011

I have always heard, and makes sense to me:

Good drainage & packing is what makes a good concrete pour.

Concrete cracks eeventually, no matter what.

Fiber helps keep the small cracks & chips in place, but nothing for the big ones.

Mesh is a neat idea, but it often falls to the bottom & stays there, not embedded where it is supposed to be, and here in MN and the rest of the salt belt as the salty road snow drips off & runs into cracks, the thin mesh rusts away quickly.

Real rebar is the best. It keeps the crack joints lines up & keeps your floor in one piece, even as the concreete cracks.

Dad was too cheap to use rebar he just poured extra concrete. Good enough the first 10 or 20 years, but now I have a lot of old buildings and floors that are cracked with inch gaps here & there, things shifting up & down an inch or 2.... Woulda been better with some good rebar in there, the cracks would be there the same, but the crete would be better lined up yet.

I realize there are different opinions on this all, and I'm sure no expert.

--->Paul

jackinok · Dec 7, 2011

grew up on dirt floors,barn,sheds,house and all! Heres the trick to making dirt as hard as concrete, first youve got to keep the water out with proper drainage outside, and the real trick? Dishwater, honestly,dont just dump it on your floor,sprinkle it on and let it soak in. Heres why it works,soap and especialy the old soaps we had as kids were made up of a large amount of phosphates,surfectants,and very often lye. The phosphates dry hard,the surfectants allow moisture to wick up,and the lye kills the germs that makes odors. Add that to the fact that lye is caustic and it sort of naturally disolves the lime in the soil,then drys leaving sort of a natural cement. Of course you would have from washing dishes and things a small amount of grease in the water. Surfectant in the soaps would allow this to penetrate top layer of ground until it became too weak and the grease would stay there. So what you wind up with over time is , a layer of hard dirt from the lye and phosphates working on the lime in soil(CONCRETE basically), that would turn moisture both on top where it could be wiped up,and below the surface to keep floors from being damp all the time.
its hard for us to remember, but most of the world still lives on dirt floors. And women take pride in keeping them clean. They have rugs,furniture,and everything else we have today on ours,but they do it on a surface that never wears out,and gets better as it ages. My grandma would beat you if she caught you digging in her floor! How many times were we told as kids to "pick up our feet"? ever wonder where that came from? You were considered uncouth if you shuffled your feet across a neighbors floor.
Of course today we pour concrete and stain it to look like dirt,its much faster,LOL

Geo-TH,In · Dec 7, 2011

I knew a guy that had used brick pavers for a garage floor.

Anonymous-0 · Dec 7, 2011

My Grandson's shop is a 12 X 12 sheep pen. Sheep moved out this last summer. Big Farmer neighbor up the road replaced all the mats in his milking parlor and now grandson has a rubber floor in his shop. Rubber mats 64" wide and very heavy.

Shop floor is dirt

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