Epoxy floor for a new shop, good idea or bad?

[NCjeeper]

^^^
Shouldn't pass inspection without it.

 

[finsruskw]

Here's mine and I'm lovin' it every day when I walk in there!!
No welding or hot burning sparks in this section though.
Caution...If you drop nuts/bolts/small tools they are hard to find with this color option

 

[7milesup]

Oh, I should mention that the Rustoleum kit I used was NOT the water based crap. I believe there have been issues of the water based epoxy coming up when cars are parked on it, etc.

 

[finsruskw]

If not poured yet contact the builder to insure vapor block under pad.

Usually a plastic membrane is placed.

Requedr

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

I laid down 1-1/2 Styrofoam sheet under my floor before it was poured.
That was back in 1977.
Same for the basement house floors, Stays warm!

 

[7milesup]

Love your shop there finsruskw! I wish I could keep mine that clean.

 

[finsruskw]

Hey, I wish I could too!!
You know the saying...
It's only new once!!

I'd like to do the other 1/4 of the bldg just adjacent to this section the same way and keep this part for the machine shop area.
Hoping someday My Son will get a lot of use from this, that is if he don't build his own next door. If so, I'm sure he could rent this space out.

 

[aliva]

you might contact these guys for more info

Dallas-Fort Worth Stamped Concrete Contractor & Epoxy Floor Service

Surface 2 Surface DFW features the world’s greatest 3/8″ High-Definition Stamped Concrete overlay system which can be applied over any existing stable surfaces for commercial and residential clients.

www.s2sdfw.com

 

[diamond]

Thanks for all the input guys, keep it coming. This is an existing shop building. The seller had a bunch of their stuff on it when we looked at the house so I couldn't really tell what the condition is exactly. I did see some previous oil stains/spills so I know it'll take some conditioning before the epoxy goes down.

@Papa Charlie Ya I'm same way. I'll have a separate assembly bench in the shop and also another general gun maintenance station in the garage. The main house garage is over 1200 sq-ft itself in addition to the shop so I'll have plenty of room.

Honestly I don't weld a lot and in fact, very little. So actually the idea of welding and/or cutting outside is not a bad suggestion at all. As you said, it is Arizona.

I'm more concerned if hot chips of the lathe or grinder could pit it. I read that epoxy floors can withstand up to 250 degrees. A hot chip can be a lot hotter than that. I mostly want something to be easy to clean up and keep looking nice. Now you guys have me wondering about just sealing the concrete and how that would hold up against cutting fluids etc. I know the epoxy will do well with that. Plus it just looks good.

 

[7milesup]

Personally, I would epoxy coat it for what you are planning on doing in that shop.

As far as hot chips from the lathe, it would be best to have a large rubber mat to stand on in front of the lathe. I know without that, my knees and low back are not happy with me.

There recently was a whole thread on here about rubber mats.

 

[DavidR8]

@7milesup If you want to learn more about epoxy floors than you could ever imagine existed drop over to the flooring sub-forum on The Garage Journal. There a heap of folks there that have done or had done epoxy floors.
Thanks for the SimStain link. I need to do something with the floor in my shop.