Shop floor options

+1 on sealing your concrete floor. A sealer will prevent oil absorption, but more importantly, will keep concrete dust down, AND, prevent, dirt, dust, chip-scarf-crud, and spider web bodies from layering up on the concrete.

My shop floor is a two bay building - built by the previous owner of our house. I am sure he didn't seal the floor. The uncured cement acts as a dirt magnet. To the point I've had times when the grey concrete was actually brown - the color of the soil around the house. Anyway, I wish I had sealed and painted the whole shop when we moved in - impossible now with all the machine tools scattered around.

BTW, if you don't like the idea of paint/epoxy or otherwise, you could use floor wax. I think this is what big box warehouse style retail stores use - like Home Depot and Costco. Apply the wax after the sealer and rent a buffer for a day to rub it in. The wax will absorb into the concrete surface and prevent oils, water and dirt from absorbing. I think it acts like a surficant. The concrete texture prevents the wax from being slippery. The University I used to work waxed all the concrete floors in their PHys Ed building - which had a tremendous level of foot track. - something like 10,000 people a day. They saw very good results. Long lasting. No paint flaking, hence no big deal to recoat when needed.
Glenn
 
For my wood shop I whave a commercial laminate floor.
For my forge and machine shop, once I found out I had died concrete under the old glue down vinyl tiles off came the tiles!
No more smoldering tiles and easy cleanup. If you have dust issues, seal it as suggested. The only problem with the concrete is that after a long day its hard on the feet.
 
I have very cheap ceramic tiles in my machine shop they can get slippery sometimes especially with oil on them but are the easiest to clean, i spray them down with dishwashing detergent and some oven cleaner on the oil stains and wipe them down or use my pressure washer and the place looks like new, for installing them is little more work but should last longer.
 
I used a solvent based (xylene) sealer and it has held up well for the most part. Like others have mentioned, concrete dust is a hassle to deal with. I also like the ability to wipe up spills. I will add though, if you allow oil to stand for a long period of time it does leave a very slight stain. The hot work area has done exceptionally well. The automotive (lift) area also has held up well but care with gasoline spill must be wiped up ASAP as it tends to reactivate the the sealer resulting in a sticky floor. I will add many states don't allow the sell of solvent base sealers with only water based options. The problem with water based sealers is reapplication. That said, I have been working in the shop for well over three years and the water still beads up and the floor still has a decent shine. The prep was a PITA and it took me six days to seal 3200 s/f. Rented a floor buffer from home depot and did 1/2 the floor at a time as some since I had items in the shop. The floor had a lot of tire marks from forklift traffic used to erect the building. A TON OF MOPPING followed by two coats rolled on using a 1" nap roller ( solvent grade). I then sealed the expansion joints with self leveling caulk.

1/2 the floor done for obvious reasons. The sealer was allowed to cure for three days. I used a respirator as this stuff is nasty to breathe.
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Completed.
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This is the most recent condition of the floor 3+ years later (last week). A 14K dump trailer was built in the same area where this photo was taken. The hot work was extensive for this, my point is the floor held up fine.
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A 5 gallon pail runs $170 and covers just over 900 s/f applying two good coats.
I use a fine bristle push broom after working and a 30" dust mop for general cleaning followed up with plain water for mopping. I also keep a spray bottle of diluted simple green for pre treatment around machines (cutting oils) prior to mopping.

I try to mop every Saturday that I'm off as my dogs also enjoy shop time with "Pops".:)
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I hope this is helpful.

Paco
 
Awe, thanks Jeff, we love our hell hounds. The pup to the right is Hercules and weighs 108#.
Thanks for the kind words.
I will say the floor coating process was very laborious but well worth the effort.

Paco
 
I did not know you could use a buffer on concrete! That looks like the best solution for me.

I even went to the big box store just to look at their floor. I am liking the buffer followed by sealer and maybe wax. Should be really easy to sweep up and maybe damp mop once in a while.

Just wondering, what is the issue with reapplying water based sealer, as opposed to solvent based?
 
Grandpop said:
I did not know you could use a buffer on concrete! That looks like the best solution for me.

I even went to the big box store just to look at their floor. I am liking the buffer followed by sealer and maybe wax. Should be really easy to sweep up and maybe damp mop once in a while.

Just wondering, what is the issue with reapplying water based sealer, as opposed to solvent based?
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From what I understand on water based re application is that some areas will bead up and not penetrate leaving a modeled finish. I also had to rent a floor buffer as part of the prep, otherwise I would have sealed in the tire marks (forklift traffic). I think wax sealed shop floor would require frequent maintenance to be an effective seal.
Keep in mind water based sealant won't penetrate if the floor is over buffed (to smooth).
Lots of info out there.
 
I used Racedeck tiles in my townhouse garage (20x20'), which are essentially 12x12" plastic that snap together. While it looks nice, it's not practical for the occasional type of work I do, which is cutting, grinding, welding, automotive repairs (jacks and jack stands), lathe, wood working.. The floor is covered in areas where weld spatter has melted little spots, hot lathe chips have embedded into the plastic (I try to pry these out), grinding dust has permanently darkened lighter colored tiles, a big 6" gouge where I put a skill saw down quickly (before the guard snapped around the blade), etc.
I bought the tiles when I first moved into the house and now wish I had simply polished / sealed the concrete. Live and learn. So, don't use Racedeck is what I'm trying to say.
 
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