# Flooring...



## HMF (Dec 31, 2016)

I probably should have stayed with the concrete, or epoxy coated the floor, but, it's a small area, and I wanted it to look nice, while allowing me to roll my machines (which are all on wheels) over it. That is a tall order for most floor tiles. So I went expensive. I bought the Duroextreme tiles. They are USA, PVC, 20"x 20", 1/4" thick, and pretty impervious.


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## wawoodman (Dec 31, 2016)

Nice. And more comfortable than bare concrete, for sure.


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## Terrywerm (Dec 31, 2016)

I worked for a time in a shop where they had a similar textured tile on the floor. It was nice in the fact that dropped items did not tend to go far, but a shop vac was an absolute must for cleaning up. You could use a broom to get everything swept to one spot, but you could never get everything into the dust pan because of the floor texture. We always had to get out the shop vac to get the last bits off the floor.


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## HMF (Dec 31, 2016)

That's good to know. I do have a shop vac ready. These tiles are stain resistant .


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## Terrywerm (Dec 31, 2016)

Truth be known, I've gotten so used to just using a shop vac that I don't even have a dustpan in the basement shop. Dustpans have been relegated to the garage where that evil tablesaw resides.


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## T Bredehoft (Dec 31, 2016)

I'm still using the broom and dustpan on my natural concrete floor.  I can't say i've ever experienced any foot/leg/back problmes I could blame on the floor. The last shop I worked in had 'duckboards' around each machine, cursed every time I'd back off one.


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## Richard White (richardsrelics) (Feb 10, 2017)

I have some of those nice cushiony mats for in front of my bench and the lathe... The only problem I run into is when I need to sit on my little stool to get to something low on a boat motor, and it won't roll around... really irks me something fierce and the darned Sailor comes out..lol


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## pebbleworm (Feb 10, 2017)

After spending a lot of time in abandoned industrial  buildings, If I ever can put a decent shop together it will have a wood block floor:
http://jennisonwright.com/woodblock.html
It was the standard for more than a century and is smooth, warm, quiet and absorbent.  Takes wear and abuse well, and the only installations where I've seen it fail have been open to the weather or consistently flooded.  Just my opinion, but I really like this stuff.


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## wawoodman (Feb 10, 2017)

In my shop, I used Dri-core panels, with rubber mats at the machines.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/DRIcore-...core-Subfloor-Panel-CDGNUS750024024/202268752


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## Richard White (richardsrelics) (Feb 10, 2017)

Interesting you should mention that Pebbleworm, When serving the US Navy, in their Machinery Repairman "A" School, what type of flooring did they have??  Wood blocks... Thought it was very odd at the time, and never thought much of it till you mentioned it


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## core-oil (Feb 11, 2017)

I once worked for a firm, and they had wood block floors, As well as being most comfortable, they had the advantage should anything drop on them,E.G.-- Cast -iron components there was a lesser chance of it smashing , But the heavy machine shops/fitting environments were concrete floors, I guess for strength in holding down the heavy machinery, The old guys were want to sweep a little amount of sawdust around the foot of their machines at night, this soaked up any oil creeping out of the machines thus the concrete floor was always free of massive oil staining, Guess todays insurance and health people would have forty fits.


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## eugene13 (Feb 11, 2017)

We had a wooden block floor in the Hot Strip mill shop where I used to work, we even had a special machine to scrape it when the grease and mill scale built up.  It held up real well until we had a flood.  I went on a maintenance call and when I got back to the shop a big blister like bulge, about 3 ft high and 10 ft across, had developed  in the center and when my helper messed with it, it collapsed.  The company took out the loose blocks and filled the hole with concrete.


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## Terrywerm (Feb 12, 2017)

I had forgotten all about wood block floors! I have never had any real experience with them other than having been in a couple of shops that had them. A quick look around the web shows that they seem to be enjoying some new found popularity again, but not so much in industrial environments. Instead some people have been installing them in their homes.


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