I have an opportunity to get my hands on some tongue and groove pine. It’s stuff that is used on vaulted ceilings, about 3″ wide, maybe 1″ thick clear. I can get enough to cover my shop space in my garage, about 300 sq. feet, and I can get it for about $ .70 a square foot. My question is; how should I put this down on the concrete floor of my shop. I know it will make a nice floor to work on, and should I drop a tool, it would only be a minor disaster!
Bob, Tupper Lake , NY
Replies
You may want to post this on Breaktime, but a few thoughts on your situation:
I've heard of people laying wood floors over concrete successfully, but only after laying something pretty serious to help block the moisture. A neighbor of mine worked witha contractor to lay hardwood flooring in his basement. First they laid a floating plywood subfloor, covered it with a vinyl or plastic material (IIRC) and then laid the wood flooring. Otherwise it seems like the concrete flooring in a shop would be a moisture nightmare for woodfloors, and if your floor buckles or gaps you could be left with a safety issue on your shop floor.
Hi Bob,
I get up to Tupper Lake now and then, nice country there.
Anyway, I laid a nice pine floor in my shop a couple of winters ago. Concrete floor. I used treated 2 x 4s placed on their wide surfaces as sleepers. Put them about 16" on center. Used builder's cement and powder actuated nails to fasten them to the floor. Placed 1 1/2" thick styrofoam between the sleepers, then 6 mil plastic sheeting.
Face nailed the pine boards to the sleepers. Hasn't moved, and looks and feels great. I say go for it.
I finished it with 5 [ugh] coats of BLO, followed by 3 of satin polyurethane. Holding up well all that I can throw at it.
Good luck, stay warm.
Hi Bob,
I used to work for a commercial flooring company and Ken's method is nearly the same way we used to lay floors in retail stores throughout the U.S. We didn't put insulation between the sleepers as these were mostly within shopping malls. When laying a solid wood floor on a concrete slab, you can't simply glue it or power nail it to the slab like you can with engineered flooring. The other advantage of using sleepers is that they reduce the inherent uneveness of the concrete slab.
We placed 6 mil poly on the concrete for the moisture barrier and taped all seams. We then laid the sleepers as you suggested @ 16" OC. I would also, as you suggested, infill between the sleepers with 1 1/2" insulation (the stiff type, not stuff that is usually white and has a beaded texture). Then lay 15# felt on top before laying the flooring. This will provide a little "give" when fitting the tongues/grooves.
As lengths of the flooring material wasn't given, also need to make sure that any ends land OC with the sleepers! This can get a little tricky. Also, laying the flooring diagonal to the sleepers will dramatically improve the solidity of the floor. It doesn't detract from the final look of the flooring either!
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
Kidderville, NH
Use whatever tool needed to Git 'r Done!
Edited 2/26/2006 11:24 pm ET by KiddervilleAcres
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled