I’m in the process of planning my first workshop. Finding a suitable area in my house has been a challenge but I’ve settled on a small area (16×10) in my finished basement. The main problem with using my basement is the wall to wall carpeting.
I could tear up the carpeting in this area but I’d rather find a less permanent solution. I’m thinking of making a floating floor out of OSB, screwing together 2 layers of the stuff, overlapping the seams. Has anyone else found a better solution?
Replies
What is the existing basement floor made of?
It's a concrete slab.
Sorry. After giving it some thought, I am going to pass on making any suggestion RE: floating floor. I cannot get past the issue of mold and mildew on the entombed carpet. Perhaps some other Knothead will have a suitable answer to your problem.
In any case, I wish you the best!
-nazard
just lay some heavy duty carpet on top of the nice carpet. I have a finished basement and the carpet is the burber( i think that is how you spell it) I only use my handtools in the area and just shop vac it up. It is really the only place for me to have a workbench and I am already thinking of getting rid of a second stove in the basement to open up a nice 10'space... Hope the wife does not see this... Z
I just assumed I would need a broom-friendly floor, but carpet and a shop vac might work. Although I was hoping to easily slide things around (my bench) on the floor. I'm also concerned about the mold/mildew with any floor over carpet. I'm not sure if that's a valid concern or not.Nice idea, thanks.
bwnunn,
I put this stuff down about 3 years ago and it has worked well. It runs about $1 a square foot from HD. It allows air flow.
http://www.dricore.com/en/dinstal.aspx
Interesting. Did you install this over top of carpeting or the concrete floor?
bwnunn,
I installed over concrete to reduce the cold and beating my shins were taking...and its worked. There was an eval by FWW some time ago that rated this as a 'best buy' or something like that for floor covering.
That sounds like a good solution for covering a concrete floor, but I'm dealing with carpet. Their installation instructions specifcally say to remove any existing carpeting, which I'm trying to avoid. Thanks for the suggestion though.
What kind of carpet do you have? What kind of machines are you planning on using?
My workbench is in a carpeted area (low-pile indoor/outdoor carpet). It's primarily a hand-tool space, but I do occasionally use a random-orbit sander (with good dust collection, of course). I wouldn't try to use a router, though.
-Steve
The carpet is standard indoor carpet. It's the same stuff that's in my 1st floor living room and 2nd floor bedrooms. It's relatively new, less than 5 years old.
I'm not planning on using any machines. I'm a beginnner though, so we'll see how realistic the no machines approach is after a while.
I'm mainly concerned with trapping moisture and creating mildew & mold between the carpet and whatever flooring I lay on top of it, whether it be another layer of carpeting, plywood, OSB or tiles.
If you're planning on hand tool use primarily won't the carpet make it difficult to have a stabile workbench?
What I was thinking was to see about removing the carpet and storing it for perhaps later replacement mebbe? That way you would have more solid footing for your bench and other woodshop accoutrements.
Just my 2¢,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
If you're only going to be using hand tools, I'd say just go for it--don't bother installing anything on top of the carpet except in specific areas where you're going to be standing and working a lot. For those areas, you can get carpet protectors from an office-supply store (the kind you use under a chair so that it will roll over the carpet without getting hung up).
And, of course, be clean: Don't do a lot of sanding, and keep the carpet well vacuumed. And don't even think about applying finishes. ;-)
-Steve
I was thinking the same thing.
The cost of a new piece of rug at the end is cheap rent for a shop.
Working on the carpet is dusty, unstable, and you'll ruin it
eventually.
I worked on a carpeted floor in my basement workshop for a couple years (until it flooded and the carpet had to go). It was actually rather nice to work on. Easy on the feet and tools. Couldn't slide things around, but 4" casters rolled ok. Cleanup was the most difficult part. Had to be vacuumed, thankfully we had a central vac. In some ways it was easier to keep clean because the carpet trapped the dust until it was vacuumed.
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