Subject: [Shop-talk] floor options for new slab

From: steve hochschild <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 14:03:43 -0600

So back to the old standby, shop flooring...

  I am building a  welding studio / track car shop behind my 
grrlfriend's house in Austin.  It is 16' x 32', and I just got my slab 
poured on Tuesday.  Had to pump the 12 yards of concrete, and it was a 
lot of work to manhandle the hose, but I think they did a good job. It 
was power-troweled to a smooth surface, and is nice and level.

I had always planned on an epoxy floor, but I have just been told that I 
have two issues: I have to wait 6 months for the slab to fully cure 
before I epoxy it or it will bubble, and second, that I don't want an 
epoxy floor where I plan to weld.  I do tig welding on a welding table, 
but there are falling pieces, sparks, plasma cutting, and so on, and it 
is suggested that this will eat up the epoxy very quickly.

So I saw a concrete paint at a big-box, and my neighbor is having her 
floors stained, so I would welcome yr thoughts and advice on using 
either paint or stain?

I've already tried the plastic matting approach, which I don't want, but 
what about linoleum or vinyl tiles?  How about laminate  - it would look 
good, but will it work ??  I think it would have to be glued down, as it 
doesn't seem like floating it on the pad would work.

Very excited about this project!  Thanks!
_______________________________________________

[email-masked]
Archive: http://www.team.net/archive

---

From: Mike Rambour <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 12:29:33 -0800

Unfortunately, I would go with paint.  I say unfortunately because it 
wont look as good as epoxy or staining or tiles but it will hold up and 
be very easy to repair.

  Of the 2, epoxy or stain, stain is the most weld splatter resistant 
but hardest to repair when the time comes, the repair area will have a 
different color.

  I have Racedeck tiles in my shop and I LOVE them, in my first shop I 
was MIG welding and burning up tiles like crazy (Racedeck will replace 
damaged tiles) they are not in any way weld proof (duh...they are 
plastic).  In my new shop I left a area of bare concrete where I do most 
of my welding and plasma cutting now, I also moved up to TIG so a lot 
less damage.   I put down a welding blanket on the rare occasion that I 
can't move my project to the bare concrete welding area and it works.  A 
bit of a pain but its a hobby not a living so I can take the time to put 
the blanket down.

  I left a 6'x6' area bare concrete in a corner as my welding/metal 
working area, I find most of my stuff I can move there and weld. I did a 
exhaust system for my daughters car a few months ago that was MIG tack 
welded on the lift with Racedeck underneath and a blanket on the floor, 
then removed the exhaust and finished off the welding with TIG, the 
benefit was a much better looking weld on the bench then done under the 
car, it was a pain to work in that 6x6 area with the long exhaust but it 
worked.  90+% of my stuff is small enough to fit on the welding table so 
I like my setup.

  The last option that you did not mention would be porcelain tiles, 
they will hold up to most weld splatter with some discoloration, 
properly put down wont crack when normal things are dropped on them, of 
course they will crack if you drop a head because you know the head will 
land on its corner (and knock off a chunk of the head, big oops) but 
even cracked they look good and they are cheaper than Racedeck assuming 
you are doing the labor. Kind of easily replaced also when you break 
one.  I plan on doing porcelain tiles in my welding area to match as 
best as I can the Racedeck pattern, been planning that for a decade now :)

  Mike

On 12/11/2014 12:03 PM, steve hochschild wrote:
> I had always planned on an epoxy floor, but I have just been told that 
> I have two issues: I have to wait 6 months for the slab to fully cure 
> epoxy floor where I plan to weld.  I do tig welding on a welding 
> table, but there are falling pieces, sparks, plasma cutting, and so 
> on, and it is suggested that this will eat up the epoxy very quickly.
>
> I've already tried the plastic matting approach, which I don't want, 
> but what about linoleum or vinyl tiles?  How about laminate - it would 
> look good, but will it work ??  I think it would have to be glued 
> down, as it doesn't seem like floating it on the pad would work.
>

[email-masked]