A new idea for garage flooring?

[zerohdog]

Hi All,

Ok, I've been thinking about making my 600 sq.' garage look better with a new floor. I'm thinking about buying 1/2" to 5/8" 4X8 sheets of plywood. Setting them on sawhorses, burning the surface with a torch, using a wire brush to broom out the soft burnt wood, staining the sheets, cutting it into 6" to 8" boards and then gluing the boards onto my floor. I think it would be a fun project and cheaper than what's on the market now. What say you???

Rich from New Braunfels TX.

 

[hammlm]

I say, "I want some of what you been smokin."


Seriously, do have any photos of similar, or some other reference that gave you this idea?

I'm intersted to see what others say, and to hear more about your thought process.

 

[Ch3No2]

Only in Texas.....and throw in some bailin wire and duck tape

 

[zerohdog]

Ok, so I'm thinking outside the box......So Soooory! I thought it was a pretty good idea.

 

[allinon72]

I guess I'm not following the rationale as to why that would be advantageous or even a good idea?

 

[bdamico]

At least you have good bbq where you're at.

 

[rquackenbush]

It depends on what you're going to be doing on it... If you're using it as a hang out spot, no worries. If it's a woodworking shop, would be very nice. I'm not sure about cars - might dent the soft wood.

Looks wise, I think it would look great.

 

[antinym]

I like the idea. My only concern would be the warpage of the wood after time and humidity exposure. Maybe if you had a 1/2 plywood substrate to nail or screw everything too... or don't even worry about it. when/if the wood warps replace it with new peices

 

[zerohdog]

I've burned wood in the past. Even pine looks fantastic after brushing out the soft wood and staining. It was just an idea....I'll probably go with vct.

 

[skyking]

NO!

 

[The Frisco Kid]

Hi All,

Ok, I've been thinking about making my 600 sq.' garage look better with a new floor. I'm thinking about buying 1/2" to 5/8" 4X8 sheets of plywood. Setting them on sawhorses, burning the surface with a torch, using a wire brush to broom out the soft burnt wood, staining the sheets, cutting it into 6" to 8" boards and then gluing the boards onto my floor. I think it would be a fun project and cheaper than what's on the market now. What say you???

Rich from New Braunfels TX.

Sounds cool... have you seen anything like this?

 

[slamin81]

its mixed for me i think it a great idea, but im with some of these guys with the moister and stuff warping

 

[mrobins297aaa]

if your to put cars in there what about oil stains. i would think it would make the plywood soft.
I had a shed with 3/4 osb floor and where ever i spilled or leaked oil or gas it totally destroyed the wood.
propably would look ok

 

[dmeadow]

If you want to do a wood floor, you can find some cheap laminate from Lumber Liquidators then epoxy clear over it. I think it would do better than plywood, though you'd still have potential problems with humidity and wet.

 

[ford33]

I like it because it is a creative idea.

Since we are brainstorming, why not consider working directly with the existing concrete and not use plywood at all? Create a pattern in the concrete using a thin concrete patch solution. Stain or dye the thin mixture of concrete patch and use a brush/trowel for unique effects. The garage floor becomes your canvas. How about gluing thin objects to the floor in patterns or installing low voltage strip lighting in the floor for three dimensional effects.

When done, seal the whole canvas... I mean garage floor.

Soon, having a painted or tiled garage floor will be passe'. We need to think about the next new and creative way to enhance our personal environment.

Home builders no long design a library in high-end homes. It's been replaced by a media room and that will be replaced eventually by the experience room. Our garages need to keep evolving too.

 

[zuk123]

I've used strips of paneling as flooring... We did it to fake a hardwood floor in a TV commercial. I can tell you I'd never want cut strips of ply for a floor. There is a reason for the tongue and groove edge on regular flooring. It keeps all the finished strips at exactly the same height (for pre-finished, with unfinished, the step where you sand the whole floor flat takes care of this.)

Unless the strip are all EXACTLY the same height along all the edges, it will catch your foot and constantly trip you up. I'm not even talking about more than a 32nd or a 16th. It is VERY hard to walk on.

It would probably look cool, but unless you sand it, I think you'll hate it.

FWIW, I've seen plywood floors finished in clear that looked pretty good. With fewer seams, and using T & G edges, they are easy to walk on.

zuk

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Richard Rawlings stick to hot-rods!

 

[Chukster]

OK, been lurking here for a few weeks, and I'll post this idea, with no concept of whether it's true or not; my told me about a factory that was done like this.

The floor of the 'machine shop' area was made of blocks of wood, except end-grain up. maybe 4 or 6 inches square, may be 2 inches thick? The idea was that any metal chips would fall and just get pushed into the grain. Every once in a while, the factory would plane/sand/whatever a few fractions of an inch. Brand new floor. Do it several times, then pull up what's left & lay down new.

I've never heard of it since, but I haven't worked in very many industrial facilities. Unless it's sealed somehow it would probably collect oil & grease, which could make it a fire hazard? ... I don't know.

 

[Torque1st]

OK, been lurking here for a few weeks, and I'll post this idea, with no concept of whether it's true or not; my told me about a factory that was done like this.

The floor of the 'machine shop' area was made of blocks of wood, except end-grain up. maybe 4 or 6 inches square, may be 2 inches thick? The idea was that any metal chips would fall and just get pushed into the grain. Every once in a while, the factory would plane/sand/whatever a few fractions of an inch. Brand new floor. Do it several times, then pull up what's left & lay down new.

I've never heard of it since, but I haven't worked in very many industrial facilities. Unless it's sealed somehow it would probably collect oil & grease, which could make it a fire hazard? ... I don't know.

I worked at a defense plant in KC that had floors like that. They were very comfortable to walk on. The floors turned a dark brown from traffic and spills. The individual blocks were various sizes packed together tight and hammered into place.

 

[zuk123]

I was in a locomotive shop (old Pulman yard, Chicago) that had a floor like this. Think of 4x4 posts, 2-4ft long, standing up in a bed of compacted sand. You could drop ANYTHING on that floor and it would survive.

I saw a blacksmith shop on the TV show "The Woodwright's Shop" just the other week that had a floor like this too.

Softer than concrete, endgrain really won't compress or shrink much, flexible and resilient. Soaks up spills. The blacksmith said it wasn't a fire risk. I believe it. Embers or sparks on endgrain won't really have too much time to do more than smolder.

zuk

 

[The Frisco Kid]

You could buy unfinished solid wood floors and put them down before finishing like you are describing. Similar to the "handscraped hardwood" look. I think those planks tongue & groove run about $0.90 per sqft, so you're way ahead of the curve on cost. Shoot, it's barely more expensive than plywood. 32sqft of plywood for $28, 32 sqft of unfinished floor $28.80.

Start here:
http://www.lumberliquidators.com/ll/c/Utility-Oak-Hardwood-Flooring-OA2U/10008112

then decide if you want wider boards or a different wood.

 

[carhunter]

I was in a locomotive shop (old Pulman yard, Chicago) that had a floor like this. Think of 4x4 posts, 2-4ft long, standing up in a bed of compacted sand. You could drop ANYTHING on that floor and it would survive.

I saw a blacksmith shop on the TV show "The Woodwright's Shop" just the other week that had a floor like this too.

Softer than concrete, endgrain really won't compress or shrink much, flexible and resilient. Soaks up spills. The blacksmith said it wasn't a fire risk. I believe it. Embers or sparks on endgrain won't really have too much time to do more than smolder.

zuk

I think that's called a puncheon floor?