Hey all. I have been lurking on the site for a week or so now after having just constructed my nice new 28*36 workshop. With the shop up and now ready for power, lighting, floor covering I quickly realized I needed a place to research these items.
Lighting and power seem straight forward enough but the whole floor covering thing has me asking a couple of fundamental questions...
First, I am in WV where temperatures have already dropped to the high 30s and low 40s overnight. I am under the impression that epoxy (I know there are hundreds of products and this statement likely does not apply to ALL of them) has to be applied to a slab when the weather is above 60 and the slab over 55. IF this is the case I am probably now looking at a spring job?? The slab (which has a very smooth/polished finish) was only poured 9 days ago and so from what I have read I need to leave it another 3 weeks before even considering covering it. Add to this the fact that despite the floor being a 4" slab I have two 30" * 30" footers which are 12" deep where I will be placing a 2-post car lift. I can see that the rest of the floor is lighter that those two areas even now. This tells me the concrete underneath those footers is going to need a little longer to dry out. This puts me into November by which temperatures will be even lower... Again, does all of this mean I am better waiting till the spring and look for a nice days in the 70s etc or have I been misinformed about the need to apply when slab is 'warm'?
My other question. I saw a post in this forum where someone implied that as he wanted to have a workshop and not a 'showroom', epoxy wouldn't work for him. I too want a workshop. I will be pulling engines, rolling engine cranes across the floor, placing transmissions on the floor...and so on. Is epoxy the best answer in this environment? My main requirement is to put something down that will take this abuse and not stain from oil, brake fluid etc...WITHOUT spending $5k!
Any input much appreciated.
Paul
Lighting and power seem straight forward enough but the whole floor covering thing has me asking a couple of fundamental questions...
First, I am in WV where temperatures have already dropped to the high 30s and low 40s overnight. I am under the impression that epoxy (I know there are hundreds of products and this statement likely does not apply to ALL of them) has to be applied to a slab when the weather is above 60 and the slab over 55. IF this is the case I am probably now looking at a spring job?? The slab (which has a very smooth/polished finish) was only poured 9 days ago and so from what I have read I need to leave it another 3 weeks before even considering covering it. Add to this the fact that despite the floor being a 4" slab I have two 30" * 30" footers which are 12" deep where I will be placing a 2-post car lift. I can see that the rest of the floor is lighter that those two areas even now. This tells me the concrete underneath those footers is going to need a little longer to dry out. This puts me into November by which temperatures will be even lower... Again, does all of this mean I am better waiting till the spring and look for a nice days in the 70s etc or have I been misinformed about the need to apply when slab is 'warm'?
My other question. I saw a post in this forum where someone implied that as he wanted to have a workshop and not a 'showroom', epoxy wouldn't work for him. I too want a workshop. I will be pulling engines, rolling engine cranes across the floor, placing transmissions on the floor...and so on. Is epoxy the best answer in this environment? My main requirement is to put something down that will take this abuse and not stain from oil, brake fluid etc...WITHOUT spending $5k!
Any input much appreciated.
Paul
