Loft or Mezz Flooring

[kwb]

Currently the floor is just an OSB Subfloor which has been fine for storage purposes but I seem to be running out of room on the ground floor and doing more up in the loft.

I put my Plasma Table up there a couple years ago and "protected" things with some welding blankets. They are starting to get in rough shape and the office chair at the desk is not being kind to the OSB either.

The obvious answer is Tile for being good for errant sparks off the table and splashed water out of water table. I could do that general area but I kind of want to just **** it up and do the entire 11x42 area in the same material.

Basic Vinyl on 12' roll is not going to do well with sparks so I lean away from it but it is cheap and quick.

I am thinking 12" hard linoleum tiles might fare better and with a polyglow or something similar probably pretty good for a bit of splashed water. Looks like I can get in at $1/sf or so for a basic like you would see in a lot of commercial retail spaces. It would be a bit lumpy since I don't want to build up over OSB with a veneer plywood layer. Not a deal breaker

I also have a fair amount of laminate floors in the house that have been uber durable with little care. Ugly basic products here are in line with the Linoleum for cost but might look a bit better but give away some on the water resistance.

The entire shop is unfinished space (uninsulated / no sheetrock) so I am not trying to get fancy here, just something that sweeps up a bit better than OSB subfloor and might not burn quite as easy with a few sparks landing on it.

 

[Dig Doug]

We use a lot of VCT tile about a $1 a foot to buy they come in 35 pc boxes, glue and floor patch, Multi tool Fine tooth works good to cut tile around door jambs and inside corners. Have an extra case or 2 for patching down the road. If the sub floor flexes the tile will pop loose eventually

you can do all kinds of patterns designs or just one color if desired.

the key is to turn the tile 1/4 when laying and not have a pattern there is a top /bottom and pull tile from multiple boxes and shuffle them.
snap cutters work great! Patch floor and spread glue and wait for glue to flash then get laying! I use a small carpet dolly from HF to keep the tile on easy to roll it around.

for best results use a polish after glue drys.

another good idea is LVT and it snaps together - floating floor I think this is more durable as the VCT will pop loose eventually.

 

[Youngandfree]

We use a lot of VCT tile about a $1 a foot to buy they come in 35 pc boxes, glue and floor patch, Multi tool Fine tooth works good to cut tile around door jambs and inside corners. Have an extra case or 2 for patching down the road. If the sub floor flexes the tile will pop loose eventually

you can do all kinds of patterns designs or just one color if desired.

the key is to turn the tile 1/4 when laying and not have a pattern there is a top /bottom and pull tile from multiple boxes and shuffle them.
snap cutters work great! Patch floor and spread glue and wait for glue to flash then get laying! I use a small carpet dolly from HF to keep the tile on easy to roll it around.

for best results use a polish after glue drys.

another good idea is LVT and it snaps together - floating floor I think this is more durable as the VCT will pop loose eventually.

Tile popping loose due to subfloor flexing is why they make uncoupling membranes to put down first, no?

 

[Dig Doug]

Yes ….
but over plywood & who knows what the R value is ….. in extreme temps things can go weird.

I’m in so cal so life is great!

red guard the entire floor and add a slip sheet and it’s still a gamble!