wood floor in old garage

[diamond67]

Hello. New here. I bought an old farm house in the Catskill Mountains. The house is from 1830 and the garage is listed as 1910. The floor is wood over dirt with a dry-laid stone foundation around the sides. The boards are varying widths, about 2 inches thick. It's in pretty bad shape but I think I can salvage it by laying another layer of wood the other direction and screwing it down.

There's a lumber yard close by that sells rough-sawn hemlock. Does anyone know if this would make a decent floor? The garage is quite small and would only be used for storing a pick-up and small riding mower.

 

[bczygan]

Welcome to GJ!


Photos?

Bill

 

[diamond67]

I'll take some this weekend.

-C

 

[kd3pc]

your new floor, no matter the material, is only going to be as strong as your sub-floor or what is under it. I would spend some time and effort fixing that as best as you can. Then lay down as thick a board as you can get, at least 2" on the repaired floor and you should be OK.

 

[JOE.G]

If the floor below it is solid then you should be fine adding another layer, This is quite common up here in the Catskill's. If you don't mind me asking what county did you purchase in?

My buddy owns a sawmill and I use rough cut lumber for a lot of my projects.

 

[bigjon]

Don't have an answer for you, but I just googled Catskill Mountains images and that is one pretty place in the world. You're very lucky!

 

[diamond67]

I think I managed to successfully add two images. The existing floor is in rough shape but I think I could possibly screw the loose boards in and replace the missing ones. It seems like this will make the floor pretty solid and another layer would just make it smoother. At first, I was thinking of just adding a thick layer of plywood but now I'm leaning towards rough cut lumber in the other direction.

There's a lumber yard relatively close (nothing is really close to here) in Cooksburg that sells hemlock for about .60 to .70 per board foot. Does anyone know how hemlock will do?

We're in East Jewett, in Greene County. Yes, it is quite beautiful up here.

-Chris

 

[theoldwizard1]

your new floor, no matter the material, is only going to be as strong as your sub-floor or what is under it.

Concur !

If you are going to go new, whether a section or the whole thing, this is an idea I am pretty sure I saw here somewhere. Start by reasonably leveling your dirt. Build a frame out of PT 2x4 or 2x6. It will look a lot like atypical stud wall, except. Just lay it on the dirt. Stake the outer edges. Fill with gravel (NOT round/river rock/pea gravel). A mixture of 3/4" down to fine (a.k.a. "crusher run") is best. Compact well. Add stone dust/fine crushed stone to fill the last inch or 2 up to the level of the the frame. Apply what ever kind of wood you would like, even plywood.

Moisture from the ground will not wick up and attack the wood floor. If you compacted the stone properly, it will act as you subfloor, so the finished floor will not sag.

The reason the hemlock is cheap is that it is normally just ground up for pul (paper making). Hemlock is a softwood, so it will wear, If you can get rough cut, full 2" boards, the should last a long time, especially with the sibfloor system I described.

 

[Ditch]

looks trashed
I'd go with cement

 

[JOE.G]

Hemlock is what a lot of barns in my area are made of even the new ones going up. The old Wizard has a good idea and it is probably the ideal way, But if you just want a fairly easy and cheaper way just frame it out so you can get it pretty close to level, Then get at least a 2 inch Hemlock board and use it as the floor. Honestly the wood is cheap and it will last many Many years a few inches off of the dirt. Judging by the building I don't think you want to put more into the floor then the Building is worth. There are plenty of buildings close to a hundred years old build with hemlock here and still standing and in good shape.

 

[AllroundfaN]

Concur !

If you are going to go new, whether a section or the whole thing, this is an idea I am pretty sure I saw here somewhere. Start by reasonably leveling your dirt. Build a frame out of PT 2x4 or 2x6. It will look a lot like atypical stud wall, except. Just lay it on the dirt. Stake the outer edges. Fill with gravel (NOT round/river rock/pea gravel). A mixture of 3/4" down to fine (a.k.a. "crusher run") is best. Compact well. Add stone dust/fine crushed stone to fill the last inch or 2 up to the level of the the frame. Apply what ever kind of wood you would like, even plywood.

Moisture from the ground will not wick up and attack the wood floor. If you compacted the stone properly, it will act as you subfloor, so the finished floor will not sag.

The reason the hemlock is cheap is that it is normally just ground up for pul (paper making). Hemlock is a softwood, so it will wear, If you can get rough cut, full 2" boards, the should last a long time, especially with the sibfloor system I described.

Is there a name for this type of flooring system? I'd like to research it further and maybe talk with my local inspectors about its use in my neck of the woods. I'm building a shop this fall and have been exploring flooring options. I'm inclined to go wood for several reasons but had concerns about floor load should I decide to put something heavy in the shop later (car, machinery etc). This seems like a great solution as the compacted gravel base will support just about any load. Personally, I'm thinking 2x8 YP T&G for the surface.

 

[cattoon]

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=357734 This is the tread referenced.

 

[Skiff Builder]

Is there a name for this type of flooring system? I'd like to research it further and maybe talk with my local inspectors about its use in my neck of the woods. I'm building a shop this fall and have been exploring flooring options. I'm inclined to go wood for several reasons but had concerns about floor load should I decide to put something heavy in the shop later (car, machinery etc). This seems like a great solution as the compacted gravel base will support just about any load. Personally, I'm thinking 2x8 YP T&G for the surface.

I know it as the "Skiffbuilder Boatshop Floor System": thumbup:

It's working out great. Holds any load I throw at it. Cleans up easily and is a joy to work on. My local inspector was all for the idea- did not require a permit either, which was amazing in post Storm Sandy coastal NJ.
I used 3/4 non t&g ext ply. Wanted to be able to easily pull up a sheet if needed. I used a minimum amount of screws to start- basically just tacked the floor down- no movement of the ply so far.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=357734

 

[TractorJeff]

One of my shops had a plywood floor from its former life as a "Bunkhouse". The concrete (?) was in rough shape so they leveled it with 2x?, then put plywood down. I've driven a 12,000lb bulldozer in there with minimal damage. Figure this flooring has been in there since 1975?