What floor material

[Uncle Levi]

I'm in the process of building a smithy addition to my shop and am considering a gravel floor. Is that going to be alright? Levi

[Strix Varia]

Gravel sounds good,...unless you drop something small on it like a bolt or small screw etc.I been thinking that packed,smooth dirt has a lot of advantages.

[HWooldridge]

Dirt is hard to beat for a forge floor but you won't like pea gravel because it's slippery and hard to walk on plus, as Strix said, it's difficult to find small parts once dropped. In my previous shop, I put 3 inches of crushed limestone over the native topsoil and it worked great, not too dusty and comfortable to walk on. I left the native clay in my current shop but it is extremely fine and turns to powder so every step "puffs". In the late afternoon sun, I can see a cloud of microscopic particles floating around and me sucking it in with every breath - so I take a water hose and periodically wet the entire floor. Dirt is a lot easier on your feet than concrete and that can make a difference at the end of a long day.

[woodtick]

I just have a little addition built on the end of my garage for my forge, but I leveled the foor off with a real fine slate gravel over the native soil. Every so often I sift ashes from the forge and charcoal dust over it, that combination mixed with the natural dampness from the ground and constant walking in a small area made the floor pack down smooth and hard. It packed down good enough that I can sweep it.

[Dodge]

Here in Nebraska, we have an abundancy of good ol clay. Just under the topsoil. Usually less that a foot. When I build my shop I will op to have probably half un-paved maybe all and just rely on hard packed clay in the forge area. Save lotas money that way too

[frogvalley]

I like my gravel floor and I plan to remove the sqaure of concrete under one of my tables. I hate the concrete. The gravel I recommend is a "crusher run" , its a mix of sizes from fines(small sandy bits) up to about 3/4 inch. It packs well, is relatively low dusting, and packs well. I agree with the others about a clay or dirt floor, they work well although my dirt floor in the outer forge area here is harder to clean. I can rake the gravel and the dust is less than than raking or sweeping the dirt floor.

Never concrete, gravel or dirt are great choices for working or walking.

[Chris Pook]

My old forging area was dirt (road base or road mulch is what they call it here) I'd just wet it down once in awhile to keep dust down and it packed solid. In the new shop I went concrete. My new shop is smaller than my old one so I wanted to make sure I could use wheels on carts and machines to move things around.

I liked the dirt floor though and after I get things sorted out and the work flow going again I may build a bit of a sandbox for my main forging area.

[Dodge]

The neat thing about dirt, clay, gravel, etc vs concrete is that the non- concrete materials are less likely to explode if molten steel or other such hot material was to come into contact with it. Heavy flame cutting over concrete should be avoided as there is always some moisture in the concrete that will expand and can rupture the surface. Not in a window shattering explosion but enough to send particals into places they should not occupy. i.e. eyes, ears, down the front of yer bibs etc. Just a safety note

[JerryCarroll]

My pole barn shop is 24'x40'. I had the bottom of the walls put an average of 6" off the ground to make for a fill of the same stuff as Mark at Frog Valley. 28 tons of the mix--watered down and compacted made a floor almost like concrete, except I don't get any cracks. Its easy to punch holes in for post vises and the anvil mount. Money wise it was about 2 grand less than if I had the floor poured.

[Ed Thomas]

This topic comes up a lot. So much of a shop construction depends on your use. I put up with a dirt floor for several years and will never do it again. It is not enough easier on my feet to justify the increased dust when it is dry, and rust when it is damp. When there is heavy stuff to move around, either machines or projects, gravel and dirt are pure aggravation.

So what I did in my new construction was to pour a 6" slab for 3/4 of the shop. The remaining forging area has 3" or so of gravel with a drain tile from there and under the slab. I put two layers of plastic over that, and then another 3" or more of #63 gravel on top of that. That is the common size used in concrete. The gravel is not too bad on the feet, and the shop floor stays dry. I haven't lost anything in the gravel yet, but if it's an issue just take a magnet and pick it up.

I always thought that the primary justification for gravel or dirt was that it was softer on the feet. Since everyone finds ways to pack it down until it's almost as good a concrete, this doesn't really make it much of an improvement. But Lee Sauder suggested to me that one other advantage is that the gravel floor is irregular, so your feet change positions as you work, rather than being locked into flat all the time. Apparently, the variety of positions can alleviate the onset of fatigue. That seems to be the case for me.

Most professional shops that I've been in just go with concrete. For areas of prolonged standing, such as the forge and anvil, put down a hardwood platform of some sort. (It stinks much less than a rubber mat).