Shop floor?

[TheNickReyes]

I am doing a 20x20 shop, and I can't decide whether I should do a concrete floor or put the shop on dirt. I'm in the desert. Any advice? 

[notownkid]

What do you plan on doing for equip.  Do want to be able to move them around the shop for space, most all of my stuff are on wheels, concrete is the way to go.  A lot of original shops were on wood, not that much preferred today, crushed stone or hard packed gravel or something easier on you legs and back.  I'm sure there are other surfaces in Az. I know nothing about.  I've seen pictures of a shop in Mass that was concrete except where he did his farrier work and that was wooden blanks. 

I have concrete because of the tools and our ground freezes in the winter then when it thaws there can be a period of soft to damp ground plus it is easier to keep clean and not track stuff in the house.   I've had shops of gravel, crushed stone, concrete and wood in the past. 

There should be a 100 other opinions coming soon. 

 

[Kozzy]

When you say "doing" a 20 x 20, that could mean anything from the scrap pallet building that was in a thread on this site to a couple of shipping containers with a roof between to a nicer pole building and up.

If the building will be something that adds value to your property when (if) you eventually need to sell, I'd go for concrete.  In the long run, it'll pay off in terms of your use as well as buyer appeal.  If you are scabbing together something "temporary" I would stick with either hard dirt (I hear the Az soils are like concrete in places already) or well packed gravel.  That allows change/removal in the future with little fuss.

For most people, their house is their biggest or only major asset so it is best to take a long term view regarding how to insure the largest ROI from that asset far down the road.  

Of course this ignores the individual cashflow issues involved--putting a concrete floor on a credit card at 28% is a terrible idea no matter how badly you want/need the nicer floor.

[TheNickReyes]

The ground is such that I could roll equipment on it if I needed to. I have been going over pros and cons, and I think I will put down the concrete. Definitely better value for selling the property in the future. I am going through Eversafe for the building. 20x20 metal walls, regular door, roll up door, 2 windows. 

 

I'll go with concrete,  I think. 

 

Thanks guys. 

[Smithy.Travis]

Good choice, I worked in shops with dirt and gravel floor in phoenix and still do to some extent and from what I've seen, concrete is the best for us out here. You don't have to worry about water coming in, which as I'm sure you're aware of is a big deal during a monsoon being that the ground hardly absorbs anything, you don't have to worry about critters *scorpions, snakes and squirrels mainly* tunneling under you and popping up, and it is better as far as insulation is concerned. A dirt or gravel floor out here just sucks cold air from buildings like its nothing. Sounds like the shop will be great!

[natenaaron]

Concrete good but be aware molten metal can cause the concrete to pop.  Torch cutting something big is better done outside.  Other than that I've dropped just about every blacksmith project I have been working on on the floor.  Yeah, I'm that new, and the only problem I had was when my 80lb ASO bounced off the stump and gouged the concrete floor.

[Daswulf]

NOW you tell me about concrete spalling!  Haha.  had my own experience with concrete exploding while torching metal on it. Yeah. Don't do it. 

I have dropped very hot metal on it many times with no problem tho.