What kind of floor do you have in your shop-are you happy with it?

[deena]

My floor of my shop has lowpile carpeting. Looking for dropped screws and small parts drives me bonkers. What I need is a new floor. What kind of floor do you have in your repair area? Any suggestions on what works best and why would help me decide how to proceed. This can be a do it yourself job, or not.

 

[deena]

My floor of my shop has lowpile carpeting. Looking for dropped screws and small parts drives me bonkers. What I need is a new floor. What kind of floor do you have in your repair area? Any suggestions on what works best and why would help me decide how to proceed. This can be a do it yourself job, or not.

 

[Mike Phelan]

Vinyl, plain colour, preferably greenish (contrasts with brass!)

 

[Dr. Jon]

I have put a plastic rug protector under the chair at my bench. It covers the area parts are most likely to hit. These are heavy guage plastic with teeth on the underside to grip and 4 by 5 feet in size.

Its a lot quicker and cheaper and produces most of the desired benefit.

 

[John Hubby]

Mike and I think alike. Installed industrial grade sheet vinyl wall to wall, and can very much recommend it. One additional tip: Use a hand held vacuum cleaner with a removable filter to clean up the floor every day. No end of taper pins, screws, nuts, small parts, etc will be recovered.

John Hubby

 

[burnz]

Better yet--use a strong vacuum cleaner with a piece of ladies nylons stretched over the nozzle---all parts from floor will be held against the nylon by the force of the vacuum.

 

[SSWood]

Plain vinyl ... easily swept, a degree of softness, so stuff doesn't bounce too far. Turned up about 3 inches where it meets the walls, to keep the blasted little parts from disappearing. Still manage to lose the odd irreplaceable part though .. just haven't discovered where the 'black hole' in the vinyl is yet.

Steve

 

[deena]

All great suggestions, esp. the color choice to contrast with brass. I had considered the snap together laminate floors that look like wood mostly because
1. I can do it myself
2. I can do it in stages so do not have to empty the entire room at once. There is just no place to put all the benches, cabinents and so on. A friend put sheets of the white textured melamie (like you may see on bathroom walls) over his hardwood near work benches. He says that way you can HEAR the part when it hits the floor which is more precise than looking for it. I thought that was a good point.
Using a carpet protector is a good idea, but I have several work stations in my shop, so would need several of them. I am a clumsy repair novice and drop many things!
The thing that draws me away from the laminate is I am afraid it is hard on your feet unlike vinyl.

 

[bchaps]

I also have sheet vinyl, light gray. But still, dropped parts can be difficult to find because they roll! However, I can't imagine how one would locate a part on carpet without doing the Vacuum and nylon stocking thing. So, be aware parts still disappear!

Bill

 

[bobswatch]

When I drop parts I use a very large and strong magnet to pass over the floor area for steel parts. Don't work on brass, but still very helpful with screws and the like.
Bob

 

[deena]

Hi Bob. Yes, I have a magnet too but it is not real big. Seems I always lose things that the magnet won't pick up! By the way, I have chosen a laminate floor and it is almost finished. So far so good, but I haven't actually worked on it yet, I am still putting everything back and rearranging.....

 

[Richard Watkins]

Dave, all your cares are solved! Put an electric blanket under the vinyl.

 

[Mike Phelan]

Originally posted by Richard Watkins:
Dave, all your cares are solved! Put an electric blanket under the vinyl.

The flames will keep you warm!

 

[deena]

David, that is a good point. In my case, the room is upstairs, so adding insulation is not necessary, but even so, it does get cold in the winter as the heat is shut off when we are not up there. It is sure hard to think when you are shivering!
I am writing a short article about my flooring project for TickTalk magazine. Those of you that subscribe can look for it later this summer.

 

[Mike Phelan]

If you have the misfortune to have a workshop that is cold when not in use, it is a good idea to install a dehumidifier to raise the dew point. Mine in the garage/machine shop fills up (5 litres) daily in spring and autumn.

Also, useful to know that if you are cold, your head, followed by hands and feet, get coldest first; wear a hat!!

If you are working with big heavy items (bushing large clocks?) and maybe servicing a platform escapement or a watch, do the finest work first.

 

[Bill Ward]

Melamine has a very thin colored coating, which will not stand abrasion. (How do I know? That's a long, hair-raising story involving 30 sheets tied to the top of the car with twine, a gusty day, a high speed highway, and a speeding tractor-trailer.)
If your feet get cold, there are proprietary underfloor heating systems, both electric and hydronic. It's said to be both efficient and wonderfully comfortable.

 

[harold bain]

Bill, you could always use heated socks
Harold

 

[deena]

Ha ha Harold your suggestion made me laugh. Not quite as radical as Richard's thoughts of the electric blanket. Actually I should wrap myself in that electric blanket while I am up there. To be honest, I turn the heat on when I am there for a long time. Otherwise I use a small electric space heater that I put up there and directed at my feet. I try to have all important stuff like heater and ultrasonic cleaner hooked up so when I turn off the lights, it all goes out. Once the switch to the ultrasonic heater was accidently flipped on, and the next time I went in the room I could smell fluid. Well it had warmed it alright, and it is a BIG machine. I was lucky the fluid level did not rise over the top or expand out the drain hose. So now I have a better safer system.
Bill that melamine story is something I can visualize, and believe me, it is something that could happen to me. I have heard about those wonderful heated floors, my nephew put one in the kitchen and the kids love to lay on it and play.
Well, I will let you all know how the laminate is after I test it a bit.

 

[skruft]

I have a concrete floor with "comfort" mats where I often sit or stand. It is easy to find parts if they fall on the mats (there are grooves to catch them) but if they hit the floor they are often gone. So I try not to drop them, by putting them in containers or on a piece of router mat.

 

[deena]

Skruft I have used the comfort mats and like them on concrete.
The laminate floor is in and I like the looks of it. It feels cleaner. I can see the dirt or dust and 'swiffer' it away. When I drop parts they are much easier to find now and I appreciate that the most.
So far I have dropped several things (metal items included) with no visable damage done. The chairs and stools got felt pads put on the leg bottoms. The dog isn't too happy though because the floor is very slippery on her toenails when she comes in looking for her cookie. If she falls asleep and is awakened suddenly all four legs go in a different direction when she tries to spring to her feet!
Also my one chair on wheels tends to move when I don't want to. Otherwise it has been a good decision to go with the laminate. I haven't spilled any ultrasonic cleaner yet, so keep your fingers crossed.
I am not known as the most graceful human being, so it may be a matter of time.......

 

[MARK A. BUTTERWORTH]

FWIW, I would either simply stick w/ the carpet you already have and use the vacuum approach or add the comfort mats already suggested. Early in my career, I had concrete in my shop, easy to see butI dropped and antique barrel on it and had to put in some teeth that were damaged in the fall. I then installed commercial carpet. No regrets. For the steel parts, I would suggest a magnet from the hardware store. You can get the broad type or one that looks like a golf club.

 

[deena]

Well today was a good test and the floor passed with flying colors. I spilled a new bag of 100 steel taper pins on the floor. In the old shop I would have been getting them stuck in my soles for all time. Today however, I just reached down with my telescoping magnet and picked them all up. Didn't even get mad :biggrin:

 

[bangster]

Room (re-claimed daughter's bedroon --ROOM reclaimed, not daughter) has ordinary pile carpet. Home Depot (& many others) carry low-pile 36" wide carpet runner--pile little more than fuzz.
I picked a dark color (dark green; black would do too)and carpeted the area around my bench with it, nailing down right thru the old carpet with roofing tacks.
With a hard surface, like vinyl or wood, dropped part tends to bounce into unfindable regions. With fuzzy carpet, it will tend to stay put.

Works for me.

bangster