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Hi all,
I'm building a bigish workshop (5 or 6 x 2.4) in the back garden on an old garages concrete slab.
I'm basically copying this build:
which uses pressure treated 2x4s on adjustable decking joists for the bottom framework (in turn the decking joist things sit on the concrete pad). In the video he uses 19mm pine floorboards - this adds a substanital amount of cost to the build, so i'm planning on doing something else - either: OSB or Ply.
It's likely that i'll be building this in stages with sometimes a number of weeks between stages - i will cover it up with a tarp, but it's not going to be 100% weather protection. So...
Is OSB suitable for a workshop base? Don't want it to look totally poo as we'll probably sell in the next year or two. Failing that, ply is the fallback (18mm), but obviously that'll be more expensive - 5 sheets of ply will probably cost 250 quid. Any thoughts?
Also, what should I treat the floor with? I was thinking some kind of hard wax oil for floors - they're normally sold as internal use, but I assume that it'd be ok under a tarp.
Cheers - i'll post some photos too.
Anything wrong with the concrete slab? Saves a lot of effort to use that as the floor, especially if it isn't your 'forever' workshop. If you do want wood then OSB is fine. It takes being out in the weather a bit just don't over do it and keep it as covered as you can. I think it looks quite good stained, but it takes paint well, too. You'd should ideally space the joists a bit closer than in that video but I'm sure it'll be fine. If cost is an issue then you can get recycled ply and OSB from building site hoardings. I have a good supplier near Bath (£6 for OSB, £8 for ply) and it comes with a thick coat of oil based paint as a bonus. You can always over paint if you don't like grey or put vinyl down.
Thanks Nick - cost is a consideration as it's likely to only be 'mine' for a year or two. I've put it off for the last 4 years as i'm always certain 'we'll probably move soon' - now I'm saying f*ck it and just getting it done.
What kind of stain do you think? Like fence stain, or decking stain, or something like hard wax oil?
Point taken on the joists, the loading will be pretty minimal tho (my heaviest machine is my table saw and i currently lug that around by hand!).
Not anywhere near bath unfortunately, but what did you google to find them? Might be something similar local - near woking.
Moisture resistiant chipboard flooring is - as the name suggests - moisture resistant and is dead cheap. I use it as a floor in my old-barn of a workshop, just laid flat to give a smooth cover over an old lumpy oily damp concrete floor. The barn leaks and my plasma table throws water everywhere and the floor twice been under several inches of water after the burn burst its banks and is totally fine after 6 years
Theres more than one grade of OSB in terms of weather resistance. OSB 3 is more moisture resistant than OSB 2.
Pay close attention to sheet sizes with OSB as well... for reasons.... some OSB is a dead, metric 2.4m x 1.2m size rather than a full imperial equivalent 2.44 x 1.22 (which is what every other board comes in) Can catch you out when the sheets you buy end nearly 2" shorter than the frame you've built. 🙂
I was thinking about OSB3 - seems to be 25 quid a sheet at the timber merchant.
Good point on the dimensions!
Any tips on what to treat it with? Just normal fence stain?
OSB3 is good. Easy to work, strong enough and cheap.
For a stain as it is small area its worth going up a little from the basic £5 a bucket fence stain. I quite like Ronseal Quick Drying Wood Stain. Something light as you don't need the UV protection and it'll be less prone showing any marks. Might be a little slippery for a floor if it gets dusty, though. Maybe a non slip decking stain would be better but I've never used one