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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
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    Default floor protection - suggestions

    G'day All

    I'm slowly working towards getting my lathe and mill operational again after not being able to use them for almost 3 years.
    I'm currently renting a place with the hope of buying it and building a shed out the back a bit later on. In the meantime the double garage is choker with my stuff but I'm gradually sorting and culling to free up some room.
    The house has 3 phase power and the meterbox is set into the wall of the garage so its going to be an easy job to fit a 3 ph outlet to run the mill.
    My question is does anyone have any suggestions as to what I could do to protect the concrete floor from oil and coolant around the machines?
    Even though I hope to buy the place, nothing is a sure thing until my name is on the deeds, so I need to be able to keep the garage floor relatively clean.
    I'm thinking of maybe some cheap vinyl flooring (lino) cut around the base of the mill and sealed with silastic. (I don't have the means to lift the mill clear of the floor to slide a piece under it.) I know swarf will get imbeded in the vinyl but I might have to live with that in order to keep the concrete as clean as I can.
    I don't want to paint the floor for a number of reasons. - cost, and the fact that there is not really much exposed floor atm which means it would have to be repainted fully when I eventually clear the garage
    Any other suggestions?
    thanks
    bollie7

  2. #2
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    Default

    Boll, you might go a over t on a combination of lino and oil. Some commercial vinyl has non slip grit in it. I'll have a look into it at work today.

    BT

  3. #3
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    No matter what floor covering you use unless you can cover the whole floor and under the machines chance are that gunk will seep around the joins and gaps and you will be faced with a major cleanup and probably a paint job when you vacate.

    If you just use pieces of covering, unless you change your shoes/boots at the boundary of floor co you will be will be tracking the swarf and oil on your feet so that is just not going to work.

    The problem with needing to paint over oily concrete is getting it to stick so significant extra prep will be needed. You might as well paint it now and again when you vacate. The second coat will go on much easier than the first. I don't think even cheap lino will cost less than a can of paint and a roller.

  4. #4
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    Bob has nailed it. To cover the entire floor with slip resistant vinyl ( commercial kitchen flooring ) would be an expensive proposition. Bit tricky if there is an if involved in the ownership of the house. I didn't seal the concrete floor in my shed. I wouldn't go as far as calling the 20 years of spills and stains a patina but it's such that I'm no longer stressed if there is another spill or stain. Buy a Douglas shaper and move it after a couple of years. Total loss oiling system! I just shrug now.

    BT

  5. #5
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Although I don't intend to move I am conscious that a grubby floor on anything looks bad from a resale point of view. When the time comes to move on a roller and a quarter of a can of paint will be all I need to make the floor look acceptable for selling the place.

  6. #6
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    A third of an acre seven kilometres from the GPO. I won't waste my money on paint. They'll drop the lot with a D9.

  7. #7
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    I hadn't even got to thinking about the safety aspect of using vinyl, so thanks for bringing tht up BT.
    I don't anticipate having lots of oil splashing around, more the inevitable overspray from coolant,(yes I know its slippery and oily) which I'll be cleaning up as I go. I don't anticipate that I'll be using the mill all that much for a while as the garage is a bit cramped and i really hate having to move stuff , to move stuff , to use stuff. LOL.
    Maybe I'll put some black plastic down and then get some old carpet, cut it into wizzbin size bits and put that down on top of the plastic.then just chuck it out when it gets a bit messy.
    geez I miss my big shed.

    bollie7

  8. #8
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    Ueee is offline Blacksmith, Cabinetmaker, Machinist, Messmaker
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    Hi,
    My biggest suggestion is to clean up the swarf regularly. I know this is a given for some, but i'm a bit of a shocker when it comes to cleaning up- i only do it once the mess starts to pi## me off. I'm getting better these days but in my old shed it was a big problem.

    What used to happened was every time we got a big downpour of rain, which wasn't very often here, the shed wall my mill was against seeped water through onto the floor. When we sold the house and moved here, i found a huge section of the floor caked with 1/2" of rusted shavings, they were so stuck to the floor i had to take to them with a cold chisel. The rust of course stained the floor really badly.

    Before I put Freddie in place i will paint the floor under her.......

    One the paint side of things, one of our shops has an epoxy floor. I wouldn't recommend it, it chips really easily if you drop something, and the non slip polymer grit that was in the paint has worn down and the floor is very slippery when it gets wet.

    Ewan

  9. #9
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    Boll,

    Carpet on black plastic would be as slippery as thongs on ice. That cheap nasty rubber backed carpet that looks like matted dog hair might do the trick as a one layer protector.

    BT

  10. #10
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Quote Originally Posted by Anorak Bob View Post
    A third of an acre seven kilometres from the GPO. I won't waste my money on paint. They'll drop the lot with a D9.
    What are you still doing there? Think of all the gear you could buy with that ?

    Hang on, from reading your posts it looks like you have the gear already?

    RE; Swarf Management.
    I try to sweep swarf fairly regularly under my cut off saw bench until it builds up enough to warrant breaking out the dust pan and handbroom.
    I saw once in a small workshop a recess in the floor about 2 x 2 x 2 ft deep covered by a stout wooden grate. The floor was also very slightly sloped to drain onto the recess. Inside the recess was a very grubby ply box with a couple of rope handles and every half day or so swarf and metal dust was swept into this grate and every every few days the box was emptied by a lackey. It also served as a bit of an emergency sump when a machine decided to dump its load of coolant or other liquids. Now that I think about it, it would have been useful to have incorporated that into my new shed.

  11. #11
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    Default Floor Covering

    Lino is probably your best best, but, it has to go under the machines as well, otherwise the seepage will converge under the machines and the staining will be exacerbated. Lino laid upside down on builders plastic and weighted down by the machinery should do the job: non slip and water proof. I was in the defence force for 25 years and moved every 2-3 years, I used this system in every house I lived and never had any staining or slipping problems.

    Tony H

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