New Shop (flooring)

[rydods]

We have a new shop currently under construction, 1,824 sq. ft total. 988 garage space and 836 production/office area. There is a large opening between the 2 spaces so it's mostly open concept. I plan to concrete polish and seal the garage floor for ease of cleaning and nice look. What recommendations would you give for the production/office floor? #1 is comfort, 2 is easy to clean, 3 would be looks. It would also be nice to have a smooth transition into the garage area. We provide smaller signage, vehicle wraps and other digital printing services. Mostly commercial so we don't see walk-ins often.

Thanks!

 

[peerlessdani]

We use Husqvarna GM 3000 , Husqvarna Hiperguard and then Husqvarna Hiperhard on our concrete floors. The before and after is amazing! Our concrete is very old and our building used to be Crane that manufactured toilets so the concrete was in very bad shape but now, after doing all the treatments our floors are nice and shiney! We also polish them with a machine and that brings the shine up.

 

[John Miller]

If you decide on carpet in the computer area be sure it is rated for anti-static, your computers will thank you.

 

[myront]

Carpet? Holy crap! Don't even consider it! Polished or painted concrete all the way. Bring in a leaf blower once in a while and blow out the cobwebs and dust bunnies. Don't do it while printing or lamination though.

 

[HaleYeah]

If you decide on carpet in the computer area be sure it is rated for anti-static, your computers will thank you.

That's a good idea for sure. This has never have come across as an issue with our office spaces yet though.

 

[rjssigns]

Stain then seal the concrete. You can get some good looking finishes by staining. Industrial epoxy with colored flakes looks good too. Or you could install wood grain vinyl plank flooring. The more expensive ones look incredible and it's fairly thing. Would be a lot warmer look.

 

[Stacey K]

My entire floor is concrete. My work area needs to be repainted but in the lobby area I installed the wood grain sticky vinyl plank from Home Depot. Looks great and have had a ton of compliments on it. Held up very well so far and it's warm looking.

I use this from Amazon in my work area.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073BQKHPR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Reveal1]

Stain then seal the concrete. You can get some good looking finishes by staining. Industrial epoxy with colored flakes looks good too. Or you could install wood grain vinyl plank flooring. The more expensive ones look incredible and it's fairly thing. Would be a lot warmer look.

Both good ideas. Our Epoxy has held up well and easy to clean. Have you thought about those interlocking tiles used on garage floors?

 

[De.signs Nanaimo]

I used epoxy with flake it works great! But watch out for hot tires, they can sometime lift the epoxy off the floor after they sit for a while.

 

[FireSprint.com]

Sealed or Epoxied Concrete is the way to go, even in the offices. It's the most durable, and it a modern look. Carpet just wears out and looks terrible. If you absolutely want something over the concrete, consider LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tile) It's no too expensive and fair easy to install. Home depot has stuff with a 25 year commercial rating I think.

 

[rydods]

Thanks for all of the input! My production crew is working on concrete now with comfort pads at all of the tables and other stations but it's not enough. They'll revolt if I don't give them a full comfortable floor in their area. Lol.

 

[greysquirrel]

avoid carpet!!! Second building, I installed Lifeproof 360 flooring from HD...mold milder resistant, easy clean and looks fresh. It has a padding on bottom and hammers in place.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

We have a gray indoor/outdoor carpet from home depot and a good commercial vacuum. It looks like commercial carpet and was under $1/sqft. Glue down, no pad. It has held up well, no static issues, easy to clean and not hard on your feet/back standing up on it. Shop bays are just concrete.

 

[myront]

...They'll revolt if I don't give them a full comfortable floor in their area. Lol.

Millenials no doubt.

 

[LearningTheProfession]

If you decide on carpet in the computer area be sure it is rated for anti-static, your computers will thank you.

I have killed motherboards, and wiped HHD's like this. Sad day

 

[Andy D]

Depending on what you're producing in your production area, the sealed concrete is the easiest to keep clean
and scrape up scrap pieces of vinyl stuck to the floor. I can't stand seeing scrap vinyl and other adhesives stuck
to the floor, I bought a floor scraper with a long handle at Harbor Freight and scrape it a couple times a month.

 

[Bly]

When we moved into our current place it had concrete covered in nasty old linoleum.
It would have cost lots to get that mess up and finish the concrete nicely so we went with interlocking pvc tiles.
They were affordable, easy to lay and quite durable. They make the place easy to keep clean and look good.