[TheForge] building a new shop/shed

[Bob Willman]

	I left my shop with a dirt floor. It is a pole barn with no heat. I
like the dirt because things like the swage block and vise are mounted on
telephone poles set into the floor. It is a relatively simple procedure to
relocate things if necessary by digging a new hole and filling in the other
one. The only problem with my dirt is that it is clay - very common in this
area - and if you walk in the shop with wet or damp shoes it sticks to your
soles. If you then enter the house there follows immediately lots of yelling
and screaming. 
	One of the best floors I have seen was the left over ash from a coal
fired power/heating plant. It is soft to walk on and looks like dark glass
beads. If you drop something and don't pick it up right away you will have
to rake the floor later to find it. I looked into that source but the local
university heating plant mixes the carbon soot with the ashes for disposal.
I quickly decided against using their ashes. 


Bob Willman
Bowling Green, Ohio
The Eagle's Anvil
WB8NQW

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Dan Scheid
Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2009 10:16 AM
To: 'terry l. ridder'; 'Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA'
Subject: Re: [TheForge] building a new shop/shed

Terri, I'm in the same spot. In building a shop I hate Concrete for my
knees. But you can do so much on it. So I'm building a box of packed dirt in
the forge area and concrete everywhere else. This way I hope to have the
best of both world this way Dan Scheid

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of terry l. ridder
Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2009 4:32 AM
To: theforge at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [TheForge] building a new shop/shed

hello;

i have settled on a design for the new shop/shed, the only quyestion now is
whether the floor is left as dirt. i am leaning toward leaving the floor
dirt. a step up from dirt would be compacted crushed stone. 
i am planning on burying radiant heat piping in the floor whatever the
composition may be and using a wood fired boiler to heat the water.

the reason for leaving it dirt is that dirt is easier on my legs than
concrete. granted this winter has been an unusual chicago winter, but the
cold dampness of the concrete floor in the current garage causes pain issues
with the legs. the perimeter of the shop/shed will be a 4 ft. deep footer. i
could dig out the dirt and back fill with sand, pea gravel, and compacted
crushed stone.

the shop/shed is a design from www.barnplans.com. right now i am figuring on
a 24 ft wide x 30 ft long  shop/shed. i need to build a couple models out of
art foam board to determine which size will blend in with the house and
landscaping. the shop/shed will have a 2nd story. i am planning on this
being long term storage and home office space. a small size freight elevator
( 8 x 8 ) which i am planning on putting in will allow me to get to the home
office easy enough. there will be a wide staircase for those with working
legs. ;-)

the first picture on the below url is the design i have choosen.
http://www.barnplans.com/dormer.html

anyway, what have others decided on for their shop floors?

--
terry l. ridder ><>
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