brick pavers for shop floor?

[dirt clod]

I have a 32x36 pole barn. I would like to have a floor other than dirt that would not be damaged by oil or welding. I don't want rocks. I have noticed a lot of commercial parking lots done where pavers are installed instead of concrete due to run off impact fees. These seem to hold up to traffic fine. If my math is right, my shop would need 432 pavers. I can get pavers for 50 cent each ( Shop Oldcastle 8"L x 4"W Red/Charcoal Holland Paver at Lowes.com)

This seems like a cheap option I can do by myself and with out a permit for concrete. The pavers are rated at 3500 pounds. If that is per paver that would be 109 pounds per sq inch. I would think anything that exerted more pressure than that would sink in the dirt before it got to shop. I have built up the ground with mix of red clay, sand and lime. This stuff packs very hard. On top of this I would put a few inches of sand to bed the pavers. The sand would only cost me hauling about a mile from site, the pavers would be around $250. Concrete would be about 6 times this in materials! I have not heard of anyone doing this. Please school me on this subject. This good idea or bad?

 

[robs660]

That is a great idea. You have my mind spinning right now. I have been looking for something I can do to my destroyed garage floor and never thought about something like this.
I could see it working for you, my only suggestion would be to use a steel edging so that nothing moves on you

Good luck!

 

[dirt clod]

Going to frame outside just like I was pouring concrete. The outside framing will end up being pressure treated 2x4 outside of poles. This frame will be the bottom board that the metal siding will screw to.

 

[CurlyDave]

I have used 12" x 12" stepping stones for a shed floor with great success.

The only problem I see is that the floor may become uneven over time so that it will be difficult to roll anything over it, or difficult to scoot under a vehicle. Using jackstands may be a problem also -- in most cases some plywood will solve the issue.

 

[hr3]

Not sure about the math,, or maybe it's my math,,

32by 36 =1152 sf times 144 si. = 165,888 sq. in. of floor divided by your brick of 32 sq. in to me equals 5,184 bricks ??

 

[GE222]

The pavers should make a nice shop floor. I would not use sand under the pavers, instead use something like crushed limestone that can be firmly compacted. Once the pavers are in, then used silica sand around them.:thumbsup:

 

[ace10]

Not sure about the math,, or maybe it's my math,,

32by 36 =1152 sf times 144 si. = 165,888 sq. in. of floor divided by your brick of 32 sq. in to me equals 5,184 bricks ??

This.

And don't think setting 5K pavers is any fun at all.

 

[Diamondpilot]

The OP needs to go back and check his math. You would need 5,200 pavers give or take. Or $2,600 in pavers plus sand, ect, you are well over $3,000

On the other hand concrete would be about $1,500 in my area for 15 yards of 3000 psi with mesh.

Even if it were cheaper it would never work for rolling around jacks, tool boxes, ect.

Chris

 

[crazyal]

I read 432 pavers and I thought something didn't sound right. At 4x8 that equals the area of something like 3 sheets of plywood. It's still not a bad idea if you can get them or maybe get some of the larger precast ones. I don't think Lowes would be your best bet. Around here the cement companies make pavers and other forms of cement products like blocks. The best thing is if one or some get damaged you just swap them for new ones.

 

[dirt clod]

Well I thought I was needing schooled on construction. Turns out I needed schooling in math. The pavers wouldn't be a cost saving over concrete. Looks like I'm back to concrete as only viable option. Thanks for the help.

 

[k0ua]

I set an area about 1/4 of what you propose in pavers. I had them for free. Never again..I was young then. I cannot remember how many days it took but it was a bunch. Of course I was not a professional, just a weekend warrior setting pavers.. But it was no fun.. to set over 5000 pavers would be quite a job.
James K0UA

 

[crazyal]

Well I thought I was needing schooled on construction. Turns out I needed schooling in math. The pavers wouldn't be a cost saving over concrete. Looks like I'm back to concrete as only viable option. Thanks for the help.

Have you looked into asphalt? Can you build a form and level the cement yourself? If so I would think a 4" floating slab is all you need and with rebar or mesh you should still be under $1k.

 

[dirt clod]

Asphalt is damaged if oil is spilled on it. Doesn't work to well with jacks and jack stands in Florida heat. If I go with concrete plan was to pour 4" with 6" footer where large drive in door would be. With wire mesh (on stands)and fiber reinforcement. Most likely will use 5000psi concrete. My primary trade is in commercial laundry equipment. Weak concrete is something I have learned to hate.

 

[GE222]

For the little extra bit of money, you might as well have the entire slab be around 6". A well compacted base under the slab is also very important.:thumbsup:

 

[crbr]

Asphalt is damaged if oil is spilled on it. Doesn't work to well with jacks and jack stands in Florida heat. If I go with concrete plan was to pour 4" with 6" footer where large drive in door would be. With wire mesh (on stands)and fiber reinforcement. Most likely will use 5000psi concrete. My primary trade is in commercial laundry equipment. Weak concrete is something I have learned to hate.

Don't rely on fiber or mesh as the best reinfircement. Fiber is not a primary reinforcement admixture. Mesh isn't much better.

.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Have you looked into asphalt? Can you build a form and level the cement yourself? If so I would think a 4" floating slab is all you need and with rebar or mesh you should still be under $1k.

To do a 4" slab he would need 15 yards. Its about $100 per yard here in my area for 3000 psi with mesh. I put wire in it also. I just had a pad poured last summer that was 15x40. Materials was $1200 for my thickness 6", and I paid $.65 per sq ft to have it finished. That was me digging it out and framing it up.

So it was $400 to have it finished and $1200 in materials.

I use 3000 psi in my barn with no issues and same with my sidewalks. My drive got 4000 psi.

Chris

 

[dirt clod]

Don't rely on fiber or mesh as the best reinfircement. Fiber is not a primary reinforcement admixture. Mesh isn't much better.

.

What do you have in mind? rebar? I do plan putting in the footer at the door but didn't plan on doing all in rebar. The concrete will not bear building load also frost heave isn't a concern in Florida. If I understand right the fiber helps to prevent cracking.

 

[not2old]

Well I thought I was needing schooled on construction. Turns out I needed schooling in math. The pavers wouldn't be a cost saving over concrete. Looks like I'm back to concrete as only viable option. Thanks for the help.

In addition to that, I built a house with a concrete floor in the garage and cobble stone driveway. I wanted to do some of the maintenance or repair work on my vehicles outside as it would be easier to move around the entire vehicle. No way, it was easier to park inside with enough room to do one side and then move it to access the other. It was just too hard for moving lots of things,. not just those on wheels. In addition, if/when you spill something it's almost impossible to clean up properly. My personal experience.

 

[crbr]

What do you have in mind? rebar? I do plan putting in the footer at the door but didn't plan on doing all in rebar. The concrete will not bear building load also frost heave isn't a concern in Florida. If I understand right the fiber helps to prevent cracking.

Properly placed rebar is the proper reinforcement that will provide it's intended function. Mesh is useless and fiber is for surface shrinkage cracking only. It provides no primary load reinforcement. None.

If you place any weight on your slab, you have a load, regardless. A 200 lb person may not be relevant but a light-duty vehicle such as a 2500 / 3500 series truck will put ~ 8000 lbs of load. Mesh will do nothing for you in any regard. Rebar in the footer is a must as far as I am concerned.

Rebar is your call, but to additionally control cracking, place joints in your slab (very liberally) to control where you want the cracks to be, otherwise cracking becomes random. I personally recommend placing control joints as the concrete is finished, in lieu of saw cutting later (the lazy man's way) as stress has already had an opportunity to build once curing begins.

Three-thousand lb mix will normally test out to about 8 - 9k psi after 30 days (if you were to keep a sample and test it in a lab, easy enough to do). If you want to see how your cure is going during the 30 days of hydration, keep out 4 seperate samples and test one at 7, 14, 21, 28 day intervals and watch the sample results when placed in compression. It's kind of neat to see just how 3000 lb will turn out.

Have an air-entrainment admixture added as well. Your location is not necessarily needy of air entrainment but add it anyway. The may do it at the batch plant, but mention it to make sure.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

What does the air entrainment do?