Wood floor in a shed

[Sully2]

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I'm also a fan of packed 3/8+fines gravel for "floors" packed right, it's almost like concrete.
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And periodically..give it a REAL good "dusting" with a bag of cement...and then DAMPEN it with a garden hose. Eventually...hard as granite!

 

[flusher]

Sure, just paint the plywood floor with a good grade deck enamel. I built a storage shed for my garden tools, etc. a few months ago and used 2x6 floor joists on 12" centers and 3/4" plywood flooring. Used grey Behr deck/patio enamel from Home Depot. You can see a small part of the floor in the attachment.

 

[CurlyDave]

I really like using the 12" x 12" cinderblock "pavers" or whatever they are called for a shed floor. They are 2" or 3" thick.

Just put them right on the dirt, or spread a little gravel first. How level the floor comes out depends on how much work you put into leveling it to start, but these things cost about a buck each, are water, rot, oil, gas, and vermin proof themselves, and go in really quick.

Even though they are porous, they keep your stuff up off the dirt & out of most of the dampness. Every once in a while, one breaks, but that is no big deal since they are individually replacable.

I space them about 1/2" apart and have always been satisfied.

 

[valleydweller1]

Wow, I really like the gravel dusted with concrete idea. That sounds like a winner.

I also like the square paver idea too, that one has some definate potential. I have some spare pea gravel (3/8"- round) sitting around, would that be a good base for either the concrete dust or paver floor?

 

[CurlyDave]

I have some spare pea gravel (3/8"- round) sitting around, would that be a good base for either the concrete dust or paver floor?


If it is round pea gravel intended for drainage (no fines), it is suitable for use with pavers, but not with the concrete, where you want the fines (rock dust).

If it has fines in it, and you will know because the rock will be angular from being crushed and it will be dusty when you disturb it, then it is more suitable for the concrete dust tactic.

If you go ther "concrete" route, I would actually use Portland cement. A lot of people use the words "concrete" and "cement" interchangeably and they are not. Concrete is a mixture of sand, gravel and Portland cement. Usually, the gravel is up to 3/4" in the pre-mixed sacks. Portland cement is more expensive than concrete, and is the active ingredient -- the binder which holds everything together. A sack of cement is a heavy, fine powder.

Since you would be applying this over a base of compacted and relatively smooth gravel + fines, you want the cement. The intention is for the cement powder to sift down and bind the surface together.

Fifteen years ago, I did a similar thing, where I laid flagstones over compacted clay and then swept dry mortar (a mixture of sand & cement) into the cracks between them. A fine spray from a garden hose and the mortar set up. Five years ago, the mortar started to come out of the cracks, and today about 60 to 80% of it is gone. One of the tasks for this summer is to replace the mortar.