Workshop Build 9
So a fortnight and over 14 tons of concrete later, the dirty deed has finally been done, and I do mean dirty. The workshop floor is now complete.
This took way more effort than I had initially thought. It’s surprising just how quickly sand, stone and cement disappear.
Working it out, if I had ordered the concrete pre-mixed and delivered, it would have been close to £2,500. Hiring the concrete pump, complete with operator, was £1,500, and a ground crew to help pour and flatten it out was £800. So the total cost would have been around £4,800, but it would all have been done in a day.
Cheapskate me didn’t want to spend that amount of money on the floor, so I decided to do it all myself. Well, I managed to rope in the wife and son to help along the way. The total cost for everything was just under £1,500, a saving of £3,300. Yes, it was exhausting and took nearly a fortnight, but at least it’s now complete.
You can see in the photo above the wooden framing I used so I could do this in sections. The wood has slots cut into it to allow it to go over the concrete mesh. I used tapered wooden standoff blocks to help with removing the framing once the concrete had sufficiently set.
The mesh sits on concrete standoffs, so it’s raised above the floor insulation sheets and allows the concrete to flow all around it. The concrete is thick enough, almost 5 inches, that I can have a Luton-style van drive into the workshop to help with loading and offloading cabs 😊
As usual, the inspector was overseeing everything being done, and finally gave his paw of approval.
Next will be ordering in more 6×2 framing, two RSJ steel joists to hold the roof up, and a load of 18mm plywood sheets for the sides and to board out the roof. Plenty still to do, but slowly getting there.