Wood Shed Floor

[Berner]

I am looking to put up a woodshed before winter hits. Dimensions will be 12x8 and I was wondering what people thought of for flooring? Should I put it in or just use pallets? Those who have flooring in your shed do you wish you used pallets? What about those with pallets, do you wish you had put in flooring?

 

[Osage]

I put a couple inches of crushed rock in my shed. Water drains away and you don't have to worry about critters digging under your wood.

 

[muncybob]

I used pallets for the cost factor(free). I have since added some strips of wood to them to prevent a twisted ankle when loading up for the season.

 

[firefighterjake]

I debated going with travertine or marble for flooring . . . but in the end opted for rough cut 2 x 6s (or maybe they were 8s . . . I forget). Been quite happy with them . . . no bowing, no broken slats, etc. . . . but the flip side is it did cost a bit more.

 

[Charlie2]

I'd save the money the flooring costs and build another shed. I'd put some plastic down and then the pallets on top.

 

[Berner]

I put a couple inches of crushed rock in my shed. Water drains away and you don't have to worry about critters digging under your wood.

Did you put anything over the stone? Or just stacked your wood right on top of that?

 

[Berner]

I debated going with travertine or marble for flooring . . . but in the end opted for rough cut 2 x 6s (or maybe they were 8s . . . I forget). Been quite happy with them . . . no bowing, no broken slats, etc. . . . but the flip side is it did cost a bit more.

I was also thinking marble would be nice.

I debated going with travertine or marble for flooring . . . but in the end opted for rough cut 2 x 6s (or maybe they were 8s . . . I forget). Been quite happy with them . . . no bowing, no broken slats, etc. . . . but the flip side is it did cost a bit more.

Did use use standard 16" on center for your floor joists? Or did you run your rough cut 2x6's ontop of joists that were closer together?

I would imagine with all that load closer would be better. I've been known to overkill things though.

 

[Rock Crusher]

I did the same as Osage by putting down a few inches of coarse stone, say 1-1/4", then layed salvaged 2x6's flat on top of the stone spaced about 16" OC.. Works great! Don't think I would have paid for them though. I used Ondura sheets as the roofing material instead of shingles/metal, which also worked out well.

 

[blacktail]

I used pallets with cheap pavers under them to keep them off the groun. The biggest reason is that I didn't feel like building a floor that would have to support all that weight.

 

[Osage]

Did you put anything over the stone? Or just stacked your wood right on top of that?

Just stacked the wood on top of the rock.

 

[firefighterjake]

I was also thinking marble would be nice.



Did use use standard 16" on center for your floor joists? Or did you run your rough cut 2x6's ontop of joists that were closer together?

I would imagine with all that load closer would be better. I've been known to overkill things though.

It's been a while, but pretty sure it was either 16 or even 12 inches on center for the floor joists. I was pretty cognizant that this woodshed would be holding a lot of weight . . . and I hate doing the same job twice so I didn't want to deal with broken joists at a future date. My wife says the same thing about me . . . says I am always over-engineering things.

 

[Berner]

My wife says the same thing about me . . . says I am always over-engineering things.

My wife is a licensed engineer so unfortunately she can prove me wrong.

I think I'm leaning towards some sort of flooring with beefed up floor joists. Let's see what the engineer says.

 

[jillybeansisme]

When I get to Oregon in December (think rain), I plan to lay some landscape fabric, which I got on sale, and put rubber nuggets over that. Then I plan to use "log stackers" which use 2x4x10s in their slots for horizontal off the ground storage and 2x4x10s cut to 5' for vertical "side walls" to be able to stack 5' high. Since I'm 5'4", I figure that's tall enough for me. The rubber nuggets are recycled from my last house. They don't move, they let water drain, and critters stay away. For at least this year, I'll run a length of plastic over the top and hold it down with whatever. I plan to run one log width wide x 55' long and it'll be about 4' from the house so there's no wood up against the house.

From my perspective (I have itty bitty feet), I would not want to walk on pallets. My foot easily fits through them and knowing me, I'd break an ankle or something. That's why those log stackers seemed like a cool idea ($17.50 per pair online at Walmart plus 2x4 cost). Since my neighbor has a tall fence on that side, I saw no reason to construct anything . . . at least this year. Getting the house built is enough construction for one year!

Let us know which way you go . . . floor or no floor!

 

[Lumber-Jack]

I just used drainage rock as well.
Couldn't see the sense, or justify the expense of building a wood floor for the firewood to sit on and critters to live under.

 

[Berner]

I just used drainage rock as well.
Couldn't see the sense, or justify the expense of building a wood floor for the firewood to sit on and critters to live under.

Man that's a nice looking shed. What if you did both crushed stone and wood floor? Would that be the best of both worlds? Maybe keep the critters away and let air through the bottom?

 

[glennm]

I built a wood floor, looks nice but it is costly and I broke a couple of floor joists due to the weight. I had to take it apart and put more reinforcement under the joists. If I did it again a would put crushed stone down and have the floor just sit on the stone (floating). You could even use 2x4 floor joists if it was on stone.

I do have to deal with the occasional groundhog as well