Brew/Project Shed

Hi All,
Well the wife finally has allowed me to purchase an above ground "man cave" of sorts. Otherwise known in my part of town as a pre-fab vinyl garage as 12x18. So I had the shed custom built with insulated 5 ply exterior grade plywood flooring, vinyl siding, architecture shingles, a garage door, a standard house door, two windows, with ridge vents and gable vents.

This isn't intended 100% as a brew shed, IE no powered venting is going to place but, with windows open, the garage door open, etc there will be plenty of venilation there. I'm going to do the electrical work myself as I've done quite a bit myself and intend on installing a 60-amp subpanel to power some basic outlets, lights, and a cieling mount fan on the 8' high cielings...

My question, the first of many I'm sure, comes down to the flooring. For those of you that have a brew shed with an exterior grade plywood floor, what did you do to protect the surface. I've heard everything from deck paint, 24x24 vinyl tile, concrete epoxy on plywood, to rubber tile. I think the rubber tile option is out on the basis of cost and while I was shopping it out, a guy told me some of the rubber tiles don't handle drastic temperature change well. It's going to have to support Pennsylvania esque heating/cooling changes. I really just want to protect the floor against spills, tools drops, make getting any sawdust from my woodworking projects a bit easier to sweep/get up.

Before I'm flamed, concrete flooring wasn't really an option, the manufacturer really makes shed's on steriods... It's being assembled on a 1' high crushed stone pad which is being held in by 4x4 pressure treated lumber. Any advice appreciated! :rockin:

I would do commercial vinyl of the epoxy option. Both will last a lifetime and work well and no seams to worry about. I would stay way from any type of tile (either ceramic or vinyl), ceramic can crack and the vinyl tiles can let fluids through if they get old. The other option is to put a layer of self leveling compound with a top coat and then epoxy.

Varroa said:

I would do commercial vinyl of the epoxy option. Both will last a lifetime and work well and no seams to worry about. I would stay way from any type of tile (either ceramic or vinyl), ceramic can crack and the vinyl tiles can let fluids through if they get old. The other option is to put a layer of self leveling compound with a top coat and then epoxy.

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I was feeling out the epoxy myself. Do you have experience working with it? The guys that sell the kits have me a bit scared in that they were telling me once it hardens, it could crack with temerature changes and it's a permenant solution.... I keep leaning in the epoxy direction as the DIY kits are pretty cheap in comparison to every option but paint... Tx for the advice BTW!

I would use a commercial grade exterior oil paint, and an anti-mildew additive. The reason is easy to maintain and replace. The garage epoxy may be great but not sure how it will react to ply wood or how plywood will react to it. Two coats of the oil based paint on top of two coats oil primer will be easiest and cost effective and can be renewed and maintained easily. If you use the commercial grade utility floor paint it is high gloss and maybe slippery when wet, so that is a concern. However, if you get a small amount of sand and sift it through a screen to get rid of junk you can create a non-skid surface, here is how:
Primer the floor with two coats of primer, then put on two coats of finish color. Once that dries use wide painters masking tape (bull frog painters tape is the best) and tape the area you want non-skidded and lay a heavy coat of floor paint on it and while it is wet pour the sifted sand on it and allow to dry. Once dry sweep off excess sand and coat with one coat of color (can be a different color) to seal the sand. There you have a non-skid floor. Works very well is not real costly and you can maintain it yourself.

Good Luck

BrewerinBR said:

I would use a commercial grade exterior oil paint, and an anti-mildew additive. The reason is easy to maintain and replace. The garage epoxy may be great but not sure how it will react to ply wood or how plywood will react to it. Two coats of the oil based paint on top of two coats oil primer will be easiest and cost effective and can be renewed and maintained easily. If you use the commercial grade utility floor paint it is high gloss and maybe slippery when wet, so that is a concern. However, if you get a small amount of sand and sift it through a screen to get rid of junk you can create a non-skid surface, here is how:
Primer the floor with two coats of primer, then put on two coats of finish color. Once that dries use wide painters masking tape (bull frog painters tape is the best) and tape the area you want non-skidded and lay a heavy coat of floor paint on it and while it is wet pour the sifted sand on it and allow to dry. Once dry sweep off excess sand and coat with one coat of color (can be a different color) to seal the sand. There you have a non-skid floor. Works very well is not real costly and you can maintain it yourself.

Good Luck

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I appreciate the paint advice. I'm going to proceed that route last. I've had some big
Issues with my existing garage an paint as far as needing to reprint every year. The multi-layer primer, paint, sand, paint might deal with some of those issues I had.

I'm in touch with a 100 per epoxy manufacturer to get their thoughts. Oy vey!

Hey Rich, did you put in a floor drain?
Guess I'm going to have to have a poster printed up of our logo so you have something to throw darts at...

OneHoppyGuy said:

Hey Rich, did you put in a floor drain?
Guess I'm going to have to have a poster printed up of our logo so you have something to throw darts at...

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LOL! Nope at least not yet... I have a guy with a ditch witch coming out but, I'm not sure about plumbing short of bringing in water via a food grade hose from the building next to the shed. Not sure how my township will feel about shed plumbing... Let alone the shed is below grade from the sewer so I'd have to pump it... Electric is a definite for my power tools, ventilation, and of course a brew stand...

I guess I could always drain water to the yard like I planned to do with my cooling water, etc... Feed the plants... Composting with the spent grain...
Water would be nice, I just don't see it happening.

OneHoppyGuy said:

Hey Rich, did you put in a floor drain?
Guess I'm going to have to have a poster printed up of our logo so you have something to throw darts at...

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I wanted to say, I'll proudly display along with my Thomas Jefferson quote on beer and a few misc other decor items... I think the wife is teed that she didn't at least get some flower boxes... Replaced the garden with 18 grape vines!

LOL!!
FYI regarding spent grain... I learned the hard way. Spent grist is anaerobic, you'll want to add aerobic materials such as freshly cut grass. Or else your yard will smell like a septic tank. Like I said, I learned the hard way... :cross:

OneHoppyGuy said:

LOL!!
FYI regarding spent grain... I learned the hard way. Spent grist is anaerobic, you'll want to add aerobic materials such as freshly cut grass. Or else your yard will smell like a septic tank. Like I said, I learned the hard way... :cross:

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I've got quite a bit of material to add... Although in my area with farm country and chicken crap, not sure I'd notice!