Welding Tips and Tricks

I am in the process of renovating a 60 year old workshop I purchased for a bargain price but I am not sure what to do about the floor.

Currently, it is tiled but the color and pattern is not to my taste so I decided to change it.

At first, I had the idea of grinding the floor down to get it as level as possible and the apply a few coats of epoxy resin on top of it but many people advised against it as any weld spatter from a MIG gun would instantly ruin the finish and it would need to be reapplied every year or so.

From what I've gathered so far, most industrial settings such as foundries, welding shops, blacksmiths etc. seem to go for a concrete floor.

Is this truly the best option for my needs at any budget?

If so, should I opt for a screed or polished/smooth finish?

I see the flooring as a one time expense that shouldn't ever need to be maintained under normal usage scenarios so cost is not much of a concern as I believe in the buy once, cry once ideology.

Epoxy flooring will be damaged by weld spatter or anything hot that will touch it. I have epoxy in my shop, but it is more of a machining shop.

If you want something fancy why not go with granite tiles? Or klinker?


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A polished concrete floor is very nice. Makes it easy to clean and sweep so nothing gets trapped in the broom finish. They can embed some grit as well to prevent it from becoming slippery as well. There are some very expensive industrial coatings that are resilient to splatter, but you'll likely pay more them than the building and it's renovation.

how about tile? maybe a wood pattern or one you like

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For me, smooth, level concrete is the only way to go. A full polish would also be nice, but it's also expensive, and I would be concerned about slip hazards in my shop due to cutting fluid spills, etc. on a polished floor. That may be an unfounded concern, though. They are definitely easier to sweep as CJ mentioned!

+1 for cement/concrete. I want to be able to roll around tool chests and welders and such. any textured surfaces or tile (with grout lines) would be a negative to me.

Well then I guess it's settled.

Smooth concrete it is!

Will try to add some grit to it as someone mentioned it could get slippery when wet although that doesn't concern me too much as the only time the floor needs to get wet is when it needs to get mopped.

The trick for a shop/garage floor finish is to know when to quit finishing. Basically a trowel pass or two short of a hard shine. Done right it will be durable, sweepable but not slippery under normal circumstances.

I am reconsidering ceramic tiles as an option since pouring 30 tons of concrete on what is essentially another person's workshop's roof is perhaps not the best of ideas.

Would that work fine or will it burn?

drummerdimitri wrote:I am reconsidering ceramic tiles as an option since pouring 30 tons of concrete on what is essentially another person's workshop's roof is perhaps not the best of ideas.

Would that work fine or will it burn?

Ceramic is typically well-suited for high temps, so I can't see it being a burn risk unless they have some sort of fancy coating on them intended for home use. However, if you're slinging molten slag around, then I guess any type of flooring can get some scars from it. My biggest concern with tile would be having them potentially crack under the weight of equipment/tables, etc. Or even getting cracked if you drop a heavy handtool on them.

Spartan wrote:

drummerdimitri wrote:I am reconsidering ceramic tiles as an option since pouring 30 tons of concrete on what is essentially another person's workshop's roof is perhaps not the best of ideas.

Would that work fine or will it burn?

Ceramic is typically well-suited for high temps, so I can't see it being a burn risk unless they have some sort of fancy coating on them intended for home use. However, if you're slinging molten slag around, then I guess any type of flooring can get some scars from it. My biggest concern with tile would be having them potentially crack under the weight of equipment/tables, etc. Or even getting cracked if you drop a heavy handtool on them.

I am referring to ceramic tiles that are used around the home and not some industrial version of that but high quality Italian Ceramic that can handle a 10 ton compression force.

I wouldn't be too worried about cracking a tile as I am not a clumsy person and rarely ever drop anything really and if it does break, I would have 5 percent of all the tiles extra.

My preference is for smooth concrete topped with cheap grey paving paint to seal the cement dust. It wears and gets damaged by spatter and oxy cutting work. Every few years I degrease and recoat. Works for me and looks good.

What do you want to do in your shop? Trust me if you plan on moving anything heavy on wheels you want a flat surface.

William Payne wrote:What do you want to do in your shop? Trust me if you plan on moving anything heavy on wheels you want a flat surface.

It's going to be a metal fabrication shop so there will be lots of welding, plasma cutting, grinding, sanding etc.

For the longest lasting and least easy to damage: polished concrete floor with a surface hardener applied.

Eg: https://www.wrmeadows.com/concrete-dens ... -flooring/

It ends up non-porous/impervious to fluids and as there's no 'coating' as such there's nothing to lift/damage/etc. except for the concrete itself. Very suitable for hard/dirty use. Easy to brush/vacuum clean and because it's smooth it's easy to roll/move equipment and such around on. Non-slip too.

Bye, Arno.

I'm revisiting this thread as I am still not sold on pouring a cement floor for the reasons stated previously and now considering basalt or granite as a floor option.

I've tested a piece of basalt by putting direct butane torch heat onto it and although some minor discoloration took place, the structural integrity of the rock was not compromised.

The only problem with basalt it seems it the fact that it is quite porous and absorbs liquids and oils which is a problem as I will be using a lot of cutting fluid in my shop and an oil spill would be near impossible to remove as the rock stains easily in such a situation.

Granite is also a good contender as it resists heat just as much as basalt, is a bit harder and has no visible pores so it should be a lot better at not absorbing liquids/oil.

I prefer the look of basalt and its price per sqm 15 $ vs 25 $ for granite so I am leaning on the side of the former however, I am going to need to find an easy way to clean up spills on the stone for it to be a reasonable choice.

They are both softer than concrete. Plus there more likely to break when you drop or move something. Crete will just chip or scrape. They’re both more susceptible to oil saturation than concrete as well. Just talk to a countertop stone guy. Engineered quarts might be harder and more durable.

My worry is that the concrete will crack, chip or even explode when molten slag is dropped onto it from manual plasma cutting action.

I just tested a granite slab and it cracked in multiple places when exposed to molten metal but basalt did not crack!

Not sure if the same can be said for concrete.

Depends on the grade of concrete.

Given the circumstance of a weight load being a second or higher floor shop. Have you thought of aluminum sheets? Diamond pattern would provide a fair bit of grip.

Only mention it cause I work out of a old refrigeration trailer for my smaller welding and that's what it has for a floor.

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I've been told that lightweight concrete is the best option since I now need to lay down a 13 cm thick layer of concrete throughout the shop and normal concrete would be too heavy for the building's structure.

Does anyone have any experience with lightweight concrete? If so, would it be a suitable option for my type of work?

My fear is that since it is not very dense, it would crack under the load of a heavy objects on wheels and possibly explode due to air pockets when exposed to red hot molten metal.