And so it begins. (The never-ending flow of cash)

[Shimmy1]

We used to do a lot of epoxy floors in mechanical rooms in the hospitals we built as they were tough and could handle any chemical dropped on them. The last few jobs I felt that they were degraded somewhat due to the environmental laws but the high expense never went down. There are some good concrete hardeners out there that are mopped on after the concrete has cured. I don't remember the name but one that looked like milk and broomed on heavy totally soaked in looking like hard troweled concrete really worked well. It was tough as nails and cleaned up well. Oil and the like never penetrated and cleaned like glass. Maybe somebody here knows the name of it. A concrete accesories supply house such as Brock White would know.

We had the concrete guys seal the main floor. Some crazy expensive stuff with it's primary purpose as salt resistance. It was like $300 per 5 gallon. Used 8 cans. We didn't seal the lean because we weren't sure what we wanted, and you can't lay tile if it's sealed.

 

[lantraxco]

The Deere dealer I worked for made an enclosed single shop bay into a used machine teardown room, this would have been early 90's... they mopped on a light grey water activated covering, Urethane maybe? It was self levelling and stayed tacky liquid until they sprayed it with a fine water mist from a garden hose which kicked off the chemical reaction. I don't recall the exact procedure but something was done to create some texture for grip. I do remember the crew that installed it walking on some small wood rectangles strapped to their shoes with nail points on the bottom, minimal disturbance and it levelled back out as they walked back out of the area. Cured up overnight, hardest stuff I have ever seen, you could pound on it with a ball peen and not leave a mark unless you really worked at it. The light gray really helped with the lighting too.

Just FYI.....

 

[mitch504]

The Deere dealer I worked for made an enclosed single shop bay into a used machine teardown room, this would have been early 90's... they mopped on a light grey water activated covering, Urethane maybe? It was self levelling and stayed tacky liquid until they sprayed it with a fine water mist from a garden hose which kicked off the chemical reaction. I don't recall the exact procedure but something was done to create some texture for grip. I do remember the crew that installed it walking on some small wood rectangles strapped to their shoes with nail points on the bottom, minimal disturbance and it levelled back out as they walked back out of the area. Cured up overnight, hardest stuff I have ever seen, you could pound on it with a ball peen and not leave a mark unless you really worked at it. The light gray really helped with the lighting too.

Just FYI.....

Sounds like the stuff the county put in our fire stations about then, worked great, except that they skipped that whole, "texture for some grip", part. It was great, until you got water on it. And, really, who would think a fire station floor would ever get wet. All we did was park a few tankers and pumper-tankers on it, probably not more than 7-8000 gallons of water per station.

We complained and they ignored us, until one guy slipped running to answer the phone. He broke both bones in his lower leg, and was out for most of a year.

I think they ended up having to use 9" grinders with knot style wire wheels and heavy pressure to get it up, in 9 fire stations. We got a new station about 5 years later, but paint never did stick to that floor afterwards.

 

[Twisted]

Lots of options but as has been mentioned, be careful so it doesn't get slippery. Most of the products out there have no grit to them and will finish like glass. There are some latex products out there but I wouldn't recommend them anywhere out of the office area. I used to do some concrete repair jobs with epoxy. I always mixed in either fine or medium sand blasting abrasive to give it some surface bite. Sikadur was the brand of product that gave me the best results, and highest costs.

 

[old-iron-habit]

We had the concrete guys seal the main floor. Some crazy expensive stuff with it's primary purpose as salt resistance. It was like $300 per 5 gallon. Used 8 cans. We didn't seal the lean because we weren't sure what we wanted, and you can't lay tile if it's sealed.

Sounds like you done good.

 

[movindirt]

Hey Shimmy, any more updates or pictures?

 

[Shimmy1]

Nothing yet. At the beginning of March we started getting ready for spring's work, and after farming it's been a few small dirt jobs and some farm projects since it's slow in the construction end. We are hosting a crop tour banquet this week and were hoping to get cupboards and countertops in lunchroom, sink in bathroom, and finish tinning the upstairs, but didn't get time. That will probably all happen next winter since harvest is only about 2 weeks off, and construction is beginning to pick up. Sorry to disappoint.

 

[movindirt]

Nothing yet. At the beginning of March we started getting ready for spring's work, and after farming it's been a few small dirt jobs and some farm projects since it's slow in the construction end. We are hosting a crop tour banquet this week and were hoping to get cupboards and countertops in lunchroom, sink in bathroom, and finish tinning the upstairs, but didn't get time. That will probably all happen next winter since harvest is only about 2 weeks off, and construction is beginning to pick up. Sorry to disappoint.

I see. Harvest in 2 weeks? Whatcha picking, wheat?

 

[Shimmy1]

I see. Harvest in 2 weeks? Whatcha picking, wheat?

Field peas. After peas, which should take about a week, the durum should be about ready to go. We got a terrible hailstorm last night, wiped out about 900 acres. :Banghead. That ought to make things "interesting", if you know what I mean.

 

[movindirt]

Field peas. After peas, which should take about a week, the durum should be about ready to go. We got a terrible hailstorm last night, wiped out about 900 acres. :Banghead. That ought to make things "interesting", if you know what I mean.

Thats interesting about the peas, do you pick those with a regular combine or does it need a special harvester?

 

[Shimmy1]

Regular combine with flex head. Cut them just like wheat or soybeans.

 

[Shimmy1]

Anyone know a place to source Tri-boro shelf posts? Bought a couple lots at an auction with enough posts for about 20 complete shelves, and enough extra shelves for about another 50. The ones from Global Industrial are ok, just pricey for the quality. They need to look like this, 85" tall. http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/s...1-2-inch-x-1-7-8-inch-x-7ft1-inch-h-dark-gray

 

[Shimmy1]

Ok, guys. Need some suggestions on how to mount hose reels to the wall. Two reels are easy, we're just going to bolt them directly to the beam. Other two, not so much. The purlins are horizontal, 4' apart, and only about 2" wide. I have an idea, but wanting to hear what you guys would do.

 

[Shimmy1]

Here's what we have up so far. Went with 1" Fastpipe from RapidAir.

 

[Delmer]

3/4" plywood 7 1/2" x48-50" screwed to two purlins as a base for the hose reel. Or 50" 2x8.

 

[Randy88]

I'd take two short angle irons, 3x3 or similar, weld them back to back to form an offset with holes drilled in them, use lag bolts to bolt to the purlins, then take a 6-8 inch channel iron 50 inches long and bolt to the brackets you made and then bolt the hose reel on the channel iron flipped so the channel is to the wall and gives you over 4 feet of flat space to mount it wherever you want to and if its offset off the wall, you can get your hands behind the channel to put nuts on bolts to hold the reel on with. Also gives a place to weld or bolt hooks onto to hang blow guns, air tips or whatever else is needed so its handy beside the air reel.
If you decide later you want to move it, just unbolt it and put it wherever you want, having it recessed off the wall, it won't damage the tin at all and it should give enough room off the wall to actually spin the hose reel and not have your knuckles hit the wall if its a manual reel, if its a auto retractable reel, that might not be a big deal. With the angle iron and channel iron, those should be rigid enough construction to not wiggle much as you pull on the hose.

Otherwise, why not just bolt the reel to one of those support beams, most are spaced about 20 feet apart, run an air feed line to those and your done??

 

[Shimmy1]

Otherwise, why not just bolt the reel to one of those support beams, most are spaced about 20 feet apart, run an air feed line to those and your done??

There aren't any exposed beams on the end walls.

3/4" plywood 7 1/2" x48-50" screwed to two purlins as a base for the hose reel. Or 50" 2x8.

Thanks for the responses, guys. I was pretty sure that we needed to design a way to hang from 2 purlins, and both of you said as much. I was originally thinking something along the lines of Randy's suggestion (steel), but now I don't know. Sure would be easy to screw down an oak 2x8 and be done, Delmer.
Decisions, decisions.

 

[Twisted]

Your shop is steel construction so I'd go that route simply for consistency. A 2x8 should fit between the ribs and be super simple. I'd rather fab something from metal than wood. Either would be plenty sturdy.

I plumbed my shop addition with 1" PEX tubing. I think it was about $.70/ft and the fittings are super cheap. I get wholesale price on all of it. I run 140psi and have zero issues or leaks.

 

[Shimmy1]

Overkill or nah??

Edit: I'm not referring to the visegrips holding the reel up. That was temporary to figure out plumbing, LOL.

 

[Randy88]

Shimmy, not sure how many your going to mount, but the reel I like the most, we have a simple pipe bracket made for it and also the other half of the bracket is welded onto our steel rack at both ends and in the middle, multiple brackets bolted to the walls around the shop, its a pipe inside a pipe design, that way, I can just pick it up and move it around the shop as I need it, so if I have stuff parked long term in the shop, I can just lift it out and move it to where its handy when I need it.

We ran an inch and a quarter steel line on both sides of the shop, full length, and full length of the service pit, with quick couplers set every 20 feet on the pipe, that way I'm only about 10-15 feet of whip hose to my reel anywhere on any shop wall, or in the pit, makes life a whole lot easier and also handier. If its in the way, we just snap a quick coupler on the whip hose, lift off the reel assembly and move it to where we are working. The brackets don't really take up any room, don't really stick out much or are in the way and saves buying a dozen hose reels with hose on them. But most important, saves stumbling over the hose all the time, we try to keep it as short a distance as possible to the closest air line and bracket on the wall and we love our setup. Just tossing out suggestions, as they say, options and ideas at times could be a good thing. Best of luck on what you decide.