I have a 16 ft by 20 ft garage I am trying to turn into a workshop. I has the old ruff sawn oak studs with concrete over that on the exteroir. I saw in one of my magazine that this guy turn his garage into a workshop too. He put in a wood floor over his concrete floor. Now I have a concrete floor too, but it is uneven. I was thinking about taking up to the concrete floor and putting a wood floor on top of the dirt. If anyone has any suggestion let me know. Thank You Chris

Hi Chris,
You don't want to put a wood floor atop dirt.

You's need a vapor barrier at the least!

Have you considered an invasion of insects that attack wood? Underneath the floor you would never see them!

By the way, since you are a new poster, how's about dropping down to the new member area and introducing your self to the forum family?

My concrete is very uneven. I have three sections in my garage. I have a center, left and right. The left and right sides seem to drop towards the out side walls. Should I leave them there or should I try to see if I can level them as much as possible then put a skim coat over that.

I would agree on not putting wood directly on dirt. your best option if in budget, and if it's as bad as I'm picturing in my evil mind, I would consider taking out the existing cement floor and doing a repour after having the base compacted and adding a layer of gravel. If not in the budget, or can't be done that way for other reasons, I'd go with a 2 to 3" overpour, the problem there is if the sections you mentioned are still not stable the new pour will eventually crack and tip as well. there was also recently a thread on cutting a metal door vs taking the door assembly out and raising the entire entry door you may find benefitial if the new floor will cause door issues.

http://www.handymanclub.com/project...rage-floor Here is one of many articles the Club has published. You can find them under PROJECTS at the top banner. Just click on "PROJECTS" and then scroll through the list or click search while there and type in garage projects.

Now back putting a wood floor on top of  dirt. Now if I use pressure treated wood then put 1 1/2 ridgid foam between the the floor joist. could I put that floor sturcture on top of cement blocks then put  a vapor barrier over that before I put plywood down. I am trying to find the cheapest way to do this . Thank You Chris

What state are you in?

I would dig out and pour concrete.

In the Chicago area I would put heat in the floor.

Maybe Geothermal Warm & Cool.

If you still want a wood floor look at it as a deck and see what you come up with.

May need to dig out to get the headroom.

I would put the vapor barrier down first. Even though you use pressure treated wood moisture will still affect, just not as soon or as much.

I'm not a floor specialist, but I have built a few wooden porches in my younger days.  In those days, we used to slant or tilt the floor away from the house to run the rain water off.  Your post makes me wonder if the right and left sides were intentionally built with a tilt or if that is because the earth under the footings shifted allowing the outsides to slightly sink.  What I'm saying, if the slab is cracked by stress, then it is not by design.  If it is lined to have the floor to tilt to the outside, then it may be designed to run the water from the center of the garage.  Just a question in my mind.  Hope to hear your clarification.