# Flooring over old bricks in garage/workshop



## 4nthony (Aug 9, 2020)

I'm moving into a 1940s house and the garage floor is tightly packed brick. Considering the age, it's fairly level for walking, but for power tools on casters, it'll be difficult to move things around. I'm looking for options to put over the brick to have a smooth surface to roll tools on.

I don't want to spend money on pouring a concrete slab because our plan is to remodel in a couple years and the slab poured now may not fit in with those plans and would need to be removed. For a short term option, I was looking into GarageDeck Flooring but the bumps and dips will probably be worse since the tiles are larger than the brick. 

If I were to put some 3/4" OSB over the brick, what could I use to fill the gaps between the brick and the OSB? I'd been thinking of just using sand or getting a few bags of Quikrete to do some spot leveling. 

Any other suggestions? I'll post a picture of the brick floor tomorrow.

Thanks!


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## kiwi_outdoors (Jan 15, 2020)

A self levelling grout. Take a peek at some Youtube videos on the subject.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

You could use the sand fill they use for setting patio stones/blocks. 




Then lay your plywood on top maybe with some Visqueen to prevent moisture from seeping up?


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

I agree with @woodnthings. 
By using sand fill, you always have the option of of easily and readily going back to the original brick.


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## 4nthony (Aug 9, 2020)

Tony B said:


> I agree with @woodnthings.
> By using sand fill, you always have the option of of easily and readily going back to the original brick.


That's a valid point. Sand definitely is easier for cleanup later. I like the idea of the leveling grout, but if things don't quite work out and the OSB is removed, I've got a mess of grout covered brick to deal with.


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## kiwi_outdoors (Jan 15, 2020)

easiest solution is to move to much larger diameter caster wheels, or use a sub dolly (for each movable item). The sand idea may be frustrating to execute in practice.


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## TomCT2 (May 16, 2014)

brick floor in a garage . . . what is under the brick, and how moist does it get?
sand/etc with OSB and moisture from underneath will not last long....OSB and constant moisture don't get along well.

if the floor is in reasonable condition, larger diameter wheels may roll around much easier than 2 or 3"

large area anti-fatigue mats also available in smooth surfaces
example








American Floor Mats


American Floor Mats brings you 25 years of floor mat experience. We are proud to offer you the most comprehensive selection of high quality door mats.




www.americanfloormats.com


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

Probably the best solution is a layer of self-leveling concrete:




__





self leveling concrete at DuckDuckGo


DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.




duckduckgo.com





FWIW, years back, I had to level a large garage slab 30 X 27 ft which I had made a center drain in and that was a BIG mistake. No place on the slab was level! So, I used a heavy mixture of Portland and sand, about 5 or 6 to one and laid leveled runners down about 5 ft apart. They tapered fro almost zero to about 3" at the center. Then I screeded fill of the same mixture in between the runners. It turned out level and flat! And you're not supposed to be able to add on to old crete, but I figured out how...... acid etch X 2.Then super rich mixture.


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## 4nthony (Aug 9, 2020)

kiwi_outdoors said:


> easiest solution is to move to much larger diameter caster wheels, or use a sub dolly (for each movable item). The sand idea may be frustrating to execute in practice.


My table saw, band saw, and drill press are all on factory or third party (Rockler, Bora) mobile bases. Larger casters would be great, but would require me to get all new mobile bases as I don't think they can be fitted with larger casters.



TomCT2 said:


> brick floor in a garage . . . what is under the brick, and how moist does it get?
> sand/etc with OSB and moisture from underneath will not last long....OSB and constant moisture don't get along well.


The house is near the coast and at sea level so I'm guessing the brick is mostly on sand. I don't feel any moisture in the garage and there's no moss growing like there is in shady areas of the yard. I'm sure moisture will exist it will probably require me to swap out some panels from time to time, but putting some Visqueen on the underside -- as mentioned above by @woodnthings -- might help extend their life for a bit.


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## 4nthony (Aug 9, 2020)

Finally got around to getting a photo of this. This corner is probably the worst of the brick. It looks worse than it is from the wide angle lens but I think 3" casters would still get hung up in the cracks.


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