Floor thickness needed for modest machines?

[Jim27]

Not directly a metalworking question but related... I am planning a shop building and thinking about the concrete floor thickness. 4" with wire mesh seems to be standard for residential garages and the like. I don't intent to have anything super heavy there. Maybe something like a bridgeport mill or similar size. Is this reasonable or should I be going a bit heavier? Vehicles are likely to be heavier than the equipment as one side will have about a 28' camp trailer or RV.

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[Jim Dawson]

I wish I has a 6 inch floor in my shop, but it is a standard 3 1/2 inch. My heaviest machine is 10,200lb sitting on four 6'' square steel pads, the next one is 5500lb sitting on four 4'' round steel pads. Then my 10x50 BP clone comes in at 3500lb, sitting on it's base. None of these has damaged the floor. But 9500lb of hard rubber tire forklift running around has taken its toll over 10 years in the areas it runs.

I bought the place with the shop already built. Had I built the shop, I would have spent the extra for the 6 inch floor with extra rebar in it.

[deadlykitten]

ground floor 200 - 250mm, mozaic face

1st floor for light machines, etc

until 3-4 years ago, when someone decided to replace it, and now is a tiny uneven not-flat mess, cracked just a bit, but with glass fiber inside it

again, history repeats

[mactec54]

Not directly a metalworking question but related... I am planning a shop building and thinking about the concrete floor thickness. 4" with wire mesh seems to be standard for residential garages and the like. I don't intent to have anything super heavy there. Maybe something like a bridgeport mill or similar size. Is this reasonable or should I be going a bit heavier? Vehicles are likely to be heavier than the equipment as one side will have about a 28' camp trailer or RV.

Building new and will have machines then 6" is the minimum you want to go with the extra won't cost that much more, make sure your base is well compacted, use score cuts if you have a large area