Living room, workshop, wood floor protection

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I own a house with no garage, and I'm dying here. Since there is no nagging wife to tell me not to, I have decided to turn my living room into a temporary workshop and do a motorcycle build. I can roll it in and out the front door, which is fine because I want to do a mild cafe-racer style with narrow bars that will surely fit through the doorway.
My question is what should I do about my hardwood floor? I need to put something temporary down to protect it from impacts and liquids, but something that will hold up for a several months. I was thinking about a sheet of the cheapest vinyl flooring I could find, and maybe a sheet of plywood to put under the jack.
 
Go to a farm store like TSC or Orshlens or whatever you may have in SC and get a horse stall mat. They are about 4'x6' and cost about $25-$35 and will last forever. best to let them air out in the sunshine for a couple of days to out gas and get rid of the rubber odors. These mats will take anything you can dish out. I have one in my basement and it keeps our washer from vibrating and walking off at high spin mode. If a farm store does not have them you can probably find them online at Grangers or amazon.
 
Whatever you put down, ensure you don't get grit stuck between it and the hardwood.

Maybe something with felt on the bottom?
 
Originally Posted By: eyeofthetiger
I have decided to turn my living room into a temporary workshop and do a motorcycle build. I can roll it in and out the front door, which is fine because I want to do a mild cafe-racer style with narrow bars that will surely fit through the doorway.


What are you building ?? ...
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Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
Originally Posted By: eyeofthetiger
I have decided to turn my living room into a temporary workshop and do a motorcycle build. I can roll it in and out the front door, which is fine because I want to do a mild cafe-racer style with narrow bars that will surely fit through the doorway.


What are you building ?? ...
35.gif



I don't know yet, but something needs to be built. It has been 3 years since I sold my V-Strom, and I've been bikeless. It hurts.
I see you have an S40, and I have seen those with the Ryca cafe kit. I was thinking of something similar, but not from a kit, and probably a small V-twin instead.
 
Originally Posted By: dishdude
https://www.ramboard.com/


I've used those before when I did cobstruction. That is a good idea for the first layer, amd for the entire room.

Originally Posted By: BJD78
Go to a farm store like TSC or Orshlens or whatever you may have in SC and get a horse stall mat. They are about 4'x6' and cost about $25-$35 and will last forever. best to let them air out in the sunshine for a couple of days to out gas and get rid of the rubber odors. These mats will take anything you can dish out. I have one in my basement and it keeps our washer from vibrating and walking off at high spin mode. If a farm store does not have them you can probably find them online at Grangers or amazon.


That is a great idea, I didn't know about these. I hope it is firm enough to be stable with a motorcycle jack.
 
Be careful with rubber mats. They contain oils that can lead to permanent staining of things that they lay on. Put a sheet or two of thick poly under the mat. This will slow down but not totally stop the oil migration process. You can see this phenomenon in car showrooms where tires come into contact with the vinyl flooring. When the car is moved, there is a yellow stain where each tire contacted the floor.
 
Get a cheep carpet, put it carpet side down facing the hardwood, get plywood and place it over the carpet. No scratching and you can hammer within reason on the plywood. Have fun!
 
Stall matts are heavy, expensive, stink, hard to handle and leave blackstains. I know because the wife and daughter have horses.
 
make this sandwich:
-1 or 2 sheets of 6 mil plastic (find in painters isle of your local home improvement)
-carpet pad (painters drop-clothes from HF work in a pinch too)
-card board (double up) + some 1/2" or 3/4" plywood

have some extra rags/mop ready for accidental bigger spills
 
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