I am building a 16' x 20' shop, I have 2x6 floor on 16" centers, what thickness and type of shooeting should I use for a subfloor

First a question or two. Why 2 postings and what the heck is shooeting. 3/4" plywood is your minimum but depending on what you plan to put in the shop you may need to go heavier. Tell us what you will be doing in the shop and what is under those joists?

First a question or two. Why 2 postings and what the heck is shooeting. 3/4" plywood is your minimum but depending on what you plan to put in the shop you may need to go heavier. Tell us what you will be doing in the shop and what is under those joists?

Sorry forgot to run spell check it should be sheeting, I will just like work the heaviest thing in there will be kitchen cabinates

First a question or two. Why 2 postings and what the heck is shooeting. 3/4" plywood is your minimum but depending on what you plan to put in the shop you may need to go heavier. Tell us what you will be doing in the shop and what is under those joists?

Sorry forgot to run spell check it should be sheeting, I will just like work the heaviest thing in there will be kitchen cabinates.

How about 23/32" osb sheeting

It should serve you but I am not a fan of exposed OSB for flooring, shop spills can cause swelling.

It should serve you but I am not a fan of exposed OSB for flooring, shop spills can cause swelling.

I am going to lay some typeof floooring on top of this not really sure of what type yet any suggestions?

Depends on what you want to spend. I'd go with cheap sheet vinyl. Sheet vinyl goes down quick, no seams, easy to clean, etc...

2x6 floor on 16" centers,

At this point I would be more concerned with the floor framing above.

How big is the floor? Joist span?

T#G sub floor ply is standard but what about the weight on the Joist??

I agree with ball 1 Sheet flooring over 3/4 with no seams is good for a LIGHT shop floor. Easy to sweep and clean up. I also agree with not using OSB for the subfloor for a shop.

Signed 21 Boat

If I Helped To Answer Your Question Please Rate My Answer

May I suggest using some liquid nail on the top of the 2x6 joists to help with the strength and there will be no squeaks.

You can also add some dead blocking between the 16 inch joists.They would be 14 1/2 inches long .Depending on the length of the span you may want to put in more solid rows of dead blocks.

If your span is 16 feet I would do at least 3 rows of continuos blocking.


These are just my opinions and they have worked for me.

Good suggestioncsavage but that is the accepted installation for all plywood and osb flooring. We use construction adhesive, Liquid Nails is a brand of construction adhesive along with their 45 other products

back to the floor joist, since there is not a sub floor there yet make some concrete pads and double up some pressure treated 2x8s to split the joist span like a I beam on a house.

If you don't have them already. I would add two runs of this set up so the 16' would be broken down to 5"+ on clear span on joist. Think of a "shop" and how that gets loaded up over time.


Signed 21 Boat

If I Helped To Answer Your Question Please Rate My Answer