Flooring for garden shed

okhajut

We got a new shed late last year. It is a forest garden brand 12x10 made up of pressure treated wood. We had a concrete base built for this shed. The shed floor is slightly raised above the concrete floor. I believe this is to allow air circulation under the wood floor.

We feel that it would be great idea to have a flooring so it is easier to clean the floor. We are thinking of using an underlay and then put rubber mat flooring on the top of it. The under lay and the rubber are both waterproof and this where the issue arises.

Is it safe to put underlay and rubber mat on shed floor or will it cause the floor to be damaged overtime since water cannot evaporate when the floor gets wet due to run water running  between the shed floor and concrete base?

tacpot12

You are right to be concerned. If water gets trapped under the underlay and cannot evapourate it will cause the wood to rot.

A better solution would either be a flooring or a coating that allowed the wood to breathe. If you search on Ikea's website for "Decking" you will see that they have a range of plastic tiles that clip together to form a raised floor.

Alternatively, a coating like this one would waterproof the top of the floor, protect it, make it easier to sweep and allow it to breathe:  https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/product/fiddes-hard-wax-oil  

twopenny

My grandfather used an offcut of lino nailed around the edge to the shed floor.
No problems with moisture. It wasn't on concrete though. It was 6-8"raised above soil which remained dry.

But yes, made it really easy to sweep out.

moscovium115

I would plyboard the floor to make it flat first, then cover it with latex to smooth it out and then put your rubber floor, vinyl, marmoleum, LVT etc on top of that.

subjecttocontract

In the shed .....which is really a small summerhouse....we just bought a roll of vinyl flooring and cut that to fit. Makes it easy to sweep/ keep clean.

matty_bram

Vinyl flooring is your best bet, unless you want to spend significant time insulating/damp proofing the floor. You can get some fairly decent vinyl now to be fair. 

Alternative could be something like a rug made for outdoors (patio of similar). But you still run the risk of it getting damp and its harder to clean.