Timber floor for workshop

Hey everybody, I need some advice on building a floor for my workshop, I want to build it like a house on stumps, the workshop will be a 9m x 6m colourbond and will be used to build my race car so needs to be structually strong enough for a car and engines on stands ect ect. My thoughts were 90x35 treated pine 600 spacing and layed in both directions, with 22mm tounge and groove flooring, stumps every 1.5m would this be strong enough?
Cheers

No chance, stand would go straight through with 600mm centres, why not concrete?

The answer is a concrete floor because.

Once sealed appropriately, the concrete floor will resist oil, petrol, diesel, coolant, brake fluid and a whole manner of other things that should the sealant degrade and be penetrated wont rot out the concrete like timber.

I would recommend setting it will a fall to centre and installing a drain with an interceptor to catch any big spills also. You can get systems with removable catchers and this means you can just let oils and such drain in then remove it and clean up properly after wards with out making a mess.

I also recommend an epoxy coating. It'll cost a bit more than want you(I assume)to spend, but you won't have to replace it n a year or 2 either.

Thanks for your replies, the reason for wanting a timber base is because the house I'm in now is a rental and if I move in a few years I would like the option to dismantle it and move the lot and be able to set it up elsewere, I don't plan on moving for a long time but a rental is never secure, also the amount of retaining walls and fill required to make a flat pad for concrete would be huge and it's alot of coin to just leave behind. There must be a way of building this, even if it costs me more than the concrete and so on at least I only buy it once. Steel frame? masonite floor?

If you really want to use timber then 600 centre bearers and 300 centre joists might work but you'll need to cover in vinyl or something that can withstand liquids.

I think you should also consider using blue tongue flooring if you can get it. I'm not sure what spacing it has specified though.

An engineer or even someone who specializes in commercial flooring should be able to work out the load it can handle and the load you'll put it under.

Many years ago FIL had an elevated timber floor garage and parked a tip truck in there every night, then when some of the earthmoving machinery (or the truck) needed an engine/gearbox/diff transplant it would be moved into the shed so they could work undercover and out of the bad weather. None of these were lightweight as they were used in earthmoving Mon-Fri and maintenance etc done over the weekend.

I remember those floorboards were very wide (as they all used to be back then) but they were oil soaked over time which made them waterproof. C&K I think vinyl flooring would be dangerous if oil/grease gets spilled...and it's bound to happen when building engines etc.

While I can't remember bearer and joist spacings I do recall the old power poles used as stumps that he set into the ground...no concrete anywhere. I think he got the power poles from a site he had been working on and while they were condemned for carrying power cables they were still in good enough condition to support this huge shed for many, many years. In fact when we pulled it down it was only because MIL wanted it gone out of the yard (he had long since gone) and we were most surprised at how strong it still was as it had been built from recycled timbers and always had heavy trucks/equipment parked on it all the time and I guess it would have stood another 50 years without any problems. It was a huge shed and also very high, the front door was at regular ground level then the land naturally fell away from there so the last row of stumps would have been 1.5m of exposed post.

I know this is not common building practice these days but for what you want it might be worth considering and if you can use recycled timber as much as possible that will help the budget. Exterior cladding could be colorbond etc so it looks good from the outside to keep council and the neighbours happy.

Could you build it in sections 2400mm wide so it will be more easily dismantled if/when you have to move?

Just my 2 cents!! LOL Btw, what category race car?

It seems like an awful lot of work to do especially on a rental unless you have a very long lease, assuming, you receive the owner's permission to begin with.

Then as you are 'building a race-car' there may be noise concerns when car tuning etc as their exhausts are rarely quiet, which may upset the neighbors and possibly end your race-car building or even end your rental agreement.

Much homework is needed here.

Thanks people, to answer some questions, yes I have as long as I want lease unless something unexpected comes up, I will stay here until I buy a property and thats part of the reason for wanting to be able to pack it up and move it. It has all been approved by the owner and council for the size workshop I want, neibours aren't a problem with noise as long as it's not at stupid hours of course and most tuning and running in of engines will be done on dyno anyway.
I am not afraid of hard work so the labour part is a non issue I just need a plan to work with, My yard falls away like happycamper was descibing thats why I wish to put it on stumps which will end up about 1m high at the rear.
The race car is for the drag strip, N/A mod street, 408ci tunnel rammed cleveland in a TF Cortina LOL good times
Cheers

I don't think it would be strong enough, but I'm no structural engineer! I'd build the subfloor out of steel (or hardwood) then 25mm hardwood flooring and don't use utility grade. I would also pour two parallel slabs for the car to sit on if you don't want an entire slab...given the size of your shed it won't be cheap! How about a pic of the car....

Thanks Andy, the car is nothing to brag about at the moment LOL I have collected alot of parts but now need the workshop so I can go full steam ahead, here are some pics anyway of what I'm starting with.
Cheers

I can't post pics from photobucket, I right click to paste but nothing comes up, sorry no pics.

Go steel my friend.
-Steel sub frame, steel C channells maybe.
-Steel checkerplate finish.
-When your done with it all you can disassemble and move it, or flog it for scrap.
Good Luck.
Pat.

Cheers Pat, I was thinking exactly that just yesterday, the only problem I can think of with checker is rolling engine stands and cranes around on it would be difficult. The steel frame is the go I reckon, I still think that 22mm tounge and groove flooring on top would be allright, thats pretty thick.