Lookout Courtneys back 16mm mdf is only a couple of dollars more than 12mm or 9mm anyway and biscuit joint is easier in 16mm.
If a slight bevel"leading edge" is put on all edges then this should help to stop any edges lifting
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Hi all
How I see the floor being done
Full size 16mm MDF sheets with all edges beveled laid in brick pattern with a glued biscuit joined with the back prepainted with mdf undercoated (oiled based) to protect from any water that getting behind the sheets.
The top need to be painted in oil based paving paint I feel and the question is how much nonslip do we need mixed in to paint?
Repairs
Nicks and gouges smaller then say two match boxes in size are putty up with car bog.
Bigger ones are routed out using a premade jigs out to depth of 12mm and a premade 12mm patch is glued in with pva. This will very quick and simple to do and will be ready to drive on in minutes

Sounds good as long as we don't have to replace a whole sheet. I can probably leave a router out at Jeff's place semi-permanently with the right sort of bit in it. I would go for a 9 or even 6mm patch - it will be plenty strong when glued into a larger sheet. Don't forget about painting the edges of the sheets and the patches will need painting at some stage too.

Just have a pile of prepainted patches ready to go.
When the patch is put in it will be come part of the sheet therefore it could happen that a new patch could cover half of a old patch and half of the existing floor.
We would not replace a whole sheet only the whole floor and this would only be after many many events I believe.

OK, let's do it! Russel: can you work out a rough cost @ $20 per sheet and a thin sheet for patches, Paint + non-slip grit, glue, etc. I have a biscuit joiner & a router if Chris is busy on the day.

do we want grit stuff?
I think its probably a bad idea it'll get ripped out and wind up in the bots, I reckon we are better off with a flat paint, perhaps a latex based one or something?
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Mechanical engineers build weapons, civil engineers build targets

Or we could sand the MDF with a very coarse grit before laying it down. Or all the above...

Actually a thinned epoxy paint might be the way to go for the top surface, It will sink into the wood and give it a tough skin that might stand up to some scratches.

I still think leave it smooth rather than rough, everybody is using rubber tyres now so they should get pretty good grip.

Actually perhaps some testing might be an idea rather than wild assed guessing lol.

A few sample pots shouldn't be too hard to come across.

so our options are?
acrylic paint
epoxy paint (expensive perhaps)
we could resin the surface with polyester (similar to epoxy but hopefully cheaper?)
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Mechanical engineers build weapons, civil engineers build targets

How about brushable urethane - probably more expensive than steel sheets though. Testing on some small areas would be good

I've had good success with Berger Jet Dry paving paint on timber.
It's oil based (they have a water based version now though), and on timber it tends to soak in a couple of mm and forms a super tough hard layer.

It dries very quickly too.
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The Engine Whisperer - fixer of things

Yeah, that's good stuff, available in small pots for testing as I recall - what colour does everyone fancy? I'd go for dark grey or black.

Dark grey will help us find all the broken bits later.
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YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

I should have a litre or so of black Jet Dry spare in a week or so
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The Engine Whisperer - fixer of things

MDF $20 from Chris need 10 sheets + a sheet of 12mm need also say $20=$220.00

Paint under coat 4lts =$85 top coat 4lts either water or oil $85 in Iron stone colour a mid to dark gray.

Any old paint that can be donated to paint backs with would be good.
Coverage is 48mt/4lts for all paints.

Water base semi gloss comes with grit already mixed in and was told it about 100 grit sandpaper. Better with undercoat on MDF
Oil base is full gloss but i have seen some very fine grit (look like flour) from memory cost about $30 that can be added. Needs undercoat as well

So if we round up it comes to $450 plus time

The next question: Do we have that much in the bank?