Parking on wood vs concrete?

[TJ Hopland]

Watching some of the car tv shows recently I have noticed more than a couple fairly high end cars parked in what appears to be some sort of plywood.   These were in what appeared to be high end garages and the wood was just under the car, not the whole garage.   One shot looked like maybe there was plastic or some other softer material between the wood and the floor.   The one I saw today there were even smaller boards by the front tires that I would imagine were used to indicate to the driver when they were in place or maybe as wheel chocks to keep the car from rolling?        The show I saw today was Americarna.  I'm nut sure what ep number it was but at least the last half was about boss mustangs.  Where I noticed the wood was when they were looking at a mustang once owned by Bob Seger.

Any thoughts as to why?    I have seen it on more than just this one show.   I was thinking maybe to keep oil drips off the floor but if its about looks the plywood is not pretty so you would think they would use a smaller piece or some sort of tray. 

[Dan LeBlanc]

When we renovated our house in 2013, we finished our basement.  Our subfloor is a product that interlocks - it is OSB over a plastic eggcrate affair.  It blocks moisture from permeating from the concrete to the wood subfloor.

If the conditions are right, we know that in high humidity, low temperature atmospheric conditions, condensation will form on concrete.  Perhaps this is what was used.

I'll see if I can find a leftover piece and post a picture of what we used.

[Steve Passmore]

Its to prevent the cold and condensation you get from concrete. Timber will insulate and absorb some of the dampness.

[TJ Hopland]

So you guys think what I saw was what the 'poor' high end collectors were doing to keep moisture from their floors effecting their cars?   Come to think of it the one I saw today didn't appear to have a fancy finish on the concrete. 

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

I had always heard wood flooring is especially desirable for old car storage because it permits air circulation and does not reflect moisture the way concrete does. I've also been told that concrete perpetually emits trace amounts of acid vapor which can be highly corrosive particularly where air circulation is nil or very little.

There seems to be some truth in it because cars I have seen that have been stored in barns seem to fare very well, while cars stored in buildings, especially in basements with concrete floors with little fresh air circulation are often ruined.

Not sure what plywood over concrete accomplishes but I would imagine it couldn't hurt...

[tozerco]

Some elements of sobering truth here....

Concrete is not acidic. It contains lime so it is the very opposite of acidic. Therefore, no "acid vapour". If a concrete floor is constructed correctly, it will have a pvc sheet "vapour barrier/membrane" under it. If this is so and the barrier doesn't have holes in it, concrete will eventually dry in an undercover situation more than timber will. On the other hand, the moisture content of timber varies remarkably over its life time. When first cut, it has a very high moisture content. When Kiln Dried it will achieve whatever moisture content the supplier has set for the particular product. Bring timber from a supplier on the coast to one in the hinterland (or, in my case, the dry inland) and, if you don't "acclimatise" the stuff by letting it dry to the moisture content natural for the local area over a period of time, it will shrink alarmingly. Plywood is a little different - it is "cross-grained" (the timber "slices" that are glued together to make up the plywood are laid at 90 degrees to each other) but this is mainly for strength reasons. It will still shrink if it was made on the coast and installed in drier climates.

I personally don't think there is much science in the choice for garage floors. It is probably more to do with having something that is removable if you (inevitably) have an oil or fluid spill.

[tozerco]

...and as Steve has pointed out, it is warmer underfoot in winter than cold concrete.

[wrench]

I'm thinking the plastic was a vapor barrier and the plywood could be used to hold it down, also they may be keeping the car on jack stands when it isn't being shown so the plywood is in place to put the jack stand on so it wont dig into the floor finish...

[David Greenburg]

When I redid my garage, I used a very heavy duty vinyl tile that is comfortable to lie on, resistant to fluids from incontinent old cars and easy to clean. It's held up great for about 8 years so far. I also figured the softness and the "coin" surface would help preserve tires.  I think the product is called Lok-tile or something like that.