Concrete leveling / step removal

[NewCaddyDaddy]

Recently bought a new car (Escalade ESV) which is a very tight fit in our garage, due to a 4ft deep x 3in tall 'shelf' in the garage flooring. So the front tires of our new SUV hit the 'step-up' before the car is all the way in the garage.

The temporary solution is backing the car into the garage, but longer term
I need to remove the extra height from the concrete floor. Anyone done something similar? I'm going to get a few quotes from garage reno & contracting co's... what should I expect to pay?

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Dado cuts with a concrete demo saw could be done DIY. Make sure there are no utilities running through it.


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[Jinks]

We have three cars in a two car garage & a separate single garage with work shop. We back all three in. It took a while to teach my wife to back in, but now she wouldn't do it any other way. There's almost never anything behind you when you back in, & it's easy to just drive out being able to see everything that's happening in your drive & on the street.

 

[csp]

Is that step the same elevation as the finished floor in the house? If it is, it's there for a barrier to fuel vapors entering the home and it's a code requirement.

If there are other steps going up into the home disregard this.

 

[NewCaddyDaddy]

@CSP - That is a great point! You are correct that the step is the same elevation as the finished floor inside the home. The step runs across the front of the garage, and makes an "L" down the side of the garage adjacent to the house. The front step which I'd like to remove does not approach the house, but rather an exterior wall that faces the street. I will have to look into the code requirements. My wife has done a very good job backing the car in over the last 48hours, so perhaps this won't be the end of the world if we are required to keep the step. Either way, I will be looking to resurface the garage, I've seen quite a few beautiful set-ups here in the forums!

 

[SteveCh]

I did something similar and removal was with my Bosch hammer drill. It didn't leave a perfectly smooth surface, of course. But it worked like a charm. If you cared about the surface, as I did, I took the removal down an inch or so past the garage floor level and carefully filled it with concrete from which I had screened the larger stones. You'll want a dust mask for the hammering.

 

[Radix2]

Is that step the same elevation as the finished floor in the house? If it is, it's there for a barrier to fuel vapors entering the home and it's a code requirement.

If there are other steps going up into the home disregard this.

What code is that ? AFAIK the IRC has no such requirement and has not since at least 2000 or ever. Unless there is some specific local requirement, there is likely no requirement. This comes up now that people want accessibility. Also it doesn't apply to this type of remodeling anyway - all he is proposing is to move the step down from where it is to a spot closer to the actual entrance.

 

[csp]

You're right it isn't IRC. I did have to meet that requirement for a local jurisdiction, so my mistake for stating as code to be assumed as IRC.

It wasn't clear from the original post what the OPs intentions were, nor the configuration of where the step up that's in the way is located.

 

[MrBalll]

May not be the cleanest or best solution, but what about just laying a 2x4 up against it then a 1x4 in front of that and make a small angle cut on each so it feels like naturally driving up.
Since you mentioned it's an Escalade so I'm sure it has front park sensors. That way the wife would know when to stop. And she'd technically never see them as it'd be under the car when shes home and when the car is gone she is.

Just something to do for the time until you figure out if you want to cut it out.