Floor Slope?

[VETTE FAN]

Getting ready to break ground on a new detached 30 x 42' detached shop. I'm a woodworker/car guy, so I plan on using half of the shop for woodworking, and the other half building a 72 Chevelle Convertible with my son-in-laws and grandsons.

Question is, would you slope the floor (1/8" +/- per foot) towards the overhead doors? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[readhead]

No. A short slope right at the door to keep the water out.

 

[larry_g]

When I built I made the floor as flat and level as possible. It's a shop, not a parking garage, and that is what I see as the difference. If it's a parking garage with daily drivers being parked overnight then you slope the floor. It is entirely possible to slope one bay for daily parking and have the rest of the floor level.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Angelfire]

I kept mine level throughout with a depression where the garage door lands just to seal out anything. I too do a lot of woodworking and such and find that for some projects I need to spill out to the other side of the shop (ie. car side) and really didn't want the floor to be sloped at all.

 

[Flexia]

Mines 40 deep and I made the back 18ft level and the front where I will be parking a var is sloped to a floor drain.

A good rule for slope floor is 1/8in drop per foot of floor

 

[pattenp]

Based on use, your local building codes will determine if the floor is to be sloped or not.

 

[wssix99]

and the other half building a 72 Chevelle Convertible with my son-in-laws and grandsons.

Question is, would you slope the floor (1/8" +/- per foot) towards the overhead doors? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

If cars will be in the garage, then you need the slope for safety. You will never notice a 1/8" slope doing your work. I have this slope in my garage and it feels flat.

The fluids on the car give off heavier-than-air combustible fumes and the slope escorts those out of the building for you. These vapors can "hang out" longer on a flat floor, creating a much greater fire/explosion hazard.

 

[APEowner]

I've worked in shops with sloped floors and flat floors and if it's a working shop then I much prefer a flat floor. If I ever have the luxury of building a shop from scratch it'll have a flat floor with no drain.

Sloped floor advantages.
Water runs out
Any heavier than air fumes run towards the door (in a working shop the door may or may not open to let them out)
May be required for code compliance

Sloped floor dis-advantages
Anything you drop rolls out
Machinery needs to be shimmed level
Mobile benches are never level
Any building/fabrication projects need to be shimmed level if you're going to use level as a reference.