Garage floor pitch...

[merlinpro]

Hey guys...

Question........I will soon be pouring a 24x24 floor and i was told to use about 1/8th inch per foot grade, (from a builder, and said this woud be better for drainage) so it comes out to about 3" in 24 feet.

Seems like too much for me...I was thinking more like an 1" or 1.5"s in 24 feet.

Dont want things to run away from me, like sockets, or my cars!

My friend has a 28x28 and has about 2"s front to back and says thats more than plenty...I am going to install a 4-post lift and dont want to be adding shims or plates to make level!

I am NOT in a flood zone or plan on washing my car inside the garage...besides, thats what squeege's are for.

Its most concerning to me because of the lift!

So what would you do...the 3", or 1-1.5" ???

Thanks. dave.

 

[gilr]

For my 24 x 32 shop/garage I made the floor level and I wouldn't have it any other way. I had to explain the the building inspector I didn't care if water "puddled", the room was to be primarily a workshop and any water could be broomed out or squeegeed out. He OK'ed it and I'm happy with it, especially when I installed cabinets on the floor, much easier to level them. I keep my project cars in this garage and no problems after 11 years. I have a second two car garage for daily drivers and that one is sloped (about 2" in 24'), but it gets some water under the door even with the slope. I'd especially want the floor level for a lift so I wouldn't have to shim the unit.

 

[BlueZero]

1/8" per foot is pretty typical. Most exterior surfaces are sloped at that for drainage. If you think you can get away with less and don't mind using a squeegee I say go for the 1.5". It really shouldn't be too bad, it's not like you will get a down pour in the garage.

If you have a sheet of plywood prop it up at 1/8" per foot and 1/16" per foot and see what you think.

 

[Red Green]

What are you draining and where do you want it to go?

My shop is set at zero. If you are doing a lift zero would be the way to go IMHO. I had to get all most nasty with the concrete crew so they would understand I wanted the floor flat.

 

[merlinpro]

Thanks for the help!

"Red Green", im not really draining anything...more concerned about it being level for a lift.

I dont really have any intentions of having water or other liquids being used on the floor other than the "accidental mishap", but i would use a squeege for that.

Again, I dont want to be shimming the lift if i can help it, and i figure 1"to maybe 2 inches in a 24ft floor would be the way to go.

If someone else has a 4 post lift on something more than 2 or 3 inches of pitch, please let me know if it has worked out for you!

Thanks.

 

[Doug I]

Aim for level.

Spills won't run away on you, and thinking about it, neither will your cars.

 

[MoparFreek]

I would go level as well, the brother in law had a garage done with the 1/8" per foot pitch and you really feel it just standing there, that ruined the whole garage for me.

 

[merlinpro]

Guess I will have them shoot for as close to level as I can.

At least no more than an inch or so.

And if they dont wanna do it, I'll get someone else to do the job...im paying for it!

I will check the local code for pitch, dont know if there is one. but im not gonna do a 3". Not with a lift going in.

Thank you!

 

[boiler7904]

1 1/2" in 24' should be enough. I have that in my garage and while noticeable, it doesn't let fluids run all over the place if they spill. Rain and snow dripping off the cars stays right where it lands. We've done auto dealer repair bays at 3" or more in 24' and it's excessive but local code called for it.

Unless you have the only concrete crew on earth that can get a floor absolutely flat, there will be at least one shim under 3 out of the 4 posts of the lift. Once they start leveling the lift and setting it up, you'll be amazed at the number of shims really goes under one of them.

 

[ScaldedDog]

Mine's getting poured this week, and I opted for a slight - less than 1/8" per foot - slope for the first 6', then level for the remaining 28 feet. I wanted to keep water that might seep under the door from running very far, but preferred a flat floor elsewhere. If it matters, I've installed an in-ground lift.

Mark

 

[larry4406]

3 inches slope is pretty typical for a garage floor, and that is what I put in my 28 deep garage - you cannot feel it when you walk on it. My understanding is that most lifts have adjustments to compensate for slab pitch (i.e., not a stack of shims).

 

[hidollartoys]

If you are going to use this as a fab/work shop then I would think that you would want it as flat as possible. If you are worried about water seeping in under the door then you can have the door area actually poured 1 to 2 inches lower than the rest. Here all residential garage floors are poured with a door strike lower than the rest. When the floor is formed there is a 2x6 layed flat across and at the opening to form this "lip" or indention. Maybe not explaning this well but hope you get the idea.

 

[Ironcrow]

Level. Pre-approve with your inspector.

 

[merlinpro]

I called a Bendpak supplier and he recomended as close to level as i can get...less shims if any.

My builder agreed to have it done level also, he says the inspector wont really check the pitch. So im better with it now!

Just dont want any probs with the floor and lift fighting each other. Thanks.

 

[lilcuda]

NO PITCH!! Make it level!

Take it from me. I was bamboozled by the architect that drew the plans for my garage. He led me to believe that it was code to have the floor sloped 1/4" per foot. He told me "You want that". No I didn't. I asked him if it was code and he said yes. I even asked the head of the building department. He also told me that it was code. I should have made him show me where in the book. He was busy that day and just threw me an off-the-cuff answer. I have come to find out after my slab was poured that it's not code, you can have it flat as long as it's not a carport.

What's worse is that the concrete guy sucked and it's actually sloped .3" per foot.

Do your homework, stand up for what you want and don't take **** from anybody that tells you it has to be sloped!

Good luck!

 

[mikeyr]

I don't know what my slope is, I did not ask as I did not think to ask, I wrongly ASSuMEd my floor would be flat, they went 2" over the 20ft. span. Its not noticeable to walk on but since this was a new floor in a existing garage, it really is very visible on what were 8" stem walls. I raised the floor to eliminate some flooding issues so now my stem wall is 2" at the front of the garage and at the back the slab is even with the walls bottom plate, very ugly but I can't feel it when I stand/walk in there.

My lift required no shims to level, I just had to tighten up the cables at one end more then the other, there was about 3" of play in the cables to level the ramps and I just adjusted it with the cables, I have never heard a 4-post needing shims since they usually can have caster kits attached to them if you wanted to, that would be a ***** to hook up the casters and move the shims also. I think most (maybe all) can adjust for floor situations.

The addition to the garage was perfectly level, city asked why, i said because I restore cars and need a flat floor for frame work and they said ok, that conversation lasted all of about 4 seconds to get approval.

 

[oldbones]

My 36X40 slab is level. I don't mind it that way one bit, but I do wish they would have dropped it an inch or so at the doors. When the wind drives rain against the doors, it will seep under and puddle up. I may end up with some sort of garage door threshold if needed to keep the water out.

 

[plain2car]

merlinrpo,
i would go with level as well. i do civil designing (until recently... economy)here in arizona & the garage floor is considered to be part of the house "foundation" therefore it is typically "designed" level with the building footprint. the "grading" would start from the footprint outward towards the property lines. agree with most, that the inspector really should not care as long as it is considered covered. it may be different state by state though...... good luck!