Help needed Quick!! 2 post lift and Radiant floor insulation

[maxpower_454]

Im working on prepping for my garage floor that is scheduled to be poured on Friday. I need to know:

How do I insulate the sides of the building? Should the foam be level with the top of the skirt board? The guy doing my concrete said I should have the concrete right up against the skirt board but that would mean no side insulation?!?!? Please help !!

Also, how can I plan where to put a 2 post lift?? I have general dimensions side to side but need to know how to position the lift front to back? One lift site I was on said 12ft min from the lift post to the wall but I don't know if that counts workbench room and working room.

Can anyone help?? I really need to figure these 2 things out quick. Friday will be here before I know it!!

 

[rburke65]

This subject has been discussed "9 ways to Tuesday". You can do a search for posts on this site. Also, no one here knows where you live......dont need too much in floor insulation in NM, or Tenn. And we have no idea on the size of your garage, door placement, etc., so we have no ideas to suggest where you might want to put the lift. These things should be thought out and planned long before you place your concrete. If you Don't know, then delay the pour until you do. This is not something you can just erase......you better be damn sure the first time. This isn't guess work.

 

[maxpower_454]

This subject has been discussed "9 ways to Tuesday". You can do a search for posts on this site. Also, no one here knows where you live......dont need too much in floor insulation in NM, or Tenn. And we have no idea on the size of your garage, door placement, etc., so we have no ideas to suggest where you might want to put the lift. These things should be thought out and planned long before you place your concrete. If you Don't know, then delay the pour until you do. This is not something you can just erase......you better be damn sure the first time. This isn't guess work.

Thanks for nothing. Why bother to flame? Would have been quicker to help.

 

[rburke65]

I "bothered" because it would be helpful to have more info. in order to help you........NEVER MIND!

 

[wedge40]

Ok, I did a quick search. As suggested by someone here.
He has a 30'x40'x12'.
Here is a thread to get you started. http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=166571
I'm in the process of doing exactly what you're asking about. So far the only thing I'm changing is the size of my pad or keep out area. I went from 2'x2' area to 4'x4'. It would help to choose a a lift now to get an idea of requirement. I plan on BendPak XPR-10A.

If you have a building layout handy and email/PM me I still have about two weeks left on the LoopCAD software program.

Wedge

 

[sands35]

You should have a plan for the foundation insulation. If you are DIYing it, there is stuff online. (I dunno, haven't built my garage yet, but "winging" stuff like this doesn't make a great execution.)

You'll need the posts of the lift away from the edges of the slab so you don't fail the concrete foundation. The further the better, it depends on the unknown of the quality of the concrete job. (for that matter, modestly thicker is better too - to a point.) Measure and locate the pads for the lift and keep the radiant tubes away from that location so you don't drill through them. You'll also want to discuss where the crack control cuts go (if any) in the slab so they don't cut right through where the post feet go.

User access around the lift is up to you. What are you going to put on it; a full tonne dually or a miata? General maintenance or are you going to yank motors?

And yes, location of your garage matters. It sounds like a post, not stick construction?

 

[maxpower_454]

yes, it's a pole building - 30X40X12. I attached a layout drawing. I hope this helps. I planned on just running the tubes around the approximate location of the posts and then getting rid of the insulation underneath the post area so that I will have 7" of concrete in those areas.

I plan on changing engines, trans, etc so I will be using the lift pretty hard since that's my hobby. I can adjust the joints around that area no problem.

Does this sound good?

I just found this site and it seems to be the best so far.
http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/Where-Do-I-Position-My-Two-Post-Lift-In-My-Garage

 

[wedge40]

My thoughts. I'd make the pads a little larger. Looks they are about 2'x2' You have enough room to go with 4'x4'. Then I just make a map that has the four courners of the pads on it. I'd go back at least 12' from the wall and even better 12' from the front of the bench. When you lay out your pex avoid the 4'x4' pad area by at least 6". If the building is insulated well enough that little lose of thermal mass wont be missed.

As I have been reading about 2 post lift, you're going to be doing they type of work that you need to be careful as you change the center of gravity when removing something large like an engine or rear end. So plan accordingly.

Good luck.

Wedge

 

[maxpower_454]

So last question, How far up should I go with the side insulation? To the top of the skirtboard or leave it an inch or 2 down so the foam will be covered with concrete? If I leave it down an inch or 2, my concrete guy said this will create a stress riser and the concrete will crack and crumble in this area. What should I do?

 

[wedge40]

Here is what I've read or been told. The best way is to put the XPS up to the top of the slab. BUT!! instead of the 90 degree edge at the top, bevel it to a 45 degree slope toward the wall. So basically when the pour is done the XPS will be covered by the concrete.

Wedge

 

[yankeze1]

Here you can kind of see what I did. 2" foam board to the top of the batter board. (not sure if skirt or batter is correct, maybe both are. I'm using batter, as that's what the builders called them!) The top of the foam board you see standing up at the batter board is half of a 4x8 sheet cut in half. The rest of the 2' is buried upright inside the batter boards. Vapor barrier over compacted gravel, then the rest of the floor insulation. I stapled the vapor barrier a couple of feet up the wall, and it really cut down on the concrete slop on everything! This photo is when my son was helping place the screw in clips for the pex. Once the floor was poured, it is actually about 2" under the top of the outside foam board.
Not sure if that helps, but that's what I did.
Good luck, hope everything works out on time!

Edit: about the 45 degree cut - I chose to not do this, as the outside edge will be inside the wall when the ceiling and interior walls go up in a couple of weeks. I wanted to make sure I had full thickness of insulation over the top of the finished slab.

 

[maxpower_454]

Here you can kind of see what I did. 2" foam board to the top of the batter board. (not sure if skirt or batter is correct, maybe both are. I'm using batter, as that's what the builders called them!) The top of the foam board you see standing up at the batter board is half of a 4x8 sheet cut in half. The rest of the 2' is buried upright inside the batter boards. Vapor barrier over compacted gravel, then the rest of the floor insulation. I stapled the vapor barrier a couple of feet up the wall, and it really cut down on the concrete slop on everything! This photo is when my son was helping place the screw in clips for the pex. Once the floor was poured, it is actually about 2" under the top of the outside foam board.
Not sure if that helps, but that's what I did.
Good luck, hope everything works out on time!

Edit: about the 45 degree cut - I chose to not do this, as the outside edge will be inside the wall when the ceiling and interior walls go up in a couple of weeks. I wanted to make sure I had full thickness of insulation over the top of the finished slab.

Thanks for the pic, that was very helpful. I ended up doing the same thing. Yours looks prettier than mine since I had to extend my side insulation to the top of the 'batter' board.

I never got a straight answer on the foam from anyone under the concrete in the lift post area. I asked Blue Ridge, my concrete guy, the concrete supplier, everyone on here, other friends. So I just did the math.

~2000lb lift, ~18"X21" lift baseplate, 10000lb lift capacity = 31.75psi. The foam is only rated at 25psi so I elected to cut out the foam under the lift posts. I might have been fine not cutting it out since the conrete does have some structural bending strength and would distribute the load a little on the base but I want to be safe. It will be an inefficiency but since it's only in 2% of the floor area, I think I'll be fine.