Interlocking Brick floor.

[WemaBoss]

I've got a 24x28 garage that was built 4 years ago before I bought the house and the floor has a crown right down the center. That means it is rendered useless when the winter snow comes. I cannot have heat on in the garage when both vehicles are parked inside because the water that melts pools to either side and the back.

My solution: I want to lift the garage in the spring, install 2 more row of 8" block then back fill with about 12" of A' gravel and instead of pouring another 4" pad, use interlocking brick. Has anyone tried this? I don't know of anyone that has done this and I'd like to hear the pro's and con's to why or why not I should try.

Currently the garage is sitting on one row of concrete blocks with a 4" pad hopefully reinforced with rebar. I don't want to remove that pad but rather utilize it as a base for the gravel and install a floor drain between the pad and brick. Also I have thought about installing in floor heat but I'm not sure about the application when the pex pipe is not below cement.

I live in Canada and the winters are brutal to say the least, and not having use of the garage for 5 to 6 months is very depressing.


Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[DARK AGE 53]

Canada like Michigan ***** in the winter, I see one big problem. If you put your car in the garage during the winter I see the floor looking like ****, as the snow/salt melt it's going to be almost impossible to keep it clean. Just my 2 cents.

 

[carguy1270]

There are a lot of driveways with interlock stone. If you seal the stone, cleanup shouldn't be a big problem.

The only issue I see, is that the floor of your garage will be 6-8 inches higher than it is now, and you'll have to grade the driveway to match the height.
Will the garage door opening still be the same height, or will you have to change the doors as well?

 

[WemaBoss]

The driveway will be graded to match, currently the garage opening is about 2' lower than the highest point of the driveway. the openings when finished will remain the way they are, I am just looking to add height and rather than repour to fix the crown, use some of the 15,000 spare brick I've got. I've asked around locally, I live in Sault Ste. Marie, and I haven't found anyone that has heard of this type of application.

In terms of keeping it clean, if I have almost 14" inches of gravel between the current pad and the brick, I can install a drainage system (nothing currently in place) and slope the floor toward the door and out to a catch basin. Remember that there is one row of block now, with 2 more installed bring it to 24" off the current pad. In order to have it remaining on 8" with the brick installed I can put a maximum of 13.5" of gravel.

Would that be sufficient for a pex pipe in floor heating application?

 

[Keith_MN]

When the water drains through the bricks, where will it go? Since there will be concrete under it, I would imagine you would need a below the floor drainage system.

I think it would also be a pain to sweep and roll things across as it would not be as smooth as poured concrete.

-Keith

 

[WemaBoss]

Good point Keith. I thought about maybe turning the brick upside down with the beveled edge down so the fit would be tighter, but that might inhibit sealing properly. I knew this wasn't going to be ez, which is why I presented on this forum. I'm sure to get some excellent feedback.

 

[6768rogues]

The code in NYS would not allow it. A garage floor has to be nonabsorbent and pavers would let a fuel spill go below the floor. If you care about code, check yours. If not, do whatever you want.

 

[WemaBoss]

I'm sure the code is similar here, but below the pavers there would still be the existing floor, which would not allow any leaching. The concrete floor and outer blocking would essentially encase the new 'floor'. In terms of fuel, there is little to no chance of any fuel being spilled, I don't own a vehicle I would attempt to work on myself. This is strictly storage/protection.

 

[mmhouse]

Why do you not want to pour another pad? It seems like the simplest solution with fewer potential unknowns.

 

[WemaBoss]

I would just pour new but I've got all this brick left over and thought it would be cool to match the garage floor to the rest of the driveway.

 

[willymakeit]

I would do it . All of the above answers are valid. Make sure that your base is compacted well.