Leveling a sloped garage floor?

[afo3]

I have a 1400 sq ft garage that a previous owner built by combining an existing two car garage with effectively another garage behind it. As I'm converting it into a gym, I'd like level floors, otherwise some of the larger equipment has quite a slope on it over 6 foot span.

Currently, the floor slopes between .1 and .25 inches/ ft depending on where in the garage you measure. I believe basically the middle is the high ground and both ends slope towards their respective front/ rear doors.

If I have someone use self leveling cement, it seems like it will add a fair amount of height at each end (3.5 inches per end assuming the garage is 47' long and the average slope is .15in/ft the high point is in the middle). That seems problematic for the doors closing and baseboards and such. There is also a furnace already installed with gas hookup that probably would be a project to move and re-install.

Any recommendations or experiences how folks have handled this? I strongly prefer a flat floor for the bulk of the space but am also curious if future auto enthusiasts who might buy the house would see that as a major negative.

Thanks for any advice,

Alex

 

[rayra]

Build a level wood deck on top of the slab where you want your equipment, where it matters. With a little careful measurement the rise will be no thicker than your choice of decking surface on the high side and just a couple inches on the lower side.
Of course right now lumber prices are insane. But your wood floor would be non-permanent. In fact it wouldn't even need to be fixed to the slab.

 

[kbs2244]

The wood will be more comfortable to walk on also

 

[DFB]

Ya can't say if a wood floor is acceptable for what the OP wants in his garage space but that is exactly what we did down at the farm when we renovated an old space for a new packing house to meet the G.A.P. inspections were required to have. There was a good 2 inch drop across the length of the 25ft room sloping to the overhead door. So shimmed sleepers, plywood and the VCT been good going on 10 years now

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Does your equipment have adjustable legs/feet (or can they be added)?

 

[joey1320]

Would the rubber gym floor tiles make up the difference?

 

[afo3]

So I'm just not sure about trying to do a wood shim for it. I want one level surface with no unexpected give/ noises etc and some of the equipment that is going on it will be 600-800lbs before adding weight.

I do plan to put down rubber gym flooring or stall mats (still pricing out the commercial grade options) so there will be at least .5-.75in of rubber padding but I don't think that will compress enough to help level equipment at all. Certainly I know stall mats won't.

I considered just leveling individual pieces of equipment but the shims are non trivial. For the 6' dumbbell rack I just setup it would take almost 1.5" on the low side.

Has anyone done the wood approach and written about it? I can't fully picture what this would be like when it is all said and done and covered with flooring. It seems harder than pouring concrete honestly but I am probably just being dumb.

 

[The Cobbler]

shimming each piece would be far easier than pouring new concrete . wood has a great compressive strength. especially hard woods . adjustable leg supports could be fab'd up or even purchased I'm sure.
do these machines anchor to the floor?

 

[afo3]

They mostly have holes to be anchored (they would be in a commercial facility for liability) but I hadn't seen much need to do so for my purposes. I think once they are on a rubber surface they won't be going anywhere.

shimming each piece would be far easier than pouring new concrete . wood has a great compressive strength. especially hard woods . adjustable leg supports could be fab'd up or even purchased I'm sure.
do these machines anchor to the floor?

 

[Jlbc212]

Garage floors are intentionally sloped to comply with building codes.

A wooden sleeper floor can make a tremendous space for a mice resort.

 

[lml999]

A wooden sleeper floor can make a tremendous space for a mice resort.

With easy access to all that gym equipment, those mice will be pretty buff.

 

[afo3]

So I was thinking a bit more about this. Instead of a wood deck, would it work to use rigid, high compressive load foam insulation and then pour concrete over it? Something like Styrofoam High Load Foam Insulation or similar?

Or perhaps I could even put the rubber gym flooring directly on top of it?

 

[glentre]

Shim the machines now and see how you like using them after a few months or so. You can always throw money at it later if you are not satisfied. If it were my place, I would install resilient gym flooring, at least in the free weight area. Then use wood shims with pockets routed out so the feet of each machine can sit down into a little recess. If on flat shims, some of your equipment will likely "walk" a little with use and eventually slide off the shims. Just my opinion.

Glen