Slope? or no slope?

[Dowco9902]

Building a 40 x 60. Should I have the slab layed perfectly level or have 2" or so slope out towards the doors for any water run off? I plan on installing a two post lift. Should I slope it and shim the lift posts or is it better to have it flat so the bases are flat on the floor? I guess it would only be 1/16" - 1/8" or so grade at the lift post base. What do you guys do? Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Sean

 

[OldCarGuy]

If you don’t have floor drains, I have found it’s best to slope the floor 2” in 20 to 24 feet toward the garage door. Just to make it easier when you wash the floors.

It's no problem to shim the two post lifts to make the columns vertical, as the slope in their footprint is minimal. However with the lift’s arms stretched out, there will be a greater difference between the front and rear pick-up points. And may make it difficult when lifting cars with low ground clearances.

 

[boiler7904]

Local building department will likely make you slope the slab to the overhead doors to keep water from ponding in the building. Like OldCarGuy said, a lift will work fine with a 2" pitch in 20 or 24' unless you have a car with low ground clearance.

Maybe you layout the building so that the back half of the slab is dead level and the front half pitches to the overhead doors. Install the lift on the dead level portion. Any water dripping off of a parked car in the front portion will roll to the overhead doors.

 

[rodnok1]

Personally I can't stand sloped floors in any building. While it does make it a little easier when washing down the floor, how many times are you going to do that. Ever spill oil/antifreeze on a sloped floor...Ever try and roll a car in even on a small grade/or have one roll just a little on you? If you were going to park a car in it during the winter I would maybe put little slope there but otherwise no.

 

[toms73novass]

I just put in my new floor in my shop dead flat. The only slope that I had was from where the garage door meets the concrete outward. This way rain will want to drain out (like a door sill).

I hate fighting my rotisserie when I have to move it in my attached garage it always wants to move to the front of the garage. Now with a flat floor no more problems.

 

[speadrider]

I would say you absolutely want some slope. you live in an area that has snowy rainy winters and all of the slop from the roads will track into the garage. it is so much easier to have it run out the doors, especially when you clean it with water

 

[dxdexter]

Personally I would want a flat floor with a slope only at the overhead door. A sloped floor would really bother me. Get yourself a good squeegee to clear the floor of water from vehicles.

 

[Dowco9902]

Hmmmmm........Looks like it's 50/50 so far. I would rather have a flat floor but it seems like a good idea to have some slope to it. Maybe the suggestions on just sloping it closer to the doors would be a good way to go? I have a little time to decide yet. Thanks for the input. Keep the opinions coming.

Sean

 

[SteveL]

I would like a very slight slope so that water would run off, BUT, local codes, here anyway, require a specific amount of slope to avoid carbon monoxide fumes from going back into a residence. Carbon monoxide fumes being heavier that air will fall and follow the slope out the garage door. Not sure that I really believe this but this is what I was told when we added on to our garage by the architect.

 

[PhantomEB]

Buddy of mine has a 24x32 and during a recent major once a year rainstorm, we were drinking beers squeegeeing out the water since he built his garage with perfectly level walls and was bitching like no tomorrow how he would never do this again. Yet when I build my 24x24, I want perfectly level floors but I am gonna be smart, 1.5' pony walls with 6" wide strip of golf ball sized gravel, 6" deeper than the floor to make it way more drainable and below the floor all the way around the perimeter then all I need is sandbags for at the big doors as man door would be raised up 2-3" as well with the man door notched into the pony wall, not built around it.

I hate water in my shop!!!