What else to do before I pour? (infloor lights?)

[a5t1]

Pouring a 40' x 60' slab in the barn - turning the area into a shop.

Insulating slab, going to run some conduct in the ground before the slab is poured. Also going to have footings poured for a lift. Any other good ideas before pouring?

In floor lights maybe?

I've also heard of guys wrapping chains around railroad ties and then bring the chain up through PVC. Then you can anchor on the ground if need be.

Any other thoughts?

 

[Fastfish]

About 3 years after 4000lb new shop floor, I want to suggest:
Lights in floor would have been great. Not sure of the details of how to do it but it is dark under a car on the lift and more lighting from below would have been great. Not sure if the chain/pvc you mention is the same as my suggestion here, but it would have been good to have a short post or small pair of them in a corner to straighten bent stuff.

 

[driz]

Get that case of beer on ice or your buddies might fade away[emoji31]


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[NUTTSGT]

You putting any drains in ?

You can buy "pull pots" online instead of trying to make something.

 

[BgBmBoo]

I've also heard of guys wrapping chains around railroad ties and then bring the chain up through PVC. Then you can anchor on the ground if need be.

It depends on the design of the building, but I always though it would be very handy to have an attachment point on the far wall in front of each garage door to winch in a vehicle. Perfect for car restorations. Let gravity pull it out for blasting/painting and then winch it back in when finished for the day.

I wouldn't use a RR tie though. I'd auger a deep hole filled with concrete and drop the chain in to that as my below floor anchor point.

In floor lights would be nice too if you know where to put them now.

 

[a5t1]

Yes to drains.


I haven't seen much on the in floor lighting but it is intriguing...

 

[matt_i]

The pull-point is a good idea. I wouldn't use any wood though. Could be a concrete block that you pour and set ahead of time under the slab or a steel bar placed horizontally.

The lighting seems wonderful but I would want to buy extra lights just in case one got broken or died, etc. Seems like replacement with a product that didn't fit exactly (due to obsolescence of the original recipe) would be a bad nightmare. Maybe the solution is to cast a steel box(es) into the concrete, fed with conduit, that way you could cut holes into the cover plate for any kind of light and at worst be faced with making a new coverplate to fit a different light.

 

[stm317]

Some locales aren't keen on drains in the floor of a garage FYI. It's a good idea to know for sure where they stand in your area.

 

[sberry]

If I was in the collision business pulls in the floor may be good, in 20 years used one once when I had hired body man and could have done it other way just as easily. Some soft floor lights would be ok depending on fixtures and the potential for water intrusion. If you are in a wet clime drains are good but need some thought.

 

[ard]

They make specific 'cast in place' floor anchors. as mentioned above "pull pots".

I would NOT use chain, wood and PVC pass-throughs.

 

[6768rogues]

My father put a recessed can with a big eyebolt in it in his floor, with a cover so the floor was flat when the tie down was not in use. Now, many years later, the eyebolt has practically rusted off.

 

[astroracer]

What concrete are you spec'ing? 3500 PSI? How thick? BendPak recommends 4" of 3000PSI concrete for 9 to 10K lifts and 6" @ 3000PSI for 12 to15K. Adding "footings" for a lift is not really necessary and just adds prep and material costs. Just letting you know, don't beat me up over it.
Also, when laying out your floor plan, keep your overheads at least 4' off the interior walls. 6' is better for working and storage room around a lift.
Mark

 

[phy6]

I'll tell you right now I have a busted water line under the back corner of my garage foundation. I think I'm going to have to demolish the bathroom floor and dig down several feet, or come in from the outside and bust into the corner of the garage thought cinder blocks. So consider having chases or access to things like that. It's a real pain not having water down by the garage. Right now i'm using 300ft of hose from the house.

 

[DCarr2]

The one thing I did, but will probably never use, and I got the idea from here: floor anchor point. I used the KISS method.

I used (2) 3' long, 3" angle, and had them set them in the floor.

I now have 2 places, that if I ever need to, can weld on a loop or whatever as an anchor.

Like I said, Ill prob never use them, but they are there if I ever need them.

I also ran my pex -$700 from home depot/lowes for 100' runs...

and I ran 3" pvc with electrical to feed my main bench with both 110, and 220.

 

[Lelandwelds]

Better PEX pricing if you can plan ahead a bit

http://www.supplyhouse.com/Bluefin-T075-100-B-3-4-Blue-PEX-Tubing-100-ft-Coil

Twelve inches of #8 rebar makes a helluva anchor. Best use of anchor points is future theft resistance. Wall mount would work too.

http://www.autoanything.com/hitch-bed-accessories/73A4436A0A0.aspx
http://www.yanchor.com/Y-max 901.html

LED last for years. Floor lights like the architectural ones might be practical. I think I would use LED on tool cart or something similiar. ( droplight or flashlight )

 

[Thumper68]

The one thing I did, but will probably never use, and I got the idea from here: floor anchor point. I used the KISS method.

I used (2) 3' long, 3" angle, and had them set them in the floor.

I now have 2 places, that if I ever need to, can weld on a loop or whatever as an anchor.

Like I said, Ill prob never use them, but they are there if I ever need them.

I also ran my pex -$700 from home depot/lowes for 100' runs...

and I ran 3" pvc with electrical to feed my main bench with both 110, and 220.

I wish I had done this, I thought about it but forgot by the time we did the floor. I even had the angle and rebar for it.

 

[larry_g]

Instead of cutting big ditches through my shops I used Zip Strips.
http://www.superiorprofiles.com/?gclid=CNa4turvwdYCFUSRfgodZNwJqw
I recommend them if you find the cut lines in the concrete offensive. Reading how many threads are on this forum about how to fill them it would seem to me more should be using them.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[wssix99]

Adding "footings" for a lift is not really necessary and just adds prep and material costs. Just letting you know, don't beat me up over it.

+1 The design of modern lifts doesn't require footings - they are designed to bolt to simple slabs. If you want more concrete, make the whole pad thicker and spend your money elsewhere. Adding integrated appendages to a slab will likley make it more prone to cracking. So will casting any other fitting or penetration into the floor. (Unless you very carefully design where those things are placed in relation to your joints.)

A lot of people get the renovation pads that lift companies call for (for slabs that are cracked or too thin) mixed up with "footers". They are different things, that behave in different technical ways. They don't apply to a brand new slab. If you do it right - flat (with enough room for purchase of the anchor bolts) is the strongest way to go.

 

[a5t1]

What concrete are you spec'ing? 3500 PSI? How thick? BendPak recommends 4" of 3000PSI concrete for 9 to 10K lifts and 6" @ 3000PSI for 12 to15K. Adding "footings" for a lift is not really necessary and just adds prep and material costs. Just letting you know, don't beat me up over it.
Also, when laying out your floor plan, keep your overheads at least 4' off the interior walls. 6' is better for working and storage room around a lift.
Mark

Thanks for the heads up. We were going with 4". I wonder if I can simply go to 6" where the post feet will be.

 

[a5t1]

+1 The design of modern lifts doesn't require footings - they are designed to bolt to simple slabs. If you want more concrete, make the whole pad thicker and spend your money elsewhere. Adding integrated appendages to a slab will likley make it more prone to cracking. So will casting any other fitting or penetration into the floor. (Unless you very carefully design where those things are placed in relation to your joints.)

A lot of people get the renovation pads that lift companies call for (for slabs that are cracked or too thin) mixed up with "footers". They are different things, that behave in different technical ways. They don't apply to a brand new slab. If you do it right - flat (with enough room for purchase of the anchor bolts) is the strongest way to go.

I actually meant I had planned on digging out a footer for where the feet of the lift would sit. Appreciate the feedback. A 10k lift would be the largest lift I would need for my applications...

 

[sberry]

I cant think it would hurt to thicken the floor an inch or so in the general area the hoist is going.

 

[J king]

I machined several 1 1/2 steel pins with a 3/4 tapped hole. I placed them around area for my frame puller. When I built my machine shop I place a few of these around the room to pull machines and position them. Worked great. These are flush with surface and the threaded hole is chamfered for a counter sunk stainless socket head bolt.you hardly notice them and cause no issues rolling over them.
The frame tie downs were all drove into ground and laser leveled and welded to each other's with rebar. Not going anywhere.

 

[wssix99]

I wonder if I can simply go to 6" where the post feet will be.

I actually meant I had planned on digging out a footer for where the feet of the lift would sit. Appreciate the feedback. A 10k lift would be the largest lift I would need for my applications...

Having one part of a continuous slab that is significantly thicker than another increases your chances of cracking - in the area that is thickened. The engineering behind this is non-intuitive (because concrete is a heterogeneous material and not a homogeneous material, like metal) but I can explain it if you are interested.

Some folks here have reported that they have had good results thickening part of the slab with a slow, gradual taper, which would greatly help alleviate some of the concern with cracking - but it may not be necessary; depending on the thickness you are planning.

Reasons to thicken the slab would be to make sure you have the depth for the anchor bolts to attach. There's no need for additional thickness for strength. (Because certain thickening strategies can lead to cracking, they actually work opposite from what is intended.) The physics behind this are more straight forward:
- The 2 post lift doesn't put any significant amount of additional vertical stress on the concrete pad than a car parked directly on top of it. (A car or truck sits on the pad and all that weight is transferred to the pad already by 4 small contact patches of the tires. The two post lift has a large base plate on the bottom, which disperses the loads similarly.) If you take the weight of the system and divide it by the size of the contact patches or base plates, then you will get the vertical stress on the pad. (The numbers work out flush between a car/truck parked directly on the pad vs. on the lift.)
- The big stresses the 2 post lift puts on the concrete pad are bending stresses where the post meets the pad. (Side-to-side and forward-to-back.) These stresses are resisted by a well finished pad, continuously supported by a well compacted base underneath.

 

[ford33]

Add 1" electrical conduit under the floor for the lift and lighting.

You may also consider adding one or two conduits across the entire floor from one side to the other. You could tap into that later if you needed. It would save you from cutting into the entire floor should you need electrical at some point in the middle of the floor.

 

[phy6]

Whatever you do, take pictures of anything that will get imbedded in the concrete like the pex, rebar, plumbing and electrical. Make sure references like wall cinderblocks or numbered wall studs are visible. Even better, take a video and walk around slowly right before the pour. Save that video off to your private Youtube or whatever and you'll always be able to reference it even if you loose your phone.

Imagine yourself needing to place a heavy machine or drill an anchor in for a new lift/mezzanine support. Or maybe you want to tie into a sewage line. You'll desperately want to know where things are under the floor so you don't hit them.

 

[gnpenning]

Lights used in pits generally are required to be explosion proof. Gas fumes are heavier than air and go to the lowest spot. Turning on a light in the floor that could create a spark may create a change of underwear.

It's doable and would be nice. Just be safe.

 

[gtcs]

Although I had intended to pour 'footers' and install in floor lights for a lift, when I poured my slab, I couldn't commit to the location. I wound up with no lights and a 6" 5k slab. I can put a lift anywhere and I have some good worklights I can plug in... also anywhere.

Extra concrete cost about the same as the in floor lights...YMMV