Ok! I've finally sold my house and getting ready to build my next house. I will be doing a three stall garage with spancrete so that I'll have a three stall around the back of the house. I've already got a list a mile long on things I want to remember to do during the contruction phase but I still want to get some advice from the members here on what I should think far ahead on before we even pour concrete or lay the spancrete. So what things should I remember to do for this dream garage?
What should I remember during construction
- Thread starter comquat1
- Start date
Be sure you are there when they pour the concrete for the shop! A little attention then will go a long way. You can't undo a bad pour very easily. Make sure it is level and smooth and that the drains are where you want them. etc. I wish I had been watching when they did mine. They let it get away from them and had to add too much water which resulted in spalling in spots. They can "burn" a nice smooth finish on it that will save you hours of grinding and leveling. Then when you put down the epoxy it will look slick!
Dave Carney
Well-known member
Buy your wire now. It's going up 5% a week.
I already have my cat5, need to buy my coax, but as for electrical, I'm assuming that will be provided through the electrician. I definately want to put more than one outlet for tv/networking in the garages vs. the "1" of each that i had in my last house.
boiler7904
Well-known member
mleichtle said:
I deal with several different precast plank suppliers (Spancrete, is just one company whose name is used to describe the material). They usually don’t provide openings that are smaller than 12” x 12”. Other openings are the responsibility of the applicable trade. Make sure they don't cut the reinforcing steel that goes through the planks when coring holes.
atch
Well-known member
if i'm ever lucky enough to build a shop from scratch i'll put in at least enough heated floor to have a spot where i can work under a car in the winter without freezing my a$$.iiibdsiil said:
i see you're in michigan, which i understand can get quite cold. therefore i assume that you'll be heating this shop. if you put in-floor heat in you can use any number of methods for heating the water, based on lots of factors. you can heat the water for your shop floor with wood very cheaply. if that's not an option you can use propane or natural gas somewhat economically. solar might be an option. depending on how resourceful you are you can install more than one heat source and use whichever is more economical or more convenient at the time.
you can put in a wood stove with coils in or adjacent to it that you can fire up on saturday morning. the stove will immediately start to take the chill off and as the water heats up the floor heat can take over. similar situation with gas.
ok, heat aside, there's other stuff to consider.
ceiling height: do you want a car lift?
insulation - how much?
wall & ceiling materials and finishes - osb? gwb? factory finished metal ("pole barn siding")?
bare concrete floor? epoxy? tiles? whatever you do, may i suggest that you pour the floor and wait until you can put the permanent finish on the concrete, and then build the building. or at least build the building and finish the floors BEFORE you ever move even one item into the building. once you move "stuff" into a shop it's almost impossible to finish the floors. and if you drip oil onto the concrete it's really tuff to do anything with it. paint and adhesives don't stick to oil soaked concrete very well.
how many power outlets? what voltages? where? built in benches with power strips?
propane/natural gas?
door sizes? i suggest 9' wide doors at a minimum; 10' is better. 8' wide doors can pose problems.
steel beam at the ceiling with a trolley? what to support it with?
will you ever need rings in the floor (frame straightening)?
bathroom? slop sink? hose bib? hot water?
compressed air piping?
flammable storage?
attic storage? 2nd floor?
"no-maintenance" exterior?
windows?
attic fan? a/c?
concrete/asphalt apron out front?
prolly nothing here you haven't thought of and i'll think of more as soon as i hit the send button...
Wile1Coyote
Well-known member
That is a good list atch posted. Talk to a guy about heat in the floor it isn't that expensive on a new construction and it is PHENOMENAL to work on. An increasing issue for me is in the summer here it gets to be too damn hot an humid for me to work out there so I would add to think long and hard about the orientation of where you are putting it and where the sun is coming from in regards to heating it and cooling it. If you are going to add AC you are OK but trying to get a breeze through there maybe you want to have more than a pedestrain door on the back, maybe add a french door or doorwall or even an overhead. Think about planting some trees for shading that area too to help with keeping it cool and then the leaves fall off in the winter and the sun comes through and helps to keep it warmer etc.
Other than that do you want a wash bay inside and if so how are you going to do the floor drain? Think about lighting too, do you want natural lights, skylights, windows high on the walls to aid security but let in light etc, in addition to placement of fixtures to allow for a good work enviornment.
Other than that do you want a wash bay inside and if so how are you going to do the floor drain? Think about lighting too, do you want natural lights, skylights, windows high on the walls to aid security but let in light etc, in addition to placement of fixtures to allow for a good work enviornment.
Wile1Coyote
Well-known member
Oh and you might want to think about those velcro screens for you overhead doors to to aid ventialtion but keep out bugs etc. Oh and speaking of ventialtion how about an Exhaust hose system with an out door port?
Well, here's my update on construction.
I decided not to go with inground radiant heat in either the house or garages.... I'm spending more money than I anticipated and my goal was to get the most bang for the buck on this house. Everything is framed up and roofed, both garages have their pads poured. I've got gas heat stubbed into the both garages. The basement garage has access via a single stall garage door from the third stall. That stall is sloped out towards the garage door and that will be my wash bay area. I've decided to go with no floor drains just to save money upstairs pad is sloped out towards the door. Both garages will have slop sinks with a hot/cold hook up at sink level for hooking up a hose to wash cars. this week I am running my coax and cat5 through the house so the garages will get a liberal helping of locations installed there.
I'm in the process of debating lights, I've got some extra pot lights, would that give me good light if I put them over a workspace area in my upstairs garage? Or should I just go flourescents through the whole place? Menards has high output units on sale this week, it's actually cheaper to buy two four footers instead of one eight footer. Any thoughts?
Is there anything else I'm not thinking of?
I decided not to go with inground radiant heat in either the house or garages.... I'm spending more money than I anticipated and my goal was to get the most bang for the buck on this house. Everything is framed up and roofed, both garages have their pads poured. I've got gas heat stubbed into the both garages. The basement garage has access via a single stall garage door from the third stall. That stall is sloped out towards the garage door and that will be my wash bay area. I've decided to go with no floor drains just to save money upstairs pad is sloped out towards the door. Both garages will have slop sinks with a hot/cold hook up at sink level for hooking up a hose to wash cars. this week I am running my coax and cat5 through the house so the garages will get a liberal helping of locations installed there.
I'm in the process of debating lights, I've got some extra pot lights, would that give me good light if I put them over a workspace area in my upstairs garage? Or should I just go flourescents through the whole place? Menards has high output units on sale this week, it's actually cheaper to buy two four footers instead of one eight footer. Any thoughts?
Is there anything else I'm not thinking of?
volvo
Well-known member
>>>Is there anything else I'm not thinking of?>>>>
Pictures
Pictures
Craig Balzer
Well-known member
comquat1
You already have a ton a great advice and lists of points to consider. One more to add to your list:
If you are going to install a lift at some point, now is the time to consider the lighting for it: ceiling, or drop lights, or angled fixtures from the wall, or in-floor units. Plan for this option before the pour of concrete.
Craig
You already have a ton a great advice and lists of points to consider. One more to add to your list:
If you are going to install a lift at some point, now is the time to consider the lighting for it: ceiling, or drop lights, or angled fixtures from the wall, or in-floor units. Plan for this option before the pour of concrete.
Craig
I will put some pics up soon, its just been super crazy as my dad and I are doing most of the building.
All of the garage concrete is done, I think I can fit a four post lift for storage and easy maintenance chores in the third stall of the upstairs garage. I've only got 8 foot ceilings downstairs, so that's for washing, storage and man hang out space.
All of the garage concrete is done, I think I can fit a four post lift for storage and easy maintenance chores in the third stall of the upstairs garage. I've only got 8 foot ceilings downstairs, so that's for washing, storage and man hang out space.
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Jason Raabis
Member
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2006
- Messages
- 5
tubeman said:
I poured a 28x40 floor about a month ago, and it's less than ideal. High spots, surface pitting in spots, etc. How does one "burn" a nice smooth finish into concrete?
boiler7904
Well-known member
Jason Raabis said:I poured a 28x40 floor about a month ago, and it's less than ideal. High spots, surface pitting in spots, etc. How does one "burn" a nice smooth finish into concrete?
I think you're talking about grinding the slab. Are you trying to level the high spots and eliminate the pitting or both? Different plans of attack depending on what you want to do. If you want to eliminate the highs, the first step is to mark a grid on the slab 2' or 3' on center in each direction. Take a laser level and see how far you're off. A floor that looks level can be off by a lot. Don't ask how I know on that one. Once you know the elevation you have, you know how much material to remove. Be careful with how much concrete you grind away since you don't want to significantly weaken the slab.
You'll likely be using an electric powered grinder, They range from large walk behind machines (scaled down from a ashpalt pavement grinder) to smaller handheld grinders that look like oversized angle grinders with a concrete grinding disc. Make sure you have the right power source available before renting. I'd talk to local equipment rental places and see what they have available and what they suggest doing. One key is to use a lot of water for dust control. It's a loud, dusty, job. I'd hate to be in your position.
Extra conduits and pathways everywhere you think you will never need them.
Aside from the obvious moves, adds and changes to power and communication drops...it's impossible to know where the technology will be ten years from now. You might be able to download PROM updates from your TV, or upload live diagnostic data from your vehicle's PCM.
If you are putting in a chase from the garage to the attic, for example....put in two instead. Even of you have to plug it with firestop, it will be there when you need it. Don't forget pull string in those empty pathways, either.
Aside from the obvious moves, adds and changes to power and communication drops...it's impossible to know where the technology will be ten years from now. You might be able to download PROM updates from your TV, or upload live diagnostic data from your vehicle's PCM.
If you are putting in a chase from the garage to the attic, for example....put in two instead. Even of you have to plug it with firestop, it will be there when you need it. Don't forget pull string in those empty pathways, either.
Jason Raabis
Member
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2006
- Messages
- 5
tubeman said:
Can you explain this process of "burning" a smooth finish? I'm in the same boat you were.
Well I finally got around to taking some exterior pics. Go ahead and laugh at the siding/roof color, i wanted to go with something that stood out in the neighborhood, and i succeeded. I've never linked anything from snapfish before, i hope these work. Also, i tried linking these locations from snapfish and can't seem to get them to show up in the thread, can anyone tell me how to do that so you guys don't have to keep clicking the links?
http://render2.snapfish.com/render2...?*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXP0e|Rup6G0G|/of=50,590,394
http://render2.snapfish.com/render2...?*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXP0Q|Rup6G0G|/of=50,590,394
http://render2.snapfish.com/render2...?*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXP00|Rup6G0G|/of=50,590,394
http://render2.snapfish.com/render2...?*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXP0G|Rup6G0G|/of=50,590,394
http://render2.snapfish.com/render2...?*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXP0e|Rup6G0G|/of=50,590,394
http://render2.snapfish.com/render2...?*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXP0Q|Rup6G0G|/of=50,590,394
http://render2.snapfish.com/render2...?*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXP00|Rup6G0G|/of=50,590,394
http://render2.snapfish.com/render2...?*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXP0G|Rup6G0G|/of=50,590,394
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DaveL.
Well-known member
Nice looking house/garage build.
thefairlaneman
Banned
I would say to go ahead and bury a drain pipe of large enough PVC that will give you later options for water drainage .or possible tolet,sink etc. Also I would bury another smaller pipe that could be used for undeground telephone lines. You should have a second door in the back that will let you drive all the way through the garage. And maybe you should install at least one skylight. the cost for the skylight is less than 100 bucks and the second door could be a used one that is cheap. As others say go ahead and put you water lines in too. Having the ability to add even a sink later will be easy then. Good luck
thefairlaneman said:
Unfortunately driving thru the garage will not be allowed at there is a garage underneath. Check out the pics, you'll see what i'm talking about. Both garages will have slop sinks with separate hose bibs to hook up hot and cold water at waist lever so you don't have to bend over to hook up your hose to wash a car.
ovilla
Well-known member
I have a walkout basement too and on my house the siding runs all the way down to within a foot off the ground, covering all of the cement wall that you would normally see on the side of the house. Anyway, sweet set up. What are you going to do with the space above the basement garage?
thefairlaneman
Banned
Dont forget to have a good security system to protect your tools . I think a motion dectector placed inside focused on the door with a silent alarm wired to your bedroom is the most effective thing I have found, After 2 night time break ins I installed the device and caught the crooks in the act last time, Problem solved for me and I rest better at night,,,,,,,,I welcome them to return,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,they may not leaveatch said: