concrete garage floor?

[vbottles]

Hi. Looking for inspiration on what to do with my new garage floor. Recently bought new house and want to sort out the garage floor so I can use as workshop.
Problem is it has a slope front to rear and side to side. There is a small plinth already to support a cupboard. The front edge is about 4 inch (100mm) high. This would make the centre of the floor about 10 inch deep to level off. The roof isn't high enough to cope with this and me at 6 ft tall.
Andrew

 

[vbottles]

I'm thinking of digging up the outer edges of the concrete and laying a new reinforced layer with a channel to run through the centre.
One added complication is the foul water pipe ruins through the garage and had an inspection hatch in there add well.
Andrew

 

[bigegg]

If it's going to be a "workshop" I wouldn't worry about the floor - you'll never see it again

Seriously tho, think "terracing". Decide what tools + cabinets you want, and where.
Get those level, then level in between..
Toekicks under benches can be 4", or 12" or non existent.
It'll mean custom building cabinets and toolstands - but the alternative is kangoing out the floor, and relaying.

Or... can the roof be raised 12"? Jack it up and infill panels? Then pour a level floor on top of the old one.

 

[wookie]

Not what you want to hear but....

Jack hammer the old floor up, then dig down and then pour a new slab that is flat and leaves you with enough height clearance for your needs.

It looks like you have drains under that floor so you might be limited how low you can go.

 

[gaz1]

i didnt do it that way i only leveled where needed for use of a lathe but had to chisel into the concrete floor to create a better level bed dont quick skim it as old cement and new cement dont key together properly

it also helped as i know my floor is only 2"-3" thick so an easy leveling up for me

from what i see could there be an issue of it being damp from the floor or possible water seeping into the garage as floor seems damp to wet from your photos as that cabinet might be that high for a reason your not aware of yet

 

[knighty]

is it on the side of your house and has a flat roof, or is it part of the house and that's a room above it ?


need to dig it out to do a decent job tbh

then fill it up level with the outside (no lower or water will come in)

does look a bit damp, new floor with new dpm will help with that, roof/back wall looks damp too, that could be where the water is coming from ? it's hard to tell from photos

put up a picture from outside


if the roof needs sorting, then it could be best to sort that first and lift it up a bit at the same time (piece of cake if it's a flat roof) - then you could just pour a new floor on top of the old one because you'll have the hight for it :-)

 

[vbottles]

I have only once seen remains of water running through the garage. It seems if the wind blows in the wrong direction the floor gets wet. There may be future issues from water as the drive is higher then the shed.
Can't really go up any height as the garage is butted up to the house (bungalow) on one side. The roof runs front to rear with a height of about 6 ft 6 at the rear. Id' prefer to have most of the floor level as I have a few large tools on casters.
Would anyone guess how deep the concrete is and how deep any foundations would be. Think it was built in the either 1930s of 1950s?
Andrew
added a couple of pictures one of the rear and front of house. Garage is on right side of frame. Unfortunately it's not the nice big one.

 

[brightspark]

bite the bullet dig it up and re lay it or do nothing and live with it,. u can debate it for weeks and get nowhere

 

[500e]

Have a trial drill on a couple of places to see how thick.
The dig it up seems to be the best way but ??.
Are they concrete bricks ? if so a coat of silicon sealer helps.

 

[gaz1]

I have only once seen remains of water running through the garage. It seems if the wind blows in the wrong direction the floor gets wet. There may be future issues from water as the drive is higher then the shed.
Can't really go up any height as the garage is butted up to the house (bungalow) on one side. The roof runs front to rear with a height of about 6 ft 6 at the rear. Id' prefer to have most of the floor level as I have a few large tools on casters.
Would anyone guess how deep the concrete is and how deep any foundations would be. Think it was built in the either 1930s of 1950s?
Andrew

about 5-6" as im dealing with one at moment

for water off the drive id sort it by using a gully to collect and get rid of the water issue first before i did the floor

one other thing they run drains under garage floors so becareful with them when breaking up the floor the house in one of my pics had issues with a damaged drain and the garage wall then subsided due to the effects of washout with the drain

 

[addjunkie]

Depends how deep your pockets are, but you could lift the roof and tie it in to the house roof...be expensive. But a proper job. The put a gulley or aco type drain accross the door. And re lay the floor

 

[tinman123]

as already said, dig out the old floor and put in a new one or youl never be done with it.
as for the street being higher than the floor its far from ideal but a gully is about the best solution to a bad lot there.
of course you will have to run the gully then to a drain pipe and you will have to find that somewhere, is there a downpipe off the gutter close anywhere, if so you could use a back inlet gully and run it to that or T the existing pipe thats there as long as you have a fall.

 

[Gritineye]

Best way to deal with that is to carry the bottom five tile courses of the house roof across to meet the boundary, facia soffit gutter and all resting on top of the existing garage wall.
This will give you plenty of height behind to raise the roof. Similar to this, a huge workshop the full length of the bungalow and a machine shop behind that, nothing shows from the front.
The floor won't be such a problem once you have more headroom.

 

[knighty]

floor could be 6 inches thick... but it could also be 2 inches... can't really tell till you take it up

drilling a few test holes should give you an idea


id it's already lower than the drive, there's nothing to stop you making it a bit lower still, to give you a few extra inches head room

can you see the damp course at all ? look at the lowest bricks in the walls, see if you can see a black like where they;ve brought it through... damp course for the house and the garage could be separate or it could be the same one... depends a bit on house foundations of course


know any builders ? beat bet is to ask one to take a look and ask his advice... better if he's a mate or a mate of a mate so you can just buy him a pint some time.... decent builder will be able to have a look and in 5min tell you more than any of us could tell you in a week from photos/descriptions