E5I5O wrote:
Thank you I will take the advice to mind, but that leaves me with one
other question. If I was to hire a cement company to pour the floor,
who would I have to call to get the pad leveled and the brackets
mounted, is there companies that specialize in this? Like I say I
have a few ideas of how I want this thing built, even though I am
very much lacking experience,

They may be willing to recommend someone. if you have ideas but not the
knowledge or experience, then you will need someone to help you out on this
part as well. You may be able to get the forms set ahead of time, but
before you start, run your plan past someone who will be helping out when
the truck gets there, and it would be a good idea to have them come out and
take a look at what you have before the truck gets there. It can be a real
mess if the forms are wrong and you have a full truck ready to pour.


I do have a lot of things I feel should
be part of ay garage. Such as the type of heating I would greatly
consider having the floor heated with a boiler type system
(convection heating, I believe). Thank you very much for the info,
though I know I lack a lot of true hands on experience. I have
considered ordering in the concrete, and having it pour due to cost
issues, also realising that with the sheer size of this building I
would at best run into too many problems pouring the mix myself

Also the materials to mix it yourself are more expensive than having it
delivered, except for very small jobs.

as I
can't be in two places at once like my ex wife used to think I
could!! LOL But cost is one thing I have looked at time and time
again! The quote I got years ago was $5000 for a pad this size and
included the gravel back fill needed for drainage issues, which even
then I thought was a good value! Though I am able to do as much of
the work myself, and I have a little experience pounding nails and
what not, there is still a lot I feel I couldn't do myself logically.
Concrete is one of those things of course, but I have talked to
others that have told me to pour it myself, and I find cost over-runs
to be much higher then it would if I had it poured. Of course I look
at the over all size of the construction as well and find that the
people I have spoke with often shun my design ideas.

In all I feel that a garage should have an upstairs storage area,
using open rafter designs the type used for apartments in the space.
This would allow for increased storage without shoving things about
the normal rafters, or cluttering the garage area. Too often on a
summers day I have drove by "normal" garage style buildings to find
them so littered with junk that the owners cars have no place else to
be but in the driveway. Yet the garage is so packed the door can't
even close exposing quite an eyesore to those driving by. And being I
have known women like my ex wife, who seems to find a way to purchase
ever large yard Christmas orniment on the planet without concern of
where to put it in the off season, I feel strongly about this! Also
in my considerations is doubling the amount of rafters used. Actually
my dad did have this thinking and after talking to a couple
contractor "friends" of mine, it seems to make sense, that the more
rafters, the better the load handling properties of the roof during
wintery seasons. Also I feel the wall height has to be at least 12'
tall, to accept a later installed above ground lift. I am a car guy
after all and digging a trench in a lot of cases just dosen't make
any sense, when a post lift can be had for as little as $2500. And
with a lift if a person had to, you could lift one vehicle and drive
something else under it if the need arose. Not to mention that with
12' walls you could logically lift a full size pick up, and have
enough room to work underneath it and not worry about any lighting
issues above the vehicle. Besides going back to the topic of the pit
or trench style floor (like those in Lube places), I have currently a
very high water table on my current property. At about 8 feet I hit
water which would mean a trench would be filled with water at the
concrete level (of say roughly 9 feet in the ground for the two foot
of concrete required and one foot of rock drainage back fill) making
for a whole host of drainage problems! Something my parents,
grandparents, and what friends I had at the time, never once took
into consideration! Like I say I don't know as much about
construction but I do look at the logic behind it and understand a
lot of rules of thumb and so on. Well that is kind of the jist of my
ideas of a garage, I could go into my thinking behind windows, and
what not in the same structure, but it is really off topic at this
case as the past paragraph has been. Thank you again for the low down
on floors!

Thanks, E5


One more thing. Make sure this structure meets all local codes BEFORE
you start. If not you may find yourself tearing it down. In some areas
there are few if any code or inspections, but be sure to have someone who
knows construction go over any self made plans. An error can end up with a
pile of lumber around your car after the first good wind.

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math