New house - paved floor - help!

[HandBuilt]

First of all, this forum is way cool. Best forum here in my opinion. I hope this isn't too far off, but it is shop-related.

Okay, so I bought my first house. It's a nice little place, I like it, but it's not exactly what I wanted, workspace-wise. But hey, I'm 23 and you have to start somewhere, right?

It's a semi-detached townhome with a drive through garage. I can drive my rig (on small tires) through the front and back garage doors, and into a gravel spot in behind the house, so at least I don't have to work on the street.

I'm going to be building a 10X12 shed behind the house to store all my large tools and parts, but I really wanted the garage part to be clean. Something super nice, tile floor, etc. But the stupid floor is paved, and I hate asphalt floors.

Does anyone know if it would be possible to dig all the asphalt up and pour some concrete? I imagine that the foundation of the house surrounds the garage (as the neighbour's garage is attached to mine), but they just paved as it would be cheaper. I'm certain it could be done, and since the concrete truck could basically back right up to the house, I believe it would be pretty easy to do. The only forms needed would be at the front and rear garage doors, the existing foundation would retain the concrete along the walls.

What about expansion joints? I would imagine the floor would need some sort of space to move into when it expands or contracts. Perhaps a gap along the walls?

I know nothing about concrete and would love to have some help on this. This is my first garage and I want it to look money.

Thanks,

J-L

[camo]

my brothers shop is also done in asphault and he made it work for him. i will get some pics this weekend cause his turned out alot better than i would have imagianed being paved.

yes you can pour a concrete slap in your shop basically doing just what you said. dig out the existing floor and use the walls as your forms to pour a 4" slab. i have seen large pole barn projects put in a slap with this very method

[HandBuilt]

my brothers shop is also done in asphault and he made it work for him. i will get some pics this weekend cause his turned out alot better than i would have imagianed being paved.

yes you can pour a concrete slap in your shop basically doing just what you said. dig out the existing floor and use the walls as your forms to pour a 4" slab. i have seen large pole barn projects put in a slap with this very method

Fawkin sweet. Thanks Camo. Hopefully you can't hear the vacuum sound but your shop is an inspiration to me.

The main reason I want a slab is so I can anchor some machine tools to the floor and minimise the vibration and resulting noise. I'm sure I could make a paved floor work but I've always found that it can't be kept clean as easily. I wanted to put some cheap tile down so I can clean it up with a mop if I need to.

What is the consensus on the checkered tile floor that a lot of people end up putting down? Is there a specific type of tile that's better than others?

[Jam Master Jay]

If your asphalt has a pretty good base under it (it's not cracking or sinking anywhere) you could do what is called "Ultra Thin White-top". Never done it myself but I know the ORMCA here is pushing the idea. It's basically pouring a thin portland cement concrete layer over an asphalt base.

Probably the best way to guarantee a good floor is to dig out the old stuff and pour a 4-6" slab. Since you're wanting to bolt machinery to it I'd recommend some decent reinforcement in it too.

[HalfFastFord]

In my shop the floor was a single pour of 24'x30' at a minimum of 6" deep. The contractor put in an aluminum expansion joint that runs the width of the shop in the middle of the floor. It is an upside down V with flanges to hold it to the ground. It is completely covered by the concrete.

[unimogken]

A friend of mine also had an asphalt floor in his garage in his first townhouse.

He went out and paid for 4 sheets of steel and they delivered it and when he got them he welded the seams together. Sounds cheesy but worked out really nice.

[plunkinberry]

For driving on, parking on, and mounting large equipment to, I would recommend going with 6 inches of concrete on at least 4 inches of good gravel. Put expansion joints along the walls, at the front and back, and one through the middle. I haven't used the aluminum triangle that HalfFastFord described, but it sounds like a good idea for the middle.

Placing and finishing concrete is a very labor intensive project but it is not that expensive. There are plenty of resources available to describe the process.

I agree. Adding concrete would improve yer garage/shop and add equity into yer place as a second benefit.