Garage floor advice... (for the Z) :)

[EricB]

Hi all,

I swear this topic is Z related... gotta have some place to put the Z, right?

So the place I've moved in to has literally a 10'x20' hole in the side of a hill which once was a garage. I know because I've found sparkplugs from the 50s and a couple tire tubes (!) (how long has it been since those were used) among all the other junk in there.

Here's the catch, while the side walls and ceiling are concrete the floor is dirt. I've been leveling it out as best as I can for a couple weeks. I've begun setting up a work area in the back by first laying down two 5'x54"x4" slabs of concrete side by side at the far end. I've been doing it entirely by hand (mixing too) and getting a good workout out of it...

So far each of those slabs has cost roughly $30 in materials.

The remaining chunk onto which the Z will be parked is now roughly 10x15, so I figure I'd need to pour roughly 8 more slabs for a total price of $300

I am looking at alternatives... and am wondering what you all advise...

Packing the ground down and laying something like Kiwi Tiles or Snaplock RaceDeck over it would be more expensive (like $475ish...) for the remaining 10x15' area.

Bricks?

Flagstones?

What do you all think?

I do need the ground firm enough to be able to jack the car up and work on it...

-e

[2ManyZs]

I'd go with plain old concrete... It shouldn't be much more expensive if you had a ready-mix company haul it in than to buy it buy the bag like that and hand mix..... Of course in your area that might not be the case....

But, before you put anything on it I would suggest painting the floor after it has cured about a week..... Lowe's, Home Depot have floor paint(Lowe's has a few different manufacturers) and then there is POR-15(probably a lot more expensive) and a few others....

Nuttin worse than having something spill on the concrete and soak in a leave a big ugly stain that won't come off...

[Rob]

Yep, concrete is best. Really hard to roll a jack around on pavers of anything that isn't nice and flat.

Painting is a really good idea too. Did my workshop two years ago and didn;t expect it to alst long but it still looks great!

[owenk]

I you may want to think about putting in a shallow work pit so you do not have to jack the car up. I did this when I changed the trany on my 620 Pickup. You can see the trench at www.aristata.net/620 it worked so well that I am putting on in my garage. I will be only 18" deep and just wide enough for a Z. You can see it's plans at www.aristata.net/garage2

[EricB]

Owen...

That's a really good idea....

Thanks for sharing the plans.

Hmm... wonder if the owner of the place (yes we're just renting) would be down with that... he's already excited I am doing concrete and thereby improving his garage....

-e

[26th-Z]

$300 for a 10' X 15' concrete slab is about the going rate installed ($1.50 / sq. ft.). Pavers cost about $1.20 / sq. ft. for material only. For working on a car, the slab should be at least level, smooth. An epoxy based sealer finish is really great for keeping it clean. Try one of those floor products advertised on the motorhead channel. 4" of concrete will hold the load pressures from jack stands easily. Pavers will not give you this performance and in the worst case, could be dangerous if one crushes under the pressure of a jack stand. Consider how long you will be renting and amortize the $300 over that period to get a monthly cost. Consider a mortgage on a 2500 sq. ft. home - 3000 sq. ft. including a two car garage. A monthly mortgage payment of $750 equates to $125 a month for the garage. There are some numbers to chew on.