I’m in the process of specing out the concrete slab for what will be my 24X30 garage. I’m trying to find info online about how thick the concrete needs to be and what kind of rebar should be layed under it. Somebody on here must have gone through this before. I want to pour the slab so that later on down the road I can put a lift in one side, but just use the other as a regular garage stall. I don’t want to spend a ton of extra money and pour entire thing thicker then I need to. Any help would be appreciated.
I think 4 inches is the standard MINIMUM but you’ll have to ask the lift manufacturer I guess
I though it was atleast 6 or 8. I want to go with a mohawk and they list 5" long 3/4" lags for the anchors. So I would think you need at least 2-3 inches under that. Guess I’ll just call total tool tomorrow and see what they say.
paging wayne
6" min. Also kind of depends on the mix density but 6" is typically the minimum working order. Also the lift footprint makes a difference as a two post will put more stress on the slab than a four post. The slab in my new shop is 10" thick on a 12" tamped stone base. It’s wired at half depth with 4x4"x.25" wire mesh and I’m not putting a lift in. I just absolutely did not want cracking. I want to say it’s 10Klb mix. It’s relieved in 8x8 foot blocks(cuts to promote cracking along the cut vs through the slab if it does actually split.
I really wouldn’t put a lift on a 4" slab. Just my opinion.
Consult lift manufacturer, ask them for specs and installation info. Most likely they will have some slab structural/load info in there. Also take a look at the building code, under concrete section.
I’m not planning on 4" under the lift, but the other half of the garage is just going to be regular parking space for my camaro. My though was to pour the one side thicker instead of the whole thing 6 or 8 inch to save so $$ on concrete. That shit is expensive up here.
I’m pretty sure my dads is at least 6" thick, also make sure you do ceilings high enough right off the bat.
4 1/2" of 3000psi concrete is the minimum for a Mohawk.
edit: do you already have the mohawk? If so you can look up exact specs on mohawks website. Everything you ever wanted to know is in the lift manuals which are free right on there website.
I got lazy and called total tool. They said 4.5 min with 6 being prefered. The lady e-mailed me the info. Did you put any additional reinforcing in for your floor?
I just had Bill Bulough design my slab and it was dug out today, he is the designer for Amadore homes and underspeced it for my desires…was… 20"perimeter and 4" at 3500 psi… I’m doing a 24’ x24’ ,which is the largest Alaskian Guilderland will allow. I upgraded to 24" on the perimeter and 6" slab, sloping to 10" around where the lift posts will be. Its lined with rebar and 6" mesh. Using 4500k psi …and this meets or excedes most lift requirements. Being poured monday if you wanna come see what it looks like raw over the weekend.
I prefer the alaskian for the lift as a floating slab on foundation/footings has limitations at to how close the lift can be mounted to the edge of the slab. The Alaskian lets me get closer to the garage wall if you will.
For those curious, the dig out and slab runs in the 4k+price range.
Today we poured the hot tub slab…took 3.5 yards and is 10x15’
pic is sideways and this was before smoothing/light brush
I would come take a look if it wasn’t such a long drive. I’m definetly going with an alaskian slab. I don’t really have to worry about dig out since I actually had to bring fill in last year to grade the floor up to where it needs to be.
That’s a good price for that work Jason. Guilderlan really has a limit on the size of the slab. Seems surprising for them to have such a thing. Or is that just in that particular area of guilderland?
IIRC my 24x48 slab was $6400 in just the mix. We dug it out, brought in and leveled/tamped ~80-100 tons of crushed stone(had to bring up one end almost 18" to level), and built the form for the pour. Also had a second pour the next day for the full length apron but I don’t remember what that cost… Insanely labor intensive. Hats off to the guys that do it for a living, they deserve what they charge for the work.
I still wouldn’t go with anything less than 6", but that’s just my opinion. I went with such a thick floor here at the shop because I had to have it support 5ton+ machines with heavy vibration. More floor = more vibration dampening. You can certainly do a step pour with different thicknesses, my dads garage has that(8" main, 4" side)
Also you don’t need to go stupid nuts with rebar. 4x4x.25" wire screen(wire that’s .25" in diameter welded on 4" square) is more than adequate. Even the 6" that Jason used is adequate. Around the edges is where you will want to add in some round rebar to provide support for the actual building footers. Big thing is to just make sure it is suspended in the mix and not pressed to the bottom of the floor.
If you’re going to do the labor work yourself leading up to the pour, there’s plenty of docs at the stores and online on exactly what you need to do to get it done right
I would like to in order to keep cost down, but I’m 2.5 hours away from the family so getting enough help would be a major problem. So I’m bidding it out, we’ll have to see what they say. I really want the basic building up by the end of this summer.
no idea on rebar in my floor, the house came with this shop, i just filled it with equipment. I drilled the floor prior to lift purchases / install to verify depth. i’m 6" deep in the center and it’s an alaskan slab. The lift installer didn’t have a bit long enough to get through the slab near the edge.
don’t call total tool for anything. Call mohawk direct, very friendly and they’ve never given me the run around or wrong info.