I just made a phone call to a concrete company, and the price is cheaper than I thought. 5 bag mix is $51 a yard, 5.5 bag mix is $63, and 6 bag mix is $65. Saturday cost is $10 ayard extra. So regular 5 bag mix is pretty reasonable around here. I did't ask, but I think there is a 3 yard minimum limit.. Of course, there is a minimum of 6 cases of Ice Cold beer for the workers.

My contractor put little "T" shaped plastic thingys in the concrete vertically and horizontally. Once placed, he pulled the top of the "T" off which left a small "V" of plastic in the cement. he said the purpose of the strips is to cause man make cracks to relieve the internal stress and stop future cracking. Well, in the future, i will tell you if it stopped future cracking but sure as hack, it cracked exactly where he put the strips and they are just hairline cracks not the big gapping things you usually get.

Wow, $145 a yard. That must include having it poured and power troweled. The last 4500 lb concrete I bought was 2 years ago and it was only $60 per yard. I priced it recently at $65 delivered. You will need someone to float and/or level it if you cant yourself. I have been thinking about laying used bricks on my floor. They are available in my area for about 10 cents each. I want to use stone dust for a base then I can lay them at my convenience. Good luck.

|QUOTE|RXWHITE74 said: Wow, $145 a yard. That must include having it poured and power troweled. The last 4500 lb concrete I bought was 2 years ago and it was only $60 per yard. I priced it recently at $65 delivered. You will need someone to float and/or level it if you cant yourself. I have been thinking about laying used bricks on my floor. They are available in my area for about 10 cents each. I want to use stone dust for a base then I can lay them at my convenience. Good luck. |/QUOTE|
Rick watch using bricks or pavers for your floor. they are pourous and any oil or whatever spills will seep in. Will be hard as hell to get it up. You also have to worry about frost upheavel in the northern PA region. Just an opinion.
Dale, get the floor done and we could have a garage framing/raising event too!!!

|UPDATED|6/28/2002 4:52:28 PM|/UPDATED|

Hey Dukman, I plan on using a 3-4 inch base of stone dust. This will eliminate most of the heaving effect. As far as it seeping thru, there is nothing close by except a drainage ditch which is about 30 yard away. I am not 100% set on the brick yet.

Hey Dukman, I am planning on using 3-4 inch base of stone dust. This will eliminate most of the heaving. Besides not having to worry about the cement cracking as all cement does. As far a seepage, there is nothing anywhere near the garage for 40 yards, and I plan on running a french drain around it too.

The seepage I meant was oil leaking out of the car. Or when you change the oil, stuff falling onto the bricks. Are you going to heat it somehow? That would also keep the frost problem at a minimum.

Rick,

I don't want to tee you off, but don't you think that over the long run, you would be a lot better off putting in a concrete floor? In order to build a garage, you have to put in footings, and a wall to set the building on, so while you are at it, pour a floor. I don't know how big the garage is going to be, but if you build a 24'x24' garage, you only need 7 extra yards of concrete and you would have a good smooth floor to use a creeper on, and as far as cracks go, my garage is 10 years old, and so far it doesn't have a crack in it. The price for concrete here is $51 a yard, so that is only $350- $400 by time you get done with it. It would take about 3500 bricks to do the floor, so that is also $350. just for the bricks...
Get the pad ready, and talk a bunch of buddies into helping pouring the floor, and maybe hire a finisher to finish it. I'm not a finisher, but my brother, and I finished mine, and it turned out pretty good. It is a lot of hard work though. Hide the Beer til it is done, so they dion't get drunk, while working on it...
Mine is only 18'x24', and I wish it was 24x 40, but I ran out of room, as I would have had to cut down two large trees, that shade most of my back yard. I think that eventually you would be unhappy with the brick floor. But this is only my opinion, and it don't count much... Like I have said before, YOU are paying for it, so build it the way YOU want it...


|QUOTE|RXWHITE74 said: Hey Dukman, I am planning on using 3-4 inch base of stone dust. This will eliminate most of the heaving. Besides not having to worry about the cement cracking as all cement does. As far a seepage, there is nothing anywhere near the garage for 40 yards, and I plan on running a french drain around it too.|/QUOTE|

|UPDATED|6/29/2002 2:15:51 PM|/UPDATED|

Not to worry, I dont tee off too easy. I am building a raised pole garage. It will have 26 4x4 posts and 2 6x6 post setting on galvanized blocks anchored to concrete footings 24in deep and 8in in diameter. I can pour a concrete floor or use bricks or a number of other options I am considering. Thanks for the input. One never knows everything about everything and to have the good people like yourself on this forum to bounce things off of and get feedback from is really great.

A good point was made about the use of a creeper. Are you planing to mortar between the bricks to make the floor more "user friendly"? I do have to agree, the best solution is definatly a concrete slab and a good sealer so you can just rinse off oil and dirt.