The trip home

[eric wissing]

Seems people skimp on footings for garages. I am in a climate similar to yours. You can get by without 4 foot deep footing if you use a lot of gravel and some rigid styrofoam board under the concrete. It helps if it extends a few feet past the exterior walls. My 24 x 24 garage is built like a barn with a Gambrel (sp?) roof. I have a lot of storage above. I wish I had the height for a lift!! Eric

[Young Ed]

Well my house was built in 54. Not sure when the garage was added but I suspect its been there a long time and wasn't that well built when it was added.

[55 Fargo]

Go with a cement floor, that is insulated with SM styro board, a good vapor barrier, in floor radiant heating, a small electric bolier to run it. Insulate walls to R20, ceiling R32 to R40, with a good sealed vapor barrier, insulated overhead and entry doors. A garage like this, will be toasty warm in winter, the slab you could lay on with a t-shirt on when it's -20 outside, and the snow or water drys on a floor like this.They stay cool in the summer , mine when it's 90 outside is 72 inside. I have my garage like this, except no infloor heating, still kicking my self in the sarocka, as I just built it 2 years ago. The floor has lots of re-bar, a very good limestone gravel base, expansion joints cut in floor, 25 mpa concrete, no cracks whatsoever to date................Fred

[Norm's Coupe]

My garage was built in 1958. No vapor barrier under the floor. The original owner was an engineer though and he did have hardened concrete put in. Although the floor did crack due to frost, the surface of the concrete is still nice and smooth and cleans up easily.

As a point of interest, most garage builders do not install vapor barriers in detached garages. Some not even in attached garages. It's really a shame they don't because it's dirt cheap to do it. I recommend anyone building a garage make sure they tell the contractor to put a vapor barrier in, even if you think you're in a dry climate. You're only talking about an extra $30 to $50 for that barrier. Once that floor is poured, you can't add a vapor barrier.

[eric wissing]

I was doing city sidewalks for a while. Some years they made you put plastic down , sometimes they didn't. Besides being a vapor barrier it keeps the dry ground from absorbing the moisture faster than you want. Wind is also a no- no for the top. I never became an expert with concrete nor did I want to. The stuff is heavy!! I stick to wood these days ,lighter and easier to remove your mistakes. Eric

[PatS....]

My cousin just built his 2.5 car garage. It gets cold here in winter like -40 at times.

He was on a budget but had the contractor do the tubes for infloor heating, even though he can't afford the rest of the in-floor system for a year or two, it's there for when the bucks are.

Styrofoam on the outside of the footings as well.

No plastic.

This contractor said the concrete has to breathe and plastic can screw that up big time when it gets real cold.