Garage floor poured later? Your thoughts.

[MechE1]

I will be needing more storage in the near future. At first I was leaning toward a pole barn, but with the discussion and what I've learned reading on this outstanding board, I will be building a stick framed building instead. Size will be about 24ft x 32ft initially.

Short term, the building will be used for equipment/vehicle storage. Longer term (within 5 yrs), the building will be expanded and will also become a wood shop (future new addition to the non-existent garage) moved from the houses basement (man I get tired of carrying those 3/4" sheets down the stairs), and also a metal shop. I have a spare boiler that would be ideal for radiant heating. The issue is up front cost. With everything else that I will have going on, I cannot see financing a concrete floor at this time, with all that is required for radiant heat, but the storage area is required now.

The question, and I've seen it done a lot, will the contractor charge more for pouring a floor in a building that already has the walls up? If so, what´s a good percentage estimate over not having the walls up? Would it cost the same? I plan on doing all the labor except the pour. I would put a standard footing and block foundation. Then rock but leave room for the foam/concrete. I realize the issues around the overhead door(s)/floor seal, but that can be a addressed one way or another with no real issues until the floor is in.

 

[Dave M7040]

I am not going to comment on costs but rather on getting a great durable job done. Each of the areas which were excavated to install the poles (pole barn) are areas of likely settlement and concrete slab cracking. Plan on having at least 12" of soil removed and replaced with compacted granular fill to create a stable base for your slab. Concrete always shrinks when it cures so a well thought out saw cutting layout is necessary to not end up with cracks running all over. If you have a floor plan post a picture and additional comments on saw cut locations can be suggested. If this work is done latter you can take the time to plan. In addition having a roof overhead provides less weather concern than pouring concrete with no roof. No organic material can remain under the slab, i.e. grass or top soil, as it will shrink causing cracks.
Dave M7040

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Sure, no problems doing it later, it's done all the time. In fact, up here most slabs are poured after the building is up. As said above, it can be poured in almost any weather rather than having to wait for a nice day. As for cost, it shouldn't matter if it is before or after. Most buildings don't have suitable yard around them to drive a cement truck so they expect (usually) to only have access to the one end and wheelbarrow as needed.

 

[MechE1]

Just to clarify, this will be stick construction with footer/block foundation. Thanks for taking the time to read and reply.

 

[McCaskey]

Radiant heat is awesome. To avoid saw cutting the floor with tubes, I used Zip Strips: Sup Pro Website :: Zip Strip
Also, adding a copper pipe to hold a slab thermocouple does much better temperature regulation than a wall (air) thermostat. I keep the slab at 65 degrees and the air is a solid 62 degrees.

 

[s219]

When our house was built, most of the framing was done by the time they poured the garage floor.

 

[boggen]

Just to clarify, this will be stick construction with footer/block foundation. Thanks for taking the time to read and reply.

footer / block foundation. alright that is all good and all...

but i would imagine you could get a footer and a short wall plus floor all poured at same time. and run all your rebar, etc... at one time.

though now that i think about it, sounds more like shed/barn is going into a side of a hill and wanting block wall, that will have dirt up against the side of it?

are you just wanting short block wall to raise the lumber off the ground some?

========
seeing you are in IL, why not go with a pad on grade? just pouring 4" to 6" concrete slab. with a shorter depth footer around the perimeter?

from your initial post, it almost seems like ya going overkill and trying to dig footer all the way down below frost line. granted pending on location it may be needed but... *something just doesn't sound right*

=========
when dealing with concrete... my statement is, call up companies and have them come out and give you an estimate. they will know the local codes, and what is needed, and more so be able to get first hand look at what is going on. from distances concrete needs to travel from concrete truck, to everything else... such as current soil were shed/barn will go, and if you will need to either remove some top soil, or bring more in, etc...

while small projects with concrete can be a weekend warrior thing, concrete slab floors, *shakes head no* get some estimates and talk to a few different companies in your area.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I use different people for foundation work and slab work. This can be poured later and shouldn't cost any more.

 

[oldpilgrim]

I built my barn, with poured foundation in the autumn, closed it all in by winter and then had the floor poured in the spring.

No problems, same price.

 

[MechE1]

Thanks for all the input guys. This is the way I'm leaning.