Pouring concrete pad for a car - advice?

[Viper_ed]

3,000 psi with fiber mesh is fine for a driveway or garage floor.

[Cam99]

thanks for all the advice, especially the part about considering lift in the future.

I hadn't considered heating the concrete, but now that you mention it some sort or passive heat system via tubes filled with glycol in the floor might not be a bad option.

a fairly cheap way of doing a small garage floor with radiant is to use a hot water tank to heat the loops. I've seen it done with large garages but IMHO the time it takes to heat a decent slab plus the cost of energy with a hot water tank doesnt always make sence to me. I like it for a smaller floor though.

[phillysrt4]

^^^ thats a good idea! I was thinking of constructing a passive solar setup to circulate the glycol but that could work too.

my only fear is having a power outage in the middle of winter and the water freezing solid. It typically goes down to -20c at night here (so I guess thats around -4F) in the winter so even a short power outage could cause a freeze.

[LaserPony]

If you are going to build a garage around it and are going to put the walls on the pad you will need to put in footers around the edge to handle the weight of the walls. and even you aer going to put the walls on the outside of the pad I would sugest putting tin the footers to height and pouring the concrete inside them. This will make the project easier when you get ready to put the walls up.

[phillysrt4]

I agree with the footers comment. I did some more searching and I found that making the footers saves a ton of time. I'm also hitting the library to get some ideas and plans (dialup sucks)

[Martin0660]

I agree with the footers comment.

Don't you have to go down something like 27' to get below the frost line up there ;) Or does it never really thaw so it can float on top

[phillysrt4]

Don't you have to go down something like 27' to get below the frost line up there ;) Or does it never really thaw so it can float on top

I live south of 60 so it does thaw for a few days ;)

[John4cam]

Don't you have to go down something like 27' to get below the frost line up there ;) Or does it never really thaw so it can float on top

I would go at least 32".

Make your footer 8" thick then 3 courses of block will put you right on grade.

[Martin0660]

I would go at least 32".

I think you missed the (') denoting feet versus (") for inches. He is up in Canada where the frost line is a little deeper than around here ;) Bad attempt at a joke :D

[Cam99]

^^^ thats a good idea! I was thinking of constructing a passive solar setup to circulate the glycol but that could work too.

my only fear is having a power outage in the middle of winter and the water freezing solid. It typically goes down to -20c at night here (so I guess thats around -4F) in the winter so even a short power outage could cause a freeze.

You just add glycol to the loop water, no freeze problems

[John4cam]

I think you missed the (') denoting feet versus (") for inches. He is up in Canada where the frost line is a little deeper than around here ;) Bad attempt at a joke :D

Lol, I actually got the joke but that was a good point. Most people don't realize how far down you should go on footings. Thats wayyyy too cold for my blood up there.