Adding drainage to garage floor

[Steve Blackdog]

Not sure if is the best place for this post, but I'm thinking of retrofitting drainage to my garage floor.

Every time it snows I remember I need to do something about this. The snow melts from the car and floods the floor. Unfortunately there is no fall on the floor (apart from away from the doors in one corner :x )

So here's my idea. I'm thinking of cutting a herringbone of grooves ending under the door. I'm thinking of hiring an angle grinder and cutting the grooves around 1/2" deep and sealing them with floor paint.

I'm hoping that the capiliary effect will allow the floor to drain to the outside and keep the garage from flooding. Any thoughts on my plan, folks?

Cheers

Steve

 

[Dibs-h]

Unless the grooves have a fall - what's to stop the water just filling them up?

I'd just get one one of those "rubber blade on a broomstick" type thingies and just "squeegie" the water out. Using a very soft, long handled broom to sweep most of the snow off the car (before putting it in the garage) would probably reduce the problem significantly. Prevention is better than cure. :wink:

HIH

Dibs

 

[Steve Blackdog]

Unless the grooves have a fall - what's to stop the water just filling them up?

I'd just get one one of those "rubber blade on a broomstick" type thingies and just "squeegie" the water out. Using a very soft, long handled broom to sweep most of the snow off the car (before putting it in the garage) would probably reduce the problem significantly. Prevention is better than cure. :wink:

HIH

Dibs

Cheers Dibs,

I had imagined that my grooves would open to the outside, like the grooves on a draining board. It struck me that there needs to be no fall on the grooves, provided that the outflow is at the bottom of the cut.

I have one of those squeegie broom things (which is excellent) but it is amazing quite how much snow will stick to the under side of the car, in the tyre treads and under the wheel arches. My real problem is that I can't store anything I don't want to get wet on the floor.

Any other thoughts?

Cheers

Steve

 

[Shultzy]

Steve, if your floor is flat (no slope) and you cut the grooves a set distance below the floor then the grooves will also be flat and the water will just fill them up. The grooves on a draining board are deeper at the sink end than at the other end hence the water runs away.

BTW even if you put grooves in the floor you still can't store anything there either as the water still has to drip off the car and run to the grooves, which it won't if the floor is flat.

 

[Steve Blackdog]

Mmm. I think I need a plan B!

 

[jeffinfrance]

what about cutting in a soak away or trench/gutter in front of the garage door. stopping the water getting in seems by far the best solution.

jeff

 

[Steve Blackdog]

what about cutting in a soak away or trench/gutter in front of the garage door. stopping the water getting in seems by far the best solution.

jeff

The problem , Jeff, is that the water is coming in on the car. It is a big problem in this weather.

Cheers

Steve

 

[cambournepete]

Mmm. I think I need a plan B!

Don't park the car in the garage. Simple.

 

[AndyT]

Mmm. I think I need a plan B!

Don't park the car in the garage. Simple.

Indeed!

It may have been worth it back when cars used to rust, but they just don't any more. Any "new" car will have spent months of its life parked outside in the open at the docks at Portishead or Thanet (have a look on Google Maps or Earth here for example).

And with the car outside, you have more useful workshop space!

 

[matt]

It's all I can do to be bothered to lock the car and that only takes the push of a button. Putting it in a garage - I feel overwhelmed by the tediousness just thinking about it. The only exception, I guess, is where it's a large garage with direct access to the house and electric doors and perhaps a turntable to turn the car round too.

I think I'd just by some DPC and drape it over a length of 2x2 each side of the car creating a channel to overflow under the door. Or do something more permanent using a fibreglass form.

 

[Woodchips2]

Mmm. I think I need a plan B!

Hi Steve
You could consider screeding the floor with a sand/cement screed that is thicker at the back end to create a fall. Problem is the minimum thickness at the door end is 25mm and you would have to ensure it is properly bonded to the concrete floor. More information here http://www.screeding.org/html/body_trad ... creed.html.
Regards Keith

 

[Steve Blackdog]

It's all I can do to be bothered to lock the car and that only takes the push of a button. Putting it in a garage - I feel overwhelmed by the tediousness just thinking about it. The only exception, I guess, is where it's a large garage with direct access to the house and electric doors and perhaps a turntable to turn the car round too.

I think I'd just by some DPC and drape it over a length of 2x2 each side of the car creating a channel to overflow under the door. Or do something more permanent using a fibreglass form.

@Matt

Brilliant. Your DPC idea is now my top solution - I can take it up when we have a dry spot (tee hee).

@Keith

You are probably right here, but frankly I can't face that job. When the garage was built 2 years ago :evil: I got the builder to paint it with floor paint. With hindsight I should have said "can you build it so it doesn't flood every time there's water on the car".

Thanks for the ideas folks.

Steve

 

[Woodchips2]

It's all I can do to be bothered to lock the car and that only takes the push of a button. Putting it in a garage - I feel overwhelmed by the tediousness just thinking about it. The only exception, I guess, is where it's a large garage with direct access to the house and electric doors and perhaps a turntable to turn the car round too.

I think I'd just by some DPC and drape it over a length of 2x2 each side of the car creating a channel to overflow under the door. Or do something more permanent using a fibreglass form.

@Matt

Brilliant. Your DPC idea is now my top solution - I can take it up when we have a dry spot (tee hee).

@Keith

You are probably right here, but frankly I can't face that job. When the garage was built 2 years ago :evil: I got the builder to paint it with floor paint. With hindsight I should have said "can you build it so it doesn't flood every time there's water on the car".

Thanks for the ideas folks.

Steve

Another idea - could you drill a small hole through the slab where the water gathers to drain it away. Stick a cork in it when the floor is dry until the next time!

Regards Keith

 

[lanemaux]

Hi Steve , an idea from the colonies here. You mention a corner that the water collects in. If the corner is fairly close to the wall on the outside (as opposed to say a corner abutting your home ) then you might open a proper drain in the floor and trench it away with drainage tile. This is a springtime job as you will be doing a fair amount of digging, but it will be a proper job as it will help keep your floor from damage (surprising what frost and ice can do) as well as helping with your automobile. As others have mentioned , unless you have a grade working for you , the grooves will be just so many more little rivers, sluggish ones. If these were to freeze a few times they might crack your slab. Trust me , this you do not want. Breaking up a couple of yards of concrete to lay out drainage and then repairing it once done might save you some real grief.

 

[defsdoor]

It may have been worth it back when cars used to rust, but they just don't any more.

Worse thing you can do for a rust-prone car is to park it in the garage also - nice warm place, no breezes (to dry it off), all a catalyst for the rust process. Unless you towel dry it after parking of course

 

[Lee Brubaker]

I have the same problem & Im obviously lazier than you. You will laugh at my solution. I have a fairly powerful electric Toro leaf blower. I just plug it in & blow the water & muck out of the overhead doorway. I use the same blower on light snowfalls to clear the driveway & sidewalks.Works great for me. With my radiant gas fired tube heater, the garage floor is dry in no time. If the car is parked outside on the driveway while I'm woodworking & it snows, before I move it in for the night the trusty leafblower is used to clean it off.

Lee

 

[Steve Blackdog]

I have the same problem & Im obviously lazier than you. You will laugh at my solution. I have a fairly powerful electric Toro leaf blower. I just plug it in & blow the water & muck out of the overhead doorway. I use the same blower on light snowfalls to clear the driveway & sidewalks.Works great for me. With my radiant gas fired tube heater, the garage floor is dry in no time. If the car is parked outside on the driveway while I'm woodworking & it snows, before I move it in for the night the trusty leafblower is used to clean it off.

Lee

I knew there would be a good powertool solution!!

 

[dennyom]

I would do what Kieth suggested and cut a hole in the floor under or near where you park the car. Then with a post hole digger dig down four or six feet and fill that with gravel. Get a floor drain from a pluming supply set that on top of the gravel a half inch or so below the surface of your floor. Then when you have water you can just squeege it into the drain. The water sill then absorb into the surrounding dirt. I did this in a low spot next to my driveway that flooded every rain storm ( 12 inch hole 12 feet deep to keep it below the frost depth here). Works like a charm.