Sloping gara, -er, SHOP floor

[Matt Stachoni]

Hi!

I'm getting ready to set up a "real" woodshop in the garage, and have a fairly steep sloping floor to contend with. I measured about a 5" drop over 25'. In fact if I release the parking brake, my car will roll out into the street by itself.

Luckily, that;'s not going to be a problem anymore :)

My question is, how does one deal effectively with this with setting up outfeed tables, workbenches and counters?

Since I only have one skinny bay to work with (about 11'x25'), my current plan calls for a fixed countertop along the long side wall, with hand built rolling shop cabinets below for storage and convenience. I figure I'll put the counter in at 36" AFF on plywood brackets and cleats, then store cabinetry and possibly a router table underneath in their "garages," but move them around for project convenience. My problem is that I have to design for the highest floor spot, so a 36" counter would be almost 40" high nearest to the garage door. Plus my rolling cabinets would look dopey with a larger gap to the counter....

I'd also like to have the major machinery on rolling stands as well. I guess I don't know if having a sloped floor will cause issues with the table saw in/outfeed or general movement of heavy machinery. I would hate to be using a jointer and have the thing decide it would rather be in the neighbor's yard....

I guess I always have the option of building sloped sleepers and covering the whole thing with 3/4" plywood (which would have other benefits as well), but that's a bit extreme right now...

TIA,

- Matt

[Robert Galloway]

I'd go with the sloped sleepers before building bases to level up the tools. Wood's a heck of a lot nicer to stand on over a long period than concrete. Big questions would be; "How long do you expect to be in this house?" and "in a pinch are you going to want to get a vehicle into the garage?"

rhg

Matt Stach> Hi!

[bill.mcnutt]

Actually, that's what I would go with. I had to work in a facility with a sloping floor for three years, and it sucked in so many ways that I hesitate to catalogue them here.

Level the floor. Really. It's not extreme. Honest.

Bill

Robert Galloway wrote:

[Dave Hall]

I would think a lot would depend on whether it is a consistent slope or some sections slope more than others. Also, does it only slope back to front or does it also slope from the sides to the middle?

If it is a consistent slope fron back to front, I really wouldn't worry about it. Yeah, the cabinets under the counter will look a little strange, but it's a shop. You might try splitting the difference on the counter (i.e. start at 33.5" and end at 38.5" with the middle (and the average) being 36" then cabinets that fit under sections of it. (i.e. 8' of cabinets at 33", 8' at 35" and 8' at 36") and mix & match within the 8" sections. With a consistent slope the outfeed table shouldn't be impacted, but you will be pushing your wood either uphill or downhill on the saw, jointer, etc.

[Matt Stachoni]

Thanks, two questions which I've been asking myself quite a bit lately...

I could build the plywood-on-sleepers to be in removable sections, that lock into sleepers that would be fixed to the floor at the perimeter only. That way I could roll everything around and take them up to get the car in, in case of a hurricane, 3' of snow, fight w/crazy neighbor, etc. Imagine it would cost a buttload, though.

- Matt

[bridger]

you could also use the space below- the low end, anyway- to route DC and air and power lines....

[Dave Jackson]

You have a typical garage floor, sloped 1/4" per foot to allow drainage toward the door. My shop is the same way, and to tell you the truth, I don't even notice it The outfeed tables slope the same as the table saw table, so it's still flat, just not level. None of the other machines move around due to the slope. The only thing I did level was my workbench, so i have one level flat surface to reference things off of. --dave

[Guess who]

[Missed the OP, sorry.]

Don't think about it unless you intend to play marbles. That's a slope of only 0.069. I've worked on much more slope than that, and didn't even notice it. I know an old man who works in a basement of and old house that slopes every which way [the basement floor, not the house]. He turns out beautiful work, including perfect old-fashioned maple spinning wheels.

[Robert Galloway]

And where do you put the when you take them up? The only way I'd do it would be if I planned to live in the house to a ripe old age and never remove them save just before heading for the rest home or dirt nap. That said, a wood surface is alot nicer to stand on for hours on end. Your tools aren't likely to tip over on a slope like that, but as you mentioned, your "garaged" cabinets are going to be a poor fit under the bench as the discrepancy becomes extreme and I'd want to keep the counter level rather than the 0.0166 slope or whatever it comes out to.

bob g.

Matt Stach> >

[bob]

Man, I must have an atypical garage. My garage is 24' deep and that sucker doesn't slope 1" from the back to the door. Now, I do have to squeegee it out once in a while (drips off the car), but it's not like a swimming pool in there, either. 1/4" per foot is a lot - 6" over 24'. That seems really excessive and would bother me working in a shop with a slope like that. Water doesn't need a 6 inch drop over 24 feet to drain.

Matt, go with the sleepers. As far as taking them up, you should only have to take up the ones where the tires roll. Unless you're driving a Maserati, a normal car should have adequate clearance to clear a 4 or 5" rise at the door.

[Matt Stachoni]

I'm thinking that would happen only on rare and temporary occasions, so I'd just store them vertically along the wall or something.

That's my issue - I consider this a starter home. The next one WILL have a shop and the floor WILL be level and WILL be wood and WILL have dust collection underneath.

Thanks,

-Matt

[Matt Stachoni]

You know, that's true; especially if I ramp it from 8" at the door.

My only problem is how to build a tapering jig that's 8' long :)

Thanks all for the advice.

- Matt

[bridger]

chalk line. skilsaw.

[Joe Gorman]

10" long board with a 2" 'L' block to hold one end at the 1" in 5" pitch. Put a hold down device or 2 along the length. For the high end of the garage I'd use the cutoffs from the pieces for the low end. The middle pieces I'd rip to get 2 same sized tapered pieces. Joe

[Matt Stachoni]

Damn you guys are smart!

Wish I found this group earlier. Probably could have saved $$$ on building my "Anti-Yard-Monster-Inviso-Gate."

- Matt

[Enoch Root]

What about a "runway" along the front of the counter? You could move the mobile stuff up to the top of the slope to get it on and off the runway, and you wouldn't be handicapped by the height at the bottom end of the counter while working on it. It's dual purpose, so it must be good!

er