Eastside Cruisers

Calling all the concreting guru's out there. Just after some general info on what's involved when pouring a garage slab.

1. Is there a fixed standard in terms of depth? If so, what is it? Or does it depend on soil and other factors?

2. Do you have to make the edges deeper (footings?) ??

3. Obviously you need to use steel mesh / re-inforced meshing to give it strength. Say you wanted to install a hoist one day in the future, would this mean you need to do anything differently??

4. Does anyone have experience with building slabs over easements? I know you can get permits to do this, but if the worst case scenario happens, and the underground piping has to be dug up, what happens to your beautiful shed and slab? Ripped apart at your expense? This sounds very risky. But in my case where I'd want to build my shed, I could gain an extra 1.8 metres of shed width by going over the easement.

Any info greatly appreciated guys! Just throwing ideas around at the moment.

5. What is the current cost of concrete straight from a truck? (Assuming I was pouring it and finishing it).

Hi Brett,
i think you can get conditional permits over eavesments,
be careful not getting permit as the council can fine you and make you take it down,
you would need to pre empt where you would put the hoist and put some deeper footings in the spots there, nothing to drastic,
Generally for a shed 75 to 100mm will be heaps heaps, and deeper strip footings around the edge if the wall are to stand onthe slab, if you are pouring inside the walls only needs to be the same thickness,
And have the slab cut nearly straight away to help prevent ugly cracks.
ISO

an electricians opinion,

i assume your on sewerage and not septic dont laugh i went to a job were they had septic probs and the nuffy had poured a slab over the septic tank

other than that everything iso said seems pretty good advice coming from a mechanic/plumber with very little concreating experience

another thing my old man taught me is its a bit like painting majority of work is in the prep

dunno much about it brett. but i got a few mates who are poor little concreters apparently. give jason a ring he is also a car nut with a torana too he will help you out mate, he'll tell you the best most cost effective way.
jason. 0419155231 tell him i sent ya

Thanks guys, a good start.

From what I know; Go up a size in the recommended reo, pour over blue chip rock and plastic, pour to 100mm and decide where you want a hoist as you'll need to double the reo as in one sheet toward the bottom of the slab and the other toward the top and pour it to 200mm depth.

some tips if they any good

Try and use 16 mm d bar reinforcement
Lay electrical lines and plumbing eg water taps, etc before concrete you will kiss me afterwards
there are different types of concrete when ordering and according you pay for the better sh*t
Depending what hoist you run yes it does need to be thicker but also the more level the less troubles later.
As for easements .. legally you can put it over it no probs but sh*t its the fan .... you pay the cost its a chance you take l guess full stop.
Depending what council you in and rules if the cost of building a shed including the slab comes to less then 6k$ then you dont need a permit .. doesnt really take much to pass that limit really thou .

Ok Brett,

Here is my research and understanding.

You can get away without reo but the slab needs to be thicker up from 100mm to at least 150mm. Not sure this is really a cost saving.

Again if you pour internal to the shed you will not need the extra footing trench.

Chopper the surface to remove roughness and assist in lack of cracking. I do like the idea of a rough surface for grip but the lack of cracks outweights.

Run conduct through the slab and that way you can run the cabling later whereever you like.

Place teh shed on it own ciruit and run a seperate fuse box this way if you weld etc it does not take the house out.

Think about placing plumbing in the shed for things like parts washer and hand washer.

with you hoist yes like everyone else you will require greater reinforcement for this BUT you will need to seriously look at hoists first to get an idea of foot placement etc. Less footings are required for a 4 poster than a 2 poster. within the 2 poster that is also different foot prints to spread the load. The larger the hoist footing the better for load disturbition.

Dont section the slabs otherwise when you wheel your engine crane across teh floor the lines will cause issues.

Other things to think abotu is drainage and oil seperation. Think about what happens if you put a pick through your sump and the oil poured out. Where would it go and would it end up in the drain. Secoindly if it rains hard will it flow into the garage. Most councils will let you build over easement but You require to remove etc for council works if needed. My suggestion would be build shed as per what you want but when it comes to the easement have a smaller shed connected so that you dont need to kill the whole shed if something nasty occurs...

Cheers

When I had my shed built last year, 100mm thickness was the standard, but on researching hoists, they generally required 120mm or the warranty was voided.

As others have said, only thicker footings are required at load bearing points, so if you build on the slab, thicker footings are needed where the posts are bolted to the floor. On that, from mid-ish 2009 slabs poured inside a shed and utilising the colourbond walls as form have voided the warranty on the colourbond. Hence why the shed I built was built on top of the slab (and required footings).

Different mixes of concrete have different hydraulic strangth, so you need to order the right mix. Best to talk to the concreter about this...IIRC I had 20 slump with 25mm aggregate poured.

And on the permitting, a lot of myths and old rules quoted as fact. Best to cover all bases and talk to the planners in your local Council.