Hey all, thank you for some great feedback! I honestly did not intend this thread as a joke. What might seem obvious to someone with a background in construction or engineering is a fair question for someone like myself who works in an office cubicle all day.. I had no idea what a floating slab floor was or how they work to hold up a building, LOL!
Anyhow, my goal is to plan this project from the get-go and ask a few questions on this forum before construction to help me avoid costly mistakes and choose the best compromises in building out my new space. A few years back Russ Herschelman wrote a series of articles in Stereophile magazine which pointed out a whole bunch of mistakes in a home theater design that had been built in someone's basement and suggestions on how to fix them. He brought up several issues that many DIY people might not even consider that have a big impact on the final result. (I wish I could find those again!) The concrete floor is one of the "big questions" that I had about what to do, pros and cons, so thanks again for your feedback.
BTW, I live in the S.F. Bay Area, so the climate is fairly mild. The floor stays dry even during the rainy months, but it has some HUGE oil stains soaked into it that look very old so the garage has that faint repair-shop smell which I hope to get rid of. It's getting a new roof (badly needed) and upgraded electrical, too. Insulation and sheetrock (probably QuietRock?) for the walls and ceiling. I plan to include an air conditioner and heater to control the climate, possibly radiant heat in floor but still looking into cost/benefit. I like that radiant heat is silent but it would only be needed for a few weeks a year out here in sunny California.
Yes, there are three 2x4's that span across to reinforce the roof(?) I was wondering if they can be modified or removed to give me more headroom in there. The garage door is a wooden one-piece swing-up design which I plan to keep and frame a new wall behind it so the garage will still look the same from the outside - stealth. Oh boy, this is gonna be fun! -jz
Anyhow, my goal is to plan this project from the get-go and ask a few questions on this forum before construction to help me avoid costly mistakes and choose the best compromises in building out my new space. A few years back Russ Herschelman wrote a series of articles in Stereophile magazine which pointed out a whole bunch of mistakes in a home theater design that had been built in someone's basement and suggestions on how to fix them. He brought up several issues that many DIY people might not even consider that have a big impact on the final result. (I wish I could find those again!) The concrete floor is one of the "big questions" that I had about what to do, pros and cons, so thanks again for your feedback.
BTW, I live in the S.F. Bay Area, so the climate is fairly mild. The floor stays dry even during the rainy months, but it has some HUGE oil stains soaked into it that look very old so the garage has that faint repair-shop smell which I hope to get rid of. It's getting a new roof (badly needed) and upgraded electrical, too. Insulation and sheetrock (probably QuietRock?) for the walls and ceiling. I plan to include an air conditioner and heater to control the climate, possibly radiant heat in floor but still looking into cost/benefit. I like that radiant heat is silent but it would only be needed for a few weeks a year out here in sunny California.
Yes, there are three 2x4's that span across to reinforce the roof(?) I was wondering if they can be modified or removed to give me more headroom in there. The garage door is a wooden one-piece swing-up design which I plan to keep and frame a new wall behind it so the garage will still look the same from the outside - stealth. Oh boy, this is gonna be fun! -jz