Need help with garage floor.

grimmstone

Member
I just purchased a property with a 24x30 garage that I would like to grow in. Problem is that the garage has a qravel floor with garage sitting on treated beams. My concern is that a wooden floor would rot out fast with no ventilation. Does anyone have any good ideas on how to construct a rot proof floor without taking up to much of the indoor height? Keep in mind this will be for growing only so doesn’t need to be built to drive on.
 
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OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Treated lumber won't rot for decades. Or regular 2x4s sitting on something like cement blocks, bricks, short pieces of scrap 2x4s.

Don't know how much you know about framing but could frame it up like a wall and lay it flat then level it up good then cover with at least 1/2 OSB or whatever you can find cheap. Are you using the whole garage area? That'll cost a pretty penny.

I have the same kind of carport here that I've been thinking of just walling off the back 10' and basically building a 10x15 room inside the carport. The carport is 24x34' with this crappy red shale that runs up the driveway to the highway in front. Gets everywhere! I've had the place for 16 years.

What are your winters like and is the garage heated? I'll be using 2x6 for construction if I ever do it but probably won't. Get down to -35C here in the winter and +35 in the summer in northern Alberta. I have enough room in my cool basement to add an 8x4' grow space to my existing flowering room but took over an upstairs bedroom for vegging plants last fall. The basement is really just a concrete box under the house for the plumbing and stuff for our dugout water. Stupid setup IMO as if there is ever a serious leak it's lower than the dugout and I'll end up with a 10x24' below ground swimming pool. Already had 8" of water in down there a few years back when there was a drainage blockage down the road from us during the fast spring melt. Fast melt this spring too with more snow than usual but no water in the basement since they fixed the problem. Still had to get the province to send out a loader to clear the culverts or might have had another flood. No cost to me tho.

:peace:
 

grimmstone

Member
Treated lumber won't rot for decades. Or regular 2x4s sitting on something like cement blocks, bricks, short pieces of scrap 2x4s.

Don't know how much you know about framing but could frame it up like a wall and lay it flat then level it up good then cover with at least 1/2 OSB or whatever you can find cheap. Are you using the whole garage area? That'll cost a pretty penny.

I have the same kind of carport here that I've been thinking of just walling off the back 10' and basically building a 10x15 room inside the carport. The carport is 24x34' with this crappy red shale that runs up the driveway to the highway in front. Gets everywhere! I've had the place for 16 years.

What are your winters like and is the garage heated? I'll be using 2x6 for construction if I ever do it but probably won't. Get down to -35C here in the winter and +35 in the summer in northern Alberta. I have enough room in my cool basement to add an 8x4' grow space to my existing flowering room but took over an upstairs bedroom for vegging plants last fall. The basement is really just a concrete box under the house for the plumbing and stuff for our dugout water. Stupid setup IMO as if there is ever a serious leak it's lower than the dugout and I'll end up with a 10x24' below ground swimming pool. Already had 8" of water in down there a few years back when there was a drainage blockage down the road from us during the fast spring melt. Fast melt this spring too with more snow than usual but no water in the basement since they fixed the problem. Still had to get the province to send out a loader to clear the culverts or might have had another flood. No cost to me tho.

:peace:
Yes i am going to use the whole thing. And is ready for heat just drop in furnace and good to go. Garage had heat before and is insulated just furnace is gone lol. Hook ups and all still there.I live in Saskatchewan so same temps pretty much.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
You'll be golden in the winter then. Just keep the whole garage cooler and have no problems with heat in your plants. Might need A/C in the summer tho. Nice and cool in my basement so A/C is not needed ever. I do want to get a portable A/C unit so I can run my flowering room sealed with CO2 and be able to do something about my chronically low humidity. Burning my plants up because they suck up too much nutes with all the extra water they use when RH is too low.

My last place in town had a nice 20x24' insulated/heated garage and I built a small grow room inside it. Found out the hard way not to vent the grow room into the unheated attic. Was raining inside come the spring and looked like a winter wonderland up there from all the frost buildup from the grow room. :)

:peace:
 

grimmstone

Member
You'll be golden in the winter then. Just keep the whole garage cooler and have no problems with heat in your plants. Might need A/C in the summer tho. Nice and cool in my basement so A/C is not needed ever. I do want to get a portable A/C unit so I can run my flowering room sealed with CO2 and be able to do something about my chronically low humidity. Burning my plants up because they suck up too much nutes with all the extra water they use when RH is too low.

My last place in town had a nice 20x24' insulated/heated garage and I built a small grow room inside it. Found out the hard way not to vent the grow room into the unheated attic. Was raining inside come the spring and looked like a winter wonderland up there from all the frost buildup from the grow room. :)

:peace:
Yeah the indoor rain I can do without lol
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Plan is for 4 separate 10x10 rooms each with its own ventilation and cooling.
With the way pot prices are headed is it worth the effort now? I just grow for myself and share with a few friends when they need some. All but 1 is a medpot patient and he's my fishing buddy. :)

How are you going to configure the rooms? Flip flops for lights? If I build my addition downstairs I was planning on doing that and a conjoined ventilation system so the warm room can heat the cooler room when it's lights are out and visa versa. Just not ambitious enough and thinking of selling the farm, splitting the leftover with the c/l wife and heading out on my own.

Sounds like a cool project.

:peace:
 

grimmstone

Member
For now equipment will be what I can spare for equipment that I already have plus a few new additions in lighting. One room will have 4 de 1000w hps, one will have 4 reg 1000 hps and the third room will have 4 new 630w cmh’s. The fourth room will depend on results from new cmh’s. Each room has its own 8” intake and exhaust fans plus climate controls. This will be mainly for my family and a couple of close friends that can’t grow for themselves. Have been doing this for quite a long time now and the size of project is nothing I havent done before. I just never had to put a floor in something that wasn’t off the ground lol.
 

grimmstone

Member
Thinking about digging out some of the gravel. Then use treated 2x6’s frame it all out level then fill with spray foam and top with 3/4 inch treated plywood. That’s the best I can think of right now lol. Anyone have any other idea’s that might work better in cold winters with wet springs?
 

grimmstone

Member
With the way pot prices are headed is it worth the effort now? I just grow for myself and share with a few friends when they need some. All but 1 is a medpot patient and he's my fishing buddy. :)

How are you going to configure the rooms? Flip flops for lights? If I build my addition downstairs I was planning on doing that and a conjoined ventilation system so the warm room can heat the cooler room when it's lights are out and visa versa. Just not ambitious enough and thinking of selling the farm, splitting the leftover with the c/l wife and heading out on my own.

Sounds like a cool project.

:peace:
Sorry just realized I really didn’t answer all of your question lol. No not planning on using a flip controller just cause of different ballasts being used and I like to know that I don’t have to be around 24/7. Each room will be separate from each other in all aspects as far as climate.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Sorry just realized I really didn’t answer all of your question lol. No not planning on using a flip controller just cause of different ballasts being used and I like to know that I don’t have to be around 24/7. Each room will be separate from each other in all aspects as far as climate.
Flips don't need you to switch them and then you only need one ballast for two lights. If you already have most of the lights it doesn't much matter then.

:peace:
 

Novabudd

Well-Known Member
If you add up the cost of 2 x 6, OSB and Spray Foam it'll probably scare you to death. That spray foam gets expensive. Concrete is for life. OSB not so much.
 

Lucky Luke

Well-Known Member
Problem is the cost of concrete is twice the cost of a new garage.
Out of curiosity what have the quotes been?

remember you can do the framing easily yourself, even supply and lay the rio.

Were I am if your measurements are in feet then it would be about 5k. Not a bad investment really considering less pests and the return on the room. But prices and circumstances vary widely I know.
 

grimmstone

Member
Here the concrete would cost almost $30,000. I could put in quite a few floors for that. Concrete around here is crazy expensive. It would have to be trucked in from a hour away. And yes if I prepared it myself would be cheaper but not cheap enough.
 

grimmstone

Member
The other thing is if I was going to make the investment in concrete I would do it right and lift the garage(more cost) and set it on concrete pony walls. No point in having a floor that lasts if garage falls down around it.
 
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