Should garage floors always be made with a slope for water?
Asked by
JLeslie (
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July 19th, 2022
from iPhone
I’m accustomed to Florida residential, and garages are built so water will drain out of the garage. My husband and I are looking at a commercial garage in another state, and there is water sitting in one spot in the middle of the garage. The salesperson said he left the door open during a rain storm. I figure that’s a low spot in the garage. He said in commercial they don’t have the rules about water draining out, that the floor should be flat, similar to a house floor.
I’m thinking about asking the county, but interested in what the collective has to say.
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8 Answers
Nonsense. There are also no rules on bilking a sucker. A puddle of water is an ominous sign. And that open door explanation is beyond lame.
Not always.
Mine is level and the garage is about 3 feet above street level.
My driveway, which adjoins the garage, slopes down to the street.
If any water accumulates on the floor, it will eventually drain down to the street.
Also, round and spherical objects could roll down to and accumulate at the garage door, so that they’d have to be cleared away before opening it.
If someone parks a car on a sloped floor, and they forget to engage the parking brake and shift to park, watch out!
@Brian1946 Actually, pretty much all residential garages are supposed to be sloped, especially if it was built recently. Maybe a long time ago they didn’t require it.
@HP I believe the open door, that’s not the problem, the problem is the water sitting.
If not a slope, it should at least have a drain in the middle of the floor. Mine does.
A slight slope towards the door wouldn’t hurt, maybe 1 degree.
@JLeslie That is exactly my point. The huckster salesperson slid right past the issue of the puddle as undesirable with the implication that it is somehow to be expected and considered the norm. You would be correct to follow your instinct on checking the county’s building codes to appreciate what you’re up against locally. And you must also bear in mind that just because a structure is erected to code does not mean that it will comply with those codes over time. A building will “settle”.
Ours, in N Cal, is sloped towards where the garage door used to be. We moved the garage door, so need to re-slope the floor someday.
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