Thread: Garage floor level with living space.

What kind of recommendations can be made if the garage floor is level with the living space of the home. It doesn't seem reasonable to recommend raising 1700sf of living space floor or dropping 300sf of garage slab. The only thing I can think of is the construction of an elevated threshold but that seems like a tripping hazard and a pain in the arse. Any ideas?

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If you are using the IRC; there is no requirement for a step-up from the garage to the house.

I have heard alot about the infamous "gas curb" over the years, but I could not find it's requirement in my search of different codes. I am not even sure where the requirement originally came from. Maybe some jurisdiction has it somewhere, I don't know.

The portion of the floor used for parking cars must pitch to the vehicle door or to a drain. IRC 309. That's it.

I do see these here also but only in newer construction. Often it's in retirement communities. What I find here is that often the garage floor has a steeper slope.

no requirement for a curb or change of elevation.

Recommend they lower the garage floor.

How about a little ramp that goes up and tapers back down past the threshold?
There should at least be a door sill, because you want a tight seal to keep fumes out of the house.

I typically recommend an automatic closer be installed on the door

Originally Posted by Jerry McCarthy

Recommend they lower the garage floor.

Jerry,
What do you base recommendation of lowering the floor?
Original post made no mention of floor being sloped, though seldom not sloped to some degree.

Garry. I think Jerry was being facetious.
There was a negative grade into the home from the exterior drive that had a sub-grade grated drain in front of the garage car door. If the garage floor had a slope to it it was very slight. These compounded to my concern that a high density gas would have no options but to flow towards the interior. No gas appliances in the home but the garage was large and had shop space so it still seemed possible to have noxious gasses around (vehicle exhaust as well).
I commented on this condition as an FYI to the client but didn't recommend he lower the slab. The man door was solid wood and had an auto closing mechanism and a good seal. It's a challenge to ride the line between being reasonable and ridiculous wrt safety hazards.

Luc,
Sometimes I can't tell.
The possibility for the garage to flood with gasoline and then have that gas flow into the living area is one of those potential freak situations. You can not guard against very situation. The fact that there appears to be no code requirement is enough to not make it an issue.

If anything you might recommend CO detector for area adjacent to garage entrance.