Edmonton Concrete Garage Pads

It is not a matter of debate for us when it comes to larger concrete slabs we always use specialized concrete chairs (the black units below) that keep the rebar suspended to mid height of the slab thickness. If the rebar is simply lifted as the Concrete Finisher makes his way backwards it is probable the heavy weight of the rebar grid will cause it to sink to the bottom where it loses it ability to strengthen the slab. It is obvious once our Concrete Finisher below lifts his foot the rebar will spring back to a height of 2 inches above the tamped road crush and provide maximum strength.

A picture is worth a thousand words sometimes. The photo below is of an engineered garage pad slab with radiant heating and insulated outer walls sandwiched in permanently with pressure treated plywood. Next Level Concrete countersunk the 1/2 inch anchor bolts every 4 feet into the wet cement to enable convenient fastening to the base plate of the structure. Rebar protrudes out of the slab to tie in the driveway so it will not sink to a different height later. The wood in the front was taken out but the insulation remained as per engineers specifications.

Sometimes the slope of our client's property is severe enough that a decision must be made to either elevate the height of the slab by adding more road crush to the base or by constructing the building on a 'curb' as shown below. We encourage the client to avoid the curb construction because the curb is a weaker alternative structurally. However in the case below the slope up to the garage would have been to severe to safely drive up to it in slippery conditions and in the case of small cars the concern is the vehicle "bottoming-out" going into the garage. Typically, we build curbs with a 4 - 6 inch width with plenty of rebar running through it lengthwise. Note the city of Edmonton requirements in the diagram below the photo.

The diagrams of permissable foundations below were taken from the document found at the city of Edmonton Planning and Development website (see links below to see the documents). The key points to note are the dimensions and building standards required. If your garage is a 24'x24' you are then under 590 square feet cut-off so the top diagram would be your minimum standard. However, if you are to construct a 24'x26' garage you would be over 590 square feet which will affect your price by almost an additional $1,000 due to the extra concrete services and material required. Typically, we build foundations much stronger than the minimum requirements. If you are building a 24'x24' garage we recommend at least a 8 inch by 8 inch thickened perimeter with a few rows of rebar in it. Note that garages over 728 sq. feet or with a side longer than 30' require a special permit and often an engineered drawing that we can get for you.