Reply With QuoteZero problem.
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Sloping floors: How much is too much?
I've got approximately a 4° slope in my garage floor, and I'm worried it may cause some sort of physical imbalance when I'm squatting/deadlifting. How much of a problem is it?
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Zero problem.
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How did you measure that? I think 4 degrees is very steep for a typical garage. Mine drops 1.25 inches over 8 feet, which I think works out to <1 degree. My trigonometry is pretty rusty, but it looks like 4 degrees gets you about a 6 inch drop over 8 feet, which would of course be unusable. You would also have all your other garage stuff rolling out on a regular basis.
My rack is turned side-to-side, and I have noticed my "uphill" knee bothers me if I hyperextend it even a little bit at the top of a heavy squat. I haven't tried facing the other way to see if this is really due to the slope, as it's totally avoidable.
I have a plan to shim up the platform, but I am trying to figure out how to do so without the platform "bowing"between shims, and how to get shims of precise heights to put underneath. I have looked at using wood screws in a grid, which is what I think I will do. If I manage to get it done, I will share photos.
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Annotation 2020-06-17 122040.jpgOriginally Posted by jfsully
Badly, it seems (yours is 0.746° btw, if it helps). It appears in my original calculation, I put b in as 105mm, not 1050. Still, 0.4° is enough that I can see it where the floor meets the brick wall. I've already rotated it and re-bolted it down. If 0.4° is really as much of a non-issue as you say, I'll put it back (it'll be much easier to get the car in), but god this is gonna suck.
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That sounds more like it. I didn’t notice any problem until my lifts started getting heavy (e.g. squat work sets over 315x5) and now I think my “uphill” knee gets a little irritated if I “pop” it at the top of my squats. Otherwise no problem. You could address this with a shim under your foot if you notice it and don’t feel like leveling the platform.
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You might be overthinking this. My garage has a similar slope, and I shimmed it by layering plywood and fiberboard panels. The low side has an extra sheet of plywood, plus a few layers of fiberboard, with fewer layers as you approach the high side, which rests on the floor. There's plastic under the whole thing to prevent moisture damage. It was really easy to do (no cutting, no glue, no screws) and it's solid, doesn't bow, and is good as new after 3.5 years.
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You can also use roofing shingles stacked as well. They're water proof and are incompressible. Use a 4' level too or at least a 2'.
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Oh, I am definitely overthinking. How wide are the plywood shims you put in, and how many gradations in height do you have?
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I should point out, I'm not using a platform. I'm using a squat rack bolted to the floor with concrete anchors.
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I've got the same setup with a Titan T3 rack. I had a bunch of old roofing shingles from the previous owner and used them as shims under the rack first so that the rack was level; I cut the shims into squares so they fit under the footprint of the rack. Then I took a 4'x4' section of 3/4" plywood I had left over from my deadlift stand and cut it down to 42" X 48" and used more roofing shingles as shims so the platform was level as well. You don't need to use roofing shingles but I'd suggest using something that's water proof personally.
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