MY garage is embedded in the side of a hill. Yoy can step up on the roof in the back. Its definately good insulation, although I do run ac in it. Its also much warmer in the winter.
When I did my garage I had a local guy finish it. I paid for the cement and he did the rest. He finished it all by hand. He only charged me $300. The floor was about 29x30. I also reasearched the radiant floor. Back in 93 when I built mine, the tubing was damn expensive. Too much for my budget so I regretfully had to pass. Its way cheaper now. I have a couple of local friends who have built garages in the last 3 yrs and they have radiant heat. It is hands down the only way to go. With the coldest days we have, its like paradise in their garage. Shorts and t shirts are all thats needed. For ac, If you insulate your garage well, a good window unit is all you will need. When I put central air in my house, I had a 28,000 btu ac unit that used to cool my upstairs. I cut a hole in the side of the garage and mounted it in there. I can freeze you out with that thing.
The A/C in my house is going on 12 years old, so when it needs to be replaced, I am going to have them run a duct to the garage, and put in a closeable round vent in there. When I want to work in the summer, I will crank that vent open. The rest of the time, it will be closed. Could use the heat in the winter, also. I live south of Houston, and there are about 4 months where I cannot work in the garage because it is too damned hot. There have been a couple times when I just opened my garage door (attached to house) and turned on the heater in the house and put a fan in the door. When it was in the 30s outside, I could get it near 60 in the garage. I have a single 2-car aluminum sliding door, so there is no insulation on that side of the room. Only downside. I could probably put some sheets of 1" foam on the panels, but it still has large gaps on the sides. And to get back ON topic...smooth with a heavy-duty epoxy, without a doubt.
i am in the concrete business. have them use a power trowel on it. tell them you want a hard trowel finish,that will help get rid of those pesky little trowel marks.plus give you nice smooth finish.
thanks...are there any more "cement" words i need to know. what does the 2000-2500-3000 (psi) mean? power trowel hard trowel finish ...frank...
