The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1924-11-27
Part of Garage That VIII Help Keep Car Clean.

AS usual thing, as soon as the
automobile owner receives a new car,
fresh and shining from the factory,
he at once makes a resolution to see
that the glossy coat of varnish on its
sparkling sides receives the proper
care so that he will save the expense
of frequent painting jobs. Too often
his good resolutions come to grief
after a few attempts at washing the
car in the home garage. Home gar
ages are not always an ideal place
for car washing. In the first place,
It is q hopeless task unless the garage
has been equipped with concrete floor,
and even then unless 1t is consider
ably larger than is usual, there is so
little clearance between the garage
walls and the car that the whole car
can only be covered with considerable
difficulty. Moreover, the problem Of
getting adequate light is troublesome.
The obvious solution of all the diff
culties is an apron or washing plat
form built out in front of the garage
where there is plenty of room as
well as plenty of light. Such pave
ments are not expensive and provide
many other advantages besides max
ing an ideal place for washing and
doing minor repairs The children
will soon make the clean concrete
paved area the center of their play
ground activities and it will be found
as much used for hobby horse races
and marble tournaments as for chang
ing spare tires or washing off the car.
All danger of a backyard mudhole is
eliminated and the ticklish job of
backing in and out of the garage is
made easy.
Building a Platform.
1t Is of course, easier to build such
a platform at the time the garage
floor is laid But the job can be
done satisfactorily at any time with
out much more expense. Such plat
forms are usually made not less than
ten feet wide and eighteen feet long,
which provides ample room to work
freely any place around the average
sized car without moving it.
1uG pavement SuOulQ DG given d
slope of about quarter of an inch per
foot so that 1t will drain readily.
The slope may be all in one direction
with gutter at the lower side to
carry the water away, or, if desired,
it may be made to slope in from all
sides to a drain in the center which
is connected to the sewer and is pro-
vided with a clean-out trap to catch
the mud and dirt which is washed off
of the car.
The concrete should be placed in a
single course and the ground which
it covers should first be smoothed off
evenly and dirt tamped firmly in any
low prices. A course of gravel or Gin
ders should be placed over the dirt and
tamped firmly into place and the con-
crete placed directly on it. The six
inch thickness will be found ample
strength so that it will not be in
iured by heavy coal wagons or trucks.
1t is possible to mix the concrete
rapidly enough to place the entire job
at one time. The pavement may be
laid AL in one piece without joints.
In case, however, mixer is not avail
able or the builder does not have the
equipment to finish a piece of con-
crete or this size, 1t may just as well
be placed in sections that are of
convenient size to be filled and finished
by hand.
A FIVE or six-foot square is about
the most convenient size for hand mix
ing and finishing and the job may thus
be done at odd times by the owner
himself. The squares should be marked
off and a two-inch plank firmly staked