All,
Some fellas on the John Bridge tiling site advised I submit my query to your site.
I have an idea for remodeling the master bath in my house. The present bathroom is very small, 5.5′ x 7′. I thought to bump out the exterior wall about 2.5′ to permit a 4′ x 5.5′ shower. The bump out would be on the south gable end of a brick ranch on a crawl space. There is good drainage on that side of the house. My primary questions involve how to attach the bump out to the house. How would I connect the new foundation and walls to the existing building so that the tile floor doesn’t crack with settling?
Thanks for your thoughts in advance.
John
Replies
Since you're only extending 2.5', you might be able to cantilever it by tying to existing beams, or in the way a bay window attaches to framing. Then you're avoiding foundation related issues. Would depend on the current framing details.
Good thinking. But since it is on a gable end most likely it will be perpendicular to the floor joist (no guarantee) and that means heavy restrucing of the existing floor joist to allow for 5 ft of support for the cantalever section.Also what is the existing foundation and what is the frost depth.Piers might work.
Indeed, the joists run east and west, so an attachment would be perpendicular. This house is in Indianapolis, Indiana. We have extreme temperatures here. The existing house is built on a crawlspace about 2' high with concrete blocks. I do not know how far down this foundation goes. The house was built in 1961.Would treating the bump out as a "bay window" be cheaper than treating it as an addition with a slab foundation?Which method is sturdiest?Thanks!
In your climate you would need footings down to something in the neighborhood of 30-36". And I am not really that knowledgable in this area so I would wait for others to give you more details.But I think that drilling holes down and putting in piers, much like a deck support, would probably be a good option. But then you have the porblem of the open area under the floor.
But, don't you think since it is a crawlspace it would not be a big deal to support fur or five joist while you cut them off, install a couple of pad footers/beams, etc. rather than to pour a fondation? Foundations would involve another sub?
Cantiliver would not be that tough.
It's possilbe. IIRC cantalevers are limited to 2 ft out with 4ft in without engineering.And you will need to cut off the existing joist and install a header to terminate them.Also you need to beef up the last remaining joist that the new cantalever joist will terminating into (inside end).Also remember that the forces on the inside end will try to lift up the floor inside of push down.It would not hurt to contact and engineer and see what the cost would be to design it.
Only 2-1/2 feet? I would think you could build some sort of bracket from PT 6x bolted to a ledger that was bolted to the existing foundation.
If you can handle the aesthetics of it all... I'd go with a ledger on the inboard side and a couple piers on the outboard side. Insulate and seal the framing from below as you would a cantilevered detail. It's a shower though, right? I don't know if you're plumbing would be allowed to call this situation home... I'm sure someone smarter than I will come along and answer that though.
Or maybe you know a mason looking for a nice little side job? He could lay a block foundation for you and it'd be one stop shopping if you excavated yourself. Probably cheaper than a forming and pouring a small job like that. You'll pay a premium for such a small job.
I think piers will be the cheapest way out though. Check with the 'powers that be' in your area for compliance.
On situations with bumped out plumbing fixtures I make the walls at least 2x6 to accomadate pipes and insulation.
I live in a cold place for 6 mos of the year so insulation is a big deal.What's wrong with me? I could ask you the exact same thing.
What would a small bump like this cost? I mean roughly? Are we talking $5K, 10, or like 20? I just have no idea.
Are we talking $5K, 10, or like 20?
Yep. Somewhere in there. :) I'm not trying to be a wise guy, but I'd need an awful lot more information that what we've got so far John.View Image
for what it's worth ...
my brother in law works as a carp for a remodeling contractor in Indy.
said contractor is supposed to have a good track record ... and I can vouch that said BIL is a stand-up guy.
If you'd like a name and number to add to the bid list ... email me thru this site.
Diesel should approve ... as the BIL got out of framing a coupla years ago and went into remodeling after listening to all my horror stories. When Wes made the switch ... he looked for a top notch company to switch to.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Someone else who posted about "2 foot out and 4 foot in" got me thinking: since your joists run the wrong way to just extend them, do you have enough room, especially floor to ceiling, to perhaps frame the floor of the bump out on top of the existing floor? Maybe step up into the shower--or since the bathroom is so small, step up into the bath? Just sort of "thinking out loud" here.
Or, as someone else mentioned, you might be able to get sturdy brackets going down at a 45 degree angle to the foundation for support.
I mentioned this once on a post about a fireplace bumpout, but maybe really beefing up the side walls so they take a lot of the weight and sort of "hang" the load from the existing exterior wall might work. Maybe even cut back into the interior walls perpendicular to the exterior (mainly extending the plates out while tying them back at least four feet) and cantilevering them out 2 feet and sheathing them in plywood and nailing it like a sheer wall would sort of create two bodacious beems to support this?
My house has 8-foot ceilings. It is a dark, 1960s ranch house, and we are trying to open it up every way we can, remove corners and corridors where possible, put in larger windows to bring light in to the middle of the house. Remodeling the master bathroom is part of this overall "opening up" concept. What I am shooting for is a seamless tile transition into a shower, with a glass partition and door separating the "old bathroom" from the "bump out." Presently the room is 7 feet deep. I want to add 2.5 of depth with a bump out, then place the glass partition to the shower a foot and a half in from that (this would be easier if I drew it, wouldn't it?). I would like to shape the bump out sort of like a bay window:
bump out 1 foot45-degree angle out another 1.5 feet
Perhaps I should consult an engineer. Any ideas about how to go about contacting such a person? Are they called architectural engineers or just architects?
I don't know for sure, but would think an architect or a structural engineer would be the person to contact. Probably the simplest was what some people suggested--piers at the outside end of the bump out and a ledger against the house, but I don't know if a building inspector would liek that--I guess you could ask yours. If it is dark, you might think of making one or more walls of this out of glass block or something.