Crawl space access with out a crane
Currently we are adding a 25×35 addition to a couples house(I know the dimensions are stupid, but hey, when the checks roll up on Friday it’s all the same to me) The house is two floors and they want they addition to be a “sunken living room’ kind of situation. So we built and all weather “stem wall”(the first floor is a sub-basement, burried about 6 feet) to all the right specs. 2×8 pt allweather cdx and bituthane. The end result was a fantastic crawl space with 8 foot ceilings. When the homeowner saw how much room there actually would be down there they decided that the wanted access from the top side. No problems.. right? Wrong they want the access big enough to fit couches and small appliances through and they want it to be a trap door. Leaving us with the dilemna that we’ll need stairs(obviously. But to put our stairs at an acceptable pitch would mean removing about 10 feet of our new floor(stairs would run perpindicular to the joists) still not a huge deal but think about how heavy that trap door will be. Pretty much will have to be roughly a 30 sqft chunk of floor to lift every time. Any ideas on how to lighten the load, so to speak? Is ther some load baring steel studs that I could space at like 12 oc and just use like 3/8 sanded acx for the floor? Help[ me out boys…
All I ever wanted in life was an unfair advantage…
Replies
Tell them that at that point the space would be considered "Habitable Space " by the BI and they will need egress, to conform to code, ventilation to conform to code , etc.
Can't be done without that stuff.
See, No problem at all to solve the dilemma of how to build it, your problem is predicated on being able to build it.
;-)
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Edited 6/15/2008 2:39 pm by dovetail97128
Sounds like your customer is being unrealistic. Yeah, I know. A custome being unrealistic!
Okay, I'm going to side with the customer, just for kicks. How's about using a floor hatch?
http://www.acudor.com/recessed_floor_hatches.htm
http://products.construction.com/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=204&PageID=24436&cached=true&mode=2&src=C&;companyId=NST25445
I found these just googling around. 48" x 72" and 60" x 60" seem to be popular dimentions.
EDIT: An afterthought, they could be recessed 3/4" and covered with matching flooring. However, not sure how that would affect the weight ratio.
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Edited 6/16/2008 1:26 am by Ted W.