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First time in the FH forum since subscribing. I am a DIYer looking for some advice on what appears to be an open-ended problem. I live where there is no structural building code enforcement (central TX). And where the good contractors don’t need this kind of work!
I am approaching a remodel of an attached garage and have a question about framing the floor so that the garage is level with the rest of the house, and so that when viewed from outside the house, there is no detectably “step” in the slab elevations. At this point, the bottom of the wood siding gives away the different elevations.
The house and garage are on slab construction. The garage area is below the level of the house, the car area slopes to the door 4-5″ in 18 feet, the area in front of where the cars park steps up a few inches, then there is another elevated concrete “island” where a storage closet is located.
How do you detail the perimeter framing of the new floor so that you can obscure or eliminate the slab elevations? Pouring concrete would require suspending the roof and removing the walls somehow so that it could be formed up. May be too tricky. I could probably get this done in sections. Pouring a concrete berm around the periphery of the garage at the same level as the house could be done, though. Sounds very non-standard.
So how do you frame up the floor if you don’t pour it? I assume a moisture barrier goes down on the slab, CCA treated sleepers on that, maybe 1×4 nailed to the concrete. Floor joists on the sleepers, shimmed level. But do you install a rim joist at the periphery? A beam resting on grade at some internal point to attach the joist to? Based on the elevations, and planning for at least a 3/4″ T&G subfloor, a 2×4 floor joist would be the maximum dimension needed where there is the greatest difference in slab elevations. As I move toward the areas with the smallest difference in elevation, much smaller dimensions in lumber would be needed to bring the floors level.
Do I just divide the garage into “zones” of similar elevations and design a framing scheme for each, connecting them all using “beams?” Of course my only “spans” are between the sleepers, so that is easily controlled.
I am quite puzzled on this, but have gotten no good indication from a couply of contractors that the proble is one they have solved before. Besides, I’d kind of like to do it myself to leverage some more good tools.
Thanks for the help….
Paul D.
Austin, TX
Replies
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First time in the FH forum since subscribing. I am a DIYer looking for some advice on what appears to be an open-ended problem. I live where there is no structural building code enforcement (central TX). And where the good contractors don't need this kind of work!
I am approaching a remodel of an attached garage and have a question about framing the floor so that the garage is level with the rest of the house, and so that when viewed from outside the house, there is no detectably "step" in the slab elevations. At this point, the bottom of the wood siding gives away the different elevations.
The house and garage are on slab construction. The garage area is below the level of the house, the car area slopes to the door 4-5" in 18 feet, the area in front of where the cars park steps up a few inches, then there is another elevated concrete "island" where a storage closet is located.
How do you detail the perimeter framing of the new floor so that you can obscure or eliminate the slab elevations? Pouring concrete would require suspending the roof and removing the walls somehow so that it could be formed up. May be too tricky. I could probably get this done in sections. Pouring a concrete berm around the periphery of the garage at the same level as the house could be done, though. Sounds very non-standard.
So how do you frame up the floor if you don't pour it? I assume a moisture barrier goes down on the slab, CCA treated sleepers on that, maybe 1x4 nailed to the concrete. Floor joists on the sleepers, shimmed level. But do you install a rim joist at the periphery? A beam resting on grade at some internal point to attach the joist to? Based on the elevations, and planning for at least a 3/4" T&G subfloor, a 2x4 floor joist would be the maximum dimension needed where there is the greatest difference in slab elevations. As I move toward the areas with the smallest difference in elevation, much smaller dimensions in lumber would be needed to bring the floors level.
Do I just divide the garage into "zones" of similar elevations and design a framing scheme for each, connecting them all using "beams?" Of course my only "spans" are between the sleepers, so that is easily controlled.
I am quite puzzled on this, but have gotten no good indication from a couply of contractors that the proble is one they have solved before. Besides, I'd kind of like to do it myself to leverage some more good tools.
Thanks for the help....
Paul D.
Austin, TX