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I am building a garage addition which includes living space between the garage and house. I originally wanted a conventional foundation for the new living space with concrete block, but due to the grade of the lot, the end of the joists on the exterior wall would be below grade (original builder did not properly grade the west side of the lot). The people doing the foundation work said the joists (even pre-treated) would rot (code inspection wouldn’t allow it). They recommended a monolithic slab with a raised ‘curb’ around the perimeter to ‘divert’ the rain… or regrade the western side of my lot. The curb would be a minimum of 8 inches high to be above the grade. The slab would be level with the existing floor system in the house, but the curb is a minimum 8″ higher. This makes sense, but I have a question. The plan calls for french doors on one wall. Would a step on the inside of the living space be required for the doors? I’ve read several threads concerning insulating the exterior of the slab. Is this difficult and expensive? My wife hates the feel of a slab. I once laid a plywood subfloor (1×2’s flat) on top of concrete floor of a basement in NY. Can you lay treated 2×4’s and sandwich rigid styrofoam insulation on top of poly? I would be appreciate any input…
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do you have to have the floors at the same ht.?
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I am building a garage addition which includes living space between the garage and house. I originally wanted a conventional foundation for the new living space with concrete block, but due to the grade of the lot, the end of the joists on the exterior wall would be below grade (original builder did not properly grade the west side of the lot). The people doing the foundation work said the joists (even pre-treated) would rot (code inspection wouldn't allow it). They recommended a monolithic slab with a raised 'curb' around the perimeter to 'divert' the rain... or regrade the western side of my lot. The curb would be a minimum of 8 inches high to be above the grade. The slab would be level with the existing floor system in the house, but the curb is a minimum 8" higher. This makes sense, but I have a question. The plan calls for french doors on one wall. Would a step on the inside of the living space be required for the doors? I've read several threads concerning insulating the exterior of the slab. Is this difficult and expensive? My wife hates the feel of a slab. I once laid a plywood subfloor (1x2's flat) on top of concrete floor of a basement in NY. Can you lay treated 2x4's and sandwich rigid styrofoam insulation on top of poly? I would be appreciate any input...