This northern New England house is built into the side of a hill, so the bottom floor is dirt until the joists go in, and there’s no slab. In the mudroom, rather than put in joists then ply then tile, I’d like to put down large pieces of rock, perhaps 2’x2′ granite or bluestone. Can anyone suggest what material ought to go under the rock, and what (if anything) ought to go between the rock. Thanks.
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Greetings Joshua,
This post, in response to your question, will bump the thread through the 'recent discussion' listing again.
Perhaps it will catch someones attention that can help you with advice.
Cheers
Is the mudroom on the main floor? So there's nothing but a dirt crawl space below it? I think the biggest problem will be the weight opf the rock. You would need to build some kind of foundsation to hold it and keep it from sinking under it's own weight.
Have you considered talking with a good stone yard or tile wholesaler to see if someone sells thin sections of that stone? You could grout it with normal sanded grout, I would think.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
There's no crawl-space below this -- it is just on the earth. I have been told by the stone yard not to use stone indoors becasue no matter what I do they say it will be permanently dusty. But because stone is nearly free, and because it's right on the earth, I would avoid the costs of having to put in joists, subfloor, etc. Would stone-dust harden so that it would not be always dusty? Thanks for the suggstions.
I wasn't thinking about dust--maybe filling joints with grout would be better than using stone dust. There are sealers that I would think you could apply to reduce the dusting from the stone--like concrete sealer. It seems like the stone wouldn't sink too deep because the inside of your house will always be pretty dry and the surface area of the stones should distribute the load.
I agree. However, I would set the stones about an inch higher than the rest of the floor, and ramp up with reducer strips, so if it should settle a little it would not go below flush.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
Good point. One good thing is that if I remember right, they said the mudroom was a step or two down from the rest of the house, so if it settles, it's only a small problem (steps may need to be shimmed and such)--just so you don't have to step down too far from the threshold into the house. Since it is a mudroom, and it's currently a dirt floor, it's not like they can go too far wrong! If it doesn't work, try something else! ('Course it's easy for me to say that about someone else's house!)
(That's the advantage with my house--it was built so messed up and then my wife's ex generally messed it up even more, so whatever I do is an improvement, even if it's not perfect (and it never is!).) "Show me a man who hasn't made a mistake, and I'll show you a man who hasn't done anything."--Teddy Roosevelt
If you are truly saying the floor is dirt, as in just topsoil scraped away and thats the floor, I would wonder if you could put stone dust down, vibrate it (or maybe not--may shake the house too much) and lay your stone on top, then sweep more stone dust into the joints between. Just like you'd do for a walk or patio outside.
Probably the best bet would be to treat your "floor" the same as a pation or other exterior application.
I'm thinking that a pit of portland cement added to the stone dust to "grout" the joints, might stabilize a bit after a bit of wetting down.
Or, as it's "just" a mud room, just sweep it as needed, and have a mat between it and the door to the house.
Joshua,
Stone would always be cool/cold underfoot.. the earth is at 55 degree and if you walk on something that is 55 degrees you will get a chill plus it will soon cause your legs to ache.. In the winter with no footings I suspect there would be a major frost issue not to mention the difficulty of keeping stones level as the ground heaves ..
Yes you could lay stone down then sweep some morter between the stones and using a sprinkler dampen the mortor enough to make the floor (solid). Maybe if you layed a bed of dry premixed morter and swept morter between the stones you could have a semi legal floor out of it..
But trust me your legs will hate you!
I understand what Frenchy is telling you about cold and "no give" to a stone floor, but it is only a mudroom, so how much of a problem can it be? I also think the heat ofthe house will keep the ground from freezing under the mudroom, so frost heave shouldn't be a problem either.
Frost is NOT a problem. The foundation is fully insulated.