I want to put a terrace outside my living room, which is several feet above grade, built on a regular wood structure and paved with stone pavers, with the walls covered in the same stucco as the house. I’m wondering about the best way to waterproof under the stone so that the space underneath the structure, which will be high enough above the ground to store things like the lawn mower, will stay dry, just as the crawlspace under the house stays dry. If I just lay a regular waterproof membrane under the mortar bed, won’t it be likely to be torn while laying the mortar? Is there a better way to structure such a terrace?
Thanks!
Barbara
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You are try ing to do three different things, all of them in conflict with the others of them. If you see how myuchg my grammar is getting twisted trying to construc that statement, you have a clue how at odds your ideas are with each other.
#1 Stone is heavy and acts liike stone in the way it moves, weathers and wears. Wood behaves differently. It will move under the stone, and allow it to crack separate, etc, unless it is overbuilt. Normally stone is placed on stone ( or other CMU type material)
#2 A deck is not a roof. The only way to amke it so is to roof it with a material that can handle the ideas you have for it, and drain water that will penetrate the stone surface.
#3 This is definitely not a DIY type project. The only way to do it is with a very qualified contractor with experience in such things and/or an architect with similar qualifications. There are a hundred details to consider, any of which can ruin the project if not done correctly.
#4 Doing it right will be VERY expensive. Be preparred.
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Thanks for your input. I'm very clear on #3 and #4--no way would I try this myself, even if I were remotely qualified; and it's part of a larger re-model that will be so hideouly expensive that I'll just be writing checks continuously and this will be jsut one or several more.I thought of maybe trying to fill in solid under it (maybe 5 or 6 feet, maximum height) with dirt excavated elsewhere in the project, though it probably wouldn't be enough. Also I thought it would be nice to be able to store some stuff under there.Thanks again!Barbara
For a stone terrace, I would recommend using footings and foundation with infill material to support it. plain old ditrt is not very good though. It needs to be structural fill with drainage built in too, but done right, it will outlast you and yours.I had the impression that the wood deck was already there.
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Dear piffin,No, the construction of the deck/terrace/whatever it is would be all new.Thanks again for your input!Barbara
What if she were able to score some ceement walled half-rounds? I mean like a 8 to 10 foot diameter sewer pipe cut in half lengthwise. Or rather, more than one...
She could run a row of these along the front of her foundation, perhaps mounted on stemwalls, and be able to drive her JD lawnmower in from the side and out the other. She could use round top doors to enclose the space created.
She could continue to build her foundation walls for the stone terrace, perhaps poured in place would be best, and then backfill and compact with sand around the pipes to the point of being able to pour a slab on top. Then her stones.
The local concrete fab place down the road that does various castings has these half-rounds sitting all over their yard. Some people use them for basement window wells. Others for a low, but wide culvert.
Might as well make it a bomb shelter while we're dydreaming
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You got a point - maybe for a tornado shelter.
But since she didn't tell us where she is...
And she didn't seem to care about the cost...
I'm thinking the existing above grade wall that the fill would be piled against was never designed to take that kind of lateral load from the fill ..