Raising a floor

[Tony Karp]

We're about to buy an old house that has a rather strange flooring problem.

Originally, this was a colonial with a side-load two car garage. The current owners extended the house by adding a new garage butting up to the original garage entrance. They then turned the old garage into a rec room, adding about

500 sq ft to the house.

The original garage was lower than the house, and the new garage is at the same level as the house. So, to go from the new garage, you step down into the rec room, walk across the floor, then step up into the house. I almost killed myself the first time that I stepped into the rec room, not realizing is was lower, and putting my foot down on a piece of carpeting that started to skid away.

What sort of thing can you do to fix this problem? Some alternatives I've considered are to put a ramp at either side of the room, raise the floor by having 2 x 6s put in, with a new plywood floor to raise it to the correct level, or possibly putting in concrete to raise the floor.

The rec room floor is about 22 by 23 feet, and the depth is between four and six inches (I forgot to measure it).

Any thoughts on these ideas, or any other alternatives?

-- Tony Karp, TLC Systems Corp Techno-Impressionist Museum:

TLC Systems:

[AJScott]

If it were me, I'd look more at the ramp idea. Sounds pretty nifty, and you wouldn't have to go raising the floor.

Except I'd have it be a fan-shaped ramp (rather than a straight ramp) so you can enter/leave the room from any direction to/from the doorway.

AJS

[Edwin Pawlowski]

What kind of climate to you have? If in a cold area this is an opportunity to insulate the floor. Put the 2 x 6's over the existing slap along with appropriate vapor barrier and insulation. You could then install hardwood floors over the sub floor. Of course materials will be adjusted to the height you need. I don't think I'd add concrete, but even if you did, a couple of inches of EPS insulation would be a good thing.

This is also a good opportunity to run wires under the floor for a home entertainment system. Wire up for the future with 9.1 surround sound.

The only downside to this is the headroom you will lose. If that is a factor, you may want to consider the ramp idea. Ed [e-mail]

[MAG]

Hi Tony-

In my area, garages MUST be lower than the level of the house. It think it is a six-inch depth that is needed but it might be some other minimum value. It's a code requirement, for the intention of dealing with gas fumes and other car-related hazards. So, unless things are different where you live, your new garage may not be useable as such.

Marc

[me]

Build a walkway around the perimeter the height of the house floor and leave the rest of it lower. Might add a nice effect......

[Tony Karp]

Probably the same here. I'm trying to get hold of the contractor who installed this.

Is there any way to bring something like this up to code?

-- Tony Karp, TLC Systems Corp Techno-Impressionist Museum:

TLC Systems: