My experience with PT ply is that it will cup unless well secured. Pavers a re a great idea. Place over a vapor barrier such as 6mil visqueen on levele d grade. You could always spread sand or quarry fines on top of the existin g soil to make leveling more easy, but in your application, I really don't see where that is necessary. I would keep an eye on your local craigslist f or pavers. Around here they are pretty plentiful...
are a great idea. Place over a vapor barrier such as 6mil visqueen on leve led grade. You could always spread sand or quarry fines on top of the exist ing soil to make leveling more easy, but in your application, I really don' t see where that is necessary. I would keep an eye on your local craigslist for pavers. Around here they are pretty plentiful...
I'm in NJ. 1' square pavers (or "step stones") are about $1.56 each. Not out of the question. visqueen will add about $100. What does the plastic do? What would be the downside if i just decided to level the ground and p ut pavers right on top of it? Do you put anything between the pavers in the cracks (i.e. like grout in bathroom tiles)?
You don't need visqueen. You don't need anything under the stepping stones...just use the back side of a rake to level the ground to a reasonable degree. You don't need anything in the joints, they aren't going to move; the exception might be those along an edge if you push them while crawling around. In that case, just put them back. Or, cut some rebar into
1' lengths and hammer one into the ground at the side of and below the top side of each stepping stone (I wouldn't bother).Somone mentioned that ply would warp. It will. So?
"So" will depend on how much warpage, the use of the space, what is stored on it, etc.
If there is a need to slide items to get them in or out or get to items behind other items, raised edges (or middles) of warped plywood could make that very difficult.
Excessive warpage could certainly make crawling around more difficult.
Raised edges will allow dirt and other debris to get caught. Even the smallest pile of dirt can catch weed seeds and allow them to grow.
Would you start with this to create the floor of a crawlspace? If not, why would it would acceptable if it happened a year later?
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That makes me think that the plastic might be a good idea after all. if fo r no other reason, it could keep dirt and weeds from coming up through the cracks. Sliding things around may still be an issue with the cracks in the pavers, though. Especially since i'm not confident in my "leveling skills ". However, i think i can live with that.
On 04/25/2016 9:09 AM, Fredd Wright wrote: ...
As other said you don't "need" the vapor barrier but it would certainly cut down on the humidity thus keeping anything stored there less likely to suffer severe rusting or the like.
OTOH, if it really does flood and you're not going to prevent that from happening, it'd be a huge detriment afterwards as there wouldn't be anywhere for the water to go down through to be (eventually) absorbed back into the ground so in that case I'd definitely strongly recommend _against_ it and the plywood or any other wood solution. While PT is certainly better with respect to sustaining water and termite/other pests damage than non, if it's going to be inundated from time to time it just isn't suitable material for the long haul.
The pavers seem just the ticket; here they're generally available at cut-rate prices from the Waly-World or other BORGs "garden" sections late in spring after the frenzy has worn off and they're getting rid of remaining stock plus they'll often just let one have broken ones for the effort of getting them off their hands. I picked up a bunch of 1-1/2"
12x24 that were nothing worse than being two halves that way last year for some fill-in in an area in the barn where had never gotten around to finishing pouring a floor--work perfectly fine and who cares about a crack for such a purpose; they're not in a show area...
First off how big is the area, a cubic yard of concrete will cover an area of 100 square feet at 3 inches deep. Getting it into a crawl space is the hard part (shoveling the old school way) or new school a concrete pump would make it easy. Finding a contractor to do a small job is also problematic.
Not being able to see the situation it is hard to come up with a plan.
If you can make a cake, You can lay a concrete mud slab. :)
Same material, different form, and possibly more manageable in tight spaces.
See my (barely) earlier note--in your original post you mentioned it floods occasionally. If you have the vapor barrier down, then you've made a swimming pool with nowhere for that water to go. I'd not even _think_ of wood if that's going to happen even infrequently...
In the crawl space under the house with no light?
sorry, I missed the flooding part...in that case, might I suggest a sump pit/pump in addition to the above...
btw, (IMHO) a poured in place rat slab/mud mat will cause the same drainage problems, if not more, than a simple poly vapor barrier...a sump pit/pump would make sense for for a poured in place slab as well... Just curious, where is the flood water coming in? From above or below the crawl space floor?
Interesting point about the flooding. Although the crawl space is about 3 f eet above the basement floor, when we get a hurricane, the basement fills u p to right below the ceiling so the crawlspace will be underwater. However , when the water level goes down, it will pour out of the crawlspace onto t he floor where the sump pump will pump the water out so i think it's a moot point if the water can't drain under the pavers.
On 04/25/2016 10:48 AM, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote: ...
His original post said the occasional hurricane floods it so one presumes that's high water doing it.
The solid slab certainly has the same issue in spades as being no outlet altho I note in another followup OP says he had ideas of washing it out occasionally -- don't know where that water is to go but mayhaps there is a drainage built in specifically for the issue, who knows?
If not, certainly putting in a sump is a possibility but on a 5-yr or longer frequency probably just dealing with it at the time is sufficient if there were a collection point.
As almost always, there's more unknown of a situation than is known... :)
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Ah, that's a wholly different geometry than had envisioned -- altho as noted in another comment wondered about how you envisioned washing it out.
What's the headroom and dimensions of this space; maybe you said but I've not seen. If it's a full basement and only 3' above its floor would seem to be nearly 5' or so which would make working reasonably easy. If it does get flooded I'd be pretty keen on a solid floor to simply stop the bulk of the mud after the events.
feet above the basement floor, when we get a hurricane, the basement fills up to right below the ceiling so the crawlspace will be underwater. Howev er, when the water level goes down, it will pour out of the crawlspace onto the floor where the sump pump will pump the water out so i think it's a mo ot point if the water can't drain under the pavers.
Fredd, please stop leaking out details piecemeal.
Why not give us the dimensions and any other pertinent details so we know w hat question we are actually trying to answer?
Pictures are good too.
Glue them down with PL --- Just kidding.
The slivers from PT lumber are a real PITA too when you are crawling arond on it - - -
I think I would look to store things in a place that doesn't get wet. Otherwise, maybe mount (with foam compatible liquid nails) to your PT plywood on 6" of extruded insulation in the crawlspace, laced together so it floats as a unit??? Good luck
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erwise, maybe mount (with foam compatible liquid nails) to your PT plywood on 6" of extruded insulation in the crawlspace, laced together so it floats as a unit??? Good luck
Sorry for the confusion. I can post pictures later when i'm home, but for now, the crawl space is on the side of the basement and goes around the bac k of the house in an L shape. There are cellar doors on the side of the ho use and, if i'm leaving the basement through those doors, right before i ge t to the doors the crawlspace is on the left. It's raised so the floor of the space is about chest-height. The space is about 4 feet wide and maybe
2-3 feet high and goes back about 10 feet to the back of the house where it takes a 90 degree angle left. I've actually never seen the crawlspace are a behind the house as i've never crawled back that far. Just planning on d oing the 10 feet on the side for now. As far as water draining when i hose it, there are plenty of holes and spaces in the side of the house where an imals have gotten in (my backyard goes right into a park) so no problem wit h drainage there. I'm planning on storing things in waterproof containers.HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.