HELP!
I live in a house which has a crawl space under the floor(obviously). My wife would like to raise the roof to get a 9 foot ceiling height (it is now 8 foot). Has anyone heard of lowering the floor ?? Is it possible/cheaper?? What are the problems I may run into?? Any ideas??
Edited 5/29/2007 11:10 pm ET by flagiant
Replies
Nah, I don't think so. Do you have to raise the roof? Why not raise the ceiling and leave the roof alone?
"I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun."
Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe
"What are the problems I may run into?"
Maybe your wife will change her mind halfway through the project
She will end up saying, "oh but that's not what I meant"
She will grow tired of the months of mess and divorce you.
;)
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Oh, you mean problems with the project itself!
there are so many potential problems I could write you a book. Say more first about what you have now. Style of house, type of floor and roof framing - truss or solid, how large, etc.
Either way, this is not a simple job, but most places it would be better to raise the roof. If no trusses, you could probably just tray raise a portion of cieling
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I recently lowered the floor of a room over a crawlspace. But it's only about 8 inches lower, not the full foot you want.
It was good to gain the ceiling height, but the crawlspace is, of course, diminished.
The task, in this case, was made possible by the fact that the foundation and sill were already at the lower level. At some point in history, the floor had been raised to make it level with another part of the house. In your case, it's likely to be easier to raise the ceiling.
The old joists were 24-inches on center, and sat on top of the hewn sill; the wall structure also set on top of the sill, independent of the flooring:
View Image
The new joist are 16-inches on center, on hangers attached to the side of the hewn sill:
View Image
Allen
Somebody with a sharper memory can correct me, but I believe that there is a minimum height of 18" for a crawlspace.
Answering back to Piffin (and considering the problems he mentioned) would be a big help to the folks here. If it's a stick-built roof, you might be able to just raise the ceiling. With trusses, you won't be so lucky.
Is it possible/cheaper??
What you are talking about is so difficult and costly that it's almost never seen.
I'd charge more for doing that then replacing the entire foundation complete with 9' ceilings.
An engineer at all concerned with his insurance rates will require so many do-dads both inside and out, that you're one step away from busting the budget.
I worked on a house not long ago that had a dropped floor and by the time the first GC was let go the labor and concrete costs were astronomical. The second round with another GC wasn't much better. The end result was enough concrete to pave a city block, a minimal crawlspace, a few extra inches of headroom, and not much else. A total waste of money in my mind.
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