From: rav@cbnewsi.cb.att.com (reinaldo.a.valenzuela)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Lowering garage to basement level and finishing upper level.
Date: 9 Apr 92 14:56:17 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: AT&T

In article <1992Apr08.190357.11134@i88.isc.com> jeq@i88.isc.com (Jonathan E. Quist) writes:
>In article <1992Apr8.173758.17638@cbnewsi.cb.att.com> rav@cbnewsi.cb.att.com (reinaldo.a.valenzuela) writes:
>>
>>I would like to lower the garage floor down to the basement floor level.
>>Thus, I can buiild a floor at the house ground floor level and
>>turn the space above into a dramatic great room. This would involve:
>
>
>> - Remove exixting garage doors.
>> - Jacking-up the garage (so that fundation wall can be rebuilt/extended)
>> - Breaking up the existing garage floor slab and about 1/2 of the driveway.
>
>Any sewer lines running under the floor?
>
  >>>No

>> - Excavating the garage floor 3-4 ft. 
>
>How's drainage?

>>> The lot slopes towards the back of the house
    and the driveway slopes up towards the basement
    by more than 4 ft. Although I need to make
    more accurate measurements, it seems that
    drainage would not be a problem since  the
    driveway will still slope away from the garage
    and could also have a transversal slope
    down towards the backyard.
    
>
>> - Regrading the driveway so it is 4 ft lower at the garage end.
>
>Again, how's your drainage?  With the driveway below grade, you'll need
>to add a full-width drain between the foundation and the near end of
>the driveway, and provide someplace for the water to drain to.
>Local codes may or may not allow use of a sump pump for this drain.
>

>>> Good point again. Seems OK. mccurate meas. needed.

>> - Wreking existing fundation walls around the garage perimeter
>>   (or extending down exixting walls??)
>
>May need to reinforce existing foundation prior to excavating and removing
>old walls.
>
>>> Why so? reinforce existing  house fundation walls prior
    to excavating/removing GRAGE fundation walls? Are the later consider
    structural parts of the former??

>> - Re-building new, higher garage fundation walls
>> - Pouring a new garage cement slab (now at the basement floor level)
>> - Installing columns/girder/ floor joists/decking/flooring 
>>    to create the garage ceiling and great room floor.
>
>Assuming the old floor (garage ceiling) was structural, this may be
>a tricky part, depending upon just where all supports are.  If the inner
>garage wall was mid-span along an I-beam, then you'll need another footing
>wherever the I-beam is going to be cut.  Probably worth it at to have
>a structural engineer give his blessing on this, if for no other reason
>than to keep your insurance valid.
>
>> - Re-install garage doors at the new level.
>> - Close-up are occupied by old garage doors
>> - Extend siding on the sides and over location of old doors.
>
>Makes sense - try drawing the front elevation to see what this will
>do to aesthetics.  I've seen some homes built recently that are
>very nice on the inside, and very ugly on the outside, because the
>inside was designed to be trendy and the exterior design was ignored.
>
>>
>>Is this totallt crazy?
>
>No, but it does sound quite ambitious.
>
>>Would it be cheaper to wreck the existing garage/fundation/slab
>>and start from scratch?
>
>Hard to say - I've been assuming while reading this that you've got
>a split-level house with rooms already over the garage.  If the
>garage could, in essence, be cut off from the rest of the house,
>I may be assuming things are worse than they are.
>
>>Approx. how much many can I expect to pay?
>
>A project of similar magnitude had us spending a hundred or so on
>preliminary consultation with the architect to get our ideas in synch.,
>and a total of around $800 for finished drawings to let out for bids.
>A good general contractor can probably give you a ballpark figure
>without a set of final drawings, but don't expect firm numbers without them.
>
>>Does it make sense for me to act as general
>>contractor??
>
>Some here have done so successfully; we decided we simply didn't have the
>time to invest in research or in managing subcontractors.  We did find
>a few general contractors who were willing to let us do some of the work,
>but under the condition that if we couldn't keep the same schedules as
>the pros, and we delayed other subcontractors, then all completion date
>guarantees were out the window.  This is only fair, considering that the
>general contractor and subs are often scheduled tightly and in advance.
>Also, after going through the agony of getting the drawings finalized
>(and hence reconciling two entirely different concepts of the same
>project) my wife and I decided that, for us, doing the contracting as
>well was one more strain our marriage didn't need at that time.
>We've since learned that building houses and additions are prominent
>causes of marital strife....
>-- 
>Jonathan E. Quist                              INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation
>jeq@i88.isc.com                                        Naperville, IL
>'71 CL450-K4 "Gleep"  - "Worth the Obsession"
>DoD #094        "I'm not mad; just terribly, terribly hurt."  HDM #007