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aimeeg · 04-28-2006, 12:09 PM

Hello,

I'm planning on building a mudroom in the garage & I need some help. We have 3 stairs that go up to the kitchen door. I would like to raise the floor off the concrete so when we enter the mudroom it will be on the same level as the rest of the house. Will this work ? Or would it be easier to have the actual floor of the mudroom be the concrete garage floor ? Also, how difficult would it be to run heat & ac into this small room, from the kitchen ?

Aimee

glennjanie · 06-06-2006, 02:23 PM

Hi Aimee:
If it were mine, I would use the concrete floor. You could cover it with a sheet vinyl if it makes you more comfy. Yes, it would be fairly simple to run the heat and a/c into the room. You may even want water which calls for a drain; will it be high enough to drain into your house drain?
Glenn

Daryl in Nanoose · 06-10-2006, 09:47 AM

I asked my wife what she would do in a case like this and she said to me
" If I was going to be in and out of there a lot from the house then I would want it at the same level as the house floor but if its just a room to come into from the gararge I would not care"
Personaly myself I would want it at the same level as the house floor. Lots of time I have seen a couple of stairs comeing into the house from the garage and I would much perfer this.

Square Eye · 06-10-2006, 10:26 AM

If I am not mistaken, you will have to run the drywall all of the way down to the garage floor wether you leave the mudroom floor level at garage level or raise it to house floor level. There are areas where local building code will require a firewall between a garage and any living space. Running HVAC through a wall will make it living space. It's not legal in all areas to have exposed ductwork in a garage at all. Not the same everywhere. Check with a local building inspector or a trusted contractor.

Daryl in Nanoose · 06-11-2006, 09:39 AM

The last I herd was 5/8" fireguard had to be appied to any living space on the garage side floor to ceiling and any doors had to be installed with those spring loaded hinges so my thoughts on this thread was to frame the walls from garage floor to ceiling, and then fireguard the walls on the garage side then proceed with the inside. I did one of these a number of years ago and what I did was above then I attached ledgers with studding down to the concrete for the floor around the perimeter, brought the duct work in under the floor through the exsisting house as well as the electrical, and plumbing and had no problem with the Inspector but things may of changed in the codes since then so I will have to check into this but you know when all else fails check with the Building Inspectors office because one never knows.

Square Eye · 06-11-2006, 11:14 AM

Right. I never used 4x4s myself. I used a treated 2x6 for my bottom plate. 2x4 studs for a wall from the floor to the top plate. Then I nailed 2x6 cripples to the studs from the bottom plate to my joist bottoms. This gave the floor as much support as needed. Then I put blocks in between the studs right at floor level so I'd have an attachment point for the bottom of my drywall and any baseboards. The blocks also guard against pests climbing up the wall and getting into the wall space and eventually, into the house from there.

I used the 5/8 drywall on the garage side and re-used the steel door that had been between the garage and the house.

Once again, Daryl and I are on the same page.

rtomsik · 04-25-2010, 08:00 PM

Do any of you have pictures of the framed room? How do you attach the floor joists to the wall studs if you want the mud room floor to be level with the door opening of the kitchen, instead of using the garage floor as the floor for the mud room?

Thanks!

Remodelguy · 04-26-2010, 11:09 AM

Hi Aimee,

The most convenient method for you to use the mud room would be to raise the floor to the house floor level. It is also very easy to insulate the area and the floor that way. Running heat to it from the house would be more work than you need to do as you could just use electric radiant heat wire in the floor and that would be enough for the small space. The fire protection is already in place with the existing firewall between the garage and the kitchen so that is not a factor.

The best reason for raising the floor is comfort. If you leave it down on the concrete it will be colder and anything like shoes that are left on the floor will be cold to put on. Also the amount of space you will lose in the mud room for the stairs has to be considered.

Another plus to raising the floor is the storage space you create under the mud room even if it is only 16" tall. There are always small items that need to be stashed away.

I hope this helps you decide.

Glenn Gehrke

Remodelguy · 04-26-2010, 11:19 AM

rtomsik

"Do any of you have pictures of the framed room? How do you attach the floor joists to the wall studs if you want the mud room floor to be level with the door opening of the kitchen, instead of using the garage floor as the floor for the mud room?"

One would fasten the floor joists to the wall just below the door's threshold with joist hangers on the existing rim joist of the house. Then you would build stilts out in the garage space to hold up the outer edge of the floor joists and build a floor on top of the floor joists.

Next you would frame up the walls on top of the new floor. This is the standard practice. Install any electrical. Then insulate and cover the walls with drywall.

For more info

handyguys · 04-26-2010, 01:22 PM

Conflicting advice here.

I think most jurisdictions would consider a mudroom, carved from a garage space, and tied in with the house's HVAC to be considered part of the house and that it needs to be separated, from a fire perspective, from the garage.

I would build it as an addition to the house anyway.

I have considered doing this at my house. I'm not going to because I want the shop, er, ah, garage space. In my case I would only be adding 6 feet to an existing mud/laundry room and would utilize existing HVAC in that space.