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questions about enclosing my porch into a mudroom

17K views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  Marvin Gardens 
#1 ·
Hello all, first time here, love this site, tons of useful info.

I currently have a 10 x 22 open deck on my house, I want to enclose 12 feet of it into a mudroom, while leaving the other 10 feet as a deck ., the deck joists are only about an inch off the ground. Anybody familiar with code on this? do I have to dig the ground out farther? Can I just get away with laying plastic down on the ground before I insulate the floor? I live in PA.
thanks in advance!!!
 
#2 ·
I can fore see a lot of problems occurring from what you want to do. With out seeing any pictures I'll have to guess. Your taking a open porch and going to close part of it for a mud room. your floor joists are 1" above grade (Problem 1 )
Your wanting to insulate the floor also. ( problem 2) To close to grade.
And your thinking of putting plastic down over the soil which you think might help. Not a bad thought!. but can you guarantee that you can keep any water from collecting on top of the plastic, from snow or wind blown rain.
what I would be worried about would be the floor system rotting out do to the moisture that will be below the floor. The 1" clearance of the floor beams from the ground is the factor. Could you dig it out so to have more venting .
these are things that just come to mind.
Lets see what others have to say, and take it from there. Good luck BOB.
 
#3 ·
When I first read the OP's post I thought of similar things. I left figuring I would let others start it out...:)

One inch is not much room and air flow would be a problem.

Then I think about it being open to the outside world and critters getting into the insulation. Happens all the time.

I would like to see some soil removed, a moisture barrier that drains away from the new room, maybe a cap on the underside to keep the animals out, then insulation, and a solid floor either over the existing one or remove the existing one and put in a regular floor. Make sure the floor is sealed so that no water can get through it.

There is no issue that is can be done, just how to go about doing it.

I also had question on what the current joists are since there is going to be some more weight on it that was not considered when it was built as a deck. Things like bearing wall supports and so on.
 
#5 · (Edited)
currently the existing deck is brand new, I built it myself this spring. The joists are treated 2x10's on 16 inch centers, there is also a skirting that encloses the deck to the ground. There is not much room under there on the side I want to do this on, but there is skirting, I hate an open bottomed deck, it looks unfinished to me. I was going to remove the deck boards, box in the joists at the bottom with treated plywood, insulate, then put down a new floor (no deck boards.) The ground does slope away from the house under there. Also, the porch is on 4x4's, 4 foot apart, and I cemented them in, 40" or more down. The porch is also not supported by the house, it is on the 4x4's all the way around.

I sure am glad I found this site, a lot of knowledgable ppl on here. I'm not scared to tackle this project, just want to make sure I'm going about it the right way.

I could possibly dig out from under it some more, for a little more clearance under the joists.
 
#6 ·
Get the span of the 2x10 that you intend to use for your bearing wall. The plan should have the bearing wall go right on a joist or you will have to put another joist in there to keep from falling through the floor.

More than likely you will have to put some pier blocks on that one to handle the weight. I would say no more that a 4 foot span for any of the bearing walls.

Now why didn't you do this before you built the deck?? :yes::laughing:
 
#7 ·
i guess I'll just make it an 11 foot room, as there IS a joist in the center, supported by 4x4's cemented in, so that way all the bearing walls are supported. I guess the only thing I really need to know is the clearence issue below. I can dig it out, or not. Was just wondering about the code on this.
 
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