Dan, save the world and dopt a wild burro . soon you will have all your projects done and hauling all the materials up the stairs and down the stairs. those little animals the burros do it for a pretty small amount of food and a lot fo pats on the head. Lee
On Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 01:25:59PM -0400, Dan Rossi wrote: > Yes, you read that right, basement floor, not door. The door project is > pretty much done, but I do need to put some railings on either side of the > pit. That will come when I have more time, or after I fall into the damn > pit and break something, namely me. > > Here is what I have done so far with the basement floor. > > I took a 15inch long block of 2X6 and screwed it into the floor with > TapCon screws. It is mid way between the left and right walls and about > 7.5 feet aft of the middle of the basement. > > I then laid a 2X6 board on top of that middle block. The length of the > long 2X6 is such that it is nice and level, touches the block in the > middle and the floor a few feet out to each side. I then laid a 2X4 on > top of that 2X6 and it goes fully across the basement and just touches the > floor at the walls. OK, not true, although it is perfectly level, it > touches the floor on one end, but is a bit high on the other end, I > guess the basement floor isn't even from one side to the other. > > So, yes, if you have a 2X4 sitting all the way across the basement there > is, in fact, a three inch gap below it at the middle, and this is 7.5 feet > back from the center of the basement, where the drop is another three > inches. > > I screwed the ends of the 2X6 and 2X4 into the cement floor with TapCons, > and screwed the 2X6 to the cleat in the middle and the 2X4 all along the > length where it is in contact with the 2X6. > > The boards are all on their flat faces and the 2X4 is along the back edge > of the 2X6. > > I wedged in some various size and shaped blocks under the 2X6 where I > could and screwed down through the 2X6 to these blocks, just to help > stiffen it up a bit. > > I then did the same thing 7.5 feet forward of the center of the basement. > So now I have these two beams spanning the width of the basement and I > will eventually run 2X4 on their flat faces laying on top of the 2X6s and > between the 2X4s on the beams. Does that make any sense? The beams > essentially make shelves that the joists lay on, with their ends > constrained by the perpendicular 2X4s. > > I will build another beam spanning the width of the basement at the center > line. So the joists will actually run from the beams at either end, and > meet on top of the middle 2X6 beam. > > I will install blocking every two feet under the joists to help stiffen > the floor, and screw 3/4 inch ply over everything. > > Here are some additional plans. The middle beam will actually be split in > the middle, so that I can make a trap door directly over the center drain > in case I need to access it at some point in the future. > > The first block I mentioned is actually split in half and so is the 2X6 > above it. I will be laying 2 inch PVC pipe from that opening over to the > center drain. This way if the washer or furnace ever have a bad day, the > water will get to the drain without soaking the entire cement floor > underneath. > > I found that a ShopVac attachment will work perfectly as the drain > inlet. I will just need to make a somewhat water resistant barrier along > the utility room wall at the floor, to coax the water toward the inlet. > > I am also putting in a drain inlet just in front of the newly created > external basement door. So if we ever get enough rain that it overwhelms > the drainage out there, and reaches above the three inch step and begins > to seep under the door, it will go down this drain through a pipe and > empty near the main floor drain. > > I just cannot believe how slow I am to actually get anything done. It > just seems to take forever. I was impressed with the array of tools I was > using. I had a drill with a wood bit in it, a hammer drill with a > masonry bit, a small cordless driver to drive wood screws, and an impact > driver to drive the TapCons. Yes, I could have done this with two > devices, but would have had to keep changing out bits. > > I damn near lost my mind at one point. I had spent a lot of time lining > things up using a plumb bob hanging from the floor joists above. I only > have one bob so had to keep moving it from one end, to the middle, to the > far end and trying to nudge the ends without shifting the middle. I > finally got everything lined up, then kicked the whole damn thing as I > went to grab the drill and had to start over. > > I am hoping to get the center beam put in during the evenings this week, > then this weekend I can slap the 2X4 joists in place pretty quickly. > Cutting and wedging all the support blocking is probably going to take > some time though. > > Just to keep dragging this on, I decided to try something with the joist > spacing in a vain attempt to make laying the 4X8 sheets of plywood easier. > Of course it will actually make things much more difficult, I am sure, > just not exactly sure how yet. > > Since the basement is 15 feet wide, I could have either had one joist 8 > feet from one wall and 7 feet from the other wall, then laid four full > sheets > from one side, and then 4 7 foot long sheets from the other side. That > would put a single seem along the floor. > > I could have put a joist right down the middle, then cut all the sheets to > 7.5 feet. > > In both cases, you still end up having to monkey with joist spacing at > least at one place. And, in both cases you get a single straight seam. > > I chose to put two joists down the middle, each one is 8 feet from one of > the side walls and 7 feet from the other. This way you lay a full sheet > from one side of the basement and then a full sheet adjacent to that one, > but from the other side of the basement. This way they overlap and there > isn't just a straight seam along one joist. > > I then just took the empty space between the first joist, and the joist 7 > feet out, and figured out the spacing for three more joists in that space. > So the spacing is actually about 19 and 3/4 inches on center for the first > five joists, and also for the joists 6 through 10, but 12 inches center to > center for joists 5 and 6. > > I didn't see any reason to force a specific 12, 16, or 24 inch center to > center spacing if I was going to have to play with that anyway. > > OK, I've killed my lunch hour. back to work. > > -- > Blue skies. > Dan Rossi > Carnegie Mellon University. > E-Mail: [email protected] > Tel: (412) 268-9081 -- Cynic, n.: One who looks through rose-colored glasses with a jaundiced eye. .
