Building and Construction - Help on constructing a new floor is existing house.

Author

Help on constructing a new floor is existing house.

Mike89

2007-02-27, 1:26 pm

Man I'm all screwed up here. I need help bad. To start, let me say 20
years or so ago I had a B1 General Contractors license in Califorina.
I don't have it now and don't do this type of work anymore. I was a
carpenter and built homes for over 15 years in the past so I do have
building knowledge.

I got myself in a big jam. Where I work is an old house that needed a
lot of work. We started with needing to replace the kitchen floor tile
(ceramic) and kitchen cabinets. As people in the building trade know,
remodels have a lot of uncertainty to them and take on a life of their
own. One thing lead to another (because of the condition of the house)
that we ended up having to tear out 4 layers of flooring and ended up
going competely to floor joist. Things got worse. The existing joist
was the old 2x6 that was not the same dimensions as new lumber and the
joist spacing was just a mess, some on 24" centers and some on 30"
centers. Ended up removing all the joist also and went down to
existing floors beams on piers. Started to get the game plan together
for putting in a new floor and bam, got busted by the local building
department for not having a building permit. Yeah I know, I was a dumb
XXX but the plan never was what it ended up being. We under estimated
how severe of a problem we had.

So now I have to submit plans yada yada. Being out of the trade for so
long, I am not entirely up to speed on what the building department is
going to require regarding this floor and the piers specifically.
These piers are the big precast concrete 12"x12" pyramid looking ones
just set on dirt, and some of those are in pretty bad shape.

Any comments here appreciated (I could do without the "pretty stupid"
stuff though, heh heh). Comments on stuff like:

Pier requirements - spacing, requirements of concrete footing under
piers information, fastening posts to piers, etc.

Spans for beams, etc.

Planning on going 2x6 on 16" centers for floor joist.

AAllc.architects@gmail.com

2007-02-27, 1:26 pm

On Feb 27, 12:32 pm, "Mike89" <mikeo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Man I'm all screwed up here. I need help bad. To start, let me say 20
> years or so ago I had a B1 General Contractors license in Califorina.
> I don't have it now and don't do this type of work anymore. I was a
> carpenter and built homes for over 15 years in the past so I do have
> building knowledge.
>
> I got myself in a big jam. Where I work is an old house that needed a
> lot of work. We started with needing to replace the kitchen floor tile
> (ceramic) and kitchen cabinets. As people in the building trade know,
> remodels have a lot of uncertainty to them and take on a life of their
> own. One thing lead to another (because of the condition of the house)
> that we ended up having to tear out 4 layers of flooring and ended up
> going competely to floor joist. Things got worse. The existing joist
> was the old 2x6 that was not the same dimensions as new lumber and the
> joist spacing was just a mess, some on 24" centers and some on 30"
> centers. Ended up removing all the joist also and went down to
> existing floors beams on piers. Started to get the game plan together
> for putting in a new floor and bam, got busted by the local building
> department for not having a building permit. Yeah I know, I was a dumb
> XXX but the plan never was what it ended up being. We under estimated
> how severe of a problem we had.
>
> So now I have to submit plans yada yada. Being out of the trade for so
> long, I am not entirely up to speed on what the building department is
> going to require regarding this floor and the piers specifically.
> These piers are the big precast concrete 12"x12" pyramid looking ones
> just set on dirt, and some of those are in pretty bad shape.
>
> Any comments here appreciated (I could do without the "pretty stupid"
> stuff though, heh heh). Comments on stuff like:
>
> Pier requirements - spacing, requirements of concrete footing under
> piers information, fastening posts to piers, etc.
>
> Spans for beams, etc.
>
> Planning on going 2x6 on 16" centers for floor joist.

You may need drawings sealed by engineer or architect.
I'd start by asking Building Department if they have a written list of
submittal requirements.
T

bambam@nospam.tnx

2007-02-27, 5:25 pm

On 27 Feb 2007 09:32:13 -0800, "Mike89" <mikeopam@gmail.com> wrote:

>
>So now I have to submit plans yada yada. Being out of the trade for so
>long, I am not entirely up to speed on what the building department is
>going to require regarding this floor and the piers specifically.

The best source of information is the building department itself.
They will tell you what the requirements are, how the plans have to be
drawn, and whether or not you need a structural engineer to sign off.

I'm sure there are exceptions, but most building departments and
inspectors I've worked with have been helpful --- tell the same story
you told us and I'm sure they'll work with you.

Good luck,

Ken

Jack

2007-02-27, 5:25 pm

Mike89 wrote:
> Man I'm all screwed up here. I need help bad. To start, let me say 20
> years or so ago I had a B1 General Contractors license in Califorina.
> I don't have it now and don't do this type of work anymore. I was a
> carpenter and built homes for over 15 years in the past so I do have
> building knowledge.
>
> I got myself in a big jam. Where I work is an old house that needed a
> lot of work. We started with needing to replace the kitchen floor tile
> (ceramic) and kitchen cabinets. As people in the building trade know,
> remodels have a lot of uncertainty to them and take on a life of their
> own. One thing lead to another (because of the condition of the house)
> that we ended up having to tear out 4 layers of flooring and ended up
> going competely to floor joist. Things got worse. The existing joist
> was the old 2x6 that was not the same dimensions as new lumber and the
> joist spacing was just a mess, some on 24" centers and some on 30"
> centers. Ended up removing all the joist also and went down to
> existing floors beams on piers. Started to get the game plan together
> for putting in a new floor and bam, got busted by the local building
> department for not having a building permit. Yeah I know, I was a dumb
> XXX but the plan never was what it ended up being. We under estimated
> how severe of a problem we had.
>
> So now I have to submit plans yada yada. Being out of the trade for so
> long, I am not entirely up to speed on what the building department is
> going to require regarding this floor and the piers specifically.
> These piers are the big precast concrete 12"x12" pyramid looking ones
> just set on dirt, and some of those are in pretty bad shape.
>
> Any comments here appreciated (I could do without the "pretty stupid"
> stuff though, heh heh). Comments on stuff like:
>
> Pier requirements - spacing, requirements of concrete footing under
> piers information, fastening posts to piers, etc.
>
> Spans for beams, etc.
>
> Planning on going 2x6 on 16" centers for floor joist.
>
As usually with remodeling the deeper you get into it the more work you
uncover. It is always a good idea to keep it simple (KISS principle).
Not sure why would you want to mess with the joists but I would put 3/4
plywood on the existing joists and problem is solved. Make sure your
mark your joists at each end so you know where to nail the plywood.
If you 'really' want to do everything by the book then most likely you
would have to demolish your existing structure and start from scratch as
Building Code changes and it is likely that your house doesn't follow
the Code anymore.
So my advice would be to nail plywood down 1/2 or 3/4.

Jack
JPro Construction

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