Bonus Room - over garage.

16 years ago

My garage is 10x20 and is 3 1/2 ft below the main level of the (Cape Cod) house. Above the garage is a bonus room which has the same roofline as the house (peaked but is a high ceiling) but the floor is also 3 1/2 ft below the top floor - so there is a little staircase with 4 or 5 steps.

The question is in order to maximize the utility of this bonus room - such as installing Califonia Closets - should we raise the floor to the same level as the top floor?

Or can anyone think of a smart way to use this 3 1/2 ft? For example I thought about the idea of a sunken bath and creating a spa area.......

How expensive would it be to put in a new floor?

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Comments (3)

ron6519
16 years ago
What you could do in the space has alot to do with the current floor structure and how it's supported below. Garages can have large, open, unsupported spans. Spa's and sunken baths are enormously heavy. Before anything like that was installed, I would consult an architect or engineer.
Ron
chester_grant
Original Author
16 years ago
So in the construction business do building codes require that bathroom floors be made of stronger timbers than the rest of the house?
ron6519
16 years ago
No, but that's not the point I made for your possible situation. Your, again possible situation, is that the open span of a garage might not support the weight of items you mentioned.
Is it a 1 or 2 car garage?
Are there an main supports holding up the floor joists?
What is it? LVL? Glulam? Metal "I" beam?
What size is the beam?
How long is the unsupported span?
What size are the floor joists?
What is the length of the unsupported span?
These are some of the pertinient questions that would need to be answered to determine project feasibility.
Ron