Warning

 

Close
Confirm Action

Are you sure you wish to do this?

Cancel Confirm
AR15.COM
6/9/2009 2:00:13 PM EDT
I'm thinking about putting a raised floor in the man cave.  I'm building out in the garage so the current floor is concrete.  There are a few different ways I've thought about going.


  1. Powerflor: Ultimately I would like to go this route.  Unfortunately these panels retail for $40 per 18" X 18" panel though I have seen it as low as $9.95 per sf.  Even at that price it would run me $1300 so it's just not going to happen.  http://www.powerflorusa.com/


  2. 2x4 Floor with PVC conduit: Because my equipment will be on one end of the room and my desks on the other I thought about building a floor out of 2x4 and plywood and then putting a couple large PVC pipes along the length of the floor.  That way I could just use pull string to bring wires across.


  3. 2x4 Floor with trap doors:  The next idea was to build a 2x4 floor and then cut the plywood so that I would have trap doors that I would be able to pull up and run cable under.  The more I think about this option the more I like it.  I could double up the lumber on either side of the trap doors so that both the floor and trap door have plenty of support.



Anyone have any other ideas for me?

6/9/2009 2:10:31 PM EDT
[#1]
even though it is a dry area I presume, be sure to use pressure treated lumber against the concrete, or put some thirty pound felt between the lumber and the concrete. Call around to the local commercial flooring suppliers, and see if you can get a deal on carpet tiles, they go together nice, are easy to change when you get stuff on them, and then you have access to the trap doors (my favorite option, think storage and hiding place). Also wouldn't hurt to glue and screw the plywood to the framing for a nice quiet floor.
just m .02
6/9/2009 2:31:11 PM EDT
[#2]
how high are you looking to raise it? Are you looking to raise it a certain distance? or just raise it for drainage and to make the floor alittle warmer? If its the later take a look at Dricore. I have installed it before in basements, works great for what it is designed for and is easy to work with. http://www.dricore.com/en/eIndex.aspx

That power floor stuff is pretty cool though.

Hope this helps
J-

edit: I kinda re-read your post, do you not have access to the walls to run electical? It sounds like you are going for a raise floor so you can run electrical?
6/9/2009 2:35:20 PM EDT
[#3]
I'm just looking to raise the floor up off the concrete so it's a bit warmer in the winter and also looking for the ability to run cables beneath it.  Sick of seeing cables run across the floor in the current man cave.  I'm always changing something or playing with this or that so being able to hide cables is a huge plus.
6/9/2009 2:37:09 PM EDT
[#4]
Quoted:
even though it is a dry area I presume, be sure to use pressure treated lumber against the concrete, or put some thirty pound felt between the lumber and the concrete. Call around to the local commercial flooring suppliers, and see if you can get a deal on carpet tiles, they go together nice, are easy to change when you get stuff on them, and then you have access to the trap doors (my favorite option, think storage and hiding place). Also wouldn't hurt to glue and screw the plywood to the framing for a nice quiet floor.
just m .02


I will be using pt for anything touching the concrete.  Though I wonder if the felt option would work as well and be less expensive?  With the exception of the 'trap doors' I will be screwing and gluing.  I also really like the idea of the carpet tiles.  I may go with an anti-static carpet but not sure.  Either way I can go with the carpet tiles.

6/10/2009 5:37:35 AM EDT
[#5]
When you talk about felt are you talking about roofing felt that is soaked in asphalt?  Or is this something different?  Is felt going to be good enough or would I just be better off going with PT lumber?
6/10/2009 7:49:07 AM EDT
[#6]
use PT lumber for the stuff in contact. while the felt (roofing felt) would work, price will likely work out the same with untreated lumber and felt vs PT lumber. Why do two steps instead of one. plus the roofing felt could trap moisture (between the felt and slab)  if water does get in and cause a mold issue. With out the felt the moisture will beable to dry to the inside and greatly lessen the changes of mold.

If for some reason you are really worried about moisture soaking into the sleepers you could wrap the bottoms with visqueen, roofing felt or some of the icegaurd type self adheasive/self healing roofing underlayment. I personally would not worry about that thought, unless you know that you have major water problems, which in that case should be taken care of first before anything is built ontop of the slab.

Hope this helps

J-
6/10/2009 2:49:44 PM EDT
[#7]
Quoted:
use PT lumber for the stuff in contact. while the felt (roofing felt) would work, price will likely work out the same with untreated lumber and felt vs PT lumber. Why do two steps instead of one. plus the roofing felt could trap moisture (between the felt and slab)  if water does get in and cause a mold issue. With out the felt the moisture will beable to dry to the inside and greatly lessen the changes of mold.

If for some reason you are really worried about moisture soaking into the sleepers you could wrap the bottoms with visqueen, roofing felt or some of the icegaurd type self adheasive/self healing roofing underlayment. I personally would not worry about that thought, unless you know that you have major water problems, which in that case should be taken care of first before anything is built ontop of the slab.

Hope this helps

J-


The only time we've ever had water in the garage is when my wife parked an ice covered vehicle in it.  I sealed all concrete seams in the garage with silicone as a precaution though.  I'll probably just grab PT lumber and call it good.  I need to hit Lowes or Home Depot tonight to have a look at pricing.  The room is only 130 sq ft so it's not a huge cost.