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-   -   Replace garage door with wall? (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=33429)

  • Sep 5, 2006, 07:03 AM
    the_nite_owl
    Replace garage door with wall?
    Hi All,
    I have a small one car garage that is part of the basement.
    I want to remove the garage door and put in a wall with a door so that I can use this area as a workshop and as the primary entrance into the house during the winter. The other entrances are either up the steep driveway to the front of the house or up the wooden deck stairs to the back of the house and both are hazardous in the winter so an entrance at driveway level would be great but opening a garage door is really letting out the heat. :)

    Currently my garage floor is asphalt layered over concrete. The previous owner just poured the asphalt in when the outside driveway was re-paved to keep them at the same level.

    I planned on removing the asphalt to expose the concrete under the garage door area and then building up with concrete or brick to get above the driveway level then build the wall on top of it.

    Recommendations on brick or concrete across the bottom?
    How high above the outside driveway should the wall be?
    How should the footer of the wall be attached to the brick/concrete?

    Anything else to watch out for?

    Thanks.
  • Sep 6, 2006, 06:57 PM
    skiberger
    First of all asphalt in a garage is a no-no (petroleum product exposed indoors) so its good your going to remove it. You may want to think about a quick re-surfacing after you remove the asphalt.

    As for the "curb", I would pour a strip of concrete instead of using brick. This wall won't be load bearing because you will still have the existing header so I don't see a need for a footer. Just pour right on top of the existing concrete floor after the asphalt is removed. You can use a concrete binder (liquid which helps concrete adhere to each other) between the 2 concrete surfaces. You can use 2x4 for the height and the width would depend how wide you want your wall. (2x4 or 2x6).
    Just watch were you will install a door. You don't want a trip step. Keep this area flush with the existing concrete and seal under the door threshold to prevent water from entering under the door.
  • Sep 8, 2006, 07:44 AM
    the_nite_owl
    I thought it was common practice to have the door above ground level to prevent water from getting in.

    By footer I meant the bottom 2x4 framing the wall, I may be using the wrong terms. I have some leftover pressure treated lumber from my deck and can cut it down to make a strip for the bottom where it touches the concrete.

    I will have to figure out what to use to cover the outside of the wall. The main portion of the house has old aluminum siding. Not sure what I can put on there to make it all blend in well and not look patched together. Will have to scout around Home Depot and see what they have.

    Any recommendations on how to remove the asphalt? It is probably 2-3 inches thick and has been there a long time. I have a feeling trying to scrape it up is going to be difficult and will leave a terrible mess behind.

    Thanks.
  • Sep 11, 2006, 04:25 AM
    the_nite_owl
    Prior to beginning the door project I have to complete the repairs to the wall on the left bottom corner of the wall where years of water buildup around the foundation there caused the lower couple of cinder blocks to break loose and drop out of position.
    When I dug down around the blocks to give clearance to pull them out I found that the whole slab running under the last (outside) block had cracked.
    The slab has about a 4" gap where it has been pushed forward and the crack continues across the 8' length of the garage getting narrower as it goes.
    I had a contractor come over to take a look and make sure what approach to repair I could take safely. He said the foundation is still very strong and should not be a problem.
    He recommended that I replace the cinder blocks and fill in the gap in that corner and then when I begin the wall build that I dig out the asphalt about 2' out from the garage overlapping the area the wall will stand and make the height just enough so that I will have a 2" slope from the wall area to the surface of the driveway and pour the slab to a depth of 6". This will allow me to fill the crack the rest of the way across the face of the garage as well as it is a perfectly straight line directly beneath where the wall will sit.

    I have not worked a lot with concrete but I will need to get this at a slope out from the garage but also have a flat area at the garage area for a 2x6 piece of pressure treated for the bottom of the wall.
    Any recommendations on how to get the flat and the slope in one pouring?
  • Jan 30, 2013, 01:23 AM
    AdManUSA
    I'm sure you're done by now. But I wanted to add something... I was talking to a guy who is a builder. I told him that a friend of mine had an attached garage that had a concrete floor that was lower than the floor of house by about 6 inches. He wanted to convert the garage to part of the house, into a den. So naturally it occurred to him to pour in concrete over the garage floor to raise it 6 inches, up to the level of the floor in the rest of the hose. This builder said, "Nah!" He said he would put "joists" on the floor (2 x 6s) in 16 inch centers and then just build a plywood subfloor. I thought that was smart, since he could also insulate above the original concrete. He said he also shimmed the plywood on the "joists" in some places to make his new subfloor perfectly level. And to make sure there were no squeaks in the new plywood subfloor. Of course, on the new exterior wall (where the garage door had been), he would have concrete beneath the new sill etc. And flashing and termite barrier and treated bottom board etc etc.

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