Cyeazel's project studio...... planning and preparing

Yes, indeed, there are code constraints on this... This is one of the areas that I had to educate myself quite thoroughly! Each side of a door must have its own level clearance with no step up or down -- typically 36" in residential and I think 43" or something in commercial. The only exception is at the top of stairs -- a door can swing in, away from the stairs. This was a surprise to me -- I had always figured there'd be an exception at the bottom of stairs as long as the door swung away from the stairs. (It would have to, otherwise the door would bang into the stairs! :P) But, as I interpreted what I learned, there was no such exception. But please don't take my word for it -- you need to check with your building department so they can give you an answer based on the codes in effect in your municipality. Not only are there different model codes, but every few years a new version of those codes comes out, and not all municipalities adopt the new version right away. In other words, here in California, there can be two cities, each adopting California Building Code (CBC), but the codes could differ because they may be on different years of publication. Plus, government officials can amend codes to maike things more strict and/or spell out alternatives... So, even if I'm totally correct in my case, it may not be correct in yours.

Engineer coming on the 14th of this month. Progress!??!?!

Seems like! 8) Good luck! Hopefully you'll get the info you need soon after, holidays notwithstanding!

Well, I had the engineer out today. Went pretty smoothly. He told me that the joists vary in thickness and span throughout the slab so the calculated results will be given to me tommorow. I'll post them as soon as I get them.

Outstanding! 8) I'm happy for you that you're moving forward and I'll be hoping for good news. I can't wait for your next update! 8)

Thanks Keith. It's good to know that I'll be able to start more definite plans.

Okay, so as best as I can, I'll type the results that I received from the engineer. The name of the firm is K.ENG in case you were wondering. Any way, and I quote: "K.ENG's analysis has determined that the floor system is capable of supporting the minimum required floor live load of 50lbs per square foot throughout but has limited additional capacity. The minimum floor loading requirement is based on the mezzanine floor being used as an office and not as storage and is based on the IBC 2003 building code. However, one area, west of the stairs, is capable of supporting an additional superimposed dead load. K.ENG has determined that the maximum additional superimposed dead load that can be supported in the area noted is 28lbs per square foot. This loading is equivalent to 2" of normal weight concrete or 2.5" of lightweight concrete." By the way, the area referred to by the engineer as "west of the stairs" is basically the area of the slab where the studio will be built. So it worked out nicely that this is the area capable of a higher load capacity. I asked him what his opinion was about the weight of a new slab plus new thick walls and ceilings and he said that that may be too much load. He seemed to think that I would be better off going with an alternative floor plan if I want to safely build new walls and ceilings. Anyways, that about sums up the results. I'm still anticipating the arrival of a signed and sealed letter (via mail). I was able to type this info from an emailed version of the results sent by the engineer the day after he completed his work. I just wanted to post the results here too so all you experts can see what I've got to work with too!!

Outstanding -- that clears up a lot of speculation doesn't it? :) Unfortunately, that means you're going to be limited in your options. From that, I'd say a proper floated concrete floor is not "in the cards" as we say. :( But, that doesn't mean the game's over. It just means you have a constraint that needs to be designed around. At least you won't wonder, "What if I had built a floating concrete slab?" The answer is clear -- flattened office workers! :lol: We'll help you get through this. Bravo for sticking to it and getting your document. What was the price tag? --Keith :mrgreen:

If you have enough floor space to leave wider air gaps in walls, and enough headroom to use a bit taller floor spacers, you can still do a good job of isolating. For instance, a few more inches of air/insulation in the walls, coupled with 2 layers of 5/8 wallboard and Green Glue - then, 2x6 frame on elastomer pucks (gives 6" air/insulation gap in the floor) and only 2" of concrete, and you should be well within load specs. I don't have time to calculate the approximate end result ATM, but don't think it will suck too much... Steve BTW, remind me how thick the existing concrete floor is again?

Hey guys, thanks for checking in. I gotta go to bed so sorry to be short. Keith, the price for the analysis was 750$ Steve, the existing slab is 3 inches with steel reinforcement. Can't wait to get movin on this!

Keith, I couldn't agree more about your comment when you said "At least you won't wonder, what if I floated a concrete slab." Peace of mind is a great thing to have. Anyway, I've almost completed a sketch with sketchup so I hope to be posting a version of it very soon.

I haven't crossed that bridge yet. I may do it myself, or I might have the HVAC contractor do it when the mini split work is done.

This may sound like a dumb question but, do I need to worry about getting a permit if I want to fill up by block walls with foam? If I can get a jump start on this then I'd like to because I feel like it's gonna take a while. Also, it will give me a head start on the project while I'm still working on all the other aspects that require a lot of planning.

Ask your municipal building department. :)

Yeah, I figured I'd check here first seeing as how my towns building dept doesn't seem to care all that much about what goes on here. Oh well, I guess I'll try again.

I know you're still understandably frustrated about their not having the design documents for your building after all those years. In truth, they probably have minimal documentation for it someplace, perhaps on microfiche... but surely not all the blueprints and stuff. Many municipalities' building departments have Web sites with content that describes when permits are required and when they are not. If they don't, they have phones, and one of their responsibilities is to answer an endless plethora of "Does this require a permit?" calls. I actually think there's more consistency across the country in terms of what does and does not require a permit. There may be variations in how seriously those requirements are followed or enforced. Even here in California, I am one of the few homeowners who takes the requirement seriously. Adding foam insulation to some hollow blocks may not require a permit. It's best to ask so that you're sure -- especially since you know you'll have inspectors coming onto the property in the not-too-distant future and you wouldn't want them to see evidence of work done without a permit that required one. That's just asking for trouble! :-) --Keith :mrgreen:

It's not that they didn't have any drawings, it's just that everytime I try and talk to them, they say, "We'll get back to you" and I never hear back from them. I know you are right Keith, I guess I'm just looking and hoping for all possilbe ways to avoid dealing with them (the city). Oh well, what can you do.

Sounds like your building department are a bunch of losers... :-( Mine appear not to be... so far anyway! :roll:

It's just frustrating when I repeatedly attempt to do the right thing by contacting them but never get any answers in return. I'm about to lose my mind. I called the building dept again this morning and got the same answer "I'll have Bill(or whatever his name is) give you a call back tommorow."

...and then you're probably holding your tongue and/or hesitant to escalate matters to supervisors/managers for fear of being labeled a troublemaker and being treated unfairly in your dealings with them. Perhaps a combination of utmost persistency and utmost kindness will get the gears moving over there. Good luck!

I hope so. :wink:

Hey Cyeazel I've been following your thread... Hope things get better for you on the "city's" part. But you know what? Remember your "Signature" line...(the last line in all your posts) Can't get any better help than that! :D Stan

Thanks for the reminder. Maybe my timing and His are a little different sometimes. :)

Hey cyeazel -- I just referenced your thread in this one, and in so doing, I realized you haven't posted in it for a while. In fact, this is the first post in it in all of 2006! :shock: What's the latest? You can't leave us hanging like this... ;-) --Keith :mrgreen:

Hey Keith. Yeah, haven't posted in a while. I've been busy slaving over my 3d drawing for consultation with Knightfly. Since having someone come out in person to scope the place out for me is kind of out of my budget range, I figure the next best thing is a highly detailed 3d drawing to reference while consulting over the phone with Knightfly. I may have put to much time and detail into some areas but I just don't want to leave anything out. Your project is coming along nicely. It is great to see everybody's projects develope like they are.