Convert Your Garage into Living Space |Raising the Floor|

[@maxrobinzak]

This was the best video. I loved that you explained in detail what you were doing and the music was calming and not overbearing like most of the video that I have watched. I want to convert my garage to living space and now I know what I should ask the builders to do. Thank you again.

[@kdocki]

What keeps moisture from building up under the floors here? I realize the sealant should help seal the moisture from the concrete leaking up but doesn't there need to be airflow or something to keep moisture from sitting in the subfloor? This seems like the fiberglass will rot out after a few years?

[@rod1147]

With time non pressure treated 2x4s direct contact on concrete possibly rot sometimes

[@geoadventure996]

This is how it should be done. Great video

[@guitarq359]

You make it look so easy!

[@GodseyKnives]

wife and i were thinkin of doin this thanks for how to . Question about the plumbing for bath room .

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

Nice, yes?

[@davinlindwall]

This series is super helpful! I'm converting one of my garage stalls into an office right now. Quick question. How did you attach your raised floor joists to the existing concrete subfloor @ around 5:00? I see a nail gun, but are you just attaching the joists to the spacers and not the concrete? Thanks for the help!

[@can-do_curran]

Very helpful! I have a similar project underway. Currently no egress/ingress from basement to first floor without using garage access -- fix: building a mudroom/access hallway from basement stairs to main floor. Issue is main floor is 17" above garage slab, and top landing (at basement stairs) is 8" above slab (minus 3/4 ply sub-floor). Thinking your design here might help offset the 17" difference by raising the new subfloor up by 7 1/4 off slab, leaving an 8" riser from new subfloor into the main level, after I breach the interior wall of course. Anyways, that's way too much detail, but thanks for the video and keep up the great work!

[@GLLHamp]

Awesome details! I guess the concrete floor wasn't sloped because I didn't catch where you leveled the floor?

[@604roger]

You didn’t make a video on building wall ontop of poured concrete footing. Need to see if you used PT wood for sill? And flashing?

[@Chevy_64SS]

Is it necessary to add foundation inside the garage with insulation? Or is that because you’re in a colder environment?

[@Emma-g5qe]

Hi, Thank you for this video. What drylok did you use? I see so many different ones. I am also worried about moisture so I am adding 1.5" Polyiso board under the joists and then fiberglass insulation in between. Do you think the joists need to be treated even if they are above the polyiso? Do you glue the polyiso down to the concrete or no? Thank you so much for all the info!!

[@NancyLeFV]

Best video. Very useful for me. Thank you

[@stevenpinney487]

Wait where’s the drains for plumbing ?

[@Zi.Zenior]

Great vid. Did you have to uninstall the subfloor in order to do the plumbing afterward?

[@spruce_goose5169]

Looks like good work, though I'm not sure using fiberglass here is best practice. Not in NH. You may have put a moisture seal down, but that concrete will still get cold and can cause condensation.

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

I hear what you’re saying, people use fiberglass in basements all the time? What would the difference be here?

[@spruce_goose5169]

@@BreakFreeHomestead using fiberglass for a basement wall is also not best practice. I'm not saying you're going to have problems, (the advantech helps seal things up) but I'm just saying it's not current best practice. Foam would just give more theoretical resiliency. Again, looks like solid work though!

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

Gotcha gotcha, closed cell for the win but it pushes into another price point! Thanks brother! 🙏

[@Rachaellittlephotography]

Rock wool is best - same idea but mould and water resistant

[@acobb8136]

You are amazing!!! This is great :)

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

Thanks so much for supporting the channel!

[@rod1147]

So your garage floor wasn't slanted for water drainage?

[@pacegarrick3575]

What is your final square footage & cost breakdown for this project? What part of the country are you located?

[@relatablyjr]

This video has helped me tremendously! I like how simply you explain things. I was gonna lay down plastic to "seal" the cement but now see that would have been wrong! I am doing the same thing but one of my walls is the original external brick wall of the house and I have a much higher gap if I raise the floor. from floor to door plate is 16". Can I still do it this way and basically double the box frame?

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

Im glad its helped give you some ideas! Yeah thats a huge way to raise it, you could double it just make sure that the frames are locked in real tight to prevent shifting.

[@cindyspohn8407]

Great videos. Very helpful! Do you use treated lumber for floor framing?

[@samsaucedo7798]

Since garage floors slope, how did you make the sleeper floor level?

[@timmills4035]

I’m working through this now. Using shims to level and plan to use Simpson ties to help secure it

[@derpherpp]

What’s the different doing this versus using block and raise the floor with concrete. I have a feel wood is for temporary

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

I wouldn't see an issue if you wanted to do it with concrete. I don't see how this wood framed floor would be temporary?

[@johnrebelo6688]

Do you need to use pt on the concrete floor,since you used ugl??also should I use a vapor barrier ontop of the ugl??

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

Probably not, but it doesnt hurt. Most places pt is barley any more than kd now days. Just heavier 😌

[@calltheambulanceband]

What type of subfloor did you use ? Is it OSB? Was it tongue and groove? Renovating a carport now into living space. With price of ply wood. Hoping you can recommend this osb as it’s about half the price of plywood

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

This is Advantch 23/32 and it is a tongue and groove OSB. This will be the best possible floor you can buy and will be more than plywood.

[@budsboards5478]

No sub floor glue on the floor joists before the tongue and grove?

[@ahanna4396]

Why are you using compress wood?

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

Are you talking about the advantech? It's superior to plywood.

[@jessicook-knight4063]

I have a sunken living room I would like to raise up 6 inches but the doors are not elevated like yours. How should I address this if I were to raise my floors 6 inches to be in line with the rest of my house? Thanks in advance!

[@GarlicClove-k3t]

You will have raise the doors. Remove the doors/frame. Remove the drywall above it to the desired height. Remove the studs, reframe, re drywall, reinstall the door.

[@trevscott93]

I might have missed it, but are the joists treated? My experience is telling me no need for treated with the sealer on there, but I wanted to verify. They look treated though.

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

Yes they are. So last second i decided to insulate the floor, then had an oh shit moment that i probably should ass the sealer. So the wood was already there. No harm

[@trevscott93]

@@BreakFreeHomestead I’m in the middle of doing this in my garage. Now I have a decent slope. I used 2x2s One end is on the ground and the other end is raised 1.5”. The new joists are 13’ in length. One 8’ piece and one 5’ piece. I will be putting down 3/4” osb subflooring. My question to you is what distances should I put supports between the garage floor and joist? I currently have them on the end and middle of the 8’ both ends and middle of the 5’ pieces.

[@ralphstewart9117]

Floating concrete slab over crawl space. Was porch years ago, now enclosed. Need to raise floor 5” to match next room. Do I need to have a barrier between concrete and new flooring joists? In Georgia, so lotsa humidity but no freezing.

[@alvil3476]

I am converting my attached car garage into living space and need to elevate about 4 inches it so its even with my kitchen door. I want to know if its safe to use treated wood in this project. Can off gassing be expected and is it harmful since the vapors will be trapped inside the new room? Is treated wood even necessary if i plan to use a plastic vapor barrier on top of the cement slab before i put down my wood framing for the subfloor?

[@ralphstewart9117]

@@alvil3476 Treated wood will not be an issue. The chemistry has changed significantly since the days of CCA.

[@onbudgetimprovements]

Where's the toilet rough-in?

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

@@onbudgetimprovements it's a pump up toilet so rear discharge, we had enough slope to use it without the pump.

[@TheWBWoman]

Why raise the floors? Why not just put nice tile over the existing concrete pad? Is it only because the floor would be cold in winter?

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

@@TheWBWoman to have the floors at the same height.

[@TheWBWoman]

@@BreakFreeHomestead Thanks so not needed if one doesn't care about that.

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

@@TheWBWoman also consider if your slab is close enough to level/insulation

[@poppydogluv24]

Great job and video! Can you come do mine in Tennessee?

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

Thanks haha that would be a haul.

[@foamy2001]

Is there any need to account for a pitch on the floor?

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

If it’s that far off you might need to.

[@michaelgorman1080]

you don't use firberglass on concrete, not suppose to touch concrete, why MOLD

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

yes, we used 1400bf of closed cell on the bottom. 800bf was a bit cold on the first winter, so we added another 800 and it was great.

[@Rachaellittlephotography]

Great video. Would love to do this in my garage

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

You got this! 💪💪💪

[@richardmorrison6348]

When are you gonna rough in your plumbing?

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

The toilet is a pump up through the wall, so it was done after the floor was installed. The two baseboard heater lines at the same time, they are also the surface mount.

[@richardmorrison6348]

@@BreakFreeHomestead good deal I was just wondering. I like your work. Nice and clean, no short cuts! Keep gettin to it.

[@1863traditions]

Good video but you left out the plumbing part ( that’s what I really looking for)

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

Yea, sorry. The plumbing was a rear discharge toilet through the wall where the drain line was

[@keytothegate68]

Why not raise the garage floor with another layer of concrete on top of the existing?

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

That would be a pretty good amount of concrete and would take longer.

[@carlosfrancofeliciano6160]

It was required to raise the floor ? Or it was just a preference ?

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

Preference!

[@cf_designs699]

Double monster barrier in floor not good

[@holtrussell]

KZbin algorithms just suggested your channel and I’m doing a lot of similar stuff / builds as you are or have! Great content! Already subscribed. Question for you about window framing. I watched your window framing video and it wasn’t clear to me. When framing a window, does the bottom plate or sill plate have to be slightly sloped towards the exterior of the building to allow any water that may get past the exterior barriers to properly drain. I remember seeing a sloped sill previously and now sure how that is achieved (if it’s necessary). Is the sill board itself tapered or are the jack and cripple studs cut at a slight angle? Thank you!!

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

Thanks Holt! Some people add a slight slope, I have never done it. My thought process on it is if you have a spill I’m the window sill one time it’s not going to rot anything out, if you have sustained leaking into your window sill than you have a bigger issue at hand ya know?

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

I think they cut the cripples at an angle and not the sill, all though I think the sill would slightly stand proud which could be knocked down easily with a planer or power planer.

[@holtrussell]

@@BreakFreeHomestead I agree. I couldn't tell by looking at your video if you had angled your jack studs and cripple studs or not allowing for drainage (if for example driving rain somehow makes it past the external barriers. It makes sense to slope the sill, but agree it probably isn't fully necessary. You passed inspection, so clearly there isn't a code call out for that when framing. I ran into sloped sill issues on my current house when I was replacing the windows using replacement windows that rest on the sill as opposed to being secured with nailing flanges with new build windows. Large replacement windows can get quite heavy and when you are dealing with a sloped sill, the point load a window can create on a sloped sill can actually become quite tricky.

[@holtrussell]

@@BreakFreeHomestead Completely agree and I was thinking about that slightly proud pitch outward as well when sloping the sill. Interestingly, I was walking through a very large development on a weekend looking at their progress and I noticed that the window sill boards they were using were "special". There were a series of parallel small channels cut on the bottom of the sill board and the board itself was tapered (2x6 to match the rest of the exterior framing). So I was thinking I may be missing something when it comes to buying specific sloped sill boards (as opposed to angling the jack and cripples) but I have never seen a specific window sill board used. But clearly they exist as this massive development near me was using very unique / specialized sliced and grooved sill boards for the windows. It's a mystery!! Thanks for your feedback and reply! Appreciate your channel and looking forward to running through your other videos when time permits!

[@IdentityIAm111]

Do you travel to do these conversions?

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

Not very far, where are you at?

[@dougpeak7591]

I try ought that you said that your going to install toilet and vanity in garage where is the waste lines?

[@dougpeak7591]

Try to cut the studs always 1/8shy of the height so your not so dam tight

[@dougpeak7591]

Nice job it looks good . Lots of work you’ll be happy when your done . A lot more room

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

It’s a slab and the drain was behind that wall so just went with a rear discharge toilet.

[@skywalker6327]

How much roughly did this cost you in materials

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

This job also had a 12x16 shed and a 8x13 mudroom, I think this portion was around 27K with labor and mats.

[@DanFrigo]

was the floor level already or did you account for any slop when you made the floor? Also, doesn't floor insulation need to be R30?

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

The floor was level, i would say so if the floor was open to the outside. It being on the garage slab it was fine, considering that it matched up the flooring height to the existing house slab.

[@dbpool]

what about heat? and you're fortunate floor is level...

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

Right?! We tied into the hot water baseboard system, lines random top of the floor in the baseboards through the bathroom wall

[@WindermereAnacortes]

Plumbing drains?

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

The drain was directly behind the wall on a slab, both the sink and toilet go into the drain. We used a pump up toilet which is a rear discharge and actually had enough slope on the drain where it was gravity.

[@family2591]

Do you do work in California?

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

Nope

[@calltheambulanceband]

Thanks!

[@vidsbyme2590]

Too much math. That is why I would never be a contractor. Well that and I cannot saw a straight line to save my life.

[@BreakFreeHomestead]

Haha all you need is a good saw 😂 Yeah math.. Sometimes i lose sleep overthinking things 👀