Time-Lapse Construction of Mudroom

I started work on the mudroom in the summer of 2004 because, after putting a nice new cork floor in the kitchen where the entrance to the garage is located, I wanted it done before winter came and the associated muddy boots would be tracking where they shouldn't. The task was complicated by the expected arrival of our first child in August, somewhere around the 2/3 mark in the project.

Not being an architect or a structural engineer, I'm not qualified to choose just the right framing for the load. So I did the next best thing: I over-engineered it. The entire room covers a 12x6 area, though an angled door reduces the width at the far end to a space just large enough to hold a stacking washer and dryer. Supporting this are 5 concrete anchors, 4 lag screws, and two 4x4 pillars that "float" on the existing concrete garage floor. I suppose that last should have had proper 6' columns dug in to the ground, but I felt the existing pad was sufficient.

The 12' run of the floor has three doubled 2x8 and two single 2x8 joists spaced 16" and is covered by two sheets of 3/4" plywood making a 1.5" floor suitable for (future) ceramic tile. Some additional structure elements were added cross-wise so that it could withstand (hopefully) someone accidentally hitting it with a car. The walls are 2x4 walls with 3.5" spikes holding the bottom plate to the base structure (again to help it withstand being bumped by a car).

Water, drain, and natural gas were run from the house to the area for the washer and dryer. "Shock-stops" were added on the water pipes just below the valves to reduce the stress caused by solenoids slamming shut. Water has momentum and a sudden stop with nowhere else for the water to go can cause vibrations and even ruptures. These shock-stops are home-made and are just a vertical run of pipe filled with air (water won't compress, but the air will) allowing a more gentle cease to the flow of water. This was the first plumbing I'd ever done but with my friend Richard's help went well and had zero leaks.

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Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• time-lapse
• construction
• plumbing
• building
• floor
• electrical
• drywall
• painting

[fanjapanischermusik]

when you use this room like you said for keeping wet clothes and shoes in it, why have you done this nice "wooden" floor in it?

wouldnt it be better to use some more water resistant things?

by the way: nice job

[bcwhite0]

It's not actually a "nice wooden floor". It's the cheap laminate floor that was removed from the kitchen when we tore it out and rebuilt it (no video, unfortunately). So it wasn't all that nice but was freely available.

I had planned to put down tile and will do so before I put a washer/dryer in (already plumbed) as then water becomes a real problem. The sub-floor is doubled 3/4" plywood screwed every 4" just to be ready for tile. Piping for a floor drain is also present.

[bcwhite0]

Electrical outlets are often the biggest problem. The vapor barrier has to be sealed around the outlet so no air can pass from inside the wall to inside the room. A single unsealed outlet can reduce the efficiency of an insulated wall by as much as 25%.

[ojf2010]

why did you insulate the floor?

[bcwhite0]

Insulation is a tricky thing. Any gap (and I do mean _any_) and all the rest of the insulation is greatly degraded. Heat escapes through the floor just as easily as it does through a wall. In my case, there is an air gap beneath the floor, but the same is also true to a lesser extent for a concrete pad.

[squeegee15411058]

What, pray, is a mudroom?

[bcwhite0]

When you live in a country with a lot of snow (Canada, in this case), you want a place where you can take off wet and/or muddy boots and hang heavy clothes. We call that a "mud room". A house's front entrance doesn't usually have the room and floor protection for such... plus it's kinda messy.

[ViolentKisses87]

Its crazy what one snort of cocaine will do to people.

Anyways nice mudroom

[moxee33]

loved it!

[MARSAR49]

Sub floor before walls next time. GC.

[bus114]

Great job, great video. And by the way it took me a while to freeze at exactly the right point -- about 3:09 -- but it confirmed that I saw what I thought I saw. ;)