This all sounds plausible, except that I would need to obtain another residential construction permit from the D.C. authorities. I doubt there is a height limitation, however, so maybe this won't prove too painful an exercise...
The other non-trivial challenge is to persuade my sig. oth. (who is an interiors architect) that this is a worthwhile and esthetically winning project. Other than that, it's a walk in the park! So the pit digging option is looking better by the minute. What type of contractor handles this sort of controlled mayhem? On Thu, Jul 16, 2009 at 4:44 PM, Curt Raymond <curtlud...@yahoo.com> wrote: > If you got Rich to do it I'd give serious consideration to driving down to > help just for the experience... > > -Curt > > Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:49:25 -0400 > From: Rich Thomas <richthomas79td...@constructivity.net> > Subject: Re: [MBZ] Need a lift? > To: Mercedes Discussion List <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > Message-ID: <4a5f8445.6020...@constructivity.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; Format="flowed" > > Actually, jacking up the whole garage a few feet is not very difficult > or expensive to do. The only issue would be if there is a zoning > constraint (or the neighbors complain if you just do it). If the > structure is in your backyard, not particularly visible from the street, > and the houses are all fairly tall then another 4 or 5 ft or whatever > would not really be much. Poll the neighbors when you take them some > nice homegrown produce, and see what they would say to a higher garage. > > You could build the stub wall insert ever how high (say 4 ft) out of > 2x4s, the whole thing sized right, call a foundation company to come > jack up the whole deal (that would probably take about 2 hrs to do at > most), or just rent some beams and jacks and do it yourself. Then slide > the inserts under the existing walls and drop the structure back down, > tie it all together with nails and straps and whatever, then put on some > sheathing and be done with it. That's like a weekend project for a > coupla guys with some beer and saws and nail guns (heh heh, look I said > "guns" heh heh). Hell I might even come up and help you do it if you > feed me summathem fresh 'maters and hide your Obama stickers and such, > maybe take me down Wisconsin Ave/M St for some eats. > > By raising the roof, what is meant is to leave the walls where they are, > jack the whole roof up (new shingles and all) after cutting off the top > sill nails (so the rafters are still attached to the top sill, slide > your new wall inserts in, and have that on top not the bottom. Similar > deal, but you need longer jacks and posts and it would be a bit more > dangerous If it is a flat roof that makes it even easier. Either way, > this is like 16th century technology, so nothing radical involved. > > I was thinking to do that to my garage at the old Victorian I restored, > to get a 2nd floor loft in it for storage. (which you can kinda see on > the left in this pic > http://www.constructivity.net/images/70e_1982.jpg) OK I can see your > house on google, looks like you have an alley so the garage is way back > there behind some pretty big houses, I would just go tell the neighbors > you are restoring your garage or roof or something, jack it up, put in > some stub walls, plant some fast-growing bushes, and be done with it, > not like it would be a big deal or cause any major heartburn to anyone. > > --R > > > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: < > http://okiebenz.com/pipermail/mercedes_okiebenz.com/attachments/20090716/8ed15852/attachment.html > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://okiebenz.com/pipermail/mercedes_okiebenz.com/attachments/20090716/8f87385d/attachment.html> _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
