Replies

1. 
   rez | Jun 11, 2005 10:02pm | #1

   Greetings Joshua,

   This post, in response to your question, will bump the thread through the 'recent discussion' listing again.

   Perhaps it will catch someones attention that can help you with advice.

   Cheers

   A person with no sense of humor about themselves is fullashid
   
   

    

2. 
   FastEddie1 | Jun 11, 2005 10:19pm | #2

   Is the mudroom on the main floor?  So there's nothing but a dirt crawl space below it?  I think the biggest problem will be the weight opf the rock.  You would need to build some kind of foundsation to hold it and keep it from sinking under it's own weight.

   Have you considered talking with a good stone yard or tile wholesaler to see if someone sells thin sections of that stone?    You could grout it with normal sanded grout, I would think.

    

   I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.

1. 
   JoshuaGordon | Jun 12, 2005 10:58pm | #4

   There's no crawl-space below this -- it is just on the earth. I have been told by the stone yard not to use stone indoors becasue no matter what I do they say it will be permanently dusty. But because stone is nearly free, and because it's right on the earth, I would avoid the costs of having to put in joists, subfloor, etc. Would stone-dust harden so that it would not be always dusty? Thanks for the suggstions.

1. 
   DANL | Jun 13, 2005 01:36am | #5

   I wasn't thinking about dust--maybe filling joints with grout would be better than using stone dust. There are sealers that I would think you could apply to reduce the dusting from the stone--like concrete sealer. It seems like the stone wouldn't sink too deep because the inside of your house will always be pretty dry and the surface area of the stones should distribute the load.

1. 
   FastEddie1 | Jun 13, 2005 02:27am | #6

   I agree.  However, I would set the stones about an inch higher than the rest of the floor, and ramp up with reducer strips, so if it should settle a little it would not go below flush.

    I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.

1. 
   DANL | Jun 13, 2005 03:27pm | #7

   Good point. One good thing is that if I remember right, they said the mudroom was a step or two down from the rest of the house, so if it settles, it's only a small problem (steps may need to be shimmed and such)--just so you don't have to step down too far from the threshold into the house. Since it is a mudroom, and it's currently a dirt floor, it's not like they can go too far wrong! If it doesn't work, try something else! ('Course it's easy for me to say that about someone else's house!)

   (That's the advantage with my house--it was built so messed up and then my wife's ex generally messed it up even more, so whatever I do is an improvement, even if it's not perfect (and it never is!).) "Show me a man who hasn't made a mistake, and I'll show you a man who hasn't done anything."--Teddy Roosevelt

3. 
   DANL | Jun 12, 2005 12:03am | #3

   If you are truly saying the floor is dirt, as in just topsoil scraped away and thats the floor, I would wonder if you could put stone dust down, vibrate it (or maybe not--may shake the house too much) and lay your stone on top, then sweep more stone dust into the joints between. Just like you'd do for a walk or patio outside.

4. 
   CapnMac | Jun 13, 2005 09:33pm | #8

   Probably the best bet would be to treat your "floor" the same as a pation or other exterior application.

   I'm thinking that a pit of portland cement added to the stone dust to "grout" the joints, might stabilize a bit after a bit of wetting down.

   Or, as it's "just" a mud room, just sweep it as needed, and have a mat between it and the door to the house.

   Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
5. 
   frenchy | Jun 13, 2005 10:47pm | #9

   Joshua,

        Stone would always be cool/cold underfoot..  the earth is at 55 degree and if you walk on something that is 55 degrees you will get a chill plus it will soon cause your legs to ache.. In the winter with no footings I suspect there would be a major frost issue not to mention the difficulty of keeping stones level as the ground heaves ..

     Yes you could lay stone down then sweep some morter between the stones and using a sprinkler dampen the mortor enough to make the floor (solid).    Maybe if you layed a bed of dry premixed morter and swept morter between the stones you could have  a semi legal floor out of it..

     But trust me your legs will hate you!

6. 
   DANL | Jun 13, 2005 10:58pm | #10

   I understand what Frenchy is telling you about cold and "no give" to a stone floor, but it is only a mudroom, so how much of a problem can it be? I also think the heat ofthe house will keep the ground from freezing under the mudroom, so frost heave shouldn't be a problem either.

1. 
   JoshuaGordon | Jun 14, 2005 12:06am | #11

   Frost is NOT a problem. The foundation is fully insulated.