# stone slab ceiling



## bighat (Aug 29, 2015)

I have a small room off my basement that was used for storage before I bought the house. It is weatherproof, and the floor has been cemented and sealed like the rest of the basement. What scares me is the fact there is what looks like a giant stone slab hovering over your head as a ceiling. Is this going to break at somepoint and crush whomever is underneath?


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## slownsteady (Aug 29, 2015)

I'm not sure. let me consult my tarot cards.


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## bud16415 (Aug 30, 2015)

bighat said:


> I have a small room off my basement that was used for storage before I bought the house. It is weatherproof, and the floor has been cemented and sealed like the rest of the basement. What scares me is the fact there is what looks like a giant stone slab hovering over your head as a ceiling. Is this going to break at somepoint and crush whomever is underneath?


 

A photo would help a lot.


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## nealtw (Aug 30, 2015)

Welcome to the site. I think we have some non believers here, we will need to know what is holding it up and the size of it and what is over it.


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## slownsteady (Aug 30, 2015)

bighat. I hope i didn't scare you off. But the point is a little more detail is helpful.


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## nealtw (Aug 30, 2015)

Sounds a little like the bonus room we put under garages, concrete.


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## bighat (Aug 31, 2015)

bud16415 said:


> A photo would help a lot.



I will get a picture either tonight, or tomorrow and will post it up


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## bighat (Aug 31, 2015)

nealtw said:


> Welcome to the site. I think we have some non believers here, we will need to know what is holding it up and the size of it and what is over it.


 Well the room itself is 7x5feet. The walls are your usual stone walls you would find in a old house. I can't tell how big the rock is. But I can tell you it covers the whole 5x7 room. It also has a perfectly round hole in it.... Thinking maybe it was used as a coalroom/firewood. Which would make sense, the house is heated by wood. 



slownsteady said:


> bighat. I hope i didn't scare you off. But the point is a little more detail is helpful.





nealtw said:


> Sounds a little like the bonus room we put under garages, concrete.


what is the purpose of this "bonus room"?


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## nealtw (Aug 31, 2015)

It no longer sounds like a bonus room. Bonus room or bunker is under the garage and is often used for a movie room, the ceiling is a concrete slab.
How big is the hole in your stone and how thick is it?


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## mudmixer (Sep 1, 2015)

It almost sounds like a well pit built on the side of a house. The hole may be for access or ability to pull the well pipe.

I also do not think it is a "stone", but is a concrete slab that was poured in place and is attached to walls supporting it.

Nobody in their right mind would pay for a stone slab that size? - Must be concrete because that is the standard method.

I doubt there is likelihood that the big "stone" will even fall like the sky did in the old nursery rhyme.

Dick


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## bighat (Sep 1, 2015)

nealtw said:


> It no longer sounds like a bonus room. Bonus room or bunker is under the garage and is often used for a movie room, the ceiling is a concrete slab.
> How big is the hole in your stone and how thick is it?


I would say its probably 3-4inches thick.



mudmixer said:


> It almost sounds like a well pit built on the side of a house. The hole may be for access or ability to pull the well pipe.
> 
> I also do not think it is a "stone", but is a concrete slab that was poured in place and is attached to walls supporting it.
> 
> ...


Maybe... might be what is was used for before town water came through.
well the house was built in the 1886, and the person who built it had no problem with spending money.... and it just really looks and feels like stone.

Heres a picture: 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			









Not the greatest pictures, isn't very much light.


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## nealtw (Sep 1, 2015)

Like nothing I have ever seen. T^o me it looks like concrete and then someone dug out the dirt under it.
It will be hard for anyone to say it is safe below. Perhaps a geo-tech engineer should have a look at it.


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## bighat (Sep 1, 2015)

nealtw said:


> Like nothing I have ever seen. T^o me it looks like concrete and then someone dug out the dirt under it.
> It will be hard for anyone to say it is safe below. Perhaps a geo-tech engineer should have a look at it.



Well I don't know if I want to go through that much trouble... I am thinking I will just leave alone. Its not really big enough to do much with it anyways. Will just lock the door and forget about it until I need to worry about it.

Thanks for the help though! I learned about "bonus rooms" and wish I had one now.


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## slownsteady (Sep 1, 2015)

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bek6nQGw520[/ame]


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## nealtw (Sep 1, 2015)

bighat said:


> Well I don't know if I want to go through that much trouble... I am thinking I will just leave alone. Its not really big enough to do much with it anyways. Will just lock the door and forget about it until I need to worry about it.
> 
> Thanks for the help though! I learned about "bonus rooms" and wish I had one now.



Good plan and no you don't want a bonus room. Home owners and new builders go looking at other house and find some with these rooms and ask the builder of that house prices and they always they could build the house for $2k or $3K less with out the room. So now we have to deal with people who think it should only cost 2K to build.
After the foundation concrete is in we go in and build 3 or 4 temp walls, 2x6 12" on center and the 2x10 floor joist 12" on center plywood. 2  12 "grids of rebar. The ceiling wants to be flat so the concrete slab is 8" in front and 11" in the back for slope in the garage. Then they install a waterproof membrane and add another 3" of concrete for the drive on deck. Only after all that is cured the temp walls and floor can be removed below and the the house is built and the back fill sand has to be put in by hand and then the concrete floor .
The extra concrete alone likely cost an extra 7K and then the labour and adding 2 weeks to the build.


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## bud16415 (Sep 2, 2015)

Could you tell us or show us a photo from above or on top side. Is it outside or inside the house?


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