Fasten wall to tile floor?

[Andy Griffith]

I need to build a small (8x10ish) office inside our double car garage as my wife works from home part of the week and needs a dedicated space. I plan to remove this office when we sell this place in the future to move to our rural property because a two car garage is an important selling feature in this area.

I have looked into using temporary office type partitions but have decided to just throw up a couple of 2x4 framed sheet-rocked walls with a door so it can be secured, well lite, heated, air conditioned, and separated from the rest of the garage/laundry room. The wall sections are not that big and I will screw them together and to one of the existing garage walls. This way the wall sections can be removed when the time comes.

My issue is the floor of the garage is wall to wall 12x12 tile on top of the regular on-slab concrete floor. Can I just drill through the sill plate on the wall and then through the tile and into the concrete and use a tapcon? I realize there may (likely?) will be some cracking of the tile in the area of hole. Do I use a masonry bit to drill through the tile?

Thanks

 

[Falcon67]

I would brace the walls internally and secure the corners so that they form a good stiff solid box. Attach the tops to joists and just run a bead of silicone on the floor to hold it in place. The weight, corner bracing, existing wall attachment and upper fasteners should be plenty to hold partition walls in place. Then when you sell, no floor holes.

 

[josall]

If it were mine I would put a bead of silicone down and call it good, as long as the wall and corner connections are sound it won't move.

 

[ishiboo]

I would brace the walls internally and secure the corners so that they form a good stiff solid box. Attach the tops to joists and just run a bead of silicone on the floor to hold it in place. The weight, corner bracing, existing wall attachment and upper fasteners should be plenty to hold partition walls in place. Then when you sell, no floor holes.

Agreed.

Depending on what quality the tiles are (how durable?), I would put some rubber weatherstripping on the bottom sill plate, and cut all the studs about 1/4" short. When you install the wall, use shims on top to "jam" it in there so it doesn't move, and then silicon the bottom.

 

[rickairmedic]

All I can add is yep what they said no need to secure the walls to the floor if it is only temporary.


Rick

 

[56nash]

I know this may sound a little crazy, but 3M puts out a line of tapes with an adhesive system called VHB that are the strongest double stick tapes I have ever used in an industrial setting. They are strong enough that they are used for computer lockdown devices that literally glue a plate to a desktop and adhere the computer down. I have seen the tape rip the laminate off the top of a Stealcase desk before the adhesive fails. to remove the adhesive it can be done with either freeze mist, used for electronics trouble shooting or dry ice.if you can find a way of having a smooth surface on the bottom of your wall, it would be bulletproof

 

[MoonRise]

Note that there -may- be safety issues that have to be (or should be) addressed if putting an 'office' in a 'garage'.

Such as ventilation and air quality as well as fire code issues.

Depending on the exact location and layout of this 'office', you might also be required to put something like crash posts/bollards in place to prevent a car from crashing into the 'office'.

In which case it might be 'better' to just turn one entire bay of the two car garage into the 'office'. You'd still have to deal with noise and fume/ventilation and fire code issues, but you wouldn't have to sink bollards into the middle of the garage floor.

And if the "work at home" part means you might or will classify such space as "business expense" for tax purposes, then IMHO make SURE that you have the appropriate building permits for the space. Nothing like 80-100 ft2 of 'office space' suddenly showing up on a tax return to start questions being asked. As well as making SURE that there are no 'zoning issues', such as business license and business tax and the actual zoning itself. Cause some jurisdictions are mighty-mighty picky about such stuff. IIRC, Jack (yeah -that- Jack, of the Porsche and the also tiled garage floor out in Cali-Forn-I-Ay has to deal with some such of stuff because he has the 'nerve' to sit in his home and actually Think and Write for a living while living in his home).

As to a temporary partition wall, anchor it to the end wall(s) and the studs there and to the ceiling joists and caulk it to the tile floor. When it is time to remove the wall(s), you just have to patch some holes in the drywall and scrape off the caulk from the floor.

 

[wssix99]

Why fasten it to the floor? I'd just build a floating deck and then attach the walls to that. When you move, you can just brake the whole thing down like it was never there. (Or sell it as a whole unit.)

If you make allowances for a forklift on the deck, (like a pallet) you can just crate up the old lady and ship her off if she gets out of line.

 

[Andy Griffith]

Good points about not needing to fasten the wall to the floor for such a small deal. I tend to over think this stuff and usually end up over building it as well. I will look at using the silicone or the tape.

Thanks

 

[Andy Griffith]

And if the "work at home" part means you might or will classify such space as "business expense" for tax purposes, then IMHO make SURE that you have the appropriate building permits for the space.

Yes that's an excellent point. Though in this case she works for a large corporation and is classified as a, 'remote employee' and works from home three days a week, goes into the office two days a week, or works from wherever when on the road for business. I suppose telecommuting is a better description, and according to our cpa and her employer none of the typical business expense/write-offs apply.

 

[Nighttrain]

Giving up your garage? How about a shed like a Morgan? They make pretty nice little sheds that can be finished inside with sheetrock and a window unit. Throw it out side next to your garage if you can.

 

[burleymike]

I vote for using an adhesive like VHB tape or a polyurethane gun grade glue.

 

[ptschram]

While "I" would use my trust ram-set and nail it to the floor and replace the tiles when I moved, I'll agree that there are some incredible double-sided tapes available. If it meets DOT requirements to hold the mirror glass in the case for your car, it's good enough to hold apiece of lumber down.

As for the zoning, be careful as some jurisdictions will argue that any activity that you are paid for in a residential zoned area is forbidden. BTDT, too many times, Also, you'd be aghast at some of the silly regulatory definitions that are often applied. I had a city official tell me that my sister and I were not considered family members for the purpose of home occupation zoning regulations. My mother and father had a good laugh over that one. I have even seen situations where a church was forbidden to buy a house in a residential neighborhood as bible discussion meetings were considered to be detrimental to the community due to increased traffic and "Business" use of the property.

I had more traffic at my house when my son was a teenager than my business could ever have!

 

[6768rogues]

Assuming that you are talking about ceramic tile and not VCT, I would drill a couple of tapcons into the mortar or grout lines between the tiles. It will be easy to fix later.

 

[ishiboo]

I know this may sound a little crazy, but 3M puts out a line of tapes with an adhesive system called VHB that are the strongest double stick tapes I have ever used in an industrial setting. They are strong enough that they are used for computer lockdown devices that literally glue a plate to a desktop and adhere the computer down. I have seen the tape rip the laminate off the top of a Stealcase desk before the adhesive fails. to remove the adhesive it can be done with either freeze mist, used for electronics trouble shooting or dry ice.if you can find a way of having a smooth surface on the bottom of your wall, it would be bulletproof

VHB is great stuff, but pricey, and probably bigtime overkill. For a wall you could likely buy 2-3 rolls of regular double-sided and get good enough performace since the wall will always be pushing down.

VHB is what bonds the aluminum panels on Pierce fire trucks to the frame, and sticks many fastener-less (smooth-sided) trailer sides to the frames on many new semi trailers and cargo haulers.

I'd still go silicon.

 

[Mikerodrig27]

I know this is an old thread but I thought I would add to it. Tapcons into the grout lines. They have floor caulk that is colored like grout or you could just grout the little holes left behind. This would only work for 1/4" grout lines.

 

[rburke65]

Wow....I never looked at the OP date! 8 years old! I hope he has the walls up by now!