Hi Fellow Users,

Working on finalizing details for my new construction build in Wisconsin zone 6B.  I’d like to have the garage to house transition be flush for future accessibility as this will be a long-term residence.  The floor trusses are 20″ high, so there will be approx (20″ + 1.5″ sill, plus 1.5″ subfloor and flooring) 23″ of vertical difference.

I’ve seen two ways of making this transition.

1.  Pour taller foundation walls at the house to garage transition to that floor assembly can be pocketed and garage floor would be poured flush to the top of the wall.  This is probably best practice, but in reality it gets expensive.  A 9′ basement wall becomes an 11′ wall, and since there is a brick ledge involved it’s a tall and thick wall, which is expensive.

2.  Set the height of the garage walls 24″ higher than the main foundation walls to make up the difference.  This is what’s done most commonly in my area since it’s cheaper.  The problem is that the box sill area in the garage has gravel and concrete against it.  Most builders install ice/water barrier to protect the framing, but it makes me uneasy.  You’re also left with a weird grade transition at the outside of the house because the ground grade is 24″ lower than the garage floor.

3.  I was thinking of detailing it for a hybrid by pouring a standard 9′ wall and having a mason install (3) courses of 8″ block to add the extra height.  If the house foundation is 12″ thick, and they laid up the extra  height with a 4″ block, I would have a built in brick to the outside and inside if the block was centered on the foundation.  The concern here is the transition between the poured concrete wall and block wall would need to be well sealed to prevent water entry.  It may turn out to be around the same price.

Anyone have any experience or thought on this detail?