In my garage I have a nearly useless room that's 6'x10' but has this … strange shelf of sorts in there. When I went to bust up the drywall to see whats behind it I found out it's been there since the house was built in the 80s (construction adhesive I've seen before). I have NO IDEA why this would be done this way and was hoping someone could explain. Here's what I'm working with.
looking toward the front … (drywall is sloped from stairs heading to front door) hmmmmmm why a 2×6?
behind / under that 2×6 … 2x4s laying flat, 2x6s vertical, heading out front
mouse hole and 2×6 — not connected to garage wall
To the right is cinder block, to the left is the garage (2x4s and drywall), in front of this is the entry way (front of the house). I'm pretty sure I can't remove this, or if I wanted to, I would have to support the front steps that stick out about 5 feet before a deck starts. Is there any way I can reclaim this space and safely support the front steps? I prefer to do things overkill so if there's an option, I'd love to hear it! The steps out front are 4' off the ground, roughly.
Best Answer
Couple possibilities I can think of (hard to tell without looking at a floor plan):
Floor was built over a larger area and then covered over.
Landing or base of the stairs was moved, possibly during early construction.
Floor or landing was intentionally extended to provide a shelf for storage.
Joists are continuing to a load bearing structure (wall of the house).
Without being physically there, or reviewing a building plan, it's difficult to say how you can move/remove this structure.