There a building in Brooklyn located at 500 State St. that has a slanted Floor and I would like to know the purpose of intentionally being slanted, it is not a settling issue.
It is currently a Zen Buddhist Temple that I attend regularly. As one enters front door, the floor is level for about 10' then it slants down for a drop of 18" at a distance of 45'. The flooring is 18"x12" Ceramic Tiles.
In a google search I found out that it was built around 1875. Originally a row home then in 1924 it was combined with the home next to it to create the 'State Street Chapel' 30' wide. By 1927 the Chapel was now listed as 'Ericson & Ericson Funeral Chapel.
It was purchased by Zen Mountain Monastery in 2000. The reason it is an issue is while doing Sitting and Walking meditation for long periods of time it is very noticeable and sometime uncomfortable.
Someone mentioned it is because it was a Funeral Home and so the body can be viewed better??
I have drawn the estimated dimensions on paper and I intend to show them to a Flooring Company friend that has done a lot of work for my house to get an estimate on the cost for leveling this floor. The dimension of floor to be leveled is 30' wide x 45' long, 18" difference in elevation.
Thank you very much and I hope to hear from you.
Lou Procaccino
proto
Apr 28, 24 3:31 pm
not sure I understand what exactly the question is here...
creating a level floor shouldn't be hard assuming no other doors open into this sloped space
not sure why a funeral home would provide a sloped gathering space -- it would make moving the casket (usually on a gurney of some type) more of a problem than a benefit
were the combined row homes not at the same elevation?
Richard Balkins
Apr 28, 24 5:46 pm
The homes were likely not built at the same elevation and so for some reason, they built some over flooring or something. I'd probably say, why not build a raised floor so the floors are level. Level to floors. Then some ramp or platform lift be added as needed for access into. This can be resolved more sensibly but not sure the reason for a slope other than for something like an auditorium space or something like you might have at a cinema or theater.
t a z
Apr 29, 24 10:06 am
Stadium seating!
Non Sequitur
Apr 28, 24 5:56 pm
it’s to maximize the feng shuay’ness of the lobby. Very important.
t a z
Apr 29, 24 10:10 am
To build up 18" you are likely looking at a raised floor system or a concrete topping slab over structural foam
Wood Guy
Apr 29, 24 10:28 am
Sloped for drainage, so they can flood the surface to clean it? A 3.3% slope would get uncomfortable quickly. Maybe that's intentional, so people don't stay too long. Or maybe it is a form of stadium seating, though that's not much elevation gain so I don't think it would be very effective. Or possibly it was done for accessibility reasons, to avoid thresholds at existing doorways.
I;ve come to the coclcusion the likely reason for this floor to be slanted is the first floor was used for cleaning and preparing the body for viewing. I've seen on the second floor there is still a cutout on the floor for the body to be elevated to second floor for viewing. The cutout is now covered with area rug.
There a building in Brooklyn located at 500 State St. that has a slanted Floor and I would like to know the purpose of intentionally being slanted, it is not a settling issue.
It is currently a Zen Buddhist Temple that I attend regularly. As one enters front door, the floor is level for about 10' then it slants down for a drop of 18" at a distance of 45'. The flooring is 18"x12" Ceramic Tiles.
In a google search I found out that it was built around 1875. Originally a row home then in 1924 it was combined with the home next to it to create the 'State Street Chapel' 30' wide. By 1927 the Chapel was now listed as 'Ericson & Ericson Funeral Chapel.
It was purchased by Zen Mountain Monastery in 2000. The reason it is an issue is while doing Sitting and Walking meditation for long periods of time it is very noticeable and sometime uncomfortable.
Someone mentioned it is because it was a Funeral Home and so the body can be viewed better??
I have drawn the estimated dimensions on paper and I intend to show them to a Flooring Company friend that has done a lot of work for my house to get an estimate on the cost for leveling this floor. The dimension of floor to be leveled is 30' wide x 45' long, 18" difference in elevation.
Thank you very much and I hope to hear from you.
Lou Procaccino
not sure I understand what exactly the question is here...
creating a level floor shouldn't be hard assuming no other doors open into this sloped space
not sure why a funeral home would provide a sloped gathering space -- it would make moving the casket (usually on a gurney of some type) more of a problem than a benefit
were the combined row homes not at the same elevation?
The homes were likely not built at the same elevation and so for some reason, they built some over flooring or something. I'd probably say, why not build a raised floor so the floors are level. Level to floors. Then some ramp or platform lift be added as needed for access into. This can be resolved more sensibly but not sure the reason for a slope other than for something like an auditorium space or something like you might have at a cinema or theater.
Stadium seating!
it’s to maximize the feng shuay’ness of the lobby. Very important.
To build up 18" you are likely looking at a raised floor system or a concrete topping slab over structural foam
Sloped for drainage, so they can flood the surface to clean it? A 3.3% slope would get uncomfortable quickly. Maybe that's intentional, so people don't stay too long. Or maybe it is a form of stadium seating, though that's not much elevation gain so I don't think it would be very effective. Or possibly it was done for accessibility reasons, to avoid thresholds at existing doorways.
or just flood it & stage naval battles
Slow news day, Google & youTube "research"
Funeral Parlor to Zen Center in Boerum Hill (brownstoner.com)
I;ve come to the coclcusion the likely reason for this floor to be slanted is the first floor was used for cleaning and preparing the body for viewing. I've seen on the second floor there is still a cutout on the floor for the body to be elevated to second floor for viewing. The cutout is now covered with area rug.