Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT 24 x 30 Gambrel Garage

[murd]

Since I've had work underway for almost a year, I figured I would start my main garage thread.

It's going to be a 24x30 with gambrel trusses which will have an 11x30 room upstairs. I got a set of plans last year from a local supply company and started looking for someone to build it for me.

After several false starts with busy contractors, a friend of mine's cousin said he could put in the frost wall and floor. I had talked to him in the fall, then one day out of the blue in May I got a text he would be out the next day. His company did a great job, and were done in just under a month. Here's a few of his work. He tended to arrive after I went to work and was gone before I got home, so there wasn't any action shots. I do have a ton of photos of the work in progress, but I'll just put the short version here. I'm told he's no longer taking on customers and are just doing their own builds now.












We had a heavy rain just before they finished up which showed a new underground spring coming out near the garage. I got the local excavation guy to put in a french drain above where the garage is going. I also had him do a little finessing on the yard. He was pretty busy and had his 19yo daughter tackle the job. She did a great job.


So this was the state of it last June when I starting trying to line up someone to build it.

 

[murd]

So in June I had thought I found someone to build the garage. Talked to a couple of builders. The first told me he couldn't start until the fall. The second came out checked it all, gave me a written quote and said he could start in a couple of months and have it closed in by fall. Sounded great, told him we were good to go. I'd hear from him once in a while, then nothing. I started to accept that it wouldn't be happening for another year. Called the truss company and had them delay production until the spring.

So, over the winter I dove into figuring out what I needed to build it. I lined up some friends who have built their own houses and garages. Found some deals on tools and materials that I could use. Hit up a few auctions as well.

Three weeks ago I had the first load of materials delivered and started on the framing.





About halfway through framing, an auction came up a couple hours away. It was a retiring bodyman's shop. I went without any plan to get anything, just to see what was there. I ended up picking up an old jukebox. Nobody bid on it, so I got it for a good price. It's a 1957 AMI H-120. Missing the dome and some of the chrome was marred. Got it home and had someone looking to get it from me right away. Packed it up and shipped it off.



Last weekend, the weather was finally calm enough to stand some walls up. I started slow, but by the end of the first day I had most of them up. I left the one with the double header until I had some help on Sunday. Then we went through them all and made sure they were all good.

This is where it stands now. Still waiting on the LVL for over the door. Also, going to wait on the sheathing until we're closer to truss delivery day.

 

[jarhead]

it's a good feeling to accomplish something yourself.

 

[murd]

Noticed one of the apple trees behind the garage was going to be close enough to drop leaves on it. So I figured I'd get rid of it before the branches were full. Used my little Dewalt chainsaw to cut up the bigger pieces and this pruner I picked up last week. It worked really well. I had the brush cleaned up in about an hour. I'll have to take it to the dump once I get my trailer back on the road, there's now a province wide burn ban for the next month, to help reduce pressure on the firefighters.

 

[murd]

Between the rain and other commitments, it took a couple weeks, but finally got the front framed. Almost anyway. I still need to finish the man door opening, but it looks like more rain today. Had a friend give me a hand with the beams yesterday, we also measured corner to corner and they were right on! The day started sunny and 20, by the end it was misty and cold, but it kept the flies down. Hoping to do the final adjustments and then put down the top plate this week. Then start sheathing it next weekend and arrange the truss delivery.

Didn't get a lot of photos of the building, concentrating on getting it done right.

 

[murd]

Weekend update. Had a great sunny Saturday, but had to go out of town to pick up a new car for the wife. A new hybrid, her old one is 13 now and not great for long road trips. So, nothing got done on the garage. Tried to make up for it on Sunday and got one side sheathed, then the rain started. I did run into a minor framing error, I miss-measured spacing on the studs for the back wall, due to the way the side wall met up at the corners. I'll probably add an extra stud in to have the osb break in the right spot, so not too expensive a fix. Looking ahead, it's supposed to rain off and on for the next week. Can't wait to get it weathertight.

 

[Robey5]

Nice little slice ya got there. …. May I ask - why “gambrel”? Will that be the name long term?

 

[STClurker]

Nice little slice ya got there. …. May I ask - why “gambrel”?

It's a type of truss, without googling it... Think about a roof line you would see if you were to picture an old barn

 

[murd]

It's a type of truss, without googling it... Think about a roof line you would see if you were to picture an old barn

Yes, that's it. There's going to be a second floor made from the trusses. It'll give me an 11x30 room upstairs.

 

[Robey5]

I understand the Gambrel type of roof line, I just thought there was a deeper play on words here. Nevertheless, I am enjoying the ride so far!

 

[captain14]

Looking forward to your build process. Pretty soon you can look outside from inside the garage when it rains.

 

[LiketoFix]

I love everything about your project!
I always loved the gambrel style roof especially if it's trussed with above storage!
LtF

 

[murd]

After an agonizing 6 weeks of no progress we finally had Truss Tuesday!

The boom truck ended up double booked and we had a four hour delay to start. It was a windless and sunny while we waited. Might have worked out better as when we started it clouded over and had a slight mist to cool us down. Only got a few photos cause there was other things to do. I had two friends with some experience lead the way, and another fella and me followed their directions.

Anyway, good to get back to it.

 

[captain14]

What’s your plan for the roof sheathing and shingles?

I’m not sure when the weather changes in your area, but I’m sure you want to get it weathertight soon.

 

[murd]

I think I'm going with steel roofing. I had to have the trusses up before they would order it, so they could be sure on the lengths. It'll take two weeks to arrive. We should be good temperature wise until late October, but September is hurricane season, so it would be good to have it sealed up for sure.

 

[murd]

Slow on the updates, I was away last week. I did get the roofing ordered before I left, it should be in next week sometime. We put the roof support system up before I went. We used 2x4 for the purlins, did the install over two days. The weather was great for it, sunny with low wind. The first day was slower, making sure the trusses were spaced properly and making everything as right as we could. We also got the upstairs flooring put down as well.





Since I got back home, I finished wrapping the main floor and got one window installed. Waiting on the
other windows to be delivered. This was one I picked up over the winter on marketplace.



And finally, here's a view from the roof. We won't see quite the same from inside, but close and yes a new
roof in planned for the house as well, next year.

 

[murd]

Had a great sunny weekend. Worked on the greenhouse Saturday, then spent all day Sunday on the garage. Ended up getting the front wall closed in, but didn't finish the wrap before it started our week of rain. The window on the second floor is pretty big (8x4), going to have to figure out how it's getting up there. Also, we're on hurricane watch for this week and it looks like rain for the next 6 days. The metal roof has arrived in town, just trying to get delivery sorted.

 

[murd]

Well, it's been a while for an update, at least this way I can see some definite progress, sometimes it feels like nothing has changed in forever.

I had the roof delivered and started installing it myself. Did a lot of second guessing and changing of the first few panels to make sure I had it as square as possible and was doing it right. Once we got going, I had a few friends help and over a weekend we installed all but the last panel. I wanted to get everything done on the far end before I move the scaffolding. Hoping to get to it finished this weekend.
It was nice to have it mostly dry when it rains.



Checking for square, did this a few times along the first side. It all seems good.




Here's the second side. We got the large panels done in one day, having 3 people there really made it go quicker.
Then a couple days later we did the smaller top panels and the top cap once we were ready for it.





I took yesterday and most of today off to work on the soffit and fascia. I hadn't ever done any work like this, but I was pleased with the results. Today I finished the back end and most of the sides, tomorrow I'm planning to move the lifts to the front and finish that up. Still trying to arrange a few people to get the front window in.

 

[captain14]

Nice looking bird box on that last pic.

You’ll feel a lot better when it’s weather tight.

 

[murd]

Finally got a few friends over on a weekend with some ok weather and got the last window in. I decided to lower it a couple days before installing as I wasn't sure it would clear the soffits with the trim. It was pretty high up, but we took it level by level and it actually went really well. Soon after we got it in, the wind picked up so we had to skip finishing the final roof panels and top cap.



So after work for the next couple weeks I worked on the soffit, fascia and roof. I wanted to get it done to get rid of the rented scaffolding.


Low quality photos, it's my old phone.

I decided to get the door installed for me. Found a guy on marketplace who had an opening in a week. He showed up with a helper and had it done in a day. Worth it for me to not have to deal with it! I had wanted to get a full window door, but couldn't handle the cost. Lol, so I went with two rows.




So here's how it looks today. Pretty much weather tight. The man door is temporarily tacked up, I kind of messed up
the rough opening so I need to see how to sort that out. I'm going to be starting what I can for the siding, but may not
get it finished before the snow. I need to get the yard cleaned up so the plow guy can navigate it.

 

[jarhead]

Looks great, really like the windows in the door.

 

[captain14]

Looking good.

Are you renting the scaffolding by the week or month?

I know it’s a lot safer than working off multiple ladders trying to do work higher than ground level.

 

[murd]

Thanks Jarhead, I wanted something to get some daylight in the front.

Captain, a friend had two lifts and I rented two from a small mom and pop shop. They were $10/lift/week, so not a huge amount but still wanted to get them back. I'll keep the two I borrowed for awhile longer, he doesn't need them back until summer I think. It was definitely nicer being up top with no reaching, just a pain to move and set up.

 

[murd]

I've been slack on the updates, so here's a little of whats been happening in the garage. I finally tackled the stairs in January. This was my first time building them, I made a template and that got me most of the way there, and with some minor adjustments it worked out in the end.

When I was getting ready to put them up, a friend mentioned I should get the drywall on that end up before I fixed the stringers to the wall. So I insulated, did some rough electrical and installed the vapour barrier on that end wall, then put the drywall over it.

Started with the landing and worked out both ways from there. In a stroke of luck, there's a youtuber (The Excellent Laborer) giving step by step on building a garage. Helped a lot with getting the details worked out.




Here it is after cleanup on the weekend. It was nice to get rid of the extension ladder for the second floor.

 

[murd]

February was a write off, but in a good way. We had a record snow storm that put down almost 5 feet in our area. We ended up waiting another 3 days after the storm to get our highway and driveway plowed out. It was a little nerve wracking as we had a Wednesday evening flight booked for South America. My plow guy did a quick job late Tuesday night and by the next night we were on our way. I'll just put a few here of the trip. Spent 3 weeks in Chile and Argentina. Drove over the Andes twice, spent a few days at some spas, then some time in Buenos Aires. Got to a couple of Michelin restaurants, had a bit of wine. All in all a great trip. Then on our last morning there we picked up Covid for the flight home. So got some more time off work when we got back.



A couple of cars still on the roads, there were many others I took photos of.




This was the switchbacks to get down off the mountain and into Chile. It took forever with all the trucks.

 

[captain14]

I have watched Josh on The Excellent Laborer. He gives good Infomation without all the extra razzle dazzle BS. Sometimes it just gets to be too much.

 

[murd]

Luckily the covid wasn't too hard on me and I could be a little productive with my time off work.

Got a start on the electrical, then put up strapping and insulation upstairs. I put in blocking for an eventual TV mount and ran network wiring.



Waiting for the weather to get a little nicer so I can get back to doing the siding. Finally finished the strapping downstairs. I needed help with that, there was no way to clamp the boards in the middle section.

 

[red]

Wow! looking good.
Excellent idea with the sheetrock before the stairs stringers. Lots of guys also install a skirt board too. (can't tell from pictures if you have one or not)
What type of insulation did you use between the purlins for the metal roof?

And that last picture of the switchbacks, gives a great perspective to what's involved.

 

[murd]

I didn't put a skirt board on it, I was back and forth on it, but eventually decided against it. I am planning to put a wall up on this side of the stairs as well. The insulation between the purlins is 1.5 foam board that I cut down to fit, I figured it might help a bit and on some early mornings you could see frost on the roof where there wasn't any foam so I guess it's working.

 

[red]

I didn't put a skirt board on it, I was back and forth on it, but eventually decided against it. I am planning to put a wall up on this side of the stairs as well. The insulation between the purlins is 1.5 foam board that I cut down to fit, I figured it might help a bit and on some early mornings you could see frost on the roof where there wasn't any foam so I guess it's working.

I like that idea, keeping condensation off the metal has to help in the long run.
Don't know why, but the idea of spraying foam onto metal . . . just doesn't sit right with me.

 

[murd]

I like that idea, keeping condensation off the metal has to help in the long run.
Don't know why, but the idea of spraying foam onto metal . . . just doesn't sit right with me.

I had also put housewrap on before we put the sheets on. It was a pain to work around, but the thinking is any condensation on the underside will run down the roof rather than inside. You can see it better in post #18.

 

[murd]

I took a few days off work and started on the siding. A friend had suggested I start on the back to get it out of the way. I managed to get that side done over a Friday/Saturday. It was pretty straightforward, once I got the staging set up and made some jigs for the roof angles.
I put a spot for the heat pump disconnect. Looks pretty large when it's all done!

 

[murd]

With the back done, I started on the front. I had an idea on putting an overhang over the man door. The roofing company had miss cut a couple of the small panels and threw them in, so I figured that could work. I worked out the approximate angles and lengths needed and built it. Using the pre-cut roof panel meant I had to work around it's fixed size. I had planned to have it be level with the eaves, but it looked too high, so I moved it down a bit.
.



Picked up some pot lights from Costco for inside, but used one here. Going to add a security camera under there as well.
The flashing I put on had a bit of a curve to it, made the whole thing look off level! Gave me a bit of a panic the first time I stepped back and looked at it. Once it was sided that went away.

For the next week I could only do little bits on it, but I managed to get the sides covered in with flashing. Took a few trips to the store as some of the flashing was slightly different colours. That was crappy to see, but I caught it early and it was good practice I guess.



Here's the final for the overhang.

 

[murd]

With the overhang done, I was ready to start siding the front. I was a little worried about how to match it all up. Especially the meeting area over the door. I used some string and line level to get a mark and measured down from there for the starter strip. I'm sure there's probably a better way to do it, but in the end it worked out.


I started up the right side, while I figured out what kind of trim to put around the garage door. In the end I went with the plainest (and cheapest) option, a fasia with j channel.



The spot above the door worked out great, everything lined up. I stopped there to pick up a light for over the door. The next day it went quickly, the window upstairs had built in J trim, and I already had the jigs for the roof angles.



Got to the very top, but had to move the scaffolding, so I ended up waiting till the next day to finish it.



So, now there's one side left, but I won't need the lifts for it. I'll probably wait on it for a few weeks. There's some other time sensitive things that need to get done around the yard.

 

[murd]

Here's a quick end of summer update on the garage. Finished the last outside wall in June. It was straightforward, one window, only took a weekend. I also finished up the backside of the little shed. For some reason I never finished the final bit of siding on it so I figured it would be best to do it while I had scaffolding.

Looking back at when I started the framing (May 23), it was just over a year of building. Now I'll have to get working on the inside, before I fill it up.

The last photo is from today. Started getting the drywall up in the upstairs.

 

[Jayman17]

Great looking place, nice work!

 

[murd]

Long overdue update, sometimes life gets busy and things get overlooked.

Looking back on my last images, I've almost gotten the upstairs sheeted in. Although if the weather is nice I tend to be outside or doing something else. Anyway, in the last year and few months I had a lot going on. We ended up putting my folks house on the market. They had been there for 51 years so there was a lot to clear out. Everything went well and we got it emptied out just before closing. As a result though my garage had to get finished inside and then filled up.

So, picking up from where I left off (approximately), got a load of drywall and insulation dropped off and started to finish the inside downstairs.

This was the state around Christmas of 2024. Strapping was up and most of the first floor was insulated.



Started with the walls, as well as filling in the upstairs and the floor between (on the overhangs). I wanted to put some storage lofts in under the eaves as well, that's where the uprights stop.



I tried to make sure exterior facing areas had vapour barrier and sealed with tuck tape. When I was running electrical I put
outlets into the ceiling switched at the front door as well as a switch upstairs. I also tried to layout the other
lighting I'll have in the area.


I had bought a drywall lift on FB that really helped when working alone. Once I got the hang of loading it up and manoeuvring it around the workspace. The biggest problem was probably the constant moving of stuff, cleaning and prepping the next work area.



Looks like I hit the post limit for photos. I have lots more to add, so I'll get back at it tomorrow.

 

[murd]

We had wanted to put a "cold" room in the back of the garage, under the stairs. Before I could do that I had to change some wiring. I had to open the wall back up and add a circuit for the eventual heat pumps out the back of the garage and wire up the room itself for lights. Once I had that sorted I started on the interior walls.


Hoping to have this area isolated from the rest of the garage, I used spray foam to seal it up.

I found a basic door on clearance that fit the idea, put the gyproc back up with the lighting in place and started to layout the framing.


This was pretty straightforward. Added a plug up high on the wall that is connected to the 'mood' lighting. Eventually insulated the walls to isolate it from the larger room.


Once this area was done I worked on the actual under stairs part. Again pretty straight forward. I did try to place the walls so the gyproc would go smoothly with the upstairs. We'll see how that works out when I finish that section. Wiring wise, I wanted to put a 20 amp plug here for the jukeboxes as well as speaker wire to the front corners of the garage for future "sonic expansion". That's the orange box on the left.

 

[murd]

This room sat for quite a while in this state as I dealt with the cleanup of my folks house. I was filing the rest of the garage up. Eventually I got back to it and attached and insulated the stairs, then put up some gyproc and finished the room. I'm Hoping to have it act as a sort of cold room for storing root veggies. Had to add a light to the one on the other side. That was a pain, but better to have it than not.


And here's the other side. Currently a mess. It's bigger than it looks in the photos, probably about 6x4. Once I get the rest of the garage cleaned up, I'll get to this area.

 

[murd]

So with the deadline for clearing my folks house out, I started putting the shelving up. I had gotten this from government surplus years ago and I was set up in their garage. So I had to empty it off, move it out and rebuild it, then fill it back up. It's great heavy duty shelving, built by a company called Corcan. I got it all set up and had to fill it up right away.



I also brought home the jukebox and set it up in its spot. This one is a CD model, the 45 will go beside it, when it's ready.