The one advantage to my recent enforced down time (broken ankle) is that I've been spending a bunch of time here on GJ doing some planning for a detached garage build. I've had this project in mind since we bought the house 5 years ago, but have not had time/finances/resources to do anything about it. My wife and I have decided that we'll be staying in this location for some time -- to make a long story short we can't afford to be any closer to work, so this'll do nicely. We're only 16 miles from our work and we do like the town where we live. So this summer we went ahead and added a deck to the back of the house, and next up is cleaning up the landscaping... and adding the additional garage space.
After reading countless build threads here I developed some real motivation and made some phone calls to the city. I now understand the setbacks to the property lines and know that I can build as close to the house as I'd like to. If I keep to those limits I don't have to do any special fire code work -- still need a permit/inspections no matter what, but at least the interior can be done any way I'd like. This also allows me to space out the building if necessary since I wouldn't need to finish off the interior prior to a final building inspection.
We have a bit of an odd piece of property. It's about .3 acres and oddly shaped. This limits a bit of what I can do as far as size and location goes. In the photo below the brown box is the deck we just added, and the yellow box is the current proposed location for the new build. To the east of the property is a church parking lot, and to the south is a school playground; the white rectangle on the south end of the property is a gravel area where the previous owners had a swingset -- it will be removed. The house has an existing roughly 20'x20' (internal) attached garage.
So here are my initial questions three:
1. What: My plan right now is for a very basic structure. As much as I love the more intricate external designs I've seen here, I'm assuming that a simpler standard structure would be noticeably cheaper to build. I'm planning on 10' walls if possible (no plans for a lift) with standard trusses and no attic storage, though eventual insulation and a pellet stove for warmth. Thoughts? Are my assumptions correct?
2. When: A bit more complicated is the issue of when. My wife *really* wants the landscaping and sprinklers done next summer. This would put that before building the garage. To my way of thinking that's backwards; landscaping goes after all the structures are done. The other side of this is the political points won by giving her what she wants first -- makes it easier to get what I want later. Your thoughts? Ideas to help bring my wife around? What could I do to try and get it all done at once (i.e. staging the garage build in an intelligent manner, just pouring the pad first, etc.)?
3. Where: The proposed site has some big advantages to my way of thinking. There's already a concrete driveway/approach done, it provides some privacy from the church, and it's using a space (currently a fire pit) that we do not and will not otherwise use. Does limit the size, though, as roughly 20'x20' external dimensions are pretty close to all that will fit. Anywhere else you'd put it?
On a side note, I don't mind space limitations. My cars of choice are small (currently an Austin Healey Sprite and a BMW motorcycle) and will remain so. I've also always got the existing garage for some extra storage and all the yard tools already have a shed. I'm used to tight spaces; the work on the Bugeye happened in one bay of the attached garage.
Sorry for the long post, but there's always a bunch of background information to get across at first. Thanks for making it this far, and a *huge* thanks to all here for the great ideas and inspiration.
After reading countless build threads here I developed some real motivation and made some phone calls to the city. I now understand the setbacks to the property lines and know that I can build as close to the house as I'd like to. If I keep to those limits I don't have to do any special fire code work -- still need a permit/inspections no matter what, but at least the interior can be done any way I'd like. This also allows me to space out the building if necessary since I wouldn't need to finish off the interior prior to a final building inspection.
We have a bit of an odd piece of property. It's about .3 acres and oddly shaped. This limits a bit of what I can do as far as size and location goes. In the photo below the brown box is the deck we just added, and the yellow box is the current proposed location for the new build. To the east of the property is a church parking lot, and to the south is a school playground; the white rectangle on the south end of the property is a gravel area where the previous owners had a swingset -- it will be removed. The house has an existing roughly 20'x20' (internal) attached garage.
So here are my initial questions three:
1. What: My plan right now is for a very basic structure. As much as I love the more intricate external designs I've seen here, I'm assuming that a simpler standard structure would be noticeably cheaper to build. I'm planning on 10' walls if possible (no plans for a lift) with standard trusses and no attic storage, though eventual insulation and a pellet stove for warmth. Thoughts? Are my assumptions correct?
2. When: A bit more complicated is the issue of when. My wife *really* wants the landscaping and sprinklers done next summer. This would put that before building the garage. To my way of thinking that's backwards; landscaping goes after all the structures are done. The other side of this is the political points won by giving her what she wants first -- makes it easier to get what I want later. Your thoughts? Ideas to help bring my wife around? What could I do to try and get it all done at once (i.e. staging the garage build in an intelligent manner, just pouring the pad first, etc.)?
3. Where: The proposed site has some big advantages to my way of thinking. There's already a concrete driveway/approach done, it provides some privacy from the church, and it's using a space (currently a fire pit) that we do not and will not otherwise use. Does limit the size, though, as roughly 20'x20' external dimensions are pretty close to all that will fit. Anywhere else you'd put it?
On a side note, I don't mind space limitations. My cars of choice are small (currently an Austin Healey Sprite and a BMW motorcycle) and will remain so. I've also always got the existing garage for some extra storage and all the yard tools already have a shed. I'm used to tight spaces; the work on the Bugeye happened in one bay of the attached garage.
Sorry for the long post, but there's always a bunch of background information to get across at first. Thanks for making it this far, and a *huge* thanks to all here for the great ideas and inspiration.
Max building height is 35', accessory buildings can't cover more than 25% of the rear yard. My existing "shed" is just a Rubbermaid-type cheap plastic shed, so I don't think that counts (and it's only about 4' square). It's more of a box with a door.
