Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT I have no idea what I'm doing: A 26x26 shop build.

[odj]

Hello GJ -

I've been lurking around here for years, and finally have reason to start my own thread. This is my first time building a complete structure, and I really don't have any idea what I'm doing. But, I'm figuring it out as I go. Hopefully the process will be useful or at least entertaining for the board.

--- Some background ---

I've lived in this house most of my life. My folks bought it a couple of years before I was born, and rented it out while the military moved our family around. I moved back to the area (Maryland) for college in '98, and in '99 I moved into the house with some friends. That was pretty much the end of college for a while

Eventually my roommates moved out and my girlfriend (now wife) moved in, and in 2009 I bought the place from my folks. The following year, I got some quotes to build a small one car garage, but I ended up shelving those plans so I could go back to school and finally finish up that degree.

I've been wrenching on cars for a long time, and have made do with a Costco aluminum/tarp car port and a shed to store my tools. I've done a few engine swaps and almost all of the maintenance and upgrades on our small fleet of cars. And, well, have always wanted a garage.

Here's a shot mid engine-build/swap I did back in 2010:

And here's my wife's grandfather's 1951 Montgomery Ward trailer that I completely restored and modified to use as a tire/tool trailer:

As nice as it is to have *some* protection from the elements, and a little bit of privacy, I've been yearning for a space where I can work on some long term builds... and not have to pack up my tools when it gets dark or starts to storm, or any of the other sundry issues that come with working outside.

--- Back to the Future ---

This Summer, I started looking for builders in earnest, with dreams of a 24'x24' with 13' ceilings. Folks were busy, and almost all of the builders who responded to me wanted me to have permits ready to go before they'd consider the job. The one builder who came out to meet me, gave me a quote that was more than double my budget, and he seemed like he'd be a real pain in the *** to work with. So... I decided to start the legwork myself, and decide once permits were in whether I'd farm out GC work, or do it myself. I'm leaning towards doing it myself.

The first hurdle I was faced with was that I didn't have a plat or site plan. Nothing. The house was built in 1958, and the last survey of any kind available to the county was done back in 1910! The street names were different, and (of course) the house wasn't there. Even the lot numbers were different. I talked to a few local survey outfits, and settled on one that seemed to know what they were doing. A week or so later, I had my site plan.

The next challenge was locating the garage. I'm on a corner lot, and the side lot setbacks (15' from the property line... so about 21' from the street) meant I couldn't fit a two-car where my carport sat, without moving it towards the front of the house. But if I did that, there was a 60' (!!) setback from the front property line (the street in this case). So yeah, no dice with that location. The aforementioned builder recommended the back far corner of my lot, but that would require I cut down a huge tree that I'm rather fond of, and would require excavating into a hill.

I spent a lot of time deliberating and looking over county code, and thinking about my space from a workflow and use point of view, as well as considering existing trees and drainage and all that stuff. Another thing I figured out in this process is that an accessory building (which my new garage would be considered) could only be up to 15' tall, unless I had a room upstairs for "help." In the end, I decided on a 26'x26' garage plan from Behm, with 10' ceilings, and a shallower roof pitch to keep me just under the 15' limit. Good enough for a mid-rise lift with some extra space all around.

Here's how things are currently:

I used a highly technical process for figuring out the layout. Since I had a scale printout of the site plan, I cut shapes out of sticky notes to scale, including the cars and trailer. Once I had something that I was fairly happy with, I took a photo of what I had and overlaid it in photoshop to give me an outline.

This was an early "draft":

This is pretty far along in the editing, with the overlaid photo shown:

And the finalized site plan which shows where the garage is to sit, and color coded the structure outlines and measurements in red:

It's sorta ghetto, but hopefully it's suitable for the county.

Here are some snippets from the plans. Jay Behm wasn't game for editing his plans, so I used photoshop to put the man door where I wanted it, remove the windows, stuff like that.

The original rendering should give you an idea of what it was originally:

And here's what the elevations looked like after I edited them:

The county has an electronic submission process, and offers monthly classes for the process. I went to the January class couple of weeks ago, and was the only homeowner in a room of ~25 county officials, representatives from commercial builders, and a few residential builders. It was pretty cool, and I got a good bit of inside info, and made a couple of contacts within the permitting group.

And so, yesterday I began the process by submitting my account details and requesting priveleges to upload plan documents. I sent the documents over to the county permitting office to verify that I have all my formatting correct, and to see if they contain sufficient detail. Once I have them uploaded, it should take 4-6 weeks to approve the plans (depending on how many back-and-forth revision cycles we go through). In the interim, I'm going to start looking for someone to do my foundation.

Here's what the yard looks like as of this morning. Hopefully I'll have some updated photos in the next few weeks:

Oh, and here's the humble house itself, if you're interested. I got the siding and upstairs doors done this year. Still need to repaint the foundation.

From the back. Garage will be on the left side of this photo, and the font will pretty much line up with the back door... so you can walk out and be in front of the garage, and can see the state of the door from the kitchen window (and camera).

And a shot of the house from the corner:

Anyways, sorry for the long, rambly post. I'm pretty pumped to finally be making some progress.

Cheers!

 

[redheelerdog]

From the looks and sounds of it you have a great plan.

Your methodical plot plan and drawings are great.

One step at a time. If you know people with experience ask them questions, there is also a ton of information on the net on how to do just about anything.

Good job and keep posting progress pics!

 

[sublime68charger]

1 step at a time.

I'm on the 7th year on my garage project,

As time and money allow things get worked on and finished up as I go.
I'm down to just wintertime work on free weekends to get the inside of mine finished off how many want.

You seem to have a great plan going so far.

 

[odj]

From the looks and sounds of it you have a great plan.

Your methodical plot plan and drawings are great.

One step at a time. If you know people with experience ask them questions, there is also a ton of information on the net on how to do just about anything.

Good job and keep posting progress pics!

Thank you. I'm doing my best to keep this moving in my free time. There's so much to learn that every new thing I learn opens up an array of new questions.

One of my closest friends is a super for a commercial construction outfit, so he's been giving me a lot of tips and tricks as I've gone along. He's never worked in my county though, so I'm sharing my experience with him as we go.

There's so much info on this board that it's almost overwhelming. I had to really back off and distill my wants list vs my needs... though I'm not sure I really *need* most of the stuff I have planned... But I'm sure all of y'all can relate

1 step at a time.

I'm on the 7th year on my garage project,

As time and money allow things get worked on and finished up as I go.
I'm down to just wintertime work on free weekends to get the inside of mine finished off how many want.

You seem to have a great plan going so far.

Thanks

I've been following your build thread, and really dig your approach. Though I admittedly haven't been on as much the last couple of years, so I have some catching up to do.

You mentioning seven years makes me think that I really need to come up with a timeline and stick with it... In seven years this will probably not be my primary residence any longer.

 

[sublime68charger]

This is my long term residence so if my projects stretch out that's fine with me.

I should have been done in 3 years but the last few I have only worked on insulating the garage during winter when to cold outside to be doing other things.

If I had worked year round on it I would have been done.
But my slow approach has also spread out the cost of materials over more years as well.


Having 3 kids takes up time with aspects of what they are involved in.

 

[ddawg16]

You are lucky to have a good sized lot.

Anyway you can push the garage back a bit more? If it was me, I'd want more space between the garage and house for outside activities.

Also....if you can go a bit bigger....do it. My garage is 20x25.....2-story. Even if you stay with the 26' width....30' deep would sure give you a bit more room in front of the cars. And later on you could have a little loft up there for bulk storage.

 

[ddawg16]

Forgot to add.....

Add a couple of windows on the house side. One reason, you will be able to tell if someone is in the garage....and, I think you will find it more comfortable when working in the garage and you can look out at the kiddies playing.....you know, those that will be along shortly.....

 

[odj]

This is my long term residence so if my projects stretch out that's fine with me.

I should have been done in 3 years but the last few I have only worked on insulating the garage during winter when to cold outside to be doing other things.

If I had worked year round on it I would have been done.
But my slow approach has also spread out the cost of materials over more years as well.


Having 3 kids takes up time with aspects of what they are involved in.

Understood. I hope to find myself in a long term residence at some point. For now I'm trying to remind myself that this will more than do in the interim.

You are lucky to have a good sized lot.

Anyway you can push the garage back a bit more? If it was me, I'd want more space between the garage and house for outside activities.

Also....if you can go a bit bigger....do it. My garage is 20x25.....2-story. Even if you stay with the 26' width....30' deep would sure give you a bit more room in front of the cars. And later on you could have a little loft up there for bulk storage.

I'm lucky in a lot of ways that I probably don't deserve Hahaha... It's definitely a good-sized lot though. 9375 sq ft, so a smidge under .25 acres.

The problem with pushing the garage further back into the yard is that there's a hill and a large tree in the way. I'm trying not to disturb the tree, as it adds a lot of shade to the yard, and I'm just fond of it in general. Plus I'm at the downhill corner of my block, so when it rains heavily or frequently, I get drainage through my lot at the bottom of the hill.

Here's a snip of a google maps overhead view to give you an idea. The green circle and dot represent the tree, white dashes are the property line, blue dashes represents a hill that starts about there, and goes up to a 5-6' rise before the property line, red dash is proposed garage site.

And when it comes to the height, I'm limited to 25' if I add a second story. So that would definitely get me a storage spot, but I don't think (I'd have to verify what the minimum ceiling height is for a second story) that would get me room for a lift.

Regardless, nixing the second story is one way for me to attempt to keep the cost down. I also have zero plans to run water into the building, which I *think* (again, I'd need to do some digging) would be necessary for it to qualify as a living space. Here's a snippet from the regulation:

...the height of an accessory building may be increased to provide living quarters on the second story for household help employed on the premises, subject to the following: (1) The additional height and purpose for which it is to be used are reasonably necessary for the convenience of the family occupying the main building; and (2) The increase is to not more than two (2) stories but not more than twenty-five (25) feet.

With regard to depth, I walked around the lot a ton, and decided that I'd rather be able to walk out of my back door and down the steps and walk in front of the new building, rather than face the side. I think that'd make it feel a lot more claustrophobic if I walked out and just looked smack dab into the side of a building every day.

I had really wanted to put the garage where the current carport is because it would "save" the back yard space, but there was just no way for me to do that. As a concession, I'm going to look at opening up that part of the yard by putting grass down where the existing driveway/carport/shed are... but I also might want to keep that space to park my big trailer. I'm still undecided on that, and will just play it by ear for now.

Forgot to add.....

Add a couple of windows on the house side. One reason, you will be able to tell if someone is in the garage....and, I think you will find it more comfortable when working in the garage and you can look out at the kiddies playing.....you know, those that will be along shortly.....

Hahahaa.... are you listening to our conversations?? We're trying for a kiddo now. Which is part of the reason that this won't be a forever home. It's too small for three people and my wife's collecting hobby, and the schools aren't very good.

I might put a window back on that side. Not sure. I figured I'd do away with them for security's sake, and just make sure the door has a window in it. The door will face the house. I also have a security camera slated for inside the garage. But... point well taken. I'll have to consider that some more.

 

[ddawg16]

Yea....I wouldn't want to get rid of that tree either.....

 

[dwysywd]

I might put a window back on that side. Not sure. I figured I'd do away with them for security's sake, and just make sure the door has a window in it. The door will face the house. I also have a security camera slated for inside the garage. But... point well taken. I'll have to consider that some more.

Ok fwiw, if you put a window in the door, then your gained security by eliminating the window is null. So for security, put a steel door in with no window and make sure the frame is breech proof to keep would-be thrives out. Or don’t worry about it, put a standard door in with window and a few nice windows to let in light. If you go the security route you can add some skydomes that collect light and they are very helpful in dark rooms. You mount them in the roof before you put your roofing on. They have an acrylic dome and a reflective tunnel and then you decide what kind of light diffuser you use.
Here is an example https://www.google.com/shopping/pro...&ved=0ahUKEwjatd-J96LgAhXxmOAKHW_XDT8QgjYIpwY




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[odj]

Ok fwiw, if you put a window in the door, then your gained security by eliminating the window is null. So for security, put a steel door in with no window and make sure the frame is breech proof to keep would-be thrives out. Or don’t worry about it, put a standard door in with window and a few nice windows to let in light. If you go the security route you can add some skydomes that collect light and they are very helpful in dark rooms. You mount them in the roof before you put your roofing on. They have an acrylic dome and a reflective tunnel and then you decide what kind of light diffuser you use.

Fair point on the door windows. I don't really want windows on the back or left hand side of the garage - the back of the garage will be just over 3' from the chain link fence, essentially peering right into the neighbor's yard. The left side is too dark at night and would be an easy point of entry.

Also - I've never seen those light diffusers before, but those are cool. Thanks for sharing!

I'm going to have to think about this some more. Nothing's officially submitted yet, still haven't heard back from the county. Guess their whole "we respond by 3:30 each day" thing was a bit too optimistic

 

[Motoman1100]

For not know what you're doing I'd say you are doing pretty dang good. I'm looking forward to following this build. Congrats on getting started and good luck!

 

[LaneRover]

Looks like a nice build you have going on. I like that you restored and repurposed your wife's grandfather's old trailer it looks nice! I think it is also great that you are taking into account trees on your property. Not that every tree has to be saved but to often I think folks just cut stuff down a bit to readily. Best of luck on your build!

Brent

 

[SickSpeedMonte]

Do you think you'll get your money back out of this garage? If you want out of it before kids start school, you only have 4-5 more years here (assuming you don't have to try for too terribly long to conceive). Sounds like you've made do for 20. We were in a similar situation, granted it was less painful with a 2-car attached. We could have forced a garage/shop on our old property in a less-than-ideal spot, but I figured it would just be a waste of money in the long run and I knew that we were going to move. I made it a point that the new house either had to have a shop or it had to have a good spot and we were leaving room in our budget to build one.

I get it, 5 years is a long time... just something to consider. Having a big down payment could be the difference between getting what you really want and settling on the next one.

 

[odj]

For not know what you're doing I'd say you are doing pretty dang good. I'm looking forward to following this build. Congrats on getting started and good luck!

Thanks

Looks like a nice build you have going on. I like that you restored and repurposed your wife's grandfather's old trailer it looks nice! I think it is also great that you are taking into account trees on your property. Not that every tree has to be saved but to often I think folks just cut stuff down a bit to readily. Best of luck on your build!

Brent

Cheers Brent, and thanks for your feedback. The trees really add to the charm of this little old neighborhood. I'm going to have to cut down some of the smaller ones, but it'll be a good reason to finally get out and tame some of the growth along the edges of the yard (which I've admittedly been awful at).

If you're interested, I made a mini build thread on the trailer: https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthr...iler-project-AKA-something-new-to-obsess-over

Do you think you'll get your money back out of this garage? If you want out of it before kids start school, you only have 4-5 more years here (assuming you don't have to try for too terribly long to conceive). Sounds like you've made do for 20. We were in a similar situation, granted it was less painful with a 2-car attached. We could have forced a garage/shop on our old property in a less-than-ideal spot, but I figured it would just be a waste of money in the long run and I knew that we were going to move. I made it a point that the new house either had to have a shop or it had to have a good spot and we were leaving room in our budget to build one.

I get it, 5 years is a long time... just something to consider. Having a big down payment could be the difference between getting what you really want and settling on the next one.

That's an excellent point, and one I've thought about a lot. It's part of what's held me up for the last year and change.

Online resources give me a wide arrange of ROI numbers, from 50% to 100%. We have a realtor who's been working in the town for 20+ years, and her opinion is that a "normal" garage will net you ~80-90% ROI. This is a little bit larger than whatever "normal" is, so even if we say 70%, I'm OK with that.

My budget is 30k, which I calculate will get me to a point where I can be productive in the space. If I lose 30% of that, that's $9k. So $1800/yr if distributed over 5 years. I can't rent shop space for anywhere near that, and that's what I'd do if I weren't building. Shop space is super pricey around DC.

I've expected to move "in 5 years" for 20 years. If I still find myself here in 10, I'll be happy with my decision. If I'm gone in 3, well... I might be pissed off at present me, but hopefully I'll have had enough time with gratifying projects to make up for it

And please don't take any of this as me being argumentative... these are still concerns I'm grappling with, and I appreciate your input.

 

[Hosejockey61]

Way to jump in with both feet. Be sure to get multiple bids as you have. It's amazing how many people who don't really want the job will throw a high number at it. If you get a bunch of high bids for the same project, then you may have to do it yourself or eat the cost. I did most of the work on mine myself. While it saved money I think my time was only worth about .36 cents an hour

One piece of advice from me is to think in terms of construction. Most everything comes in 4, 8, 12, and 16 foot lengths. When you place a door or a window, have it end or start on one of those lengths. My windows are 4' off the foundation. When it came time to sheath, I didn't have to make any small cuts, everything lined right up. In my former basement I built, I had square columns that were 26"x26", which ate up a lot more material than a 24"x24" would have. You learn some things as you go. Good luck with the project. The forum members here are a great source of information as well as inspiration.

 

[odj]

Way to jump in with both feet. Be sure to get multiple bids as you have. It's amazing how many people who don't really want the job will throw a high number at it. If you get a bunch of high bids for the same project, then you may have to do it yourself or eat the cost. I did most of the work on mine myself. While it saved money I think my time was only worth about .36 cents an hour

One piece of advice from me is to think in terms of construction. Most everything comes in 4, 8, 12, and 16 foot lengths. When you place a door or a window, have it end or start on one of those lengths. My windows are 4' off the foundation. When it came time to sheath, I didn't have to make any small cuts, everything lined right up. In my former basement I built, I had square columns that were 26"x26", which ate up a lot more material than a 24"x24" would have. You learn some things as you go. Good luck with the project. The forum members here are a great source of information as well as inspiration.

Yeah... I really, really wanted to just pay someone else to figure out all this stuff. But I'm learning a ton as I go which is rewarding in itself, and a consolation prize for time spent It just goes waaaaaay slower this way.

Thanks for the tip on building to dimensions, I'll definitely put that under my hat.

One added expense I know I'm up for is the trusses... I'm planning on using a 3/12 instead of the standard 4/12 to stay under my height requirement. My construction buddy pointed that out to me.

 

[odj]

Ahh, and I figured it might be helpful for others if I keep a running tally on cost. Here's what I have so far:

Plat/Survey/Site Plan (WL Meekins) - $500
Garage Plan (Behm Design) - $210

Total: $710

 

[polexican23]

stop your running total after it is closed up and roofed/sided. you dont want to see the after numbers.

 

[billspit]

stop your running total after it is closed up and roofed/sided. you dont want to see the after numbers.

Same thing with restoring a car. Stop adding up when its painted.

 

[SickSpeedMonte]

And please don't take any of this as me being argumentative... these are still concerns I'm grappling with, and I appreciate your input.

Not at all, I was hoping the same when I wrote my reply Sounds like you have considered it, and adding a first garage must net a better return than adding a second, as in my case. Your productivity is certainly worth something. At 70-90%, that's a no brainer. That's a lot better than I was expecting.

 

[Irrelevant Legend]

Good luck on the build !

I'm new to the area , don't have friends that call and gainfully unemployed. If you want to make a friend , I'd definitely help!

 

[odj]

stop your running total after it is closed up and roofed/sided. you dont want to see the after numbers.

Same thing with restoring a car. Stop adding up when its painted.

You guys are way smarter than I am. I have a (nearly obsessive) tendency to record everything with my projects. Each of my cars has a spreadsheet with all of the work I've done, and every purchase I've made for it, throughout its time with me. It does get a little depressing sometimes, and shocks the hell out of my wife

Not at all, I was hoping the same when I wrote my reply Sounds like you have considered it, and adding a first garage must net a better return than adding a second, as in my case. Your productivity is certainly worth something. At 70-90%, that's a no brainer. That's a lot better than I was expecting.

Cheers

To be quite honest, I'd be comfortable with a 50% loss at 5 years. Plus it might make the house sell faster if/when I get to that point. My rough estimate is that maybe 15% of the houses in this neighborhood have garages. Of the ~30 houses on my block, I'll be the second to have one.

Good luck on the build !

I'm new to the area , don't have friends that call and gainfully unemployed. If you want to make a friend , I'd definitely help!

Hahahaha! You don't write, you don't call... hell you don't even text!

Since you're a master woodworker now, maybe I could get your help on some framing!

Good to see you on here buddy. I love the username

 

[ddawg16]

Personally, I think you are going to be there longer than you think. You can always make the house bigger.....and you do have a basement.

Otherwise, I think you're off to a good start.

Since you have a slopped yard to deal with....make sure you get the foundation for the garage right.

Keep us posted on the approval process

 

[lieutenant]

I like your write up. It is very detailed. Good luck with your project.

 

[sublime68charger]

I'll be following along!

Best of luck and since this is your first build I would make a running list of things to due better or different 5-10 years from now when your at your long term place and have to build a shop. I hope you don't have to build again but if you due it would be nice to have a list of what to due better 2nd time around instead of trying to think back to when you built this one!

 

[odj]

So I've decided based on y'all's feedback and talking to some friends whose opinions I trust that I'm going to add a window back to the side of the garage facing the house, and go over the measurements again to optimize resources, before submitting the drawings.

I do have a question about placement of the window and door. I'm planning on using stock 3' wide man door, and 3' wide window. They seem like fairly ubiquitous sizes. Per Horsejockey61,

Most everything comes in 4, 8, 12, and 16 foot lengths. When you place a door or a window, have it end or start on one of those lengths.

However, which dimensions should I be optimizing against? Internal or external? Should I give prefernces to the shorter dimensions? Or am I overthinking this?

If I assume 2x6 studs should give me a roughly 25' interior wall dimension, and optimize for the shorter dimensions, I come up with something like this:

Is that right? I guess I could go with a wider door or window to make everything line up on the 4s...

However, if optimization is the name of the game, that doesn't explain the (seemingly arbitrary) dimension for the door location in the original drawing I purchased. I can understand that the window is located, but was there a reason for the door location?

 

[odj]

Personally, I think you are going to be there longer than you think. You can always make the house bigger.....and you do have a basement.

Otherwise, I think you're off to a good start.

Since you have a slopped yard to deal with....make sure you get the foundation for the garage right.

Keep us posted on the approval process

You might be right. Maybe I should start taking bets for the over/under

I read your comment about making the house bigger last night and was staring at the house for a while. We could indeed bump it out, and make the house longer. That side of the house has a small galley kitchen and the laundry room below it. No reason why we couldn't expand the kitchen (which would make my wife a lot happier) and possibly add a larger bedroom and consolidate the others. This is getting way ahead of myself, but... you planted the seed, and it started to sprout.

Can you expand on you mean about getting the foundation right?

Will definitely continue to keep y'all updated.

I like your write up. It is very detailed. Good luck with your project.

Thanks!

I'll be following along!

Best of luck and since this is your first build I would make a running list of things to due better or different 5-10 years from now when your at your long term place and have to build a shop. I hope you don't have to build again but if you due it would be nice to have a list of what to due better 2nd time around instead of trying to think back to when you built this one!

That's a great idea. I'd love just to buy exactly what I want, but I usually can't afford exactly what I want so I end up building... yeah so that's a high likelihood

 

[Homebody]

Following. Good Luck, looks nice!

 

[Hosejockey61]

Hosejockey61

I'm a fire fighter, not a horse jockey

However, which dimensions should I be optimizing against? Internal or external? Should I give prefernces to the shorter dimensions? Or am I overthinking this?

I don't think you are overthinking it. Thinking it through is what saves time, materials, and ultimately money in the long run. I did all of mine based on outside measurements. Then the inside stuff can be cut down to size. If you did it based on inside, then your outside stuff would get longer if that makes sense.

You don't have to go with a bigger door, what I was trying to convey is that if you have the first edge of the door or window start on a good landmark then it will use less lumber and have edges that meet up nicely. For example, in my garage, I had just under 4' pieces of drywall on every other row. If I had made my garage even 6" longer, it would require more material if that makes sense. Hope that helps.

 

[odj]

Following. Good Luck, looks nice!

Thanks!

I'm a fire fighter, not a horse jockey

I just laughed out loud, sitting here at my desk. Hahaha... whoops.

I don't think you are overthinking it. Thinking it through is what saves time, materials, and ultimately money in the long run. I did all of mine based on outside measurements. Then the inside stuff can be cut down to size. If you did it based on inside, then your outside stuff would get longer if that makes sense.

You don't have to go with a bigger door, what I was trying to convey is that if you have the first edge of the door or window start on a good landmark then it will use less lumber and have edges that meet up nicely. For example, in my garage, I had just under 4' pieces of drywall on every other row. If I had made my garage even 6" longer, it would require more material if that makes sense. Hope that helps.

Hmm.. ok, I think I get it. I'll mess around with the design a bit. Thanks

 

[odj]

I submitted my plans a few minutes ago. As I mentioned prior, I decided to go ahead and add a window on the house-facing side. I played around with window sizes, prices, and exterior dimensions, and settled on a 3030 slider. A 4030 or 5030 would add more light, but: 1. I'll need interior lights regardless of how big the window is, 2. 3030 is cheaper than the other options; 3. 3030 allows for 12' of uncut material on the right side of the face; 4. 3030 looks more "balanced" IMO.

Here's the super high-tech drawing I ended up with:

I took a photo of the drawing with my phone, and pasted it as a layer in Photoshop. Once I have the dimensions lined up, I use that as a template for modifying the drawings.

The above is in-progress, so the numbers and other elements weren't quite finished yet.

Anywho... off we go to the Plan Screening step.

 

[odj]

Progress!

Site plan and building drawings have stamps. Looks like one last round of review and I have to actually start doing some work

 

[toomanyrocks]

You might want to reconsider the 3/12 roof, anything under 4/12 is prone to leak, and may not be allowed under your local code without a membrane type roof. Shingles are easiest and cheapest and you can do that yourself, membrane...not so. Talk to your building/zoning guy, it may be that the roof height is measured at the midpoint of the roof..not the peak. I was able to put a full 8 foot attic room above my building as they use the midpoint here. I got 15 feet higher than I thought it could be (14 foot ceilings in the shop and an 8 foot room above.)

(although it looks like your plans are past the point of easy changes.)

 

[odj]

You might want to reconsider the 3/12 roof, anything under 4/12 is prone to leak, and may not be allowed under your local code without a membrane type roof. Shingles are easiest and cheapest and you can do that yourself, membrane...not so. Talk to your building/zoning guy, it may be that the roof height is measured at the midpoint of the roof..not the peak. I was able to put a full 8 foot attic room above my building as they use the midpoint here. I got 15 feet higher than I thought it could be (14 foot ceilings in the shop and an 8 foot room above.)

(although it looks like your plans are past the point of easy changes.)

Yeah, we're past the point of easy changes, for sure.

The site plan approval notes state clearly that it's 15' max, but I'll see what I can do as I move forward. I never even thought that meant something other than maximum height of the peak of the structure.

My earlier reading and talking with my construction buddy led me to believe that 3/12 would be just fine in MD. It's definitely legal, at least. I've done a little more reading this morning and we'll see... maybe I'll have to do double underlayment or a membrane as you mentioned. More research required

Thanks for your input

 

[odj]

Oh, son of a...

Well this is good news and bad news.

Question is... do I completely redesign and raise my ceilings AND roof pitch? or just roof pitch? With as much as it rains around here I don't want to deal with leaks. I'm going to need to noodle this.

 

[dwysywd]

I’d just go to the 4/12. It will be a simple change to the plans you can get amended. At most you’d pick up attic space if you went higher. Is the attic space important?


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[odj]

I’d just go to the 4/12. It will be a simple change to the plans you can get amended. At most you’d pick up attic space if you went higher. Is the attic space important?

I noodled it for a bit and I'm going to just match the house, and keep the existing roof pitch. I think it's either 4/12 or 5/12. Attic space isn't super important. More of a bonus than anything else.

 

[odj]

Welp... permit got approved about an hour ago. Here we go.

 

[Bob275]

26x26 is about the biggest I could fit myself... someday.

Can't wait to see your build.