New Home=New Garage

[187 speed]

Hey Gents, So as the title says this thread is all about my new garage that will also have a new home attached to it. To give a little bit (or a lot) of background my wife and I bought our current home about four years ago. It was a new build spec home in a subdivision in my hometown. I loved the house, but my wife not so much. It is 1600sqft, two car attached, three bedroom, two bathroom open concept with vaulted ceilings and built on a crawl. My wife thought she could grow to love it if I did certain things, so I got right to work and have pretty much remodeled my brand new home. Built a very large stone fireplace with oak built ins, screened in the covered patio, built a deck, refinished all of the kitchen cabinets to white, did board and batten in the dining room and the list goes on and on. In the end the house just isn't what she wanted so rather than fighting it we decided lets just build something that we both want.

The first step was finding some property, we looked for around a year and kept coming back to the same area. We currently live about 10 minutes from a Lake and tend to spend a fair amount of time out there from going to the beach, hiking the trails, riding the motorcycle around it and I hunt there in the fall. Naturally we gravitated to a small development on the lake about 1/2 mile from the marina. When we first started looking there were no lots available that backed up to the lake only lots across the street. We would give up and look in other areas and drive through that neighborhood every month or two and finally the lot that we had wanted from the beginning came up for sale. Needless to say we jumped on it, after a couple of weeks negotiating we came to an agreement and were able to purchase what will hopefully be the sight of our forever home.

That brings us to today, for the last six months we have been slowly going through the design process. Started with a builder with plans of building this summer but decided to hold off until next year to help our budget out. We have been doing a lot of work on a Home design 3d trying to cram everything we want in the house and get a feel for how it will all look and stay within budget. I have been back and forth on the garage situation. The initial plans we drew up had an oversized three car garage on the front, my mother in-law of all people suggested an L shaped garage to give the house a better aesthetic up front. That also gives me the ability to separated the two spaces so I have a shop for my projects and a clean place for the daily drivers that I could also setup to wash cars in.

So as of today here is my garage layout, excuse the iPhone pic of my computer screen its the best I have at the moment.



Feel free to give me suggestions or share pictures of your L shaped garages if you have one. I plan on keeping this thread going through the whole process to hopefully help others out as they embark on their own adventures.

The Lot with my back facing the lake.

 

[Kermit007]

A friend of mine has a similar garage set-up except that he has 2 -2 car garages.
His house would go to the left of of your current 2 car garage and his working garage drives straight in. The working garage has high ceilings so a lift or pair of lifts could be installed.
He also has a pad to back cars onto when backing out of the primary garage.

If you are going to have a wash bay I would consider a partial wall to keep the rest of the garage dry.

I really line the connected L shape you have. Great ideas!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[187 speed]

The single door side would be my "shop" and would have a scissor lift in the floor and vaulted ceiling. It is slated to be 20' wide and 26' deep currently. I was thinking a slot drain down the middle of the double bay for water and plan on doing swisstrax flooring in the whole garage. Also thinking a barn style door between the two bays mainly for dust and spark mitigation while working in the shop.

 

[tomtomgt356]

I like the 2 area idea. What room is the man door from the garage going into? Is there a way to add or move the man door to have one open into the daily parking area? That way you and your wife don't have to walk through the project area if you are in the middle of a messy project.

 

[yeldogt]

Have you thought of getting an architect to give some ideas ? site planner?

Most builders are dreadful designers -- even those who say the are "design build"

IMO the mistake people make is not getting some professional advise early in the process. It's viewed as an added expense w/ no payback .. when it's actually the reverse. Every project I have done has benefited .. from simple additions to full one off builds .... you don't know what you don't know. Much time and money can be saved w/ proper design.

It looks like you have the space ... why the second garage upfront? Nothing pretty about garage doors ... I try and hide them.

Also -- "forever" houses tend to not be ... needs and especially wants .. change.

 

[ClearWaterMS]

do you plan to use the shop space for woodworking at all? if so, would it make sense to move the door into the house to be in the normal parking spot? I have always thought that having to pass through a shop which is typically less organized and dirty compared to the parking only spots would frustrate the spouse.

 

[Jinks]

I have a similar garage/shop system at my house. Two car straight drive-in like yours with a single & shop at 90 deg. the same as you. It works well, & is a good use of space. It keeps all vehicles & tools close enough to be convenient. Yours is a step up from mine because of the walk through.

From personal experience, if possible bump the shop side out as much as you can. Making it a two car is not a bad idea. It won't harm the appearance of the house, & the extra room will be well worth it. Easier to do now than to add on later.

Since mine is in a two story house I couldn't make room for a lift, but I make do with a Quickjack. I also included a parking pad on one side of the drive for guests & turn around space.

 

[ClearWaterMS]

where do you park the boat?

 

[SVTchris]

My suggestion is to find a place to install a man door to get in and out of the garage without having to open one of the big doors. Especially handy in the winter if your garage is heated.

 

[187 speed]

I like the 2 area idea. What room is the man door from the garage going into? Is there a way to add or move the man door to have one open into the daily parking area? That way you and your wife don't have to walk through the project area if you are in the middle of a messy project.

The man door does actually come from the shop, because of the layout of the house thats where it has to be. luckily though there is a drop zone and half bath just inside the door to keep the mess down (hopefully).

Have you thought of getting an architect to give some ideas ? site planner?

Most builders are dreadful designers -- even those who say the are "design build"

IMO the mistake people make is not getting some professional advise early in the process. It's viewed as an added expense w/ no payback .. when it's actually the reverse. Every project I have done has benefited .. from simple additions to full one off builds .... you don't know what you don't know. Much time and money can be saved w/ proper design.

It looks like you have the space ... why the second garage upfront? Nothing pretty about garage doors ... I try and hide them.

Also -- "forever" houses tend to not be ... needs and especially wants .. change.

These plans were actually from an architect and then we are tweaking them and then they will go back to the architect for proper engineering and suggestions. I completely agree that using an architect can save a lot of money and headaches down the road. As far as the second garage up front this layout is simply a result of the geography of our lot. We can only have an attached garage so no separate shop and it is a maximum of four parking spaces.

do you plan to use the shop space for woodworking at all? if so, would it make sense to move the door into the house to be in the normal parking spot? I have always thought that having to pass through a shop which is typically less organized and dirty compared to the parking only spots would frustrate the spouse.

I do a little bit of everything, wood working, automotive restoration, metal work and beer drinking. With the design of this house and garage the door into the house kind of just has to be where it is unfortunately.

I have a similar garage/shop system at my house. Two car straight drive-in like yours with a single & shop at 90 deg. the same as you. It works well, & is a good use of space. It keeps all vehicles & tools close enough to be convenient. Yours is a step up from mine because of the walk through.

From personal experience, if possible bump the shop side out as much as you can. Making it a two car is not a bad idea. It won't harm the appearance of the house, & the extra room will be well worth it. Easier to do now than to add on later.

Since mine is in a two story house I couldn't make room for a lift, but I make do with a Quickjack. I also included a parking pad on one side of the drive for guests & turn around space.

I go back and forth on bumping out the shop just because it pushes the house further back on the property and I really love the idea of having this large expansive back yard that backs up to the lake. It would be nice though to be able to stick another car or more tools in there though. And I am definitely planning a parking area to keep the doorways clear.

where do you park the boat?

A slip at the marina of course, saves me from the hassle of putting in and taking out every time I want to go out.

My suggestion is to find a place to install a man door to get in and out of the garage without having to open one of the big doors. Especially handy in the winter if your garage is heated.

I had actually added a man door on the left side of the "daily" garage, that is a must of course. My current garage does not have a man door so when friends come over during the winter to hang out they have to walk through the house to get to the garage which tracks **** in on the hardwood floors.

 

[yeldogt]

Well I'm glad you have someone looking at it .... we have become so used to the front of houses being dominated by a garage .. but, this has all to do with lot sizes ... builder saving every penny .... not good design.

When building I always try and find a way to get the doors off the front .. turn it around ..etc.

 

[paredown]

Well I'm glad you have someone looking at it .... we have become so used to the front of houses being dominated by a garage .. but, this has all to do with lot sizes ... builder saving every penny .... not good design.

When building I always try and find a way to get the doors off the front .. turn it around ..etc.

Agree--I still remember Robert AM Stern ranting about the ugliness of big blank garage doors seen from the street when he did the Life Magazine "Dream Home" back in the '90s---

(which is for sale--I was checking to see if I could find the original article:
https://hookedonhouses.net/2015/10/20/original-life-magazine-dream-house-georgia/ )

 

[187 speed]

Well fellas, no surprise here but i have done a terrible job keeping things up to date on this thread. We haven't built yet but a lot has happened including completely different floor plan and garage layout. So here is an update from my last post until now.

Well as everyone told us building a house is a very involving and stressful process. At the time of my last post my wife was finishing up her masters degree in social work and getting ready to start the process to become a licensed therapist. With the stress and constant back and forth about what we wanted and trying to find that perfect compromise we decided to put the house plans on hold. Once she graduated we got back to work on planning this house. This time we started by interviewing builders, we found a few we liked but none that really felt like "our guy". We were invited to a fish fry out at the lake by one of our future neighbors, we started to ask everyone in the area who built their houses. The people that were hosting the fish fry started telling us about their builder and how great the experience was. We walked through their house and wow the quality of workmanship was next level. We got the builders info and scheduled a meeting for the next week.

When we showed up to his shop I immediately recognized him as a guy I played on a rec league soccer team with in high school. Being familiar with him I immediately felt way more comfortable with him than any of the other builders we had talked to. We went over our wants and needs, what we had for house plans and budget. We asked if he had any more houses we could walk through just to see more of his work. He immediately invited us to his home that he was just finishing up. They had moved in but basement wasn't done yet. We walked through the house, chatted with his wife and knew right there he was our guy.

With the builder chose we needed to nail down the floor plan, we had considered several but nothing made both of us super happy so our builder put us in touch with the architect he uses. We sat down with him and the previous floor plans, told him what we liked and what we didn't like and he got to work. The result is a floor plan we both love and feel like it will make the perfect house for us. It did change the garage completely but it gives me more space and I like the layout much more than the L shaped garage I had previously planned.




Once this was decided we started putting the plan together to make it a reality but then COVID hit. My wife and I were lucky our incomes were not effected and we stayed working the whole time. My wife worked from home transitioning from face to face therapy to teletherapy
and I am an operating engineer (control room operator) at a power plant so of course I went to work just like I did before the virus. Because of this massive interruption in the world as we know it we decided to put off the build a few years. We would just finish up a couple of projects around our current house and save up more for the new house.

Of course those plans have recently changed as all plans seem to. With the housing market so crazy and my house being right in that sweet spot for square footage and price it was in high demand. So with about three weeks notice we listed our house and it sold in around four hours above asking price. Now obviously we can't just build the new house before our closing so we are going to rent a townhome for a year while we finalize the everything and the house is being built. I have spoken with my builder and we are both praying that the lumber costs come down when he goes to order everything. I know its a gamble but we felt like this was the most we would ever be able to get out of our current home and we just needed to take that leap of faith. So that's where we are up to today, I have about 45 days until we have to be out of our house so I am thrashing on my Porsche 914 to get it drivable so I can enjoy it over the next year since I won't be doing house/garage stuff in the rental. I will leave you guys with some pictures of my current home that was literally a bare builders grade spec home that I turned into my wife's instagram dream home.

 

[kwyjibo]

I'm pretty sure that it's against GJ rules to mention a 914 and not post a photo!
(And good luck with your housing adventure)

 

[187 speed]

I'm pretty sure that it's against GJ rules to mention a 914 and not post a photo!
(And good luck with your housing adventure)

What was I thinking, the 914 should have been the first picture I posted!! I'll post two, the day i rescued it from a barn where it had sat for many years and one from a couple of months ago. I will update this in a couple of weeks with a picture of how I plan to keep it for a year or two.

 

[TX4runner]

New build and land look nice. And I see some OG spec wash buckets and power washer? Is that the Active one he has been talking about? You like it?

 

[Bruce 993 SEA]

I assume the lake view is to the top of the floor plan picture.

Would it be nice to have a view of the lake from the garage when you are having a beer break or to let light in? A garage door at the back of the long bay might be nice if that is where you are going to hang out.

Cheers!

 

[187 speed]

New build and land look nice. And I see some OG spec wash buckets and power washer? Is that the Active one he has been talking about? You like it?

Thanks, it has literally been a dream of mine to build a house out there since I was in high school and worked at the marina just down the road. Thats actually the Ryobi pressure washer. I do like it for what it is. I plan on putting Matt's custom on wall setup in my new garage though.

I assume the lake view is to the top of the floor plan picture.

Would it be nice to have a view of the lake from the garage when you are having a beer break or to let light in? A garage door at the back of the long bay might be nice if that is where you are going to hang out.

Cheers!

Yes the Lake view is out back of the house. While it would be nice to be able to see the lake from the garage the wall space at the back of the garage is planned out for cabinets. The back of the house will be a walk out basement to the unground pool and will have a nice view so I will probably just have to tough it out and sit down there when I want to enjoy a beverage and look at the lake. lol

 

[187 speed]

As expected I got busy getting the 914 ready for the summer and a show a friend of mine puts on every year. My son and I worked non stop for almost an entire week but we got the first drive in with the car the night before the show. To be able to share that with my 13 year old son was definitely a memory him and I will always cherish. Anyways we made it to the show and had a great time, I have been bouncing back and forth from packing up the garage and tying up the loose ends on the Porsche so I can spend the summer enjoying it.



As you can see I went vintage race car themed with it. I initially did it because I didn't have the time to do a proper paint job but honestly it won't hurt my feelings if it lives this way for the remainder of my ownership of it.


Its a rough old car but since adding the dual webber 40's and rebuilding the shift linkage it is an absolute blast to drive. The bonus about the paint job is I can fly down the rough country roads and not worry one bit about rock chips or getting it dirty.

 

[Glemon]

do you plan to use the shop space for woodworking at all? if so, would it make sense to move the door into the house to be in the normal parking spot? I have always thought that having to pass through a shop which is typically less organized and dirty compared to the parking only spots would frustrate the spouse.

Where were you when I designed my shop/garage combo four years ago? (Real question, where was I? Not on Garage Journal). I am overall very happy with the space, but the shop is in the between the house and the parking spaces. Kind of a PITA when doing big projects, but it helps keep my shop from getting too cluttered.