Recent content by tretter7

Thanks again for all the replies. It helps a good bit. I do intend to stay within the city's zoning requirements, and everyone here has talked me out of trying to be 'creative' at all. So now I'm really trying to figure out what's the most cost effective approach to do so, and if that's cost...

Thanks for all the replies. For the record this would truly be for personal use (hobby machining and woodworking, wouldn't be running a cash-only body shop out of it or anything.) It sounds like I have 3 options: 1. Call it a bad idea, sit on the lot or sell it, and look for an existing house...

True, that's why a detached home would be preferable. I'm not married to Airbnb'ing it if I can keep the costs low enough, but $125k would sure a lot to spend for a garage that doesn't return any income :/

So I own a 1/2 acre lot close to my home, and would like to build a shop on it. However, the city has a few things to say about that. They won't allow an accessory building without a domicile, and the accessory building can't be larger than the main dwelling if it's detached. I'm okay with...

This has been my experience exactly. I've called probably 8 builders, 2 have called me back, and so far only one is actively working with me on a 34x42 shop w/ upstairs apartment -- a small job for them, but not exactly tiny. I'm considering waiting a year and hoping the market softens up and...

Years ago I built an insulated box for my oil-less and it made a world of difference. It was still inside but if you put it outside it would be plenty quiet. Even better would be to get a piston type compressor and do that. You need a little bit of ventilation to allow air in, but not much. As...