New build: Arts & Crafts style garage in historic neighborhood

993James993 · Jan 29, 2010

Hi Everyone,

I'm opening this thread to show the build photos of my ongoing 22 x 22 garage project.

I've dreamed of building this garage for years. I wanted to build a structure that would fit well within my 1920's Arts & Crafts neighborhood and not look out of place, that would provide covered parking for two cars, room for a two post lift, as well as a work bench for my woodworking projects and storage for tools and car parts.

I spent well over five years thinking about the design. I finally bought a copy of AutoCad and learned how to use it. I drew up the plans and obtained the building permit in March 2008. This involved getting historic approval for the design, as well as meeting all building codes. In September I convinced my neighbor, who is an excellent carpenter with years of experience to build it for me.

We finally broke ground in November and the project is still ongoing.

Here is a photo showing the forms just prior to the concrete pour:

And the newly poured slab:

The building next to the slab was a small carriage house that was converted to a guest house by the prior owner.

I should mention that I had started another thread a couple of months ago. I've finally figured out how to post photos so I thought I would start again.

993James993 · Jan 29, 2010

First framing shots

In December I took a week's vacation to participate in the framing of the building. I was not a very good helper and quickly realized that staying out of the way was the best I could do.

This shot shows the first wall:

The framing is 2x6 Douglas Fir, 24" on center. I referred to an old 1920's Audel's Guide as well as several modern framing books when I drew the framing plans. This photo shows the rear wall with openings for three windows. At the front are the LVL's that will form the garage door header.

Here is a shot of the west wall with plywood sheathing:

The plan for that first week was to build the four walls and all of the roof framing. We managed to get the four walls up and to sheath three of them.

993James993 · Jan 29, 2010

These shots show the Simpson tie downs. Here are the anchors prior to the pour:

And the HDU hold downs:

Bib Overalls · Jan 30, 2010

Concrete work looks good. Are you in hurricane or earthquake country?

E30bimmer · Jan 30, 2010

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out. We live in a Chicago bungalow neighborhood and I've been working on plans for making my plain 2 1/2 stall garage a little more arts & crafts inspired.

speedracer · Jan 31, 2010

Looks great so far! Am I assuming right in that you have one of the last aircooled cars judging by your username?

993James993 · Jan 31, 2010

Bib Overalls said:
Concrete work looks good. Are you in hurricane or earthquake country?

Thanks for the mentioning the concrete work! I am very happy with how it came out. I sprayed it with a water hose three times a day for 21 days to help gain as much strength as possible. My neighbors must think I am crazy . I don't live in a seismic zone but wind is a consideration, although nothing like hurricanes. I chose those hold downs based on a requirement in the 2006 IRC code book calling for minimum two 4200 lb. hold down devices at each side of the "double portal frame". They are likely overkill but they met code. I've never designed anything like this before and most of my ideas came from books and Fine Homebuilding magazine. There was an article in a past issue that showed a garage that failed due to wind. The photos of that building were dramatic.

Here is a photo showing the slab:

993James993 · Jan 31, 2010

E30bimmer said:
Looking forward to seeing how this turns out. We live in a Chicago bungalow neighborhood and I've been working on plans for making my plain 2 1/2 stall garage a little more arts & crafts inspired.

I understand exactly what you are trying to do. My neighborhood was build from about 1905 to 1925. Some of the early houses had some Victorian influences and the later ones were tended to be similar to California style bungalows or Spanish style houses. A few of the houses in my neighborhood had carriage houses and most have been converted to living quarters. I live less than a mile from a college and for decades this area was mainly student rentals. Now there are a lot of folks building garages with apartments above.

Does your Chicago neighborhood have any FLW influences? Is your home stone or does is have wood siding?

I decided to go with Hardiplank siding to give the look of wood. I pretty much tried to copy the style of my neighbor's derelict garage (that has been torn down). It will be simple lap siding with a corrugated roof.

Here is the old garage that influenced my design:

And my drawing:

993James993 · Jan 31, 2010

speedracer said:
Looks great so far! Am I assuming right in that you have one of the last aircooled cars judging by your username?

Speedracer, I actually do have one of those! My son has a 964 and loves to work on it. In the past we (ok, he) changed his alternator in my back yard. We also changed engine mounts in both cars. It will be great to have a garage to make this type of work much easier. So far we have not done anything that takes very long because we had no where to store parts while while working. I do plan to add a two post lift which will be very nice to have.

aar0s · Jan 31, 2010

Ive never seen those kinds of hold downs, how were they to set up? looks like a PITA but it would be worth it if we got another inland hurricane here!

NUTTSGT · Jan 31, 2010

Going to be a nice garage there.

993James993 · Jan 31, 2010

They are pretty easy to install. Just make sure that the lower anchors are set properly in the forms. The upper portion needs to be screwed to three 2x framing members.

Here is a link: http://www.strongtie.com/products/connectors/HDU.asp

993James993 · Jan 31, 2010

Here are some photos showing how the framing progressed and the two LVLs used as headers for the garage door opening:

993James993 · Jan 31, 2010

The garage has a stick built hipped roof. Raising the four hip rafters was the most stressful part of this project for me. I had it all planned out in my mind, but raising four 2x10s to a single point 17 feet above grade is not something you take lightly. I don't think that I slept the night before.

993James993 · Feb 2, 2010

Here is a shot of the four hip rafters taken from below, with bracing nailed in place.

The common rafters as they were slowly installed:

993James993 · Feb 2, 2010

As you can see this roof is completely stick built. I don't plan to install a ceiling. The added height will help accommodate a two post lift. Above the rafters will be tongue and groove spruce planks.

Here are some shots from ground level:

and one from the roof of my carriage house:

993James993 · Feb 2, 2010

Here is a shot of the rafter ties that hold the roof together:

Except for the odd pieces of bracing that remain this is pretty much how it will be finished. There will be a few more framing members to support the ridge vent and i will cover all of the lumber with a coat of amber shellac.

JMURiz · Feb 3, 2010

Looking good, I love a hip roof for looks!

sjt78 · Feb 3, 2010

Looks great. Keep the pics coming. I'm always looking to learn something.

clarkston · Feb 3, 2010

Looking sweet keep the pics coming!

Falcon67 · Feb 3, 2010

Very nice. Having cut rafters, just looking at those angles gives me a headache. :lol:

993James993 · Feb 5, 2010

Falcon67 said:
Very nice. Having cut rafters, just looking at those angles gives me a headache.

I hear you!

I can only imagine how difficult framing that roof was. My carpenter framed it by himself. For each rafter he had to climb up the scaffold to measure, then climb down to mark and cut the board, then back up with the board. On most them them he had to go back to trim the rafter a second time, then back up. I imagine that most people would not have the energy or the patience for that. I'm very thankful that my friend and neighbor, who is a very experienced carpinter, was willing to take this job.

Thanks for all the nice comments everyone!

aar0s · Feb 5, 2010

cant wait to see how this turns out, looks great!

993James993 · Feb 6, 2010

Here is a detail shot:

993James993 · Feb 7, 2010

I'm getting ahead of myself but once the garage is finished I plan to use the entire length at the rear for a work bench and tool storage. My father had a metal cabinet that served as one of his workbenches. It's 5 feet long and has sliding doors that cover two interior shelves, plenty of room to store some woodworking tools. Best of all it has his Wilton vise attached to one corner!

And two weeks ago I scored this 8 foot long bench. It sat outside for a long time and the top needs replacing. I hope to fit both it and the other bench with stainless tops. Its already proven to be very useful. I used it to paint some planks for a small kitchen project.

993James993 · Feb 7, 2010

Here is a photo of the beaded board that will go on the exposed rafter tails:

aar0s · Feb 7, 2010

Nice, we had a customer that did that, took forever but turned out great. You can also get that in white vinyl that looks good to but you cant beat the look of real wood.

993James993 · Feb 11, 2010

I was planning to paint the rafter tails and the beaded board. Now I'm thinking I may use a dark stain that will look like paint from a distance but will still show the grain when you look closely.

aar0s · Feb 11, 2010

use a good stain and a few coats of poly to protect them, should look great. What color were you going to paint them? i think that you can tint stains different colors kinda like paint but i could be wrong, im usualy a lumber guy not the paint guy.

993James993 · Feb 11, 2010

I was planning to paint the rafters olive green to match the house. I'm sure there must be a stain that will give that effect. For the siding I'm going with hardiplank, not wood, so that will be painted.

993James993 · Feb 13, 2010

Beaded board going up...

aar0s · Feb 14, 2010

I asked the guys at work about the stain and they said something like exterior stains can be tinted. great looking project.

Grizz1963 · Feb 14, 2010

That is real neat.
You guys do get some lovely quality timber over there.
The timber here is fast grown, fast harvested, and without much character.

993James993 · Feb 14, 2010

Grizz1963 said:
That is real neat.
You guys do get some lovely quality timber over there.
The timber here is fast grown, fast harvested, and without much character.

I understand exactly what you mean. Even the lumber for this project cannot compare with the 90 year old timber in my house. It has virtually no knots.

I used to spend a lot of time in Oregon driving back and forth from Portland to Eugene. I would always notice the huge trees being trucked to the saw mills. On one of the hip rafters was stamped "Seneca Sawmill". I looked it up online and it's located in Eugene. That was pretty cool.

ersatzs2 · Feb 16, 2010

Since you were kind enough to comment on my build, I visited yours! Great carpentry, looking forward to seeing finished product. That is one awesome Wilton vice by the way!

993James993 · Mar 4, 2010

Progress has been slow due to rain, etc. Finally the spruce planking that will form the 'ceiling' is going up. This will be remain exposed and visible from inside.

I don't have a good photo yet but this really alters how the structure looks from outside.

Twelvizm · Mar 4, 2010

Good job on keeping it period appropriate. I'm closing on a house, in Portland, that was built in 1912. I've already started designing a garage rebuild, where keeping it to the period is the focus. Well, and being able to have a lift in it as well.

What kind of lift are you going for?

E30bimmer · Mar 4, 2010

993James993 said:
I understand exactly what you are trying to do. My neighborhood was build from about 1905 to 1925. Some of the early houses had some Victorian influences and the later ones were tended to be similar to California style bungalows or Spanish style houses. A few of the houses in my neighborhood had carriage houses and most have been converted to living quarters. I live less than a mile from a college and for decades this area was mainly student rentals. Now there are a lot of folks building garages with apartments above.

Does your Chicago neighborhood have any FLW influences? Is your home stone or does is have wood siding?

I decided to go with Hardiplank siding to give the look of wood. I pretty much tried to copy the style of my neighbor's derelict garage (that has been torn down). It will be simple lap siding with a corrugated roof.

Here is the old garage that influenced my design:

And my drawing:

Funny you should mention Frank Lloyd Wright. We live in Berwyn, just to the south of Oak Park and my wife and I are both volunteer docents at the Wright home & studio in Oak Park. Berwyn happens to have the largest concentration of Chicago style bungalows in the country. If you happen to get American Bungalow magazine, there was a feature done on Berwyn in the Summer 2007 issue. There are also a few Wright designed homes here. Our home is a traditional Chicago bungalow made of brick and we've incorporated a lot of FLW designs in it. All original woodwork including an original arts & crafts colonnade between the living and dining rooms that was in the attic when we bought the house! I actually found some high back dining chairs that are repros of a design Wright did for a home in Chicago and matched them up with an appropriate table. I'll try and get some photos together to post soon.

Old growth wood is good!

zeug · Mar 4, 2010

Great build. I like the demensionally framed roof.

Question on the collar ties on the Hip roof- I always though collar ties were not needed on a square hip roof as the hips all apose each other. Unlike a gable roof where the load is on only two walls and can bow the walls, the hip distributes load to all four corners which cannot bow out at the same time.

Is this just added security?

Thanks,

Kent

993James993 said:
Here is a shot of the rafter ties that hold the roof together:

Except for the odd pieces of bracing that remain this is pretty much how it will be finished. There will be a few more framing members to support the ridge vent and i will cover all of the lumber with a coat of amber shellac.

993James993 · Mar 5, 2010

Twelvizm said:
Good job on keeping it period appropriate. I'm closing on a house, in Portland, that was built in 1912. I've already started designing a garage rebuild, where keeping it to the period is the focus. Well, and being able to have a lift in it as well.

What kind of lift are you going for?

Portland is one of my favorite cities. I used to travel there 6-8 times per year for work. I would always stop by Rejuvenation where I found lots of vintage house parts that were part of the restoration of my 1922 house. I really miss the opportunity to visit your beautiful city so frequently.

I had originally picked out a Greg Smith 2 post mid-rise lift that was featured and recommended on a car forum. I may still go with that one but have not really finalized my decision yet. Once I finish the garage I'll research them again.

Good luck with your house. Please post photos once you close.

New build: Arts & Crafts style garage in historic neighborhood

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