24x43 attached with rooftop deck build

[bwagner]

This thread will be my attempt to document my garage build, after the fact. So for those interested you won't have to monitor for 18 months to see the outcome. Hopefully I can work through the posts in a matter of days/weeks. I'm documenting this in hopes that it may help someone else who may have a similar idea as I struggled to find examples of garages built like this one. Not finding good examples made me doubt my idea (It may still be a dumb/weird idea but it has been working for us).

When purchasing the house in 2001, I knew I would eventually have to add on some additional garage space. The house has a typical builder sized 2 car garage (that barely fits 2 cars).

Existing 2 car side entry garage (This is not the garage being built, but this stays)
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With the desire to integrate the garage into the house, yard, driveway, I eventually came up with a plan to attach the garage to the back of the house, therefore replacing the failing deck in the process as well. I had several concerns including driveway slope, long term walkable roof issues, septic easement, and limited height. I couldn't find very many examples of garages built in this fashion, so I was very hesitant.

Back of house with existing deck/gazebo. Looks good but was no longer structurally sound due to poor workmanship. At one point the back of the deck was falling due to improper attachment to house. This is where the garage will go.
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In early 2016 I decided to move forward. I chose a size I thought could fit 4 cars if necessary, but wouldn't encroach too much on the back yard. In March of 2016 I provided my amateur plans to an architect to have him draw up full plans that I could submit for a building permit.

Page of plan showing top elevation. Existing house is at bottom of image.
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After several weeks, and over $3000 in county fees, I had my permit.

 

[bwagner]

Next phase was deck demo, site prep, excavation, footers, floor.

The hot tub and gazebo on the deck were reusable. I advertised them both on craigslist and found a guy who wanted the hot tub, and he had a friend that wanted the gazebo. They also thought they could reuse the composite decking and vinyl rail on other projects they had. So we struck a deal that they would just make it all go away and they could keep the hot tub and gazebo as payment.

Deck gone
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Once the deck was gone, I removed a portion of the fence and found a company to do the excavation and foundation.

Excavation. Awfully big pile of dirt already.


Footprint


Trenching for footers


Footers completed and ready for floor pour


Floor poured
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[bwagner]

Next phase, framing, and another subcontractor. The framing design included 3 beams to reduce deflection given the weight that would be placed on the roof. The design also incorporated the slope to ensure water runoff.

While they were framing, I was inside removing windows and prepping the area for cutting the window opening down to the floor to create the door.








The roof membrane required a higher quality plywood underlayment than normally used and needed to be glued and screwed
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[protegeV]

That looks pretty sweet for an attached garage!!

 

[bwagner]

Now that the framing was complete, it was time for the rooftop membrane and railings. The PVC membrane is the Dec-K-ing system. The contractor installed flashing around the perimeter and then filled in all the seams to get the roof nice and flat. The membrane was adhered to the plywood and the seams were heatwelded.

Rooftop prepped and the covered to protect from weather while drying


Jump ahead and we see the membrane installed and some family members using it prematurely

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The cable rail system is from San Diego Cable Railings. The top rail is a critical part of the structure so I used a very hard wood called Ipe.

Planning the post spacing


Finished railing system

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[kyle@hcb]

Cool! That's a neat idea. In for more pics

 

[bwagner]

While I was finished up on the deck, I setup another contractor to deal with the regrading, retaining wall, paver walkway, and driveway.

Old driveway torn out. New driveway prepped.


Channel drain.


Walls going up.


Paver walkways around perimeter.




Walls complete.


Paving complete.

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[wasfast]

Beautiful!

 

[bwagner]

To round out the outside work, I wrapped the lower part of the walls with faux stone panels, and then finished the rest with the same siding as what is on the house (though you can tell the house has faded a lot so it wasn't a great match).

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[bwagner]

Now, to focus on the interior work. Some of this happened in parallel with what was going on outside.

The first thing I tackled was to paint the ceiling. I wanted to leave everything exposed and not finish the ceiling mainly due to my paranoia around leaks and being able to catch them quickly. From a noise and insulation standpoint it isn't ideal.

I bought a Wagner Power Painter, a bunch of painters plastic, some rolls of paper, a protective suit, and 10 gallons of Kiltz tinted to a grey color. It was a mess, and a lot of up and down the ladder to get up in all the cracks and crevices but I was happy with the results.

Area prepped


Finished (not sure why pic is so grainy)


Finished (not sure why pic is so dark and grainy)

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[bwagner]

Continuing on the inside, I applied and epoxy coating on the floor and on the foundation walls. I don't seem to have any pictures of that process. Pretty straight forward, just followed directions on the box. Like most things, prep was the hardest part.

Then I tacked the electrical. In Howard County Maryland, you can pull your own electrical permit for 15A and 20A branch circuits. I had to show the lead inspector my electrical plan and pass a 1 hour open book test. It was around 35 questions. Once I had the permit I ran all the wiring and connected everything so I could just have 1 final and no rough-in inspection (since I wasn't closing anything in). That went pretty smoothly.

Since the house has 400A service with excess capacity I ran 4 20A circuits from the house to the garage. There are 4 outside lights on 3 switches, 14 20A outlets in the ceiling on 2 3-way switches (lights), 4 20A outlets always hot (garage door openers, hanging shop lights), and 13 20A wall outlets.

Electrical. Upper outlet for TV.


Electrical and boxed in basement window.


Electrical and door into the house that was a basement window.


Electrical and exterior door and shot of the epoxy coated floor.

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[chenthu]

Beautiful!!

 

[bwagner]

And finally, on the inside, insulation, lights, walls, HVAC.

I installed about 25 LED lights on the ceiling and plugged them into the switched outlets. A Mitsubishi HVAC split system was installed. I used diamond plate for the window sills. For the walls, I wanted to try something different. I was hoping for something durable, easy to clean, mostly waterproof, and that I didn't have to paint. Downside is repairs will not be easy. I ended up using luxury vinyl tile (LVT) planks on the walls. I used a brad nailer to attach them (plus they interconnect). I went with a gray on the back wall, and white on the sides so it wouldn't look too dark (plus I have a gray ceiling and floor already. We have a local place (woodfloorsplus) that has a great selection of LVT and the materials were around $2 a square foot. Once the walls were installed I ordered the big proslat pvc slat wall kit from costco, and instead of just making a whole wall of it I put it almost all the way around in a small band. I had to order extra edge trim, and will spend a fortune in hangars but I'm hoping to minimize what I put on the floor to make it easier to clean.

LVT going up.


Side wall LVT and HVAC split rough-in.

r





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[Wolfram Velocity]

This is AWESOME

 

[Prowagen]

Looks awesome!

Does the roof slope slightly from the back or is that an optical illusion from the photo?


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[bwagner]

Yes, roof is sloped away from the house to allow for water to runoff.

 

[Prowagen]

Yes, roof is sloped away from the house to allow for water to runoff.

Makes sense! Great inspiration as that kind of home design is very similar to where I am moving in Pennsylvania, so I have bookmarked your thread.

Thanks!!


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[RSr]

Very Nice!! I had a similar idea at my last house but knew I wouldn't be there long enough to recoup it financially. Cool to see something similar built.

 

[Lelandwelds]

Nice! I like the LVT plank on the wall idea.

 

[Prowagen]

So how has this been holding up bwagner? Any leaks?

 

[bwagner]

So how has this been holding up bwagner? Any leaks?

I have had some leaks, but not through the rooftop membrane. The water was curling around the lip on the metal flashing that overhangs the edges and getting behind the siding in some spots. A little bit of silicone solved it but took a while to track down.

It's not empty anymore .
20190429_195929

 

[jkeyser14]

Mind sharing the ballpark cost on the garage addition, minus the extras like the pavers, retaining wall, and new driveway? I am curious since I probably live 15-30 min away depending on where in Howard County you are.

 

[bwagner]

Mind sharing the ballpark cost on the garage addition, minus the extras like the pavers, retaining wall, and new driveway? I am curious since I probably live 15-30 min away depending on where in Howard County you are.

Below are the costs that I captured as I went along.

Architect $ 3,400.00
Permits and Excise tax $ 2,862.98
Excavation/Site work $ 1,371.16
Footers/Foundation/Slab $15,861.90
Framing materials (incl. steel) $ 5,348.62
Framing labor $12,450.00
Electrical $500.00
Flat roof surface (dectec) $10,600.00
Garage doors (4) and openers $5,372.00
Doors/Windows $1,023.00
Driveway & excavation $14,000.00
Insulation $400.00
LVT walls $2,000.00
Deck Railings $8,700.00
Deck Stairs $600.00
Retaining walls (3) $10,700.00
Ductless slim HVAC $4,800.00
Landscape $2,065.00
Fence $800.00
Dumpsters/Trash Fee $200.00
Brick facade $3,000.00
Exterior trim $100.00
Interior Painting $500.00
Underground drains $2,500.00
Paver walkway $6,565.00
Siding $4,500.00

 

[protegeV]

Below are the costs that I captured as I went along.

Architect $ 3,400.00
Permits and Excise tax $ 2,862.98
Excavation/Site work $ 1,371.16
Footers/Foundation/Slab $15,861.90
Framing materials (incl. steel) $ 5,348.62
Framing labor $12,450.00
Electrical $500.00
Flat roof surface (dectec) $10,600.00
Garage doors (4) and openers $5,372.00
Doors/Windows $1,023.00
Driveway & excavation $14,000.00
Insulation $400.00
LVT walls $2,000.00
Deck Railings $8,700.00
Deck Stairs $600.00
Retaining walls (3) $10,700.00
Ductless slim HVAC $4,800.00
Landscape $2,065.00
Fence $800.00
Dumpsters/Trash Fee $200.00
Brick facade $3,000.00
Exterior trim $100.00
Interior Painting $500.00
Underground drains $2,500.00
Paver walkway $6,565.00
Siding $4,500.00

 

[el monte slim]

Below are the costs that I captured as I went along.

Architect $ 3,400.00
Permits and Excise tax $ 2,862.98
Excavation/Site work $ 1,371.16
Footers/Foundation/Slab $15,861.90
Framing materials (incl. steel) $ 5,348.62
Framing labor $12,450.00
Electrical $500.00
Flat roof surface (dectec) $10,600.00
Garage doors (4) and openers $5,372.00
Doors/Windows $1,023.00
Driveway & excavation $14,000.00
Insulation $400.00
LVT walls $2,000.00
Deck Railings $8,700.00
Deck Stairs $600.00
Retaining walls (3) $10,700.00
Ductless slim HVAC $4,800.00
Landscape $2,065.00
Fence $800.00
Dumpsters/Trash Fee $200.00
Brick facade $3,000.00
Exterior trim $100.00
Interior Painting $500.00
Underground drains $2,500.00
Paver walkway $6,565.00
Siding $4,500.00

Wowie, wow, wow, wow! That totals up to a hefty chunk-o-change. It would be a gross understatement for me to say I didn't care for that elevated deck and gazebo combination. (I let out an audible "ugh" when I saw it, and even felt some relief when it was made to go away, ha ha)

I think the entire project turned out well, and made a huge improvement to the appearance and usefulness of the property.

Is it safe to assume this is your forever home? If not, do you see yourself being able to recoup that $120,219.66 investment in a potential future sale?

 

[Ronin22]

Loved the idea and the execution.
Please keep sharing, show us more pictures!

That Starion

 

[cleanspg]

This project came out great.

Cheers for being willing to post up your costs.
It's always interesting to see the reactions to custom project pricing.

This is 1000 sq ft. of fully finished, attached, custom garage and 1000 sqft of second story deck on a property requiring significant earthwork and landscaping.

Pull all of the extra dirt work, landscaping, custom touches and added expense related to the deck on top and you are at about 50k. $40-$50 is the average price per sq ft to have a nice, unfinished, attached garage built.

 

[jkeyser14]

This project came out great.

Cheers for being willing to post up your costs.
It's always interesting to see the reactions to custom project pricing.

This is 1000 sq ft. of fully finished, attached, custom garage and 1000 sqft of second story deck on a property requiring significant earthwork and landscaping.

Pull all of the extra dirt work, landscaping, custom touches and added expense related to the deck on top and you are at about 50k. $40-$50 is the average price per sq ft to have a nice, unfinished, attached garage built.

Not to mention for those that don't know this area, the cost of living is extremely high.