25X29 bi-level

[rkaiser58]

I have finally started my garage project. It has been a battle with zoning and height restrictions, but in the end the township approved the job.

I am building a 25X29 split level garage. The foundation will be poured and the top level will use hollowcore planks. The basement will have 8' ceilings and the main floor 11'.

The original idea was to put it at the bottom of a steep hill and use the poured foundation as a retaining wall. With the price quotes I got to work so far down the hill I decided to stick near the driveway.

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Footings:

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Forms for the poured foundation:
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Pouring concrete (4 trucks!):

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Forms removed:

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They have prefabbed the walls, and the trusses arrived yesterday. They are coming with the hollowcore and craning them into position tomorrow AM. I will be video taping. They plan on using the crane to raise the walls/trusses tomorrow as well so its a big day. Will post again soon.

 

[SiGmA_X]

Very cool, looking forward to updates.

 

[NUTTSGT]

It's going to look great, you have what appears to be a nice place by the photos.

 

[rkaiser58]

Thanks. We accomplished a great deal today.

Plank Work:

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Framed walls:

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Trusses on:

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Sub-level:

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[dlenkewich]

That's pretty neat.

What kind of weight are those planks rated for? I've seen those used recently in commercial construction for second floor mezzanines.

 

[NUTTSGT]

That thing is shaping up to be pretty damn neat.

 

[MarcB]

Did you survive the hurricane without to much damage? I am north of you in Denville and we got hammered by flooding more then wind.

 

[cnyeco1]

This is one cool garage. I would love to have a work space under the main garage. Very cool. Subscribed....

 

[rkaiser58]

I hope all of you in the path of Irene made it through okay. We did okay here. Mostly just debris as we are not in a flood area. We luckily only lost power twice for about 3 hours a pop. Still pretty windy at the moment.

No damage on the garage that I can see. We braced just about everything to try and help, and so far so good.

Here is a link to the spec sheet for the planks I used.
http://www.nitterhouse.com/DrawingSpecs/DrawingSpecsSub/PDFs/2hr8T.pdf

The engineers certified it for a lift etc. I think the 2" slab they pour on top to lock it all together helps.

Hopefully things dry up and the sheathing/roofing can begin.

 

[rkaiser58]

The sheathing is done and the roofing is underway. No pics yet, we have been without power for over 24hrs, but will get pics up soon.

 

[rkaiser58]

power is still out....but took these and uploaded via phone

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[rkaiser58]

My wife and I can not agree on the garage doors. We both like the coachman doors, but she is fine with arched glass with a square frame, where I feel if it is arched, the frame or moulding should also be arched. What do you folks think?

The face will be brick, so price will fluctuate with the arched openings.

 

[rkaiser58]

vs

 

[Slow_Lane]

I'm with you, curved glass curved framing. Great doors by the way.

 

[egads74]

does door opening get smaller in the curve?

 

[Foxxtrot]

Both of those are good looking doors, but I agree, curved doors = curved framing. It flows better.

 

[rkaiser58]

The garage door will narrow slightly in the corners, but I don't think it will have a major impact for me. The doors are 9X9, and I can easily fit a 763 bobcat and my F350.

Thanks for the input on the doors. I will work on it ;-)

I should also mention that the garage on the existing house has square openings with raised panel doors. I figured I would replace the doors eventually, along with the faded siding. In doing so, I can try to make them arched slightly to match. Has anyone done arched openings, or even better, has anyone converted from square to arched openings?

 

[Coyote Red]

Arched guys, arched.

 

[rkaiser58]

Roofing is done

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[rkaiser58]

Slow going but, here are the windows. The Siding is on in the back, and part of the opposite side.

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Here is a rendering of the front elevation change. The builder informed us the brick we have is not enough for the job and he is having trouble matching it.

So we are going to try this:

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[NUTTSGT]

I think that stone will look nice.

What's the form for running to the garage ? top pic, post #20

 

[rkaiser58]

The form is for a retaining wall.(most likely a foot or so shy of the siding) Since the driveway will be repaved to level the area out, I decided to put a a wall in to keep things from eroding. The same stone veneer on the garage will be on this wall. There will be a second wall at the base of the garage but will just dry stack it for now.

As far as the stone on the front is concerned, how do you guys feel about the trim on the corners and around the doors? Some people put the trim to the ground, and just stone in between. Others wrap the stone around the corners and have the trim end at the top of the stone section. Thoughts?

 

[simontudor]

looks great!

 

[NUTTSGT]

The form is for a retaining wall.(most likely a foot or so shy of the siding) Since the driveway will be repaved to level the area out, I decided to put a a wall in to keep things from eroding. The same stone veneer on the garage will be on this wall. There will be a second wall at the base of the garage but will just dry stack it for now.

As far as the stone on the front is concerned, how do you guys feel about the trim on the corners and around the doors? Some people put the trim to the ground, and just stone in between. Others wrap the stone around the corners and have the trim end at the top of the stone section. Thoughts?

The retaining wall with matching stone will look very very nice, a great finishing touch.

I'd trim the garage like you have in the picture. The trim on the outside face of the garage, bring down on top of the stone. The trim on the inside edge of the overhead doors, I'd bring that down to the ground.

 

[rkaiser58]

Siding almost complete.
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I am getting the corner stone for the front of the garage Thursday and will install it this weekend if the weather permits.

 

[rkaiser58]

He are the latest shots:

The new garage doors are in along with the stone:

The liftmaster 3800's are being installed now.

The siding is complete:


The retaining walls are almost done:


Another angle:


The basement level:


The electrician is setting up the box this weekend, and I am wioring up the outlets, lights, etc. Rough plumbing was put in for a bathroom & water in the basment. Gutters going in as I write this. Solar panels on the roof should be installed late this month. I will keep you all posted. Thanks.

 

[rkaiser58]

I have been having some issues with the electrician. He said he would be there Saturday, doesn't show up and no call. Then he shows up Monday for about 2 hours mid-day put one length of conduit down and tells my wife he will be back Wednesday to pull the wire. With the weather looking grim I am sure this will be pushed out. I can't move on much else until final inspection.

I have an existing rough base driveway, but the new garage area is bare. One company recommended pulling up everything and laying a new base. Then doing a top coat in 2 years after everything settles. Another company recommended relief cutting the existing base, doing an additional base application to level settled areas and then topping everything in the next two weeks. What recommendations do you all have? Both companies cover the driveway for 3 years after install.

 

[rkaiser58]

After talking it over with my wife we agreed it might be better to just rip up the steps, and extend the wall over to the deck to make that the top step. When the driveway is finished, the entire area will be raised 3" resulting in the existing path/step to be too low.

I am using a new way to measure, using a 3 ft. tall child
(My son is literally into the construction. He knows all of the contractors names and goes out to say hi to them. He has his own tool belt and tools and needs to put it on before he goes outside)

Garage Door Opener/Lock
(The openers are very smooth and fairly quiet, I like them)

200 Amp Service (still not hooked up )

Trench
(Trench was just filled today, will get pics later.)

 

[AutoXRacer]

Is the basement level supposed to be a garage too?
Whats the basement for?

 

[rkaiser58]

For right now it will be storage. My mower, snow blower, tools, etc. In the future I was hoping to set it up as a woodshop. The pics on the forum are giving me great ideas for alternatives. I may live in it after my wife sees the final bill on this thing.

 

[-->]

3 ft tall children are also really handy to rest drinks on I've noticed. My nephews run when they see me.......

 

[rkaiser58]

So the cement is in, and its dry. Now this weekend I will do a little bit of cleanup if we do not get hit with a freak snow storm.

The driveway is scheduled for next week. What is a proper pitch for a driveway for good drainage? The guy said 2" every 10', but it will be 8" different from side to side which seems a bit excessive to me.

Electric is still not done, but he said he would wrap today and inspections are set for next week.

 

[camarotoolman]

wondering about rebar size and spacing?

 

[rkaiser58]

#4 rebar, 2 rows horizontal, and vertical about every 24", I also tapped into the block wall with a few pcs. To keep them together. the builder thought it was overkill.

 

[Scotty72SS]

This is shaping up to be an awesome looking garage! I really like the hollow core idea, I see them all the time on commercial jobs down here in the south, but never really thought about residential applications.
Your making me want to cut a hole in my garage floor and start shoveling out dirt!

 

[rkaiser58]

Scotty, The best part about it, the overall cost was cheaper then having steel fabricated for a pour and the need for posts in the sub-level. I hear this is becoming a popular method for folks on sloped lots. The process was straight forward and saved a lot of time on the build.

 

[rkaiser58]

Failed for electric inspection...I should have expected as much. The electrician didn't want to run a conduit down to the basement level, and the township wants to have at min. one light inside and out on the back, along with one outlet. You would think for $5500.00 you would see the garage lights from space....but apparently not. Sorry just venting my frustration. Now he is coming by Friday to assess, maybe finish next week but will have to modify his permit. The township may come back late next week...ugh

 

[56rpm]

Hey rkaiser58, this was such a cool build, did ya ever finish it?

 

[RaysnCayne]

Yeah, let's see some finished pics!

 

[JamesE]

Just registered to the forum today to hunt for some ideas and I'm very glad that I ran across this. Looking forward to see your finished photos. Looks great thus far!