30x36 with Bonus Space Up Top

jhastain · Mar 1, 2019

Greetings from Anchorage, AK!

Beginning on the endeavor to tear down existing death trap of a detached garage and building a new one on our 7k sq ft lot, within our 50' width, and remain within lot coverage (40%) and height (23' mid-gable) constraints. Dimensions are tight but this is what we've come up with.

Continuously in a "Love it or List it" scenario where we keep looking for other houses with everything we want/need but keep recognizing that we love our modest house & location, we just want a better bigger garage with a level floor (ours is terribly cracked since it was just a 4" slab poured on top of zero effort) and a lift to play with racecars, bikes, etc. And a bonus room on top "sensuous in there"...

jhastain · Mar 1, 2019

View media item 90858
View media item 90859
View media item 90861
View media item 90860
View media item 90862
View media item 90863

LifeLongWNYer · Mar 3, 2019

Very nice drawings, compliments to whomever did them.

jhastain · Mar 5, 2019

Thanks Jim!

Currently getting rough pricing on materials to see a general idea of how much this is going to cost... Planning to be my own GC fully knowing I don't know everything.

Did an extensive remodel on my house 10 years ago (real fixer upper: rebuilt destroyed roof, all new walls/windows/doors/lighting/wiring/pipe/cabinets, every bit of drywall, moved the stairs, rebuilt two bay areas, moved the kitchen, moved furnace, practically rebuilt the house for ~$110k). Hired a full time carpenter, personally did a lot of the demo, wiring, plumbing, cleanup, drywall, supply runs, and then specialists when I needed them.

This project is going to be a little more, um, commercial since we just don't have the time like we used to with two kids (3 & 9) added to the mix. Planning to hire out the removal of existing slab, flatwork/site prep/foundation, framing/carpentry (to include hanging windows/ doors/ ventilation), roofing, some wiring, plumbing (to include in-floor heat in slab and baseboard heat upstairs), all drywall, siding, and upstairs flooring (eventually). We will probably do the insulation, paint, and slowly install trim, cabinetry/countertops, sinks, faucets, toilets, tile (if wanted), and other finishing-type furnishings. Hoping we can figure out what lighting we want and installed as we go - am researching here! Many many things to research and plan. A bit overwhelming! Any suggestions appreciated.

jhastain · Mar 6, 2019

Had a great discussion with a builder (framing/carpentry) last night and he had some great suggestions. Going to ask the designer if the muni would be amenable to a monolithic concrete floor with 2' "turned down" footers instead of a 42" wall-type footer.

Talked about using 1/2" plywood for roof sheathing instead of OSB and I think that's a great idea. Also had some good leads/advice on hiring for demo work - a demo co. that's faster and cheaper than flatwork guys doing it which is who we had an estimate from. Seems common to have drywallers do drywalling, siders do siding, garage door guys do ... you get the picture.

The more I find out costs, the more this sounds doable!

joey1320 · Mar 6, 2019

View media item 90858

Why are the windows not centered with the doors and why are the doors not centered in the wall?
That would kick my self-diagnosed OCD into the stratosphere.

View media item 90859

Same type of question, why the two different sized windows next to one another?

Great job on the drawings. Hope it all works out

jhastain · Mar 7, 2019

Totally understand and it kinda hurts to do it, but we want a larger storage area on one side for bicycles and a little bike workshop. Centered the windows to the wall, it’s just the garage doors that will be off. Working to have the rear elev windows to be symmetrical so at least there’s that. Care more about the space inside than the symmetry of doors. Seen a bunch of doors that aren’t “even” within their plane and it’s not too bad aesthetically. (I know the windows do accentuate it). Plus there will be two racecars parked in front of it on that right hand side so no biggie lol!

Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

jhastain · Mar 7, 2019

The right one is above the kitchen so there will be a countertop and faucet in front of it. The left one is a bedroom. I’ll look into how a bigger kitchen window looks/fits - thanks!

Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

matt_i · Mar 7, 2019

I'm not sure if you have an overhead feature or a wall between the two parts front to back.

One thing that I think of, is why the 12' x 12' overhead side-door when you could access the shop thru the front and a couple of French Doors. The interior doors would be relatively easy to seal up and it would keep the shop warmer with less effort, the stud wall would be much better insulated than even a 2" thick garage door.

Looks like the longest vehicle you can park is ~20' long, I'm not sure what's locally driven but don't block yourself out of SUVs and trucks if they are common in your area....Even though I want to build what I need, I always like to keep one eye on potential resale issues as nobody knows what life holds.

Oh yes and I like steel reinforcement in my concrete...to keep the slab tightly knitted. Imo the control joints should be sawn like a sunburst, radially aimed at the floor drain.

bad_idea · Mar 7, 2019

Looks like it will be a nice space. You have put a lot of thought in to it. I am in process of finishing my 30x40x12 building. I am my own GC doing the easier stuff. One thing I am still kicking myself for is the tear out of the old slab - I should have kept it. I now need some fill to build up the yard beside the garage. I trucked out all of that broke up concrete and now I need to buy fill. I suggest you have the slab broke up and piled in a corner of the yard. You may need it. If not, you can throw an ad on CL later - 'Free Fill, Come get it'.

jhastain · Mar 7, 2019

matt_i said:
I'm not sure if you have an overhead feature or a wall between the two parts front to back.

One thing that I think of, is why the 12' x 12' overhead side-door when you could access the shop thru the front and a couple of French Doors. The interior doors would be relatively easy to seal up and it would keep the shop warmer with less effort, the stud wall would be much better insulated than even a 2" thick garage door.

Looks like the longest vehicle you can park is ~20' long, I'm not sure what's locally driven but don't block yourself out of SUVs and trucks if they are common in your area....Even though I want to build what I need, I always like to keep one eye on potential resale issues as nobody knows what life holds.

Oh yes and I like steel reinforcement in my concrete...to keep the slab tightly knitted. Imo the control joints should be sawn like a sunburst, radially aimed at the floor drain.

The inside will be wide open and the rear "shop" area can totally be accessed from the front. Technically we could go with a shorter door, but the extra width is to help make the turn into the shop from the side since it's so close to our fence. The idea of barn doors or something like that is possible from the side, but would be a larger hassle we think when wanting to just open the side up in the summer for the breeze or ventilation. As we have found during planning this thing so far, everything is a tradeoff in one way or another. We can totally park a full size truck in either garage stall, but it will hang over into the shop are a bit (we actually have a truck like this now, but that old beast would live outside anyways!

). Not sure how easy the big doors would be able to swing open when our trailer or the truck were parked on that side either. So many factors to weigh in on!

Appreciate all the ideas and constructive criticism! Keep it going!

jhastain · Mar 7, 2019

bad_idea said:
Looks like it will be a nice space. You have put a lot of thought in to it. I am in process of finishing my 30x40x12 building. I am my own GC doing the easier stuff. One thing I am still kicking myself for is the tear out of the old slab - I should have kept it. I now need some fill to build up the yard beside the garage. I trucked out all of that broke up concrete and now I need to buy fill. I suggest you have the slab broke up and piled in a corner of the yard. You may need it. If not, you can throw an ad on CL later - 'Free Fill, Come get it'.

Ooooh I like it!

Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

jhastain · Jul 29, 2019

Some progress. Items I never thought I'd need to stress about:
1. organizing dumpster delivery, emptying, AND returning for demo of old garage
2. pushing/modifying schedule between groundwork and plumbers - and adding in a surveyor to stake the corners (everything of which making it take days longer)
3. didn't account that the NEW sewerline went right under where I wanted to put a footing for my lift
4. rough-in for second floor sewerline was originally set to run up the wall THROUGH a window
5. had to dig up a little compacted subgrade area to find a drain that was lost under fill
6. endless research on insulation over or under the vapor barrier (UGH!!), whether to insulate or damp proof perimeter, and if simply using fiber-mesh enforced concrete is ok
7. back & forth between masons and plumbers regarding what slope we want for floor drains (plumbers say they're set to 1/16", masons say they're set too high)
X. I'm sure they will be more to add to the list...
Photos next!

jhastain · Jul 29, 2019

Riley · Jul 29, 2019

Nice work! You setting the blocks?

jhastain · Jul 30, 2019

Riley said:
Nice work! You setting the blocks?

No, the masons are taking care of the foundation and slab work. We got to do the insulation & vapor barrier. More pics to come - slab was poured today!

-Jocelyn

jhastain · Aug 5, 2019

Foundation, fill, final grade, vapor barrier, insulation, then tubes:
View media item 95267
View media item 95268
View media item 95269
View media item 95270
Ditch left for new upgraded gas line (had 3/4", needed 1.25" if we ever wanted to put in a gas range in addition to the planned boiler). Also completed underground plumbing for two vented floor drains, "sink" drain for the boiler, sewer line rough-ins for upstairs bathroom and kitchen (one of which almost went right in front of a future window - glad I noticed and they fixed lickety split!).
View media item 95271
View media item 95272
View media item 95273
View media item 95275
View media item 95276
View media item 95277
View media item 95278
View media item 95279
View media item 95280

30x36 with Bonus Space Up Top

jhastain

Member

jhastain

Member

LifeLongWNYer

Well-known member

jhastain

Member

jhastain

Member

joey1320

Well-known member

jhastain

Member

jhastain

Member

matt_i

Well-known member

bad_idea

Well-known member

jhastain

Member

jhastain

Member

jhastain

Member

jhastain

Member

Riley

Well-known member

jhastain

Member

jhastain

Member