Doing my own design work - Engineering Approvals

[scootermcrad]

Hey everyone! I miss posting. I haven't posted in quite awhile.

My long term plans (hopefully not TOO long term) is to finally have a nice shop space. I've considered an addition to my existing garage, I've considered barn kits, and I've considered conventional stick built garages. Any of these would work well with my property. In the end, I keep circling back to a nice sized stick built garage. Probably 36x28 (ish) with a loft and some architectural features that will help it blend well with the house and other structures on the property.

All that being said, I've seen some great plans online and this may be a consideration, but I can't find just exactly what I want, so I think I may just CAD up my own, even if it's just to think through the process. I have a good knowledge of framing structures and understand the various type of structural elements that will ultimately need to be signed off on. I would also be building this myself, less some of the roof structure elements.

My question is, if any of you have gone through the process of designing your own garage and show good design work what have you done to get approvals? Are there PE's that will actually look at other people's work and sign off? I'm a Mechanical Engineer by trade, but do not have the ability to "stamp" anything. Obviously the design would meet all local code requirements as well.

I would like to hear some input on this from those of you who have been down this road.

Thanks guys!

 

[blkhonda1991]

Not sure about your municipality but most home/garage plans rarely require a stamp...they may require some information on beams/columns if you have any but most lumber yard provide that service if you are buying from them.

 

[ddawg16]

I did. And I'm in Los Angeles county.

I tore down my old garage and built a new one. Had I just built a normal garage, it could have gotten approval with a sketch on a napkin as long as I followed the county's building codes.

But because I was doing 2-story and some cantilevered sections....I had to do engineered drawings. So I drew up what I wanted....took them to a construction engineer......he did the calcs and provided some examples of details that had to be added. I cadded up those details. Took them back....he confirmed...and wet stamped it.

I submitted my drawings with his wet stamp and attached calculations. Approved.

I learned a lot.....at the time of the garage, our next project was going to be a 2-story addition to our house.

The garage project gave me the knowledge and skill to do my addition....except I paid an architect/engineer to do the drawings. There is a HUGE difference between a 2-story garage and a 2-story house. It was money well spent.

 

[ddawg16]

Scooter....I forgot to add.

Go down to your local building office and talk to a planner. Tell them what you want to do. It won't cost you anything. He/she will map out exactly what you need.

First step will most likely be a plot plan....this is an outline of your property, showing any existing structures, their dimensions and their location on the property. This can be a simple sketch on a 11x17 piece of paper. D-size would be better.

Once they know you want to do it right, you will be surprised at how well they are willing to work with you.

 

[rattle_snake]

Depending on location, may not need stamp with walls 10' or under.

You should be able to understand plan submittal requirements from your city/county. The plans don't have to be fancy, just have to have the required items. It can seem overwhelming the first time through the process.

Plan B is to do your own drawings and have an architect make a professional plan set from them. That is what I did and was worth the $ for me. Having a decent plan set is also good for getting quotes. I'm also an engineer (and hence wanted full design control) but didn't want to waste time going through submittal process 8 times to get it all right.

 

[yeldogt]

Your local jurisdiction will determine the level of plan detail --- it's best to understand what they are going to want upfront -- before you start. Too many people forgo getting a professional involved in the beginning only to find out they need one anyway (formal plans for permits).

The ability to use some stock layout will once again be determined by the people around you - some will have no lock and others will be lucky.

Go down to the governing authority and see what you need -- ask them if there are any retired architects and/or structural engineers working in the area. Over the years I have had wonderful experiences with older retired guys ...

I have done many projects over the past 30+ years -- have never regretted getting professional help. You don't know what you don't know --- most DIY designs look ,,, well ...DIY.

Typically some professional input get you a better build for less $$ and stress. Will not look like a box with a roof .... better resale

 

[scootermcrad]

Wow! You guys are quick!

A big part of the reason I'm planning to do the majority of this myself, with the help of some great people (bribed with plane tickets, beer and pizza) is because I just went through hell getting screwed by a contractor and its put my family through hell. That's a whole different story, but this is where the motivation comes from. I trust basically NOBODY here at this point.

One of my biggest concerns about this project will be the slab and foundation work. I have heard nothing but nightmare stories from people in my area. It is VERY difficult to find a good contractor to do this work. But this is one I just won't touch. So full cavity searches will have to happen to find a good one! I will have to make sure my footing details are spot on so I have a legal leg to stand on if something happens.

Not sure about your municipality but most home/garage plans rarely require a stamp...they may require some information on beams/columns if you have any but most lumber yard provide that service if you are buying from them.

Great tip! I always forget about my local lumber yards. We have a few good ones that could probably give me the "official" specs for various materials to submit along with anything I come up with.

I did. And I'm in Los Angeles county.

I tore down my old garage and built a new one. Had I just built a normal garage, it could have gotten approval with a sketch on a napkin as long as I followed the county's building codes.

But because I was doing 2-story and some cantilevered sections....I had to do engineered drawings. So I drew up what I wanted....took them to a construction engineer......he did the calcs and provided some examples of details that had to be added. I cadded up those details. Took them back....he confirmed...and wet stamped it.

I submitted my drawings with his wet stamp and attached calculations. Approved.

I learned a lot.....at the time of the garage, our next project was going to be a 2-story addition to our house.

The garage project gave me the knowledge and skill to do my addition....except I paid an architect/engineer to do the drawings. There is a HUGE difference between a 2-story garage and a 2-story house. It was money well spent.

First, I'm impressed with the fact that you're in SoCal and didn't get put through the wringer. I lived in OC for about 5 years and watched friends go through pure hell with anything that was done to their properties. So that's a great success story!

Funny you mention the 2-story addition thing. That is part of the reason I want to go through this exercise in-full as well. We have a future second story addition on a portion of our house that I would like to do this with also. I was hoping this would help educate me on that process. So those are some additional good points.

Scooter....I forgot to add.

Go down to your local building office and talk to a planner. Tell them what you want to do. It won't cost you anything. He/she will map out exactly what you need.

First step will most likely be a plot plan....this is an outline of your property, showing any existing structures, their dimensions and their location on the property. This can be a simple sketch on a 11x17 piece of paper. D-size would be better.

Once they know you want to do it right, you will be surprised at how well they are willing to work with you.

This is ALSO great advice. I've done about 637 sketches of my property on about every sized piece of paper I could think of (I have problems) and will have no problem coming up with something to sit down with someone from the County to go over things. Thank you for all that input!

Depending on location, may not need stamp with walls 10' or under.

You should be able to understand plan submittal requirements from your city/county. The plans don't have to be fancy, just have to have the required items. It can seem overwhelming the first time through the process.

Plan B is to do your own drawings and have an architect make a professional plan set from them. That is what I did and was worth the $ for me. Having a decent plan set is also good for getting quotes. I'm also an engineer (and hence wanted full design control) but didn't want to waste time going through submittal process 8 times to get it all right.

Good ideas for sure! Thank you!

 

[scootermcrad]

Your local jurisdiction will determine the level of plan detail --- it's best to understand what they are going to want upfront -- before you start. Too many people forgo getting a professional involved in the beginning only to find out they need one anyway (formal plans for permits).

The ability to use some stock layout will once again be determined by the people around you - some will have no lock and others will be lucky.

Go down to the governing authority and see what you need -- ask them if there are any retired architects and/or structural engineers working in the area. Over the years I have had wonderful experiences with older retired guys ...

I have done many projects over the past 30+ years -- have never regretted getting professional help. You don't know what you don't know --- most DIY designs look ,,, well ...DIY.

Typically some professional input get you a better build for less $$ and stress. Will not look like a box with a roof .... better resale

Well said! All of that! Especially the part about "not knowing what you don't
know". I over research everything, buy books, talk to as many people as I can, and at the end of the day there is no better knowledge than hands-on knowledge of the topic in-progress and utilizing the superior knowledge of others close by. That's a big part of the reason I like asking questions here.
There is a TON of knowledge on this forum.

And great idea on finding retired professionals that provide assistance. I'll definitely look into that. I might even know of someone off-hand.

Thank you!

 

[yeldogt]

Well said! All of that! Especially the part about "not knowing what you don't
know". I over research everything, buy books, talk to as many people as I can, and at the end of the day there is no better knowledge than hands-on knowledge of the topic in-progress and utilizing the superior knowledge of others close by. That's a big part of the reason I like asking questions here.
There is a TON of knowledge on this forum.

And great idea on finding retired professionals that provide assistance. I'll definitely look into that. I might even know of someone off-hand.

Thank you!

I'm guilty of "over research" ... can't help myself. Also suffer from -- "I know what I want ....... until, I see something better"

Over the years I have done some really cool projects -- historic restorations and new builds. My longtime city property was an old fire house -- I built a glass and steel weekend house along the Delaware. Old bucks county farm houses ... you learn something in all of them.

The big problems are land use issues that seem to be ever more prevalent. Get outside the soil disturbance or stormwater rules and it's very difficult to get a project back on track. The basic building stuff is easy to navigate -- it's cookbook stuff.

On remodels -- pros often see ways to make a structure better. Homeowners often refrain from removing current structure .... professions can look past all of that and understand that it's often easier to remove and rebuild better - they get you "value"

Good luck

 

[scootermcrad]

I'm guilty of "over research" ... can't help myself. Also suffer from -- "I know what I want ....... until, I see something better"

Over the years I have done some really cool projects -- historic restorations and new builds. My longtime city property was an old fire house -- I built a glass and steel weekend house along the Delaware. Old bucks county farm houses ... you learn something in all of them.

The big problems are land use issues that seem to be ever more prevalent. Get outside the soil disturbance or stormwater rules and it's very difficult to get a project back on track. The basic building stuff is easy to navigate -- it's cookbook stuff.

On remodels -- pros often see ways to make a structure better. Homeowners often refrain from removing current structure .... professions can look past all of that and understand that it's often easier to remove and rebuild better - they get you "value"

Good luck

On tangent to all that great stuff... I love to dream about building garages with character and this will probably be the only chance I'll have to do it, so I may as well make it as cool as I can by doing as much as I can. Being someone who lives in an old historic home and help try to educated the public about the preservation of historic structures, I really appreciate and study unique architecture. I've also learned from being around this stuff for a tiny bit that a person would spend a FORTUNE to hire someone to build something of equal quality as some of those old structures. Being that I just won't compromise on quality, I'm going to have to try and do as much as I can so I can afford to have the character I'm looking for and be able to control the quality. With quality certainly comes value, as you mentioned. If I ever had to sell this property, I realize that stand alone shops/garages often don't add much value to the property. So, if I'm going to do it, it is going to have to be carefully thought out.

Seriously... good stuff here! Thank you!

 

[ddawg16]

Wow! You guys are quick!

A big part of the reason I'm planning to do the majority of this myself, with the help of some great people (bribed with plane tickets, beer and pizza) is because I just went through hell getting screwed by a contractor and its put my family through hell. That's a whole different story, but this is where the motivation comes from. I trust basically NOBODY here at this point.

One of my biggest concerns about this project will be the slab and foundation work. I have heard nothing but nightmare stories from people in my area. It is VERY difficult to find a good contractor to do this work. But this is one I just won't touch. So full cavity searches will have to happen to find a good one! I will have to make sure my footing details are spot on so I have a legal leg to stand on if something happens.

Yea, I farmed mine out as well on the garage and got somewhat hosed on price. Quality of work was good (a couple of minor issues here and there).

I would make a trip to your local concrete supply....ask them who the good contractors are.....they should know because they are the most frequent customers....and pay their bills.

Have a look at my garage build (link in my sig). I know it's not a thing there in SC/NC...but consider a stem wall. That gets your walls up above grade and helps to keep water and bugs out.

First, I'm impressed with the fact that you're in SoCal and didn't get put through the wringer. I lived in OC for about 5 years and watched friends go through pure hell with anything that was done to their properties. So that's a great success story!

Funny you mention the 2-story addition thing. That is part of the reason I want to go through this exercise in-full as well. We have a future second story addition on a portion of our house that I would like to do this with also. I was hoping this would help educate me on that process. So those are some additional good points.

I actually live in the county area.....a little patch sandwiched between some good sized cities....has advantages.....

I also got to be good friends with building and safety. I didn't argue with them. Let them do their job. On a few occasions, the inspector would come out and help me solve a problem or two. One afternoon he and I spent about 30 min drawing pictures on the wall on the best way to handle a rats nest of plumbing I was working on. I think he enjoyed it seeing how he was a plumber in his former life.

This is ALSO great advice. I've done about 637 sketches of my property on about every sized piece of paper I could think of (I have problems) and will have no problem coming up with something to sit down with someone from the County to go over things. Thank you for all that input!



Good ideas for sure! Thank you!

When you go to see the planner, have a plot plan handy.....it will allow him to give you better advice.

 

[scootermcrad]

Yea, I farmed mine out as well on the garage and got somewhat hosed on price. Quality of work was good (a couple of minor issues here and there).

I would make a trip to your local concrete supply....ask them who the good contractors are.....they should know because they are the most frequent customers....and pay their bills.

Have a look at my garage build (link in my sig). I know it's not a thing there in SC/NC...but consider a stem wall. That gets your walls up above grade and helps to keep water and bugs out.



I actually live in the county area.....a little patch sandwiched between some good sized cities....has advantages.....

I also got to be good friends with building and safety. I didn't argue with them. Let them do their job. On a few occasions, the inspector would come out and help me solve a problem or two. One afternoon he and I spent about 30 min drawing pictures on the wall on the best way to handle a rats nest of plumbing I was working on. I think he enjoyed it seeing how he was a plumber in his former life.




When you go to see the planner, have a plot plan handy.....it will allow him to give you better advice.

I was indeed thinking that getting the framing up away from the grade as much as possible could only be a positive thing. At least a few courses of block if not a poured base wall. We get some heavy rains and the proposed area is in a flat area that would benefit from some drainage provisions during the grading process. With 10 foot walls, getting back to standard stud heights would certainly be beneficial as well.

More great points. Thank you! I will definitely check out your build.

 

[yeldogt]

On tangent to all that great stuff... I love to dream about building garages with character and this will probably be the only chance I'll have to do it, so I may as well make it as cool as I can by doing as much as I can. Being someone who lives in an old historic home and help try to educated the public about the preservation of historic structures, I really appreciate and study unique architecture. I've also learned from being around this stuff for a tiny bit that a person would spend a FORTUNE to hire someone to build something of equal quality as some of those old structures. Being that I just won't compromise on quality, I'm going to have to try and do as much as I can so I can afford to have the character I'm looking for and be able to control the quality. With quality certainly comes value, as you mentioned. If I ever had to sell this property, I realize that stand alone shops/garages often don't add much value to the property. So, if I'm going to do it, it is going to have to be carefully thought out.

Seriously... good stuff here! Thank you!

My current project is a church .. from the 1870's. The large outbuilding is a challenge ... I want it to be "quiet" and not take away from the main structure. Making something look "old" is expensive. Buildings years ago had steeper roof designs and different overhangs .. most modern designs stick out.

 

[scootermcrad]

My current project is a church .. from the 1870's. The large outbuilding is a challenge ... I want it to be "quiet" and not take away from the main structure. Making something look "old" is expensive. Buildings years ago had steeper roof designs and different overhangs .. most modern designs stick out.

Exactly! You said it! I build a 12x16 garden shed out back and tried to make it look as era correct as possible. I think I posted a thread on it here once. All the structures on our property have a 12/12 pitch with some interesting cross-gables that have a very Gothic Revival feel to them, but simpler for it's a much later home (1937). Anyway this garage/shop will have the same feel and there's no way I could afford to hire someone to do that sort of custom work. Or maybe it's the fear that I don't TRUST someone to do that sort of work. HAHA

 

[matt_i]

My question is, if any of you have gone through the process of designing your own garage and show good design work what have you done to get approvals? Are there PE's that will actually look at other people's work and sign off? I'm a Mechanical Engineer by trade, but do not have the ability to "stamp" anything. Obviously the design would meet all local code requirements as well.

A single story shop/garage usually doesn't need a lot of exotic engineering, just some basic framing.

I drew my own plans in CAD also as an M.E. but not a P.E., drew the plat (overhead view lot placement). Took .pdf files to Kinkos and they assisted in laser printing them on D-sized paper. About $5 a sheet as I recall, but worthwhile.

The only thing that got into "engineering" was designing an I-beam header for an intersecting roof. The other local requirement was uplift connectors to support ** lbs (forget the number) but perusing the Simpson catalog was helpful. The anchor bolt requirements were well documented as well.

The header didn't even start that way, I kind of backed into it due to inexperience. I had a generic "header" in the plans but no details, the plans were approved and I was off digging and pouring concrete. I kind of forgot about it at the time, when i got to refining the wall details when preparing to frame, the lumberyard assisted me for free in spec'ing LVLs for it since I purchased all of the other framing materials there. But I decided thru scope-creep that I wanted to save headroom and have a trolleyed hoist....so.....

I used the loading from the trusses and used it to size the I beam for L/480 deflection under the full load plus another 1 ton of point load (trollleyed hoist) at the center. Then the design process started with attaching wood to steel, the top flange has to be braced, walls have to have greater than normal rack resistance...which I did with flat steel "X" bracing.

I was a little unsure of the framing inspection, I had all my load & sizing calculations available if challenged, and I was prepared to accept a slap on the hand, a cease & desist order, and/or trip to a P.E. to approve the design in arrears, but the building dept is notoriously lazy and the field inspectors just look around for 3-5 minutes without being bothered to even open the paper plans, unless they see shoddy work or something that sticks out.

Looking at houses built here and there I see a W8 x 18 is a very common I-beam used in wood construction as it fits on/in a 2x6 wall. The beam I sized was a 35#/ft S-shape and the eyeball says "pretty massive".

Other localities I've lived in only required engineering for "spaces built for others" like churches, commercial buildings, houses built by contractors, etc. The idea was that if you built it on your own property with your own money then it was your own bad if you built it shoddy or cheaply and then it fell down losing your investment or damaging your own health.

I did have to take my plans to be approved by the township's zoning rep, he basically looks at the plat to make sure only 1 detached outbuilding is being built per property and maybe an initial look at the easements. His comments were that "you will not have any issues with Building Dept with these plans, where you will have your greatest challenge is with Soil Erosion dept" and he was correct. My takeaway was that if residential plans look professional and obviously have some work into them, there are bigger fish to for B&Z to fry like commercial work and work in the city...not a 1000 sqft garage out in the country.

I think if you want to do your own design work it will open your eyes forever to how to build structures easier, stronger, better, etc, you'll appreciate details you see in other houses and shops, etc. Have fun with the journey!

 

[sberry]

Foundation and footers are such a pain that there is no way I would farm it out, would simply fess up and do it.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Note that if the plans do need to be stamped by an engineer, they will have to spend a fair amount of time thoroughly reviewing them and doing all the calculations to make sure everything is designed correctly, so it will cost you some money. 'Plan stamping' without doing the review is a quick way for an engineer to lose their license. I've been approached a few times to do it myself, and my answer has not been just no, it's Hell No.

 

[wake74]

'Plan stamping' without doing the review is a quick way for an engineer to lose their license. I've been approached a few times to do it myself, and my answer has not been just no, it's Hell No.

Ditto to this. I did maintain a PE license in every state from NY to Florida, but have since let most of them lapse. I get reminded of this fact every time I take the mandatory Rules and Ethics courses for my FL renewals. What someone would want to pay you to rubber stamp them wouldn't be worth the risk. If you got caught from the Board, you could potentially lose you license, or if something went wrong during or after construction, the E&O liability would be huge.

 

[MushCreek]

I got lucky here in upstate SC. No plans review, and only cursory inspections. You don't submit drawings up front; just fill out a one page form describing the project, and pay for your permit. It was a 15 minute process. After the fact, they want as-built sketches, but all they want to know is how many rooms and how many square feet. All of my meticulous detail drawings were for my own use- they didn't care. They had no way of looking at the dwg's I put on disc, so I just printed out they few they wanted. I just followed (and exceeded prescriptive code, so I know the place ain't gonna fall down. Some things were engineered, such as the roof trusses, and they came with stamped drawings, but the inspector didn't even ask to see them. The engineering was included in the price of the trusses.

Only your local building department can tell you exactly what you need. Some are very fussy, others just don't care. A few remote areas don't even have building departments, thus no permits or inspections at all.

 

[mikegt4]

I engineered and drew the plans for my house and garage and only needed a stamp for the trusses which I bought anyway. I did include all the load calculations for such things as the I beam post spacing in the basement and heavy point load bearing studs in the walls. This was 25+ years ago and my biggest obstacle was their reluctance to accept CAD drawings instead of "blueprints". One print inspector even told me that blueprints were more "accurate" !

 

[RSr]

I also drew my attached garage plans and got them approved without issues. Matt_i, as usual, covers most of the bases but I'll add just a few more things. What will typically cause issues that require engineer review are conditions that push the boundaries of standard conditions and construction practices. I don't know what your area of North Carolina is like but if you're near the ocean it may be a high wind area and that would fall into conditions category. For construction practices, you want to fall nicely into what the prescriptive code, IRC, allows. The biggest issues would be keeping stud height under 10', and having proper width shear walls on the side with the garage door openings. I'm building a very similar sized garage to what you are proposing, and I wanted 11' ceilings and felt the easiest way to get it approved was concrete stem walls that would not only keep the framing up and away from the ground, but also reduce the stud height below 10'. I also opted to spec portal framed openings on the garage door side due to the reduced shear panel size due to wide garage doors. As far as the roof, prefab trusses are the easiest and most compliant way to go. The only comment I got back from my building app was that truss drawings from the company needed to be submitted before framing inspection, and those are included with the truss package.

I used SketchUp for the garage model and then LayOut to convert them to scaled 2d construction documents. If that sounds easy, I'll admit it glosses over everything but there are tutorials online and if you can learn fast and complete it in the 30 day trial period it won't cost you anything

good luck

 

[scootermcrad]

This weekend I spent some time thinking about the overall size of the shop. It's funny how small it looks when you lay it out with string or mow the patch that represents the footprint. I think I'm going to change the design to 28x40 so I don't hate myself when it's done. I'll probably do the cost comparison between the two footprints, though.

I think my big challenges, as far as framing layout goes, will be the type of roof construction I want to do. The roof will be a 12/12 pitch roof and will have a partial loft area where I intend to have my wood shop, which will mean floor trusses and the roof will have a structural ridge beam and rafter construction, which means posts at each end. The ridge beam will be pretty sizable. This would make it more of an open cathedral ceiling. A crane will be needed to put it in place, for sure unless I do a "build-up" structural ridge beam. This would be in place of a non-structural ridge construction using trusses. Now... the idea is great, but financially I may not be able to swing it and the logistics of doing it may be another story as well. Drawing it up is free though, so I'll start there.

Definitely looking forward to walking through the process, starting with the concept, plot layout, etc. Then, just to walk through things, I'll make an appointment with the county and just see what else they need before ever pulling the permit. The permit is also very cheap. Last time I pulled one it took me 10 minutes and $34. They wouldn't let me pull my own electrical permit, though. I have a great licensed guy that lets me work along side him for electrical, so I can probably do that again and that will make life great.

A single story shop/garage usually doesn't need a lot of exotic engineering, just some basic framing.

I drew my own plans in CAD also as an M.E. but not a P.E., drew the plat (overhead view lot placement). Took .pdf files to Kinkos and they assisted in laser printing them on D-sized paper. About $5 a sheet as I recall, but worthwhile.

The only thing that got into "engineering" was designing an I-beam header for an intersecting roof. The other local requirement was uplift connectors to support ** lbs (forget the number) but perusing the Simpson catalog was helpful. The anchor bolt requirements were well documented as well.

The header didn't even start that way, I kind of backed into it due to inexperience. I had a generic "header" in the plans but no details, the plans were approved and I was off digging and pouring concrete. I kind of forgot about it at the time, when i got to refining the wall details when preparing to frame, the lumberyard assisted me for free in spec'ing LVLs for it since I purchased all of the other framing materials there. But I decided thru scope-creep that I wanted to save headroom and have a trolleyed hoist....so.....

I used the loading from the trusses and used it to size the I beam for L/480 deflection under the full load plus another 1 ton of point load (trollleyed hoist) at the center. Then the design process started with attaching wood to steel, the top flange has to be braced, walls have to have greater than normal rack resistance...which I did with flat steel "X" bracing.

I was a little unsure of the framing inspection, I had all my load & sizing calculations available if challenged, and I was prepared to accept a slap on the hand, a cease & desist order, and/or trip to a P.E. to approve the design in arrears, but the building dept is notoriously lazy and the field inspectors just look around for 3-5 minutes without being bothered to even open the paper plans, unless they see shoddy work or something that sticks out.

Looking at houses built here and there I see a W8 x 18 is a very common I-beam used in wood construction as it fits on/in a 2x6 wall. The beam I sized was a 35#/ft S-shape and the eyeball says "pretty massive".

Other localities I've lived in only required engineering for "spaces built for others" like churches, commercial buildings, houses built by contractors, etc. The idea was that if you built it on your own property with your own money then it was your own bad if you built it shoddy or cheaply and then it fell down losing your investment or damaging your own health.

I did have to take my plans to be approved by the township's zoning rep, he basically looks at the plat to make sure only 1 detached outbuilding is being built per property and maybe an initial look at the easements. His comments were that "you will not have any issues with Building Dept with these plans, where you will have your greatest challenge is with Soil Erosion dept" and he was correct. My takeaway was that if residential plans look professional and obviously have some work into them, there are bigger fish to for B&Z to fry like commercial work and work in the city...not a 1000 sqft garage out in the country.

I think if you want to do your own design work it will open your eyes forever to how to build structures easier, stronger, better, etc, you'll appreciate details you see in other houses and shops, etc. Have fun with the journey!

Wow! Thank you for taking the time to write all that out! I very much appreciate it!

My experience here so far is that they don't spend much time looking at stuff on the framing side. When a person gets into mechanicals, insulation, and electrical they get very particular. But I have not gone through the "start from scratch" approach yet.

An I beam for hoisting up into the loft will be desired for sure. That's something I have to think about.

Note that if the plans do need to be stamped by an engineer, they will have to spend a fair amount of time thoroughly reviewing them and doing all the calculations to make sure everything is designed correctly, so it will cost you some money. 'Plan stamping' without doing the review is a quick way for an engineer to lose their license. I've been approached a few times to do it myself, and my answer has not been just no, it's Hell No.

I completely understand where you are coming from!

Ditto to this. I did maintain a PE license in every state from NY to Florida, but have since let most of them lapse. I get reminded of this fact every time I take the mandatory Rules and Ethics courses for my FL renewals. What someone would want to pay you to rubber stamp them wouldn't be worth the risk. If you got caught from the Board, you could potentially lose you license, or if something went wrong during or after construction, the E&O liability would be huge.

Do you still have one in NC? HAHA! (just kidding)

I got lucky here in upstate SC. No plans review, and only cursory inspections. You don't submit drawings up front; just fill out a one page form describing the project, and pay for your permit. It was a 15 minute process. After the fact, they want as-built sketches, but all they want to know is how many rooms and how many square feet. All of my meticulous detail drawings were for my own use- they didn't care. They had no way of looking at the dwg's I put on disc, so I just printed out they few they wanted. I just followed (and exceeded prescriptive code, so I know the place ain't gonna fall down. Some things were engineered, such as the roof trusses, and they came with stamped drawings, but the inspector didn't even ask to see them. The engineering was included in the price of the trusses.

Only your local building department can tell you exactly what you need. Some are very fussy, others just don't care. A few remote areas don't even have building departments, thus no permits or inspections at all.

This is about what I'm expecting as well! What county are you in?

I engineered and drew the plans for my house and garage and only needed a stamp for the trusses which I bought anyway. I did include all the load calculations for such things as the I beam post spacing in the basement and heavy point load bearing studs in the walls. This was 25+ years ago and my biggest obstacle was their reluctance to accept CAD drawings instead of "blueprints". One print inspector even told me that blueprints were more "accurate" !

CAD isn't accurate, but blueprints are? HAHA

I feel like calculations for the loft floor and roof structure is probably where they're going to pay attention, in my case.

I also drew my attached garage plans and got them approved without issues. Matt_i, as usual, covers most of the bases but I'll add just a few more things. What will typically cause issues that require engineer review are conditions that push the boundaries of standard conditions and construction practices. I don't know what your area of North Carolina is like but if you're near the ocean it may be a high wind area and that would fall into conditions category. For construction practices, you want to fall nicely into what the prescriptive code, IRC, allows. The biggest issues would be keeping stud height under 10', and having proper width shear walls on the side with the garage door openings. I'm building a very similar sized garage to what you are proposing, and I wanted 11' ceilings and felt the easiest way to get it approved was concrete stem walls that would not only keep the framing up and away from the ground, but also reduce the stud height below 10'. I also opted to spec portal framed openings on the garage door side due to the reduced shear panel size due to wide garage doors. As far as the roof, prefab trusses are the easiest and most compliant way to go. The only comment I got back from my building app was that truss drawings from the company needed to be submitted before framing inspection, and those are included with the truss package.

I used SketchUp for the garage model and then LayOut to convert them to scaled 2d construction documents. If that sounds easy, I'll admit it glosses over everything but there are tutorials online and if you can learn fast and complete it in the 30 day trial period it won't cost you anything

good luck

Lots of great points, there! Especially the part about the ceiling height versus stud height and shear walls.

In my case, I will be using SolidWorks to lay out every detail. I work with it daily and have full access to the software. So that saves me some resources for sure.

Thanks everyone!!

 

[wake74]

Do you still have one in NC? HAHA! (just kidding)

Yes............and no I won't

I kept NC, my current home, and FL, figure I'll end up there for retirement, and it may be useful for something then......

 

[anythingyoucanimagine]

Totally depends on your jurisdiction.

Where I am, if you can verify everything yourself you are good. That means actually put pen to paper and document all materials, plans, spans, legit stamps on materials from manufacturers, cite code, reference any zoning variances for each specific part of the building/structure, etc. then you can do it all yourself as a homeowner. If you get denied just pay an extra $85 and appeal it. You'll piss off the building inspector but if you are right, we have people on our appeals board that will know who is right/wrong.

Honestly time is money. Write (draw) it up, email it to a firm in the format they like then pay for the stamp. (just my experience)

 

[scootermcrad]

Yes............and no I won't

I kept NC, my current home, and FL, figure I'll end up there for retirement, and it may be useful for something then......

Haha!

 

[scootermcrad]

Working on some quick preliminary shell and layout stuff, I'll post it soon.

Totally depends on your jurisdiction.

Where I am, if you can verify everything yourself you are good. That means actually put pen to paper and document all materials, plans, spans, legit stamps on materials from manufacturers, cite code, reference any zoning variances for each specific part of the building/structure, etc. then you can do it all yourself as a homeowner. If you get denied just pay an extra $85 and appeal it. You'll piss off the building inspector but if you are right, we have people on our appeals board that will know who is right/wrong.

Honestly time is money. Write (draw) it up, email it to a firm in the format they like then pay for the stamp. (just my experience)

Thanks for your input!

I figure, the more details I have up front along with great detailed drawings will certainly get things off on the right foot.

I think for myself, despite what's actually needed by the county, I like the engineering process and would enjoy just going through the calculations to understand every bit of the building and how it can be utilized. I tend to overbuild a little because I never know what the future holds for me and the use of the building. If I ever go out on my own, the building will be useful to me.