Dumb idea?

[trust]

I have the standard early 60s house with a 20x24 attached garage which is overflowing with **** (59 MGA under resto, 06 Mustang DD, and tons of elemetary school ****) both cars and the school stuff belong to the wife. I have a work bench I can't see for the debris, couple of cabinets and a tool box along a wall and a small rollaround tabletop with a vise. It is set back from the street about 20-25 ft and the driveway has a dip in the middle about 8' from the garage door which is ewhere the driveway concrete has a section break, of course the dip fills with water but does drain now since I put in some 'injection wells' on either side.

So it occurred to me to extend the garage out the 8' to the concrete seam, essentially remove the face/door and move it out there and backfill the walls and roof to match the house making th egarage much deeper but no wider.

Does any of this make sense? A real shop or detached garage is not an option. Second, I brought up the idea and the wife was surprisingly supportive but then without thinking rattled off a list of improvements to the rest of th e house that could be made once we had the extra space and could move the washer/dryer/***/***/***/***/x//x/x/x/x/x/x/x into all the new room. Sort of defeats my intention but perhaps we could do the garage extension then the rest in phases which we probably wouldn't get to.

So again, does it make any sense to add essentially an 8' wide full width strip of garage onto the front?

 

[MXtras]

Sounds like a lot of effort for such little gain. But that's just me.

Scott

 

[Jasondt2001]

Sounds like a lot of effort for such little gain. But that's just me.

Scott

That and you'd have to check with you county setback lines. A structure can only come so far forward, back or sideways according to the county.
So say the setback says 30 feet from sidewalk end, and you encroach and only give it 20 feet, they may make you tear it down.
I had a similar problem and put up shelving shelving shelving... LOL, I also put some 2x4 across multiple joints and plywood in my garage attic. I now finally have a workshop
It's hard to do, trust me I know, but, maybe talk to your wife about necessity and what she MUST have and what she could let go of. I had to do it and it wasnt easy but when I brought up the fact that she had hobbies and enjoyed them, the ones I wanted to explore I had no room for she worked with me.

- Jason

 

[wrigh003]

Framing in ~160 sqft of garage, getting it under roof, insulated, extending electrical, maybe a new garage door or two, etc., $$ to $$$$ depending on how involved you get.

Getting rid of the junk that is taking up the space you have, $0.

I know which one I'd pick, but that's just me, and I'm pretty ruthless when it comes to getting rid of stuff/junk that's just taking up space. As a possible hybrid of the two options, maybe spend some money on more efficient storage/organization of the space that you already have? If there's a big volume of stuff there, I bet you can reduce the volume of stuff by 50% by going through it, then manage the rest of the mess pretty well by getting it up on shelves/racks/hooks/etc.

 

[MXtras]

I am inclined to suggest a shed for all of the non-workshop related items.

You can have a nice looking, 'portable' wooden shed delivered to your house. No permits, not concrete, no contractors required. Put all the junk in there and clean up the space you have.

Scott

 

[Kevin54]

Second, I brought up the idea and the wife was surprisingly supportive but then without thinking rattled off a list of improvements to the rest of th e house that could be made once we had the extra space and could move the washer/dryer/***/***/***/***/x//x/x/x/x/x/x/x into all the new room.

Yep. Time to set the foot down. LOL!!! Can you go out front AND go out back. Or can you add on to the side any. I have a seprerate bay in one side of my garage that is 14' wide x 28' deep. At the very back I built a closet that is 4' deep x the 14' width. I told the wife that she could store stuff in there but the rest of the garage is mine. And I have enough room that I can open the door that is in the center and cram some of my stuff in. Then when she wants something she has to move MY stuff. She gets a little perturbed but then she remembers who's garage it is. LOL!!! For only 8' I don't think I would go to the expense, but for 16' or for going wider I would. But like wrigh003 stated....time to liquidate some things. Take a look and see how long it has been stored without ever looking at it and then ask yourself if it is all that necessary. Life is too short to keep things that will never get used.

Kevin

 

[JMURiz]

It seems like a lot of trouble to gain 160 sq/ft to me too.

-Building a storage shed would be the easiest/cheapest (can even wire it for electricity to use as a storage/fab shop).

-If you can go out to back with an ad-on lean-to structure that'd be the next easiest.

If land space is an issue, then check with the county etc to see what you are allowed to do and make your move based on that info.

Something like a crude plat (land plan with structures drawn in) might help us give the best advice as well.

Best of luck.

 

[trust]

Thanks guys, you read my mind. when I brought it up it was supposed to be simple void space which would have been ok. but not now
Specifically,
Have a 12x16 shed in back, no lights or electricity and no empty circuits so I'd need a new box, plus it's got car parts that the FN squirrels won't eat, can't store her paper down there without sealed storage

Can't go sideways at all, either side of the house

Can't go rearward, was a paito but I enclosed it into a 'sunroom' for her plants

The school stuff needs to be gone through, her pledge for the entire 4 years it's been in there. Won't happen but whe I toss something it's always 'where is my .....' this is a woman who can't get the recycling to the bin in the garagenext to the door, dropps it in a pile next to the same door on the inside for me!

Storage in the garage is about maxed, cabinets on both sides, shelves above and a table over the MG. Kayak (son's friend's,,neither live here anymore), stuff from the ceiling, etc. Attic has christmas stuff and deep storage stuff.

My intent is another critical sweep this weekend, last time I got almost all of my excess parts moved to the shed, maybe this week I can make some progress. Still, have the problem of the MG and the Mustang... I could free up some space by getting rid of the file cabinets full of 4wd magazines going back into the 70s i suppose....

thanks for the confirmation guys, I'll save the cash and see what else I can do

 

[RPH]

Sell the magazines and raise funds for the new place.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Given the garage is small, 20x24 isn't much, any space gained is worth it. Is it 20 wide and 24 deep? or 24 wide and 20 deep? If only 20 deep, you will gain alot by going to 28 deep, room for workbench, toolbox, etc at the back, still room to move around.

Check with the city/county/township/etc to see what their rules are. They may only restrict you from not coming forward of the house, but you need to know the rules before you consider anything. Also check your plat or survey, and any covenants to see what restrictions they may have. The local authorities will not know about deed/covenant restrictions, that will be up to you to check up on.

Is the front the gable end? That would be fairly easy, to extend the walls and roof if it is. busting up the driveway and pouring a new slab will be the worst part.

Charles

 

[mhoffm911]

 

[boiler7904]

There are a bunch of questions to answer before anyone but you can decide if this project is worth it.

- How close is the house to the setbacks and easements on the front of the house?
- What's the budget? Small space renovations are dollar intensive ($$$/sf) when you start working with contractors.
- How long do you plan to live in this house? Do this project and then sell a couple of years later and you will not get the money back. It will be spent only for your enjoyment of the space.
- How much of the house will be affected by remodeler's syndrome? You're wife has already started it: While we're at it, why don't we....?
- What condition are the roof and siding of the existing house in? Does it make sense to replace them now so that everything matches?

Personally, I think you're better off not adding on as much as it pains me advise keeping the smaller garage. Start by getting rid of the paperwork. Any of it that has to stay goes on new floor to ceiling shelves in one corner. Don't allow for overflow - if it doesn't fit on the shelves, you have to get rid of it. Then it's time to have a garage sale. If you (or your wife) can't part with the stuff that's left, rent a small storage unit until you have a bigger basement or garage at your next home. The $100 or so a month will hurt a lot less than what this addition will cost.