Extending existing block garage?

[madosta]

Whew... this is stressing me out just thinking of ways to type this out.

Existing Garage is:

22ft deep, 36ft wide, 8ft tall. 40+ years old.
Hip Roof
Too short, not big enough, but in the best location on my property. (I have more room though, 5 acres)

I am thinking about digging footers and extending it to 32ft deep, and 64ft wide.

Benefits of Fixing the existing Garage
Great location
Can have a paver patio and porch for the wife and entertaining
Gas, Electric, Cable already there.
New concrete apron installed recently in front of garage. Dont' have to tear it up.
Insulate it heavily and keep it warm all the time.

Problems with Existing Garage:
Has some additional sheds hacked onto the back.
Roof lines sag where they meet and can see it from the house.
Moisture inside and existing slab are not in great shape.
Too Short
Not enough room.
Concerned about existing footers, not sure of their condition, might run into issues down the road.

Now to build a separate structure has its benefits, but I don't know if I will be any further ahead by doing that since I want concrete and insulation anyways.

I would have to wall saw the existing block down and then stick build up to 14' walls (2x6) and then set trusses. And I don't know much about building so I need to find a builder to help. I have some grunt friends that will help with a lot of the construction. It seems like I will have to just dig new 42" footings. I'm thinking about using ICF stem walls or laying block.

Wow lots of questions.

And Yes I realize it will be a lot of work.

I ran some materials rough estimates and it will be around 20k, but I plan on budgeting more than that.

Thoughts?



where to post images

 

[madosta]

There are existing concrete masonry 9' lintels set over the 8' door openings. I would need to replace these or move them up. Not sure how to do that with wood or LVL.

 

[matt_i]

One thing to do right now is to hand-dig a hole on the outisde of the foundation, down until you find out the depth and how it is built. As long as you don't dig a huge hole or undermine the actual footer it should fill right back up with no damage. (you will have more dirt than you pulled out, it will seem, eventually it will pack back down, so don't throw the excess away). A concern, however would be the amount of reinforcement in the existing walls, and just sawing them shorter doesn't really answer that question.

Personally i'm not a big fan of block construction in this climate due to its porosity and the relative difficulty of insulating it, plus the difficulty of attaching anything to the walls. I would either tear it out and do a perma-column pole building with bookshelf/commercial girts or pour a frost-protected shallow foundation (can google that terminology) or else just an 8" wide trenched foundation with a monolithic pour.

If you do a pole building, make sure you plan from the very start the type of ceiling you'll eventually want to have, drywall, ply/osb, or metal panels. This is important as in my opinion the trusses should be set either on 2' or 4' centers (and no more) to allow for this, not the cheapest possible 8' to 9' centers which will cause grief later on.

 

[tjdux]

How about just ripping off the roof of the block building and leaving the concrete walls standing and having a shop within a shop?

Without knowing what your current foundation is makes it hard to say what the best option is beyond tearing it all down and starting over....

Or with 5 acres just build a totally new building and leave the block building up as bonus space. P
Insulate and finish the interior and put in a pool table and bar or anything you may dream of. (I have always wanted a giant music listening room/edm studio for example)

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[joes169]

I'm a masonry contractor, and remodeled my own block shop years ago, tearing the roof off and all, but what you're suggesting is a lot of work & money for little ROI IMO.

Can you post a picture of what you're working with now?

Are you open to the idea of a 36' wide building by 60' deep? If so, it would be alot less work.
Lastly, for now, I wouldn't remove the top of the block walls if they'rein good shape, but lay additional courses on them for your desired height. Perhaps not the best DIY project, but for the right masons, it's pretty straightforward.

 

[madosta]

I'm a masonry contractor, and remodeled my own block shop years ago, tearing the roof off and all, but what you're suggesting is a lot of work & money for little ROI IMO.

Can you post a picture of what you're working with now?

Are you open to the idea of a 36' wide building by 60' deep? If so, it would be alot less work.
Lastly, for now, I wouldn't remove the top of the block walls if they'rein good shape, but lay additional courses on them for your desired height. Perhaps not the best DIY project, but for the right masons, it's pretty straightforward.

Yea let me get a newer picture. One thing I don't like about the block though is that I want to insulate it and keep it warm in the winter and the block is hard to insulate and also difficult to put an exterior on that looks decent.

My problem is that I can't go any deeper than 32' because that will be 10' off the power-line behind it.

I've been working on some other designs including a barn next to it that would be close enough to the existing to be useful.

I get a lot of my personal qualms fixed and some additional features (screened in porch, great location, etc.) by basically tearing down this garage and using 2 of its footings, but I have to decide if throwing all the money and time away that I've already put into it makes sense.

If I could go back in time, I would have torn it down when I bought the place and built a fully insulate concrete floor barn where it is, but hindsight is 20/20.

It functions fine as a detached 3 car garage, but we don't park inside and it's not big enough to get my wifes truck inside, which she's the one that wants to park inside.

We plan on moving at some point, but don't know when or where, so I plan on staying here another 3-5 years and I want a damn shop! So resale value is something to consider. Thinking as well about a door big enough to park most RVs inside would be a good selling feature as well.

Building where it is has a lot of perks and wins, but is a throw away of a lot of money, I won't have anywhere to store that junk that's inside it while I tear it down, seems crazy, seems stupid... maybe that's why I want to do it.

I realize I need to do some more designing.

 

[madosta]

Pic of current garage:

Things I hate:
Fascia and gutters not there yet.
Roof sag, shed addition.
Ugly
Unusable



Property layout.

 

[WeekendWarrior83]

What type of foundation is it? If it's in good condition I would try to re-use it and rebuild from the foundation up.. adding the required footings for your expansion.

Check out this thread, I wonder if it would be helpful: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=347362

 

[madosta]

What type of foundation is it? If it's in good condition I would try to re-use it and rebuild from the foundation up.. adding the required footings for your expansion.

Check out this thread, I wonder if it would be helpful: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=347362

I am planning on digging next to the foundation down to see what it looks like below soon. That will be the key to everything.

I am assuming it's concrete but I guess it could also be compacted stone based on how old it is.