Fix or rebuild attached garage

[brosseau0]

Hey guys,
I am buying a house with an attached 1-car garage and it's a piece of junk! I can barely fit a car inside and it's about the width of the door, so I can't even open my car doors. The concrete floor is rough, the insulation looks like cardboard and it's say it's about 7 feet tall. I was looking foward to buy a house with no garage so I could build my own, but you know, the rest is great.
The question is : Since it's an attached garage, although it doesn't share the same roofing, should I try to fix it, extend it in lenght and width, or should I demolish andbuild anew?

Thank you!

PS: First post on the forum, hope it's alright!

Phil

 

[JoeMopar]

I'd vote to start new, but a few pictures of it would go a long way so that we can see what you have to work with.

 

[j p smith]

Welcome Phil.
We are going to need pictures in order to understand what you have to work with.

 

[brosseau0]

Wow, thanks for the answers that poped in a blink! I only have this one. It looks a bit larger, but the thickness of the walls, the inside width is about the same as the door. Oh and there's no other doors!

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[JoeMopar]

Looking at that picture if you're just going to add on making it wider I would add on to whats there. If you're going to go deeper I'd think about starting from scratch.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Before you start anything like a tear down, make sure it can be rebuilt larger with your local codes. You need to check the set back and that type of stuff and make sure that it can be bigger than the original footprint.

 

[brosseau0]

Thanks for your answers! Yes that's been taken care of. It has to be at least 5 feet from the neighboor and I'd say I have about 12 feet left (you can see the wooden fence which is mine). The back is no problem, there's close to 30 feet.

 

[CNGsaves]

More pics . . . . right side of house, back of house, inside the garage, etc.

If you have enough land, my recommendation is extend house to right so you'd have 16'x8' garage door. Then BEST true GJ garage, would then be extended BACK by building L on house so effectively you'd have back-to-back 2 car garages (overall 4 car garage). THAT should be the goal !!

 

[brosseau0]

I don't have more pics for now, I haven't moved yet. I'll probably go by tomorrow to take some. Considering that last extention, is it better to go with what's already there or to bring it down and start from scratch?

Other question is : Is it that much trouble to demolish an attached garage or do I just have to take my time and extra precautions?

Thank you!

 

[Big Bad Dad]

Before you tear it down or widen it, make sure you can go farther to the right. You said you have enough room to the property line. How about underground utilites? Buried gas and water lines or power wires can be very expensive to move. And a sewer pipe could be a deal breaker!

 

[brosseau0]

Good point! My step father is a surveyor, I bet he could give me tips about checking that out!

 

[brosseau0]

This is what I'm thinking (Sorry it's in french haha, but you get the picture):
<a href='http://postimg.org/image/e3mqyij73/' target='_blank'><img src='http://s27.postimg.org/e3mqyij73/Sans_titre_G.jpg' border='0' alt="Sans titre G" /></a>
Lines are old garage, dots are new garage.

 

[Rod N]

If you can, I would build a detached garage out front and then you will have 2 garages.

No one said it would be cheap. lol

 

[brosseau0]

I could always bring this one down and make a detached further down in the yard.

Ressources are not exactly an issue, I have all the time in the world, tons of wood and I've done a lot of projects, but never directly attached to a house.

 

[Lassen Forge]

That's what I'd do... take the old garage down, make it a pass-thru (it looks like it may have been one originally) and build a larger, modern, detatched garage in back... put a carport roof over your passthru (for dry winter access to the kitchen); you could even go wide with that and have an extra parking slot next to it.

Won't be cheap. Will be nice when you're done.

 

[JohnnieMo]

I'm struggling with a similar issue, but my existing garage is detached - and too small.

Based on the quality of your structure, I'd say rebuild. However the caveats people mentioned here are very accurate. I call up the city about once a week to ask questions.... I think they are getting tired of me

The one line I keep seeing on here is "Do it right the first time." It's landed on me...

 

[brosseau0]

Sounds good! Thank you for your answers!

 

[LB-1911]

Hey guys,
I am buying a house with an attached 1-car garage and it's a piece of junk!

I can barely fit a car inside and it's about the width of the door, so I can't even open my car doors.

The concrete floor is rough, the insulation looks like cardboard and it's say it's about 7 feet tall.

I was looking forward to buy a house with no garage so I could build my own, but you know, the rest is great.

The question is : Since it's an attached garage, although it doesn't share the same roofing, should I try to fix it, extend it in lenght and width, or should I demolish andbuild anew?

Thank you!

PS: First post on the forum, hope it's alright!

Phil

Thanks for your answers! Yes that's been taken care of.
It has to be at least 5 feet from the neighboor and I'd say I have about 12 feet left (you can see the wooden fence which is mine).

The back is no problem, there's close to 30 feet.

Before you tear it down or widen it, make sure you can go farther to the right.

You said you have enough room to the property line.

How about underground utilities?

Buried gas and water lines or power wires can be very expensive to move.
And a sewer pipe could be a deal breaker!

Good point! My step father is a surveyor, I bet he could give me tips about checking that out!

A surveyor in the loop should make all this less tedious.

Phase one - Contact your local utility locate service and have the utilities marked.

Double check your setbacks & easements.

Do a site plan** and pay a visit to the AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction)


I'll spend your $$'s - Start fresh.

**Example -
How to Draw a Site Plan
https://www.co.pierce.wa.us/DocumentCenter/View/4301


Good Luck

 

[brosseau0]

Nice! Thanks for the tip sheet!