Garage designing, my first effort.

[Boyd Who]

I've been doing a lot of dreaming lately and decided to put it to paper. This is my first attempt at doing up my own garage design. This is just the planning stages, the build may be quite a while down the road as I expect this to be a fairly expensive endeavour to do it the way I want.

The garage style will match our 1910 character house as best as possible. It will be 20 x 26 (big as I can go ), with a 12 x 26 second floor for storage. The main garage will have a 9' ceiling, the attic will be about 7'. It's not in the drawings, but there will be another work bench along the south side under the window.

Oh yeah, I'm too damn lazy to draw the shingles on the roof.

Any thoughts, suggestions, ridicule, etc are welcome!

The house...

The garage...

 

[strnge]

That is not too big, but you have to do what they want. At least you can go up. That is great! I would build myself a large driveway so I could use the driveway space also. Can you build another building also? A shed? Keep the yard stuff, bikes, ladders away from the garage.

 

[Boyd Who]

I'll still have my little 12 x 20 garage on the other side of the yard. I have a fairly big lot at 80 x 101, but the house in smack in the middle of it. The new garage build will be on the left side of the house, here...

You can see the small "barn" garden shed on the right and the current garage is just visible behind it.

 

[Steve from Socal]

Looks good from here; my only suggestion would be to use a 16' door so you can get two cars in the garage. You may not do it often but having that option is a real plus and if you have bikes or ? it is much easier to get stuff in and out.

Steve

 

[ddawg16]

First off, kudo's to you for keeping the looks in line with the house.....your neighbors will be happy....and you will be happy when and if you ever go to sell it....

Did you post a thread awhile back about trying to reuse the wood from your old garage? That garage is staying after you build this one?

I'm in the process of building a 20' x 25' garage now....basic structure is done including the roof....as soon as I get back home, finish up some details and get my rough inspection done....hence, I have a few things you want to take into consideration....

Go as big as you can. I think 20' is a good width and compromise when dealing with the construction details....go longer if possible....

On the upstairs dormers, make them as large as you can....you will be glad for the extra space.....they make a great place to put a bench so you can look out the window.

Positon - where I am, my height was restricted by how close I was to the property line. To be over 15', I had to be at least 5' from all property lines. So, I kept mine to 15' and I'm 6" from my west line and 2' from back.....I suspect you will have the same issue....so take into consideration what you want to do with the dead space that you will have to the side and back.....

Garage door - Like Steve said, you might want to consider going bigger.....but that could change depending on what you do with the existing garage. What is the bottom going to be used for? And, have you considered a Carriage door? Considering the look you are going for, it could really set off the look of the garage.

Have you considered a spiral stair case instead of regular stairs? The reason I suggest that is because regular stairs eat up a lot of floor space top and bottom....and once again, considering the look you are going for, it would be a nice touch. I have one in my garage...it's only 4' 6" in dia (24" tread width) but I'm very pleased with it....room enough to carry a standard plastic tub up....and the kids don't go racing up and down it....I have a trap door in front of it for larger items that need to go up or down.

Boyd......I feel your excitement.....it's going to be fun.....and stressful.....wait until you start the permit process.......he he....

 

[Boyd Who]

Looks good from here; my only suggestion would be to use a 16' door so you can get two cars in the garage. You may not do it often but having that option is a real plus and if you have bikes or ? it is much easier to get stuff in and out.

Steve

This garage will be used mainly as a workshop for my hotrod stuff, I won't be parking the daily drivers inside unless I'm working on them. The "regular" cars park outside so I doubt I'll ever have two vehicles inside at once. I'm also keeping the 12 x 20 garage on the south side of the yard for storing seasonal things like garden equipment, snowblower, bicycles, etc.

First off, kudo's to you for keeping the looks in line with the house.....your neighbors will be happy....and you will be happy when and if you ever go to sell it....

Thanks! We have a wide variety of house styles in our neighbourhood and I really want this garage to look like it was built when the house was.

Did you post a thread awhile back about trying to reuse the wood from your old garage? That garage is staying after you build this one?

No, that wasn't me. I plan to keep the small garage for extra storage.

I'm in the process of building a 20' x 25' garage now....basic structure is done including the roof....as soon as I get back home, finish up some details and get my rough inspection done....hence, I have a few things you want to take into consideration....

Go as big as you can. I think 20' is a good width and compromise when dealing with the construction details....go longer if possible....

Sadly I'm limited to 20 x 26. I have 28' between the house and the property line, and I have to be 4' from both. I can't go any deeper due to the way the house is built.

On the upstairs dormers, make them as large as you can....you will be glad for the extra space.....they make a great place to put a bench so you can look out the window.

That's a good idea, but the upstairs will be mainly for storage of parts. The only real reason I added the dormers were for curbside appeal and to get some natural light up there.

Positon - where I am, my height was restricted by how close I was to the property line. To be over 15', I had to be at least 5' from all property lines. So, I kept mine to 15' and I'm 6" from my west line and 2' from back.....I suspect you will have the same issue....so take into consideration what you want to do with the dead space that you will have to the side and back.....

I will have to get a variance from the town to build the height that I want. We're limited to 12' to the peak, but I should have no problems getting the variance to go 20'.

Garage door - Like Steve said, you might want to consider going bigger.....but that could change depending on what you do with the existing garage. What is the bottom going to be used for? And, have you considered a Carriage door? Considering the look you are going for, it could really set off the look of the garage.

I may go with carriage doors, I think they would look perfect. The main floor of the garage will be used as a workshop for building & maintaining my hotrod and future projects. I've never had a garage to actually "park" in, so I have no issue with leaving the daily drivers outside. I've always heald the belief that garages are for working in, not for parking.

Have you considered a spiral stair case instead of regular stairs? The reason I suggest that is because regular stairs eat up a lot of floor space top and bottom....and once again, considering the look you are going for, it would be a nice touch. I have one in my garage...it's only 4' 6" in dia (24" tread width) but I'm very pleased with it....room enough to carry a standard plastic tub up....and the kids don't go racing up and down it....I have a trap door in front of it for larger items that need to go up or down.

I gave a spiral staircase some thought, but I prefer a regular set of stairs. It will take up some floor space, but it also leaves plenty of "under the stairs" storage for welders, etc. It's a bit of a trade-off.

Boyd......I feel your excitement.....it's going to be fun.....and stressful.....wait until you start the permit process.......he he....

I'm really itching to get started, but unless I win the lottery I'll have to wait at least a year or two. We've exhausted our savings with my being out of work the past 4 months so I have to wait until my business really takes off before I can get started. For now I'll just have to be happy with my dreams, and with watching everyone elses various garage projects on the GJ.

 

[swgray]

Could you go bigger if its attached? Around here, if its a detatched it can't have a bigger footprint than the main structure. If its attached, it percentage of lot coverage. Something to think about, check into, etc.

 

[blackdog]

Hey,

I did the room in the attic trusses and I did put the access to the upstairs outside - i.e. stairs on the outside of the garage and not inside. I have everything framed in and the upstairs will simply be storage. I guess I didn't want to take the room for the stairs out of the space down below. But that is great you are doing it! It can be a frustrating situation to deal with zoning and lot restrictions but you are doing the right thing by taking it slow and thinking it out. You will be amazed at how much you can do in your space once you have the plans all laid out. Send photos when finished and good luck.

 

[redsky49]

Looks great. My only suggestion would be to center the dormers over the first floor window and door.
20x26 is a good size but you will have to be careful with the space. Stuff has a way of accumulating. The good thing is you have the upper floor for storage.
Good luck with the project!

 

[flyng_fool]

I saw a great design that basically had an "L" layout. It was two 2 car garages with a shop where the two met. It seemed a very simple design with a good size space for your shop!

Here it is: http://www.eplans.com/new_american_house-plans/HWEPL63510.hwx

 

[Boyd Who]

Could you go bigger if its attached? Around here, if its a detatched it can't have a bigger footprint than the main structure. If its attached, it percentage of lot coverage. Something to think about, check into, etc.

I could build an attached garage but I think it would take away from the look of the house. I prefer detached shops.

Hey,

I did the room in the attic trusses and I did put the access to the upstairs outside - i.e. stairs on the outside of the garage and not inside. I have everything framed in and the upstairs will simply be storage. I guess I didn't want to take the room for the stairs out of the space down below. But that is great you are doing it! It can be a frustrating situation to deal with zoning and lot restrictions but you are doing the right thing by taking it slow and thinking it out. You will be amazed at how much you can do in your space once you have the plans all laid out. Send photos when finished and good luck.

I wish I could start building tomorrow! I could always get a home equity loan for it but I'd rather wait until I have at least a good portion of the cash for it. The main floor will be over twice the size of my current garage, and having attic storage will be so nice to keep all the "junk" out of the way.
Pics will definitely be posted when I finally get started.

Looks great. My only suggestion would be to center the dormers over the first floor window and door.
20x26 is a good size but you will have to be careful with the space. Stuff has a way of accumulating. The good thing is you have the upper floor for storage.
Good luck with the project!

I though of that after I got finished the drawings. I'll be changing them to keep everything symetrical.

I saw a great design that basically had an "L" layout. It was two 2 car garages with a shop where the two met. It seemed a very simple design with a good size space for your shop!

Here it is: http://www.eplans.com/new_american_house-plans/HWEPL63510.hwx

Very cool idea but that would take me well over my sq footage allotment. The town only allows us up to 900 sq ft in "out buildings". If I didn't want to keep my current garage I might be able to pull it off.

 

[Possum]

Great looking place! Looks like a very nice plan. I would agree to keep it detached. The external stairs are an option, but not very attractive looking IMO. It would depend on how much you planed on using the second floor. Going outside to get something out of the attic in the Canadian winter would **** eh? I would go with a wider garage door too. I would maybe consider scrapping the little garage for more square ft in your new garage and maybe better lot placement.