Howdy from Austin

[L8_Apex]

Howdy Ya'll

Too many car projects, not enough garage...

Moved from Michigan in 06 and left my 1100sq ft Garage Mahal behind...

Looking to build 1200sq ft Garage Mahal 2.0 (30 x 40) attachedaddition to my existing garage/pool cabana.

So many questions... like what design SW do people use? How much headache is it to have an 11 or 12 ft ceiling in the addition if I only have a 9ft ceiling in the existing garage. I have a copy of Chief Architect Home Designer SW - but not sure it will do what I need...

Again - all these questions are better asked in a new thread but... I need to get going

THANKS FOR LISTENING

 

[HOTFR8]

Welcome to the GJ.

 

[fflintstone]

welcome from mid Michigan.
different gabled garages look fine. you need 12' for a lift.

 

[930dreamer]

Welcome from the Panhandle.

 

[dhubbard422]

Hello L8, Don't know how long you've been in Austin, if you are in Austin city limits, in the central part of Austin, in a subdivision or in a lightly/unrestricted area outside of Austin... but the rules will vary based on where you live. In central Austin there is a "McMansion" ordinance that significantly limits what you can do on your property and the rules if you live in the city limits are almost as bad. If you are in a subdivision, the CC&Rs may require you to build the garage such that it matches the house or such that garage doors do not face the street. So, unless you live on unrestricted property, I'd first learn about the restrictions that you do face. Unfortunately, Austin proper is overly restricted IMO.

Different roof lines to get the height necessary for a lift should not be a problem aesthetically, but the McMansion ordinance limits the height of a building and the shape of the roof line and the wall facade, especially near a property boundary. Hopefully, this ordinance does not apply to you as it is onerous. FWIW, I recently moved from Austin to an unrestricted property near Liberty Hill so that I could get my workshop. I am also in the design stage for a 40' x 30' or 50' x 30' workshop.

I use Adobe Illustrator; it's just a 2D drawing program and it is expensive, but it is what I use at work so I am familiar with it and I have a licensed copy to use... I've also used SkecthUp. SketchUp is free and it is pretty good for visualizing a volume. I've seen some amazing plans on GJ rendered in SketchUp, but the learning curve to get beyond the basics is significant. The software that you have may be all you need. It is highly rated on Amazon and if you haven't found it, there is a forum: http://hometalk.homedesignersoftware.com/forumdisplay.php?2-Q-amp-A

Really recommend researching your restrictions, if any. Good luck with your build!
DH

 

[L8_Apex]

Wow - well 7 years later, I stumbled upon my own post...depressing since I haven't made any progress on my 30 x 40 shop addition... maybe I can re-start now? Did manage to build a 12 x 24 Costco mini garage to stash some **** but... I still need my shop !

First question - Chief Architect or Sketch-up? What is the 2021 answer?

And to answer @dhubbard422's questions - we live on an acre lot in the ETJ portion of Travis county - no county restrictions beyond a simple building permit, HOA says no garage doors facing the street, stay out of the 10 ft setback from the property line, and 75% of the total structure must be brick or stone. Since the existing cabana/garage is already 100% brick, the addition can have some non-brick siding (or whatever) but can't be a metal building... Still like to to do a two level structure to give me an upstairs office, and a really high ceiling on 3/4 of the first floor - so I can install a 2 post lift - and run a 4WD truck all the way up on it... Since the existing garage is a hip roof, I think a popped up addition with it's own independent hip roof seems to be the easiest to visualize, but I do worry about the water issues with the one story roof hip running into the wall of the two story addition... I assume there's a flashing scheme that can make it work?

First of many issues I'm sure... All input appreciated, again !

 

[nadogail]

Greetings from Southwestern California.