ideas for a garage with a hoist.

[justin1795]

we purchased a new home and i had planed on a pole barn. the yard is pretty unlevel out back and with the septic and a pool its making the barn a far fetch. i had a 2 1/2 at our old house. putting away stuff at this house has been frustrating as i know its not all going to fit plus cars. i would really like a aditional 3 car garage but to have one bay 12 foot for a hoist. i dont want it to look overwhelming as there is already a 2 car there.

 

[astroracer]

Nice looking place. I think you know it's going to be tough to "add on" without overwhelming the house itself... There is no height to work with to tie something taller into... I think your best recourse is to go polebarn and put it as far from the house as you can. Although this all depends on how much room you have lot wise.

 

[cruiser1]

You could tear off the garage roof or only the width you need for a hoist and add your height there 12'.
Then you would have your height for the lift and the cost would be considerably less than a Pole building.

Just a thought!

 

[justin1795]

http://s653.photobucket.com/user/jjjustin17/media/4143461_1370617540-7604_zps2ee1d622.jpg.html

 

[justin1795]

i was orginally thinking where the shed was. but now that we live here and i have gotten a feel for the land its really uneven and creating a semi level driveway between the pool fence and the people next doors yard may be a challenge. the last picture looks level but its not and on the oposite side of the garage/driveway i have now

 

[astroracer]

Yea, looks like you are caught between a rock and a hilly place. You should probably check into your local zoning laws before you go to far. Is there an HOA in your sub? Those can be a real PITA to work with also... Your only recourse is to flatten out the yard so do your research and see what you can do.
Mark

 

[Ray916MN]

So it sounds like you want space for 5 cars.

Maybe rebuild the existing garage into a two story 3 stall wide garage with windows to make the second story of the garage look like a second story of the house, but have at least 2 stalls of the garage open above for lifts. Leave the space over the 3rd stall open or build it as an additional room accessible from the house or as storage or man cave room accessible from the garage.

Looking towards future resale, since most people don't value having space for 5 cars, you could have the garage rebuild done so it would be easy to make the entire "2nd story" later built out as living space.

 

[NUTTSGT]

It looks like whatever you build, it's going to take some serious fill to get everything level. I think I would break out the tape measure, some stakes, try to lay everything out and see how feasible it looks.

 

[sands35]

Do you know your easements and setback requirements? You may need a boundary survey if you did not get that at purchase.

The simple solution is to build onto the existing garage - provided you can get closer to the street. (looking at the aerial photo - all the other houses are placed about the same distance from the street - so I'll be no, you don't have a lot of room to the right of way)

Otherwise, you are in the boat that has already been suggested. Detached and behind the garage. You may have all the fill you need onsite, but foundations need to be placed on undisturbed ground - so you may have a wall or two that are rather tall. A narrow and deeper garage to control the amount of slope it is mounted on will help.

It looks like the driveway goes around the "wrong" side of the house(?) The ground looks flatter to the non-pool side than the pool side.

Suggest putting your location in your profile. Are you in a frost area?

 

[justin1795]

the last picture makes it look more level than it is. i know the septic comes out somewhere by that back door. you will see a small shed on the property before the woods and thats actully the most level area. im new to the town and trying to find out who i need to talk to. its a 1,500 people town and im hearing it may be the county. there is a hoa (snow, well, garbage) but ive been trying to reach them since we moved. when i purchased i was told there was a covidence but it expired and one guy refused to sign it and they just let it go.. there is one guy a street up with a pole barn. im located in iowa

 

[astroracer]

Sounds like the HOA is a "no show". If they haven't contacted you during or after the sale I would let it lie. Make no effort to contact them. That should be on their plate if they are viable.
Call the county courthouse to talk to the building inspector/permit office. THEY can tell you what you need to do.
You may want to talk to the guy up the street to see what he did. IF he built his barn he will have that info also.
MArk

 

[sands35]

Looking towards future resale, since most people don't value having space for 5 cars, you could have the garage rebuild done so it would be easy to make the entire "2nd story" later built out as living space.

I would suggest that ANY detached garage more than a common lawn equipment shed would be overbuild for that neighborhood (just looking at the aerial view to judge lot sizes and size of houses).

OP - Build the garage you want because you want it. Don't build it because you want a return (or at least to break even) on it during resale. At best, you will get pennies on the dollar, if not turn away buyers who don't want the hassle.

 

[justin1795]

i talked to the city and they told me to talk to the county as i was out of city limits. the county first said no to the front of the house but said they could push threw adding a stall to the current garage. im kind of in a hold. i dont see any value to myself to add on stall. im thinking of calling a builder out and seeing what they can to with the unlevel ground. i know concreate will be a huge cost increase in that case. the county said the side set backs were 10 foot.

 

[Matt M PA]

Wondering if you can go deeper...to be two cars deep? I realize that won't help the hoist situation.

Or, could you get a prebuilt garage that sits on sonotubes or a gravel pad? Much less costly than leveling with cement, etc. I know you are in Iowa, but here in PA the Amish contractor that built my garage also makes two story double wide garages. They're prebuilt and placed on a gravel pad. Very reasonable and all kinds of options, sizes, etc.

 

[Kevin54]

i talked to the city and they told me to talk to the county as i was out of city limits. the county first said no to the front of the house but said they could push threw adding a stall to the current garage. im kind of in a hold. i dont see any value to myself to add on stall. im thinking of calling a builder out and seeing what they can to with the unlevel ground. i know concreate will be a huge cost increase in that case. the county said the side set backs were 10 foot.

Ground can be moved around. The problem with that though is that for a concrete floor to be crack free, if you build up dirt, it needs to be compacted. If you have a lot of dirt to move and the room, they could bring in a small earth mover, move the dirt, then compact it with a sheepsfoot roller. If there is not a lot of room, they could move it with a dozer. But it looks like where things are at out back, the ground would need to be compacted, or you would have to have a retaining wall, then deadmen tied back in, and everything filled with stone.

What you need to do first, is get in tough with your local Health Department and find out where your septic and tiles are ran. You won't be able to build over them. And if your area is anything like our area as far as septic, you have to have enough area to put it an new one if your old one goes bad. Septics around my area don't get repaired. They only get abandoned. the tanks get pumped, and if they are old enough, caved in or removed, and new fingers ran.

You also need to find out your setbacks, and whether the county will let you build or not before calling a builder. No use getting your hopes up, only to have them shot down fast. Once you find out your setbacks, find out where your septic is, find out where it would go, just in case the worst would happen, then you can start formulating a plan. It may be the case that you would have to wait a couple years. Maybe get all of your dirt work done now, then next year or the year after, once the soil goes through a few seasons of freezing, thawing, and settling, then plan on the building.

Just a thought. BTW......nice looking place for sure Maybe talk with the builder about adding on and changing the complete roof line of the house. Putting a third stall on with a steeper pitched roof, with possibly a second floor on the house and garage. Leave the third stall with open trusses open to the upstairs loft of the garage. The second floor of the house could always be finished later on. Weigh the price of doing that with the price of a pole barn with electric, concrete, dirt work, and everything else, you may be ahead with adding on. Plus it would add more value to the house than it would a pole barn on the back 40. It's just another thought.

 

[justin1795]

i finally got a change to take some pictures of another possibility. theres a small stone wall thats about 1 1/2 foot tall.