Lakeside Garage 30'x54'

[Tugs Compound]

After sever garage projects starts and stops I plan on breaking ground this summer on a new house with attached garage 30'x54' with 12' ceilings. Last fall I purchased a 3/4 acre lot on a lake. It had everything I wanted, paved road, natural gas and city sewer. Since I purchased the lot I have been working on clearing the lot and finalizing my build plans.

A little backstory:

I bought my 1st house in 2016 and it came with a detached 28’x40’ garage with just over 8’ ceilings. Garage was in pretty good shape but siding needed to be replaced. So replacing the siding snowballed into replacing all the buffalo board with ½” OSB, adding 4 windows, removed some interior walls and enclosed a 3-season porch the previous owner used for gardening. Then we resided it and I was ready to start on the interior. All of this work was done by the help of family and friends and was a really good learning experience.

My plan for the interior were to upgrade the wiring, add more lights, insulation and heat. But I never got to those projects. After owing the property for just over a year I had to move for work and put the property back on the market.

Then I bought a 2nd house on a ½ acre with a detached 24’x30’ garage with 10’ ceilings. The garage already has very good lighting and lots of outlets already installed. I epoxied the floors, insulated and hung all the sheet rock. I was able to complete a few projects in it and build some nice benches. This place was 6 hours from our family and friends so after living there for about 2 years my fiance and I decide to find new jobs and sell the house and move.

We were sick of our jobs determining where we live so we decided to go after what we really wanted. We wanted to be within 1 hour of family and friends, on a lake and a large garage. After looking at many nice places on several different lakes we decide we should build a house instead. For our budget, most the places we could afford were nice cabins and not year round houses.

The common theme after looking at lake houses was that we would have laid it out different, or a huge list of what we needed to change. It wasn't cost effect to try and make these places work for us. So I started looking into building and finding a lot.

After a showing of a rambler on a nice lake we were walking to our car and I noticed a for sale sign on a lot down the street. We really liked the area and the neighborhood. So after a couple weeks of negotiating we purchased a 3/4 acre lake lot.

 

[Tugs Compound]

Here are some build photos of my first garage.

 

[Tugs Compound]

Here are some pictures of the 2nd garage. I will try and find the pictures of when we were insulating and hanging drywall.

 

[Tugs Compound]

More pics

 

[Tugs Compound]

Pics of the floor.

 

[Tugs Compound]

Here are the current house and garage plans. We have been working on these for the last few months. I don't even know what rev. we are on anymore. We are very close to being done with them and will send them off to be quoted.

 

[Tugs Compound]

The lot is 0.75 acres and measures 100' wide by about 300' deep. The depth varies with the shoreline but it averages 300'. From the road down to the water the elevation drops about 40' or more. There are three small hills that lead into flat areas that make the lot look like three large steps.

When we purchased the lot the trees and brush were so thick you couldn't see the lake. The trees are mainly maples, white oaks and birch. Most of the brush was buckthorn and other types of thorns. We purchased the lot in September of 2019 and were getting married in October of 2019. So any work on the lot had to wait a few months.

The first step was to get the lot cleared. I called around to a few tree services and they wanted $200 per hour to cut the trees down and estimated it would take 2 days. That was just for felling the trees. They still needed to be removed from the property and the stumps needed to be pulled. So I decided to do it myself with the help of friends.

Instead of renting a chipper several times I purchased a chipper with a 3" capacity. This worked great for the brush but was still a lot of work so i gave up on that and started burning the brush and saving the logs for firewood. Clearing the trees myself was a good idea since we have changed our minds on where the house and garage should be built several times. It also allowed me to take the trees down little by little and see how it looked.

Here are some pictures of clearing the lot over this past winter, I always forget to take pictures but I have a few.

 

[matt_i]

Great renderings!

Just some feedback, I know you are tight on space, but I would recommend a little more room between each garage door and also between garage and man-door. It seems like parking in and then opening the doors can get really tight if doors are squeezed tightly together.

Your "old shops" look very nice.

 

[Tugs Compound]

Matt_i,

Thanks, we are really happy with the design so far.

I agree I would like more space between the doors. Currently the garage doors are 10'wx9'h. The garage doors are spaced 12' center to center. That should be enough space to swing doors open and work in each bay when all bays are full. My idea is to have deviated bays that are easy to get to and not have to rearrange.

I have been debating about changing to there doors that are 12'wx9'h. But then I loose one of my bays.

Thanks

 

[andyvh1959]

Great design and good luck way up there in Wisconsin. No DNR issues being on a lake and all? Size and setbacks from the lake all fit your plans? Looks exciting!

 

[Tugs Compound]

andyvh1959,

The set back from the water is 75' so that wont be a problem, this set back is also superseded by the sewer line that runs across the property. I have to be 15' back from that. That puts me about 100' back from the water at a minimum. I think we are going to go about 150' back to utilize the terrain and not have to bring in a lot of fill. The side yard set backs are 10' for primary structure and 5' for secondary structures with a limit of 2 secondary structures.

One of the main reasons I purchased this property was the ability to hook up to the sewer line. There was too much unknown in buying a lot and then finding out that I cant put a septic system in. I also don't have to give up space for a mound.

There is also a water permeation ratio that needs to be kept. 15% of you land can be non permeable and this includes buildings and driveways. So I can have 4,700sqft before I would have to create other water mitigation on the property.

Thanks

 

[andyvh1959]

I fully understand the city sewer hook up issue. Back in the 80s I bought a heavily wooded lot six miles north of Appleton. One of the perks (I thought) was a standard septic was already installed on the property. Friends bought the adjoining property, built their house and connected to the septic system. I designed our house, built up the driveway access (400' just to get onto the lot), went to get my building and septic permits, only to have the county reject it. County inspector said the septic system was not to code and I could not use it. Although, my neighbor had the same system in the same soil installed by the same contractor, and was able to get his permit and use it.

Turned into a huge fiasco. Found out the county, up to MY permit request, was not following state septic codes. So it was simply the timing. I did a bunch of research of state soil maps, flood plans data, soil tests, etc, to find out the developer should never have been given permits to develop the lots and install standard septic systems. The county said I had to install a new $10,000 mound septic system to get my permit. I tried suing the county to allow me to use the septic system on the basis that it wasn't my fault the county was not following code. And of course I lost. Also found out the developer was a savvy type, lawyer, with ties to state government. He owned the land a highly successful shopping mall was built on, he knew how to work the system.

I ended up able to sell the property (it was quite desirable), especially after I had built the driveway onto the property and had many trees cleared out. The new property owners had to install an entire new septic mound system.

 

[Tugs Compound]

Stories like that make me very thankful to have the sewer available. I also didn't want to spend money to test different lots. There was also a time factor, when good lots come up they sell quick, so I didn't have time to verify the property for septic. As you know, just because you get told that it can have septic system doesn't mean you will get it.

 

[andyvh1959]

In fact, initially I was told I'd have to expand the drain field before I could get my septic permit. Did that, only to find out later I could not use the septic system. I was also told I'd have to fill in the septic tank. I argued that I planned to route all the house gutters and downspouts to drain into the unused septic tank. So I could then use a sump pump to spray the water on my lawn. Y'know, conservation, and not use my well water to pump onto the lawn. Nope couldn't do that either.

Where the driveway met the road, the ditch was full of silt runoff from the farm field to the north. Even in July I'd sink to my knees because the soil was so loamy. Went to get a permit for a culvert I'd install. Told the town inspector of the silt problem, and I planned to dig out the silt 6' down, 10' wide and 30' long, fill it in with gravel to the original grade level, and then lay the culvert. No no said the town inspector, that culvert has to be laid at grade. I repeated, yes it WILL be at grade, I just need to dig out the unstable soil and replace it with gravel to place the culvert at grade. No no said the town inspector, that culvert has to be laid at grade. Loosing battle with this knob, I agreed, the culvert will be at the current grade, got the permit.

Rented a backhoe, dug out the silt, filled it in with gravel, laid the culvert at the original grade with the gravel underneath. To this day, 30 years later, that culvert has not heaved up the driveway like happens in the winter with the other culverts on the same road. I had also built up the 250' access to the lot with a driveway bed of crushed block, rock and gravel instead of just gravel on the loamy soil. Years later i asked the property owner if they ever had any issues with dump trucks, cement trucks, propane trucks etc creating driveway damage when the frost goes out. No issues at all he replied.

 

[Tugs Compound]

It always amazes me what hoops you have to jump through to do work on your own property.

 

[Tugs Compound]

Here are some pictures off the end of my dock. I put my pontoon in last week so it would be ready for Memorial weekend. It was very nice to be able to leave from my own dock now.

 

[Tugs Compound]

Instead of carrying my dock parts and pontoon lift down the hill, I loaded up the pontoon and at the launch and brought it over. Much easier than bringing it all down my hills. I also had my dad and good friend help me assemble my pontoon lift and strap barrels to it to float over.

I forgot a few parts for the list so I wasn't able to assemble it 100%. So I went back Saturday morning and kept working on it. It was very difficult to install the lift mechanisms and position it by myself but I eventually got there. It didnt help that it was raining off and on all day. Now I need to put my pontoon on it and see how much it settles and make sure its level. Then the canopy install and its done.

I was too tired at the end of the day to even take the pontoon out, so I packed up and went home. Came back the next day and the weather was too nice to work so I went out on the water for the day. I was very happy to be out on the lake and have a big pay off from all the work we have been doing.

Cooler full of cold beer and the music cranked made for a great day. My wife and a few friends meet me later in the day.

 

[Tugs Compound]

Since I decided to clear the land myself I needed some toys to help in the process. I had a 2019 Polaris General 1000 Crew from work that was amazing. It could go up and down the hills no problem. But I had to give that back. So I started looking for an affordable side by side. Its difficult to find anything for under $4000. I thought about buying a Japanese mini truck or a Willys jeep. But I ended up finding a John Deere AMT 622 for $2000.

The John Deere AMT is a pre-Gator machine. I think its a 1990 model. It has a Kawasaki 10hp motor and a hydraulic dump bed rated at 600 pounds. Its a great machine for flat ground but is underpowered, especially for climbing hills. My dad really liked it so I sold it to him.

Then I purchased a 1984 Honda 200s 3-wheeler. Really good condition and a great runner. I grew up riding 3-wheelers and have always liked them. They seem to be going up in price a bit lately so I thought it would be a good time to pick a few up. I'm still on the look out for a Big Red. Its not the most practical machine for hauling but it sure beats walking up and down the hill all day.

I also have my Husquvarna 350 chain saw with an 18" bar. If i keep the chain sharp it has no problem with the big trees.

Lastly I purchased a wood chipper last fall. I did a lot of research and couldn't decide if I should rent a large commercial wood chipper or buy my own. I went with buying a unit, because I didn't want to pile up all the brush and then handle it again to chip it later. I ended up purchasing a Patriot wood chipper with a 3" capacity. These machines are over $1200 new and built in Wisconsin. They had great reviews online. So I found one local with very little use in the fall for $400. It worked surprisingly well but is a slow process. After using it for a few days I gave up on it and started burning all the brush. This was much more effective. So this spring I listed the chipper and sold it for $550. Not a bad deal for me.

 

[Tugs Compound]

Here are some pictures starting from the road and going down to the property. I have neighbors to the north and the south.

 

[Tugs Compound]

I got my pontoon and dock in so at least I can enjoy the lake while we build. I still have a few more dock sections and the pontoon lift canopy to install.

We also decided where the house and garage will be built this week. So next weekend I will be finishing up cutting trees and pulling stumps. We based the build location on the grade of the lot so we wouldn't have to bring a lot of fill in. Another big concern was the grade of the driveway, steep driveways really **** in the winter.

 

[Tugs Compound]

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[IMXCITD]

Congrats on finding a great lot on the lake!! I'm excited for you and your wife about building your home and garage!!

 

[Tugs Compound]

IMXCITD,

Thank you, we are very happy with our lot and the lake. We were very lucky to find it. The build cant come soon enough. Cheers!

 

[Tugs Compound]

Its been a few months, so time for an update. The rest of the summer was just more tree clearing and site prep. The entire site was cleared by family and friends with just the use of chainsaws and a four wheeler. This was done to save money and so that I could pick and choose which trees I wanted to save. In the end we got it done but I think I should have rented a skidsteer with a grapple and got it done in a weekend. I thought I would be able to save more trees than I did, but most of them had to go. The stumps were removed by an excavator.

 

[Tugs Compound]

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[Tugs Compound]

Tree clearing went well besides dealing with one of my neighbors. The lots were broken up from one large lot in the mid 90s, there are 18 lots that range between .5 and 1 acre each. My neighbor bought his lot in 2008 and built his cabin on it. The previous owner of my lot had offered to sell it to him many times and it was listed for a few years before I purchased it. It was very wooded, and he had no neighbor. So as soon as I purchase it and start clearing trees he comes over and starts asking questions.

At first, he is very friendly and just wants to know my plans and has a lot of concerns about what trees I cut down. He always states that its my lot I can do what I want with it but he has concerns. Moral of the story is, he should have bought it when he had the chance. He wanted me to hire a surveyor to come out and find the property line before I cut more trees so I didn’t mistakenly cut down his trees. I was given a certified map of survey when I purchased the property so I thought I would be covered. And the fact that the survey would cost $1,500-$2,000 to have this done.

So, I had a map of the points but finding those points was another process. My brother and I got the metal detector out and a shovel and started looking. We knew where the SW and SE points were but didn’t know if they have ever been moved. We started at the SW corner and measured across the lot and with in a few minutes we found the NW pin buried a few inches down. Then we went down to the SE corner by the lake and measured across, it took us about 15 minutes, but we found it growing into a tree. Now we had all corners but no way to connect them easily to establish lot lines.

My lot is about 100’x300’ and there is over 40’ elevation from the road to the water. This elevation made it impossible to have a sight line of the two points. Even if it was flat, the brush was too thick. So we used a GPS app on the iPhone to approximate the midpoint of the property line and I showed this to the neighbor. So I thought I was good togo and continued to clear trees and brush. Then he comes out again and asks me to stop cutting that we don’t know the lot lines. At this point I’m getting pissed, I have put a lot of effort into finding the lot lines and property markers and he hasn’t done anything but complain. So I went to Menards and bought a couple hundred feet of pink string to connect the points. I went up a tree 20’ down by the lake and started to pull the string back towards the road. Any branches or underbrush that touched the string I cut it. When I was about halfway I stopped and repeated this process from the road side. I overlapped the strings at the midpoint and pounded in some steel pins to mark the line.

As I was finishing this all up, the neighbor came out and was pretty upset, because my string lined showed that my property went about 10’ into his nicely mowed yard. He looked it all over and kept asking me is its correct. In the end he agreed that I was correct and now we have an established property line. The neighbor keeps saying he’s not trying to be an *******, but as time goes on its clean to me that he is one.

He is trying to get me to keep a 10’ buffer zone between our lots, which I can understand. But all the trees he wants me to keep are buckthorn or scrub trees. I also don’t want trees that close to my house. In the end I cut them all down so I can build my house and establish proper grading. This really pissed him off but he cant do anything about it. If he didn’t cut down a bunch of my trees in the past we would have a buffer zone. My house is going to be 20’ off the property line so eventually I will plant something over there.

This was a long story but I wanted to tell it to help others that might have the same issue or help with purchasing some new land. Have the seller provide a map of survey, the surveyor will go on site and confirm the locations of the pins and make sure they haven’t been moved. Pins do get moved and having this done will save you time and money. I’m confident my pins didn’t get moved because one was buried and the other was in a tree. Lastly, if you don’t want a neighbor buy the empty lot that has been for sale for 10 years.

 

[Tugs Compound]

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[Tugs Compound]

So after about 1 year of planning we finally broke ground in Early October 2020. We started by pulling all the stumps, stripping the top soil and putting in the driveway.

 

[Tugs Compound]

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[Tugs Compound]

After the lot was cleared we finalized the build location and started digging the foundation.


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[Tugs Compound]

Then forms were set and the footings were poured. We had some delays with weather but did get them done before the snow comes this year.


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[Tugs Compound]

Then the walls were poured and the forms stripped the next day.
I threw this picture in for scale, I’m 6’ 2”.


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[Tugs Compound]

The entire foundation was drain tiled on the inside and the outside to prevent any drainage issues in the future. Then we started back filling the foundation with sand, lots and lots of sand... It was done in 8” lifts and compacted at every level. I don’t know the exact count on loads but I think it’s 75+. Now I can really visualize how the property is going to look.


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[sleek98]

Looks great. You are nicer than I would have been with the neighbor.

 

[Tugs Compound]

Looks great. You are nicer than I would have been with the neighbor.

Thanks Sleek, yeah I probably am to nice with him. I just didnt want to start off on bad terms with the guy and thought it would get better. Since the lot line issue he has called Zoning on me 3 times. Every time they come out they never find an issue. So he is burning bridges there and in the end I will get the house and garage I want and he will look like a jackass.

 

[Tugs Compound]

We are starting framing today, materials started showing up a few weeks ago. We also finalized our exterior colors for siding, doors and roof.





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[SKFengineer]

This is awesome. From personal experience I'm guessing as you interact with other close neighbors you'll find a common theme with this one "trouble guy". When I doubled my garage I followed the rules 100% and I had the same result. I had my other neighbors one by one complement me on how nice everything looked and in one way or another each had comments to make about the "trouble guy", I think he's just cranky about life. My wife and I are always nice to 'trouble guy" but we know not to trust him further than you can toss a bus. Keep up the great build.

 

[Tugs Compound]

Here are some details on the plans for the garage.

-30'x54' with 12' ceilings, it will also have scissor truss so the max height in the center will be over 15'.
-4 Garage doors 10'x9' R19 and 3-0 man door.
-4 windows on the backwall 2'x4' and they are centered on the garage doors.
-Slab will be 5" thick 4500psi with fiber.
-Fully insulated and sheetrocked.
-40' trench drain that runs parallel to the garage doors.
-2" foam under the slab.
-Shop sink
-10k 2 post lift
-Future plans for 4 post lift

I still haven't made up my mind on the heat source yet. I am leaning towards forced air for simplicity and so I can quickly increase the temperature. The other option would be infloor heat. I would like to run a home furnace for heat and then eventually add AC.

I designed this garage to have 4 dedicated bays, so that I dont have to move stuff around to a car out of the garage.
1st bay is my wifes parking spot, if I need this stop for something I can just move her car out of the garage for a night.
2nd bay 2 post lift for short term projects
3rd bay longer term project cars/ storage spot.
4th bay future plans are to wall on the far stall and make a 12'x30' dirty bay and it will double as a paint booth.

I keep second guessing my self that its not big enough, and its probably not. I came to the conclusion that it will never be big enough, tall enough, etc... I'm happy with it thought and I think its a really good size for a working garage.

 

[andyvh1959]

Sweet build! Excellent that you get to build what you want, where you want it, access to the lake, it'll be like a vacation home where you permanently live. Makes for a happy man. As long as your wife is good with everything and happy, all makes for a very happy life. Keep on the build as big snow is inevitable up there. Here in Green Bay I have maybe an inch on the lawn. Not like last fall at this time.

Appreciate the efforts to get along with the neighbor. My neighbor Dave has always been great to deal with, we've helped each other a few times. When I was replacing the failed falling down fence on my east lot line I simply planned to use the old post holes to pour Quickcrete after I got the old posts out. Dave comes over to say he thinks the fenceline is actually well onto his lot. So we worked together to find the stakes and string a line from the street back to the SE corner, and he was right. The original property owner back in 73 had built the fence onto the lot to the east. So we repositioned the fence almost two feet onto my property line (still slightly on his lot) and set the posts. All good since 2012, Dave got a much better looking fence to his side of the yard and we agreed on the fenceline.

 

[Tugs Compound]

This is awesome. From personal experience I'm guessing as you interact with other close neighbors you'll find a common theme with this one "trouble guy". When I doubled my garage I followed the rules 100% and I had the same result. I had my other neighbors one by one complement me on how nice everything looked and in one way or another each had comments to make about the "trouble guy", I think he's just cranky about life. My wife and I are always nice to 'trouble guy" but we know not to trust him further than you can toss a bus. Keep up the great build.

It sounds like your situation was very similar. This guy is a mortgage broker and he gives off a greasy used cars salesman vibe. Everyone else in the neighborhood has been very nice and excited to see what we build. Even the sub contractors have commented on how nice everyone is that comes by.

Thanks for stopping by!