Metal Building shop /live in.

[Swilling]

Hey Folks,

Anyone Successfully Built a shop on Vacant land and lived in it for a Duration while figuring out the real home build and such?

I'm in Northern California and have my eye on a few pieces of Property. Prices here have just gone crazy. I would like to buy this land, have a Metal 40x30 shop Built and would be happy framing up a small corner and sheetrocking it in as a livin space for the time being.

2 of the 3 pieces of Land i'm looking at have City Utilies at the Street. The other would be a Well/Septic.

I'm new to alot of the Regulations as i'm not Originally from here. But want to get a rough idea if its even Achievable or Legal before i even start to think about it. I know everything is Geographically Relative, but with so much to read and everyone has an opinion. Why not start here.

I also did a few searches and couldnt really find anything, apologies if this is a common thread.

Thanks.
Cheers
Sam.

 

[Widgeon]

Build the shop, rough in connections and put a tow behind trailer in it until you build the house if the county won't let you build living space in the shop.

 

[dadsEH]

LOL.....first posters crack me up.

 

[7th Kahuna]

As noted, feasibility and legality are two different things. Is it a workable solution, sure. I know of a family that lived in their workshop for a period of time after suffering a fire in their home. They made it remarkably comfortable. Now, whether the city or county code enforcement folks would let you get away with it is another thing entirely. You can walk into or call the local building department and ask about the areas you are interested in.

Ask about zoning, in other words what they will allow you to build. Ask about accessory buildings. Will they allow you to construct an accessory building before the primary structure? Depending upon the zoning, this may not be an issue at all, in fact the house might not be required at all. One other note, if it is a residential area, you might want to talk to the power company to be certain they will set a meter on an accessory building.

If constructing the shop before the house is not a problem then you may want to ask about constructing a mother-in-law's quarters in a portion of the shop. They are more likely to say yes to the MIL's quarters than a space which they deem to be a potential apartment or rental. Again it depends on zoning. If the MILQ is a go then you are all set. If not, on another day, ask if they would allow a small kitchen in the shop. Feel them out. There is no need to have purchased the property before asking these sorts of questions.

If you have to build the residence before the shop and you are determined to take this approach, would they accept a mobile home? Move it on, build the shop, move it off again???

Good luck.

 

[mikegt4]

I have 5 acres in the country and wanted to build my detached garage first then the house. County said NO, house must be built first or at the same time in order to prevent:
1. someone living in the garage
2. someone using the garage for a business
3. (spoken in a whispered tone) to maximize property tax

That was 20 years ago, I can't see it being any less restrictive now especially in California.

 

[buildyourown]

Around here at least, you can't build a garage without a house if its zoned residential. So, as others have noted, it depends on you zoning.
While living in a garage is probably a no no just about everywhere, if you can get away with building it, I doubt anybody is going to raise a stink if you are a good neighbor. And what are they going to make you do? Move out? Build a house?

 

[norcalstew]

I'm in Lassen county, nor cal. and just visited the planning dept. yesterday with your same intentions. I've owned a lot on a creek that we were able to squeeze a septic system on this summer and planned to build the garage next summer with intentions of someday living in it while we design and then build our home. The county said NO! A garage is an accessory building. It has to accompany a dwelling. Also an RV cannot be placed on a vacant lot with propose of living without a home already there. However, It is legal to have two residents on a single lot, not to be rented out or leased.

My two options now are: 1) Submit plans for the whole project including the house plan and build the garage first and keep the permit alive (pay each year) for as long as it takes to eventually build the house.
2) Build the garage with a Efficiency Dwelling Unit. This has to meet the same requirements as a house. ie. Permanent heat, toilet/shower, kitchen sink, fire sprinklers Ect....
We are now contemplating which route will be faster and cheaper. We think it will be adding the Efficiency Dwelling Unit and getting it final and taking our time designing a home and building it.

Maybe there is another option I'm not seeing. A loophole perhaps. I'm not seeing one though.

I'll post any progress I have with planning here and maybe help someone out.
Stew

 

[Lassen Forge]

NCS - Why not build your home - with permanent heat, commode, shower, etc... in a corner of the shop building, then build a new home on the same lot? Then, when your house is built, you'll have some darned cool amenities in your shop!

 

[garboui]

NCS - Why not build your home - with permanent heat, commode, shower, etc... in a corner of the shop building, then build a new home on the same lot? Then, when your house is built, you'll have some darned cool amenities in your shop!

Isn't shop home after all?

 

[DAVE VAN]

Build an "office" in the garage. It might just have a nice bathroom, extra "storage room", snak bar, etc. After inspection, live in it.

 

[rsanter]

From what I understand that would not be legal unless you go through all the processes to make that a legal habitable space.
IMO....if it's only temporary then I would do it and then build the house and move in. Do it under the radar and you will get away with it

Bob

 

[rsanter]

I'm in Lassen county, nor cal. and just visited the planning dept. yesterday with your same intentions. I've owned a lot on a creek that we were able to squeeze a septic system on this summer and planned to build the garage next summer with intentions of someday living in it while we design and then build our home. The county said NO! A garage is an accessory building. It has to accompany a dwelling. Also an RV cannot be placed on a vacant lot with propose of living without a home already there. However, It is legal to have two residents on a single lot, not to be rented out or leased.

My two options now are: 1) Submit plans for the whole project including the house plan and build the garage first and keep the permit alive (pay each year) for as long as it takes to eventually build the house.
2) Build the garage with a Efficiency Dwelling Unit. This has to meet the same requirements as a house. ie. Permanent heat, toilet/shower, kitchen sink, fire sprinklers Ect....
We are now contemplating which route will be faster and cheaper. We think it will be adding the Efficiency Dwelling Unit and getting it final and taking our time designing a home and building it.

Maybe there is another option I'm not seeing. A loophole perhaps. I'm not seeing one though.

I'll post any progress I have with planning here and maybe help someone out.
Stew

Your other option or loophole would be to design the house and then alter the design to only build part of it. Say the kitchen, small great room, bedroom and bathroom. Say under 1000 ft.
Move in and live them, save your money.
Then do an expansion on the house to complete the original design.

Bob

 

[rburke65]

As first stated, it matters not what everyone says on this site.....it's just opinion. Go to your local Building Dept. and ask. Good luck!

 

[norcalstew]

I thought about submitting the whole project and do a simple house plan that would be changed later. But, the cost of drawing/stamping/submitting a house plan that we would change anyway seems like throwing $$ away. Plans cost a lot and here, they require an engineer stamp and now a fire sprinkler plan as well.

Also, our plan is to do everything out of pocket. The garage might take 2 seasons to complete. We did the septic this year. The home might take 5 or even 10 years. Or may never happen at all if we decide to get away from the snow in the winters. We may just be happy with a nice apartment seasonally. Our plan is dependent on moving out of our 2000sf home and living mortgage free in this garage. We are just trying to get the garage approved as fast and inexpensively as possible.