New 2 Car Garage

[fsts2k]

Hello all,

I am about to put an offer down on a new construction house in Chicago. It is on a typical city lot (25'x125') so there are some real constraints. I am basically constrained to a 20' wide garage, I am going to try to bump the length to 22' or 24' so I can fit the cars + have a workbench. The garage will be detached and will have a rooftop deck for entertaining.

I currently have a 1.75 car garage, it is about 16' wide, 19' deep and I fit a small SUV and sports car but it is really tight. I use the garage to tinker and wash the cars. I will also be building a modeling room in the house to work on hobbies, I will probably put a mini-lathe, mill, drill press, etc there. Therefore the garage will need cabinets, my tool chests, a small air compressor, power washer to clean cars, etc.

So on to what I am thinking:
- Insulation
- Dry wall interior, may mount metal panels for bottom of garage
- 18' garage door (I don't want to squeeze two cars in again)
- Gas, water, electric (many outlets on front wall, outlet on sides for battery tenders), ethernet cable to main house
- exposed rafters
- 4 led light fixtures over garage bay, two over workbench (would you mount directly above or mount on angle where ceiling meets walls?)
- belt driven garage door with wifi
- I plan to use a hose reel for the air hose, not put air around the garage


Am coming up with a few questions:
- Where should I put water access? If I was going to mount a power washer on the wall would you hard plumb that in and have a second garden house faucet?
- I know there is an ongoing debate on using Plywood vs. OSB vs. Drywall but for my use it seems like Drywall makes sense.. that said I am open to suggestion
- The floor slab is going to be 5" thick, I think that is adequate and I don't plan to use a lift (sad, would really like one) but I will have the floor epoxied. Is there something I should specifically ask on this?
- Do you think the lighting is adequate?
- What else should I consider as I can still make changes? (Yes, I know bigger is better but I really want to have a bit of a yard between the house and the garage so I am going to limit how big I can go)

Thank you

 

[matt_i]

I can't zoom the file, but how does water & snow exit the roof? Does it slope towards the side where the railing is located?

Before I spec'd 5" thick, I'd spec 4" minimum thickness plus a perimeter rebar and 11 gage wire mesh panels, and a wet cure or curing sealer (although the last would probably have to be ground off before epoxy) and saw cut control joints the next morning after the pour in 10-12' squares.

You have to use waterlines carefully to avoid freezing. Either they have to be seasonal and blown-out or heated or a "yard hydrant" which has a valve deep in the earth.

I put 20 LED fixtures (Costco Feit) in about double the square footage, so by my estimation its OK but not great. That said I really like light when its needed. I have two switches each controlling half.

 

[ford33]

Why a five inch thick slab? It seems like money spent with little benefit for your needs.

Insulate the garage well. Drywall the ceiling and walls. Insulate the ceiling, walls and slab. You don't want to work in a freezing cold or very hot garage. Air seal all sill, top plates, sheathing and doors well. Go on youtube and find Matt Risinger for tips on sealing a structure. He's over the top for many people but his ideas have merit.

I would consider heating the space. You might think about inexpensive radiant floor heat but beware of ongoing maintenance since if left disused the water could freeze in winter could break the tubing or slab. A ceiling mounted gas or electric heater is what I have now and it works well when I have the two ceiling fans running to distribute the hot air. My next garage will have radiant floor heat.

Consider running a 240v line with sub-panel to the garage. It will save you money when you want to add 240v outlets for larger tools or air conditioning and keeps separate circuits for lights and outlets.

I have frost free faucet in my garage and like it. Since your garage is detached you should have a method to blow the water line in fall of water. Use the same trench as the electrical lines.

I would not put any windows in the garage. Having lived in the City of Chicago, garage windows are an open invitation to thieves to break in and steal everything they can carry. A steel man door and well built sectional with lock is all you need.

With well insulated buildings that house cars, chemicals and other noxious fumes, you may want to have one or two small ventilation fans. Two is enough to circulate air and exhaust the air outside. Put them on a wall near the roof so they don't take much wall space. They make air exchangers for this purpose but they are $1k. A couple fans in a non-living space should be sufficient.

Finally, consider an eight foot sectional door and header. It would be nice to park the SUV or pickup in the garage and off the street where it will surely be damaged, stolen or towed "by mistake". The city has to pay for the rioting that took place earlier this year and is looking to increase all sources for revenue including parking fines and towing fees.

Good luck with the city of Chicago building department and inspectors.

 

[fsts2k]

I can't zoom the file, but how does water & snow exit the roof? Does it slope towards the side where the railing is located?

Roof is sloped away from stairs to drain on side of garage door. I assume there will be gutters or a way to handle water

Before I spec'd 5" thick, I'd spec 4" minimum thickness plus a perimeter rebar and 11 gage wire mesh panels, and a wet cure or curing sealer (although the last would probably have to be ground off before epoxy) and saw cut control joints the next morning after the pour in 10-12' squares.

Got it. The 5" was not spec'd by me, that is what is on the plans, I am unclear what the reason was for 5" vs. 4"

You have to use waterlines carefully to avoid freezing. Either they have to be seasonal and blown-out or heated or a "yard hydrant" which has a valve deep in the earth.

Yes, I am not sure how they plan to be run yet. I am planning for a gas heater in the garage.

I put 20 LED fixtures (Costco Feit) in about double the square footage, so by my estimation its OK but not great. That said I really like light when its needed. I have two switches each controlling half.

Good input, will increase

Why a five inch thick slab? It seems like money spent with little benefit for your needs.

As noted above, that is what is in the blueprint, not sure why

Insulate the garage well. Drywall the ceiling and walls. Insulate the ceiling, walls and slab. You don't want to work in a freezing cold or very hot garage. Air seal all sill, top plates, sheathing and doors well. Go on youtube and find Matt Risinger for tips on sealing a structure. He's over the top for many people but his ideas have merit.

Indeed on insulation and good call on ceiling, was only thinking walls but that wouldn't make sense.

I would consider heating the space. You might think about inexpensive radiant floor heat but beware of ongoing maintenance since if left disused the water could freeze in winter could break the tubing or slab. A ceiling mounted gas or electric heater is what I have now and it works well when I have the two ceiling fans running to distribute the hot air. My next garage will have radiant floor heat.

Yes, I am planning a small gas heater. Radiant would be awesome but not sure it makes sense for this house yet. To avoid breaking tubes my experience has been to use anti-freeze in the tubes.

Consider running a 240v line with sub-panel to the garage. It will save you money when you want to add 240v outlets for larger tools or air conditioning and keeps separate circuits for lights and outlets.

Yes, I have put down a 240v line based on this, good input

I have frost free faucet in my garage and like it. Since your garage is detached you should have a method to blow the water line in fall of water. Use the same trench as the electrical lines.

Good call

I would not put any windows in the garage. Having lived in the City of Chicago, garage windows are an open invitation to thieves to break in and steal everything they can carry. A steel man door and well built sectional with lock is all you need.

Makes sense

With well insulated buildings that house cars, chemicals and other noxious fumes, you may want to have one or two small ventilation fans. Two is enough to circulate air and exhaust the air outside. Put them on a wall near the roof so they don't take much wall space. They make air exchangers for this purpose but they are $1k. A couple fans in a non-living space should be sufficient.

Good idea

Finally, consider an eight foot sectional door and header. It would be nice to park the SUV or pickup in the garage and off the street where it will surely be damaged, stolen or towed "by mistake". The city has to pay for the rioting that took place earlier this year and is looking to increase all sources for revenue including parking fines and towing fees.

I will spec this

Good luck with the city of Chicago building department and inspectors.

Fortunately I will have a contractor handle all of these thing

Thanks for all your input!

 

[fsts2k]

Making progress and the garage should be started soon, as of now the slab has not been poured.

Thinking about heat, would you put in a small garage gas heater, would you put tubing in the slab and put in a small water heater to do radiant heat, or something else?

Reminder the garage is detached from the house but it will have water and gas.

Thank you for your thoughts
Kevin

 

[CraigStu]

Think about how often you will be in the garage in the winter. Radiant is great but it takes a lot of time to warm up a 30 degree slab so it usually needs to be on, maybe set at 55, all the time. For me, I use a wall mount gas heater w/ a fan.
https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200664874_200664874
I also have a kerosene torpedo heater which is faster but very noisy. So, as long as I think about it 20 minutes ahead of time, I use the wall mount. I agree on the 240V and sub panel. Be sure they install a panel w/ at least 10 more circuit breaker spaces than you initially use. And be sure they use a brand that you can buy breakers for at HD or Lowes. You might want a few more light units and have them on two switches. Split the lights so every other one is on the other switch. That way you can walk in and get full area lighting w/ half the lights for the times you aren't doing much, or hit the other switch for full bright. Elect outlets at about 48 inches off the floor so they are above work benches and below cabinets. I find the light units in the ceiling better than on the wall.
Is there any way you can have an extra layer or three of cinder block added to the foundation. W/ the thought of washing a car in there it would be a good idea if the bottom 15-20 inches of the walls is block. This is also the least expensive way to get a taller ceiling.

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

I had a 20x20 with a 16' wide door....It's a 1 car garage IMO....

 

[fsts2k]

I had a 20x20 with a 16' wide door....It's a 1 car garage IMO....

On a 25' wide lot I don't have a lot of options. I won't leave my cars outside... I will shoehorn them in.

It is at least wider than my current 18' wide "2 car" garage

 

[rburke65]

I would make sure they cut that concrete as soon as the finishers can walk on it. Do not wait until morning.