New build - 2 car + parking pad

[redline9k]

New build on an old house - 2 car + parking pad

So its finally happening. Demo begins this week on a mess of a parking pad. The house was built in 1894, but no clue when the initial parking pad was poured. Several patches to "fix" a cracked sewer line underneath and whatever else has settled down there over the years, so now its time to rip it all out and make it right.

The plan to excavate about 3-4' and build a 2 car garage, 25'x25' (1/4" slope) + 22x25 (1" slope) parking pad. Wood frame building (2x4), brick facade, metal standing seam roof. Two windows + entry door along the house side, 100A subpanel, epoxy floor, no water. I should have a decent amount of room along the sides and back for a workshop.

Ill post pics along the way, im sure there will be some snags and requests for advice!

First questions:
1) Any issues with having a single oversized 18' door? At 25x25', Ive mocked up an 18' oversized single door. I would prefer to fill the space instead of having 4.5' wide brick sides if i went with a standard 16' door. Two doors were (are?) an option, but my wifes car may fare better with a single door!

2) We initially wanted a hip roof, but the extra expense in framing/roofing was significant. The gable is ok, but the end wall is a large brick span....we were thinking of a soldier course or some other brickwork to separate the "triangle" of the gable from the wall or add some interest, and would like to see if anyone has ideas.

 

[firebirdparts]

I trust the issues with the door are obvious:
1 there's nothing holding 18 feet of the building up, and
2 You're going to be parking close together and you may bang some doors.
It'll work, and above are the main differences compared to 2 9' doors. This is not a complicated building, nor heavy.

On the gable end, the styling needs to complement the house. I think you could do a lot of things, but not a lot of them really go with the house. If you put siding above the soldiers then the siding might be able to look sort of like your dormer. It became very trendy to run the roof down through there and have that 2nd area separated from the bricks by roof, like a section of roof 1 foot wide, but of course that's going to cost a lot more than a hip roof would have.

 

[Rorin67]

A hip roof would really match your house much better and look original in design as opposed to being a later add-on.
However, the gable will give you more storage area if you use the "attic" for storage.
Fun project - best of luck! Also, I vote for the single 18' door, as you can use the extra room on the sides for workbenches, shelves, bikes, motorcycles, etc and not have to worry about access to those items when the cars are parked inside.

 

[redline9k]

A hip roof would really match your house much better and look original in design as opposed to being a later add-on.

I 100% agree and im not sure that decision wont bug me, but a stick built gable + roofing shaved a significant amount from the cost. Unfortunately, the excavation and sewer repair are eating up a large chunk of money too, and as we got closer to six figures concessions had to (or probably should) be made.

 

[andyvh1959]

Perhaps add a dormer, or two, facing the OH door side of the garage to add details matching the dormer atop the attic of your house? If the dormers add functionality to the garage like light, ventilation, airflow etc it would also be more than just looks.

 

[grant00]

If you were to turn the trusses 90 degrees, it looks like they would run more parallel with the length of the house in front. By parallel I mean the main peaks of the two roofs would run parallel.

You could add a window to the gable face like you have in the roof of the house and do a siding course on the gable above the door. That would match the house better without doing a complicated roof system. It would also take a lot of load off of the garage door wall and keeping that 18' wide garage door would be no problem!

 

[1967mgbgt]

Search "clipped gable roof" for a partial hip appearance. I've also seen it referred to a "Jerkinhead" roof. A compromise but costwise it should be closer to a gable and much less than a full hip roof

 

[captain14]

I agree about a matching dormer. I’m not sure about the snow load in St Louis, but anything coming off the roof will landing in front of the garage doors. If you place the gables on the end you don’t have to worry about it.

I looks like the garage entrance is from an alley? How are the other garages situated? Gables facing the alley. I’m sure there are some garages that have been converted from stables when this area was initially developed 125 years ago.

25x25 Garage is not going to leave you much room inside to work with unless you are both driving the smallest vehicle out.there.


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[redline9k]

Appreciate everyones input on ideas to make it look a little more like the house. We are going to talk to the builder about dormers or some of the other options mentioned here. The reason we turned the gable "sideways" is to keep it visually less imposing from the house since its only 20' away from the deck.

So first things first...replace your sewer line if its running under the building! We had it scoped when we bough the house and it was "in good condition", but apparently things change. The clay pipe had started to separate at a joint near the alley so glad we did that proactively, even though they had to dig nearly 12' to get to it. PVC tied into the main, backfilled, and foundation starting to take shape.

 

[nadogail]

Your issues are why we use Architects, they are "supposed" to know how to pleasingly design a functional building.

 

[redline9k]

Your issues are why we use Architects, they are "supposed" to know how to pleasingly design a functional building.

yeah, its pretty easy to make it look pleasingly original, if you want to pay for it.