new guy in northern virginia

[AKADriver]

Yes, the land of $3000 speeding tickets (well, not anymore) and half-million-dollar houses with no garage.

My wife and I are buying a home after spending years in condo purgatory. It's come down to a house we both like, with a nice, basic, empty 20x23 2-car garage; or her parents' old house, which will be substantially cheaper, but only has a 14x26 carport.

Thankfully if we go that way, the carport already has side and rear walls, is framed in for a people-door in the back, and has a level concrete floor that's above grade (not just an extension of the driveway). When the tract was built in the early 1980s most of the houses got garages, but I guess the original owner of this place didn't check that option.

Being new to the world of actually owning a home (and not just the interior walls of someone else's building) I'm still trying to weigh the options. I THINK my list of needs to finish the 'port into a garage would be as follows:

- Getting plans drawn up and permit process from Fairfax County (this will probably take the longest)
- Mild demo - removing the exterior siding from the interior walls, taking out some existing shelving that's in the way
- Frame in garage door opening (front wall) - basically just need to turn a 14'x8' hole into a 10'x7' hole
- Hang an exterior door in the existing back door frame
- Hang the overhead door
- Electrical - it currently has a light and an outlet, I'd want more of each! Plus a door opener.

This community looks like exactly the crowd I need who have been there and done that either way. Hi!

 

[Wingnut65]

Welcome to GJ, AKADriver. Sounds like you have found the right place for your garage project. Good luck on your purchase decision. Sounds like you have figured out how to get what you want with either decision. You have listed the correct process and it doesn't sound too complicated. There are manu GJ members here from VA that may be able to jump in with some regional advice on the process.

Good Luck and Welcome

 

[Demian]

I feel your pain about NOVA I grew up in Fairfax county and never had a garage, although I did rent one from a guy in Arlington for a brief time. I've moved away and back a few times and every time I go back its different, although the traffic always *****. Still have family in the area so we go up there at least once a year. Good luck with your project.

Demian

 

[AKADriver]

Thanks guys!

Traffic isn't so bad for me, I don't work in DC so I don't drive that way. Both houses are actually in Springfield and I drive west to my job. But I've seen the worst of it - I used to drive to Maryland every day via 495 and 270. Hence the condo purgatory, it's all I could afford near the Potomac.

It looks like the county has a set of standard regulations for enclosing a carport:
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpwes/publications/carports.htm

As long as I agree to meet the standard design rules there's no need to submit plans. That should speed things up a lot, as long as the existing carport slab meets some of the requirements like 24" of footing and a slope towards the door. If it doesn't then it gets more complicated. Here's hoping they built it exactly like the garages in the rest of the neighborhood.

 

[AKADriver]

Four years later. It turned out all that stuff I thought I was going to need... I was going to need. So nothing got done. Other house projects took precedence.

I had an inheritance come in this year, so, the project starts as soon as the permit gets approved. I've hired a general contractor to take care of the foundation and framing.

 

[BlackTalon]

That is good news. Here in Alexandria the process is much more complicated, as they passed an ordinance in 2008 prohibiting front-facing garage doors if your lot is wider than 65 feet. If I have to go with a side entrance not only does the slab slope the wrong way but I will cross the property line pulling in and out.

 

[AKADriver]

Work is underway.

I'm really glad I hired a GC for this. When they first submitted the plans to the county they got rejected, because at some point since 1983 my zoning had changed. Because the garage is considered new construction it now had to comply with a 12' minimum side yard. I had 10'.

So they built a new wall 2 feet in. My interior width is now down to a hair under 12 feet, which kind of *****, but I still have 24 feet of depth. You can see the original roof hanging over two feet. It will be cut back to leave a soffit.

For the foundation they were able to just do piers again which is fine by me as long as the county is happy with it. The new ones are significantly more substantial.

Still a few more days of work to go to close in the roof and so on.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Hello and welcome aboard AKADriver, all the best with your project, looks good.

 

[rburke65]

Hello and welcome from Ohio!

 

[drivesitfar]

AKA: looks like you are very selective about your posts. Your new rebuilt carport to garage looks great so any questions? Also post more if you get time on some of the posts you are reading so some of us know there are members out there enjoying our posts. Good luck