New member from Maryland

[Greg85mcss]

Hi, my name is Greg and after a couple years of reading threads I'm at the point of being able to build a garage of my own. My main interest is working on my project car & doing repairs for family but I want the space to serve all my needs.

 

[8comm13]

Hello Greg and Welcome to the GJ. Good luck with your garage build, lots of good info here.

 

[drivesitfar]

Greg: welcome to the group. now if you read something and have a question you can post and ask now that you are a member. i bet you had lots of questions before joining or were they always asked for you? it's easy to learn something here every time you log on if you want to spend a little time reading.

good luck with the garage and do you own the property and have the permit to build a garage?

 

[Greg85mcss]

Thanks for the replies. I do own the property but don't have a permit yet. Still firming up plans & have a thread started about that. I have close to an acre but it is very narrow & there are couple existing sheds, some huge trees & the septic manhole. Where I really want to build it would block access to about 75% of the property. I think I figured out the best spot but have been back & forth.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Hi and welcome to the forum Greg all the best with your new build.

 

[Richard Cranium]

welcome from Central Washington...

 

[rburke65]

Hello Greg and welcome from Ohio!

 

[Cypherian]

Welcome
From the state to the right across the bridge soo putting a pole building up over the entire piece of property is out huh ?? :} Think about it no mowing keeps the weather off the house etc ... :}

Cypher

 

[lumpy790]

What part of MD? I grew up in Laurel

 

[drivesitfar]

Greg: if you can maybe post a few pictures of your property showing the access and spot you want to put your shop or garage we might have some more ideas. also mention in that post where your drainfield and septic and anything else that needs to be avoided.

again welcome to the group.

 

[Greg85mcss]

Trying to answer all of these but... I'm in Frederick but have lived in a few places in montgomery county. I'll try to get some pics of the land & have the site plot. The main lot is 70w x 150 deep. 18' wide driveway on the right side & maybe 8 on the left with a huge tree blocking access. Man if I could afford tree removal all of this would be a non issue. House is set towards the street & there's about 60 or 70' to the sheds along the left. On the right there's another big tree & the septic is centered between them. behind that is the other lot which is mostly on a steep hill & has the drain field at the bottom. It is also not zoned for building. I'll mention the options I see when I post pictures

 

[captain14]

Welcome from near College Park. Post a link to your build thread here when you start it. It will allow some of us to Follow it.

 

[drivesitfar]

Greg: before you do much research getting the tree removed on the side with 8 foot access you should find out if you can get a permit with a driveway that wide. usually you need 10 or 15 feet depending on the city or county zoning rules. some of the rules are on the county or city's web sites if you have one for your city or you just have to stop in and either pick up a copy or talk to a planner.

no hurry on our end for the pictures and just saying we need more information if you need help.

good luck

 

[Conner]

Hey Greg. Welcome. I grew up out in Frederick County and now live in Baltimore County. I have a chainsaw you may borrow if you'd like.

 

[Greg85mcss]

I was planning on using the existing driveway for access. Just added the 8' dimension to aid with layout explanation. I can't do anything with 3' of the property line.

 

[Greg85mcss]

Here is the plot plan. There's a tree to the right of the shed & another that far back on the right edge. I can't figure out how to attach multiple pics so I'll post each as a reply

 

[Greg85mcss]

This is from the back of the driveway. Back to ghat tree along the right would be ideal but it slopes down quite a bit left to right. Move it left at all & you wouldn't be able to get past it because of a large rock that comes out of the ground. That will be in another picture

 

[drivesitfar]

Greg: here's a thread i started because a lot of members have issues with posting pictures so maybe it has an answer for you in there.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=296253&highlight=cell+phone+pictures

i post pictures usually from my laptop and i use the paperclip just above where you are writing your posts and attach up to 7 pictures per post sort of like an email.

ask questions if you are still having issues and let us know what method you are trying and the issues.

i'll look at the drawings when you get them all posted.

cheers

 

[Greg85mcss]

Here's the same spot from the other side

 

[Greg85mcss]

The rock can be seen here. In the location I am looking at entrance would be to the right of it.

 

[Greg85mcss]

Here's the same area looking from the back porch. This would be the side of it.

 

[Greg85mcss]

One more. This is a close up of between the trees next to the sheds. This would be another great place but would completely block access to the back of the property. 25' tree to tree. I know another solution is to demo the sheds but then my new garage would be full of decorations...

 

[drivesitfar]

Greg: it's hard to tell from those pictures especially since they are sideways. i'll believe you when you say you can build it and that you have enough access so start asking everybody who they use to cut trees or maybe you already know a reasonable guy.

do you have somebody to draw up a design so you can apply for a permit or are you hiring out the entire job?

 

[Greg85mcss]

I'm having a slab poured & buying it from a local carolina carports distributor that includes installation in the price. I'd love to have something built but after a 26k down payment, 3k in plumbing, 2k in electrical, patching, painting, new floors, furniture... That's about all I can afford. And having a 5 month old kills the idea of building it myself. They will send plans when I give the deposit. I think first step is getting prices for concrete to make sure I can swing it & then I'll head down to the permitting office to see exactly what I need.

 

[drivesitfar]

Greg: i'm wondering if you even need a permit for that so maybe ask the company you are buying it from before you head to the city paying for one. also if you are going to put a nice cement pad down i'd recommend 5 inches thick so it has less chances of cracking. also if you are not pouring the slap when it's about 50-60 degrees out either make sure it's not drying to fast by misting it with water or if cool cement blankets or even cardboard will help.

good luck

 

[Greg85mcss]

I'm pretty sure I need a permit regardless of if anyone will ever check but we plan on staying here for a while so it's worth $150 to avoid the hassles. County requires at least 4" & I'm planning on using at least 4000 mix. Both are more than the lift I want needs but I may go thicker just for peace of mind.

 

[drivesitfar]

Greg: sounds good. ask questions if you have any or best of luck and keep up updated with progress and pictures if you have any. if you might want a picture under your name go in your profile and click on Avitar and download one and you can change often or leave one for a while so members might recognize you by it.

good luck

 

[Theruse]

Greg,

Welcome from another Marylander from Montgomery County. Lucky you are in Frederick as dealing with Montgomery County permitting is a real nightmare. I still am working with them for four years to get a permit on an outlot I bought adjacent to my property. MD can't decide what side of my house faces the street as this has implication for sidelot/rearlot distances from line. Good luck and keep us in the loop.

tom

 

[Greg85mcss]

I posted another thread a while back asking if anyone had opinions on garage shape. I'm thinking having it deeper so the back can be a work space would be pretty cool. Hoping someone had the same idea & has feedback on how it worked out.

Theruse I grew up in montgomery county & built a few projects there when I was a general contractor so I'm pretty familiar with the extensive permitting & inspection process.

 

[drivesitfar]

Greg: i'll let you know that unless you mention budget or permit requirements this group will almost always tell you to build it as big as you can afford. so i'll say it first. if you can afford to have more space then you should build it bigger.

if you want to look up garages in the garage gallery with garages that are the size of the garage you are trying to build then you might be able to see what you will be adding or missing if you don't.

good luck

 

[Greg85mcss]

The 3 things that dictate how big I can go (county, budget & space available)all limit me to about the same size 600sf ish. Main thing I'm trying to figure out is wider or deeper. Thinking deeper would be a better use of space.