railroadjim
Member
Hi all,
I've lurked on here a few times over the years, and now finally joined.
I'm a car / motorcycle guy who has been accumulating stuff for a big detached garage. Unfortunately, that means that the two car garage on our house is JAMMED with stuff, only leaving functional room for my motorcycle and tractor.
The good news is that I have a building permit for a 26'(w)x46'(d)x12'(h) pole building garage. The bad news is that I've had this permit since 2009, and haven't been able to build the thing since I was unemployed for ten months with the house on the market, and all that other fun stuff. But, I got a local job and the garage project is back on. I wanted to go three cars wide, but due to zoning regulations (side-lot setback), I gave up some width but increased the depth. I should be able to fit in four cars and still have some room to work.
I had some quotes done in 2009, but need to redo the whole process. I'm using Google SketchUp to draw the garage so I have something to send out when I get quotes.
Being a car guy, I will eventually put in a lift, so that's why I'm going with 12' ceilings. I don't want any additional storage, or a second floor, but I do want a functional lift area, so I guess I need 12' ceilings, unless you guys have a better idea.
I'm planning to have a single, large (20') wide garage door in front, a human entry door on the left side by the front, and a smaller garage door on the left side by the rear to get the tractor in and out. I'm still debating if I want any windows or not. If I do, they'd only be on the left side of the garage, away from everyone else.
I plan to have the pole building finished with metal roofing, and the side walls will be Tyvek covered OSB and vinyl siding. (I'm thinking of doing the siding myself.) I want it to be insulated, but I'm not sure how much I'll have the builder do. I think they can do some sort of initial covering under the roof and I'll probably do the rest.
My lot is rather flat, but there will still be some site excavation that needs to be done. There's probably about 2' of rise from the front to the rear, and again, I'm not sure if I should rent equipment or have the pole building people do it. From my quotes back in 2009, it seems to be rather expensive to have them do it. I do plan on trenching for the electricity myself and plan to start that soon.
I'd like to plumb water to the garage, but I think it would be a real pain to get it out there, since I'd likely have to drill through my house's concrete basement wall to get the job done, and I've never done that before. I can route the electricity above the concrete walls, but my understanding is that water piping should be well below ground at all places in the run. Plus, the garage won't be heated at all times, so I'd have to worry about freeze ups too.
Anyways, I'll probably post up in the general forum some specific questions that I have, but feel free to share you input with me here. I'd also appreciate any input about specific Pole Building builders in Eastern Pennsylvania.
Jim
I've lurked on here a few times over the years, and now finally joined.
I'm a car / motorcycle guy who has been accumulating stuff for a big detached garage. Unfortunately, that means that the two car garage on our house is JAMMED with stuff, only leaving functional room for my motorcycle and tractor.
The good news is that I have a building permit for a 26'(w)x46'(d)x12'(h) pole building garage. The bad news is that I've had this permit since 2009, and haven't been able to build the thing since I was unemployed for ten months with the house on the market, and all that other fun stuff. But, I got a local job and the garage project is back on. I wanted to go three cars wide, but due to zoning regulations (side-lot setback), I gave up some width but increased the depth. I should be able to fit in four cars and still have some room to work.
I had some quotes done in 2009, but need to redo the whole process. I'm using Google SketchUp to draw the garage so I have something to send out when I get quotes.
Being a car guy, I will eventually put in a lift, so that's why I'm going with 12' ceilings. I don't want any additional storage, or a second floor, but I do want a functional lift area, so I guess I need 12' ceilings, unless you guys have a better idea.
I'm planning to have a single, large (20') wide garage door in front, a human entry door on the left side by the front, and a smaller garage door on the left side by the rear to get the tractor in and out. I'm still debating if I want any windows or not. If I do, they'd only be on the left side of the garage, away from everyone else.
I plan to have the pole building finished with metal roofing, and the side walls will be Tyvek covered OSB and vinyl siding. (I'm thinking of doing the siding myself.) I want it to be insulated, but I'm not sure how much I'll have the builder do. I think they can do some sort of initial covering under the roof and I'll probably do the rest.
My lot is rather flat, but there will still be some site excavation that needs to be done. There's probably about 2' of rise from the front to the rear, and again, I'm not sure if I should rent equipment or have the pole building people do it. From my quotes back in 2009, it seems to be rather expensive to have them do it. I do plan on trenching for the electricity myself and plan to start that soon.
I'd like to plumb water to the garage, but I think it would be a real pain to get it out there, since I'd likely have to drill through my house's concrete basement wall to get the job done, and I've never done that before. I can route the electricity above the concrete walls, but my understanding is that water piping should be well below ground at all places in the run. Plus, the garage won't be heated at all times, so I'd have to worry about freeze ups too.
Anyways, I'll probably post up in the general forum some specific questions that I have, but feel free to share you input with me here. I'd also appreciate any input about specific Pole Building builders in Eastern Pennsylvania.
Jim
