rebuilding garage

[steveo2155]

Just purchased a home with a detached 26x26 pole built garage. It is steel sided with a cheap 7 ft overhead door and its color choices for steel doesn't match the house. All that being said it is not in too bad of shape and concrete floor is in pretty good shape. So I have three options I would like opinions on. 1. Paint steel exterior to match vinyl sided house. Insulate & finish interior. Replace overhead door with residential looking door. 2. Tear down and rebuild same size garage on existing concrete. Add walls studs vinyl siding and shingle roof to look nice & match house. 3. Tear down and build a larger pole building. Maybe 30x30 with 12 ft door. Would you recommend using existing concrete for options 2 & 3. Can I add on to current concrete floor for option #3. estimated price for each option?

 

[Dr Stan]

When I built my shop the one major mistake I made was 8ft walls. If this pole barn only has 8ft walls tear it down, use the existing concrete pad and build one with 12ft walls. Side it with vinyl to match the house, insulate the walls & roof and install central heat & air. 26 X 26 is only 676 sq ft so that's small for a shop, at least in my mind.

Mine is 24 X 48 which is about all the space I had. 1152 sq ft and its filled up. Bigger than the house I grew up in. Now if you can extend just one dimension to 48ft you'll have 1248 sq ft. or a lot more than 900 sq ft. (30 X 30).

About 6 years ago I built mine for right around $15K with the concrete uni-foundation/pad coming in at $5500. Just too big for me to handle. All the remaining work I completed with some help such as installing the trusses.

Make sure you pass muster with the local zoning folks. You do not want them suspicious of what you're doing. It would be a good idea to find the building permit for the existing barn. Primarily to see if the foundation is up to code. Of course this all depends on your location and the local codes.

Happy construction.

 

[steveo2155]

Im in the country so I am good to build. Main concern now is price. I have the flat concrete floor there. Now its just a matter of adding walls for more of a traditional larger garage or putting up a nicer larger pole barn. My max budget is probably around $15k hopefully less. I also considered attaching to home but then im sure it will become costly

 

[drmarkr]

I "reskinned" and rebuilt my existing shop....

Full build thread here:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12631

 

[Voi]

2. Tear down and rebuild same size garage on existing concrete. Add walls studs vinyl siding and shingle roof to look nice & match house.

3. Tear down and build a larger pole building. Maybe 30x30 with 12 ft door.

Would you recommend using existing concrete for options 2 & 3.

Can I add on to current concrete floor for option #3.

Estimated price for each option?

By option two do you mean building a stick framed garage on top of the current slab? I'd assume you'd want at least a thickened edge, monolithic slab for that type of structure but maybe there is a climate and soil type where that wouldn't be necessary.

I've seen one pole barn built around existing smaller slab but it was left as dirt. Owner said he planed to have the slab extended and pinned to the smaller slab but hadn't done it yet. And I believe that's been mentioned on this site before.

If you really want siding to match the house think carefully about the added cost of sheathing the building when comparing costs of stick vs pole build.

Another option would be a hybrid approach. I can link to such a build later today.

 

[tomroblee]

If you are considering insulating and finishing your existing building, take a close look at the truss (and post) spacing and load ratings. If the trusses are spaced farther than 4' apart and are not rated to support a ceiling and insulation you will have a problem.

 

[matt_i]

I'd take a look at tearing out metal and girts to get to the posts, reframe with bookshelf girts 24" oc (bottom one treated), sheet with 1/2" osb and then vinyl-siding to match.

Then you have a nice easy cavity to insulate.

As others have said, I'd reverse-engineer the trusses (meaning measure then have more built same) or buy a set of new, set 24" oc, sheath and shingle roof. Now you can drywall and use loose-fill insulation in the attic.

 

[steveo2155]

And if I decide to go the cheapest possible route for now? Paint existing metal to match house color? What kind of insulation & framing for interior finish? Im talking the cheapest possible way to make it look decent outside & in

 

[Voi]

And if I decide to go the cheapest possible route for now? Paint existing metal to match house color? What kind of insulation & framing for interior finish? Im talking the cheapest possible way to make it look decent outside & in

Does the building have standard or commercial (aka "bookshelf") girts?

If the building has standard girts then it's worth pricing the wide batts that fit in your column spacing.

You'll then need some sort of strapping over the top of it for interior sheathing attachment (drywall, OSB or both). There has been some discussion here about what is the minimal amount of strapping required to give a good base for the sheathing with most saying lumber is cheap so go on 24" centers and 5/8" drywall so it doesn't look wavy.

The other option is to just add bookshelf girts on 24" centers and use fiberglass rolls/batts for 24" O.C. framing. So it boils down to what is cheaper per square foot - wide or standard batts or how much you'd like to cut down on thermal bridging (wide batts are better for this).

Bookshelf girts end up using less lumber than stick building a typical framed wall between columns. But some people like that choice as they feel it makes for better cabinet hanging or because it's just what they're used to.

If your building already has bookshelf girts then your decisions are much more straightforward unless the spacing is non-standard.

One other option - price re-claimed rigid foam. Craigslist is good but the closer you are to the east coast the more options there are for places that specialize in this.

Ceiling or roof insulation completely depends on your trusses.

Here is the link I mentioned earlier. This is an option if you want to rebuild but do it in a way that allows standard sheathing and siding options and not have to build a second wall over your girts. Note that unless you're in Ohio you might have trouble finding a contractor that is willing to do this.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=196027