Service door 5 feet up wall?

[turtl631]

Trying to get a rough idea of layout for garage on my tight city lot. We are about 5 ft above alley / street grade on the corner. Hence, garage has retaining wall on two sides. Currently service door entry is facing street, which means I have to walk down the sidewalk to get into my own garage. Not ideal. Would like a door from backyard. Planning 10 ft ceiling with attic trusses storage and probably 12/12 pitch. Gable end will face yard. Would it be possible to have a service door here, that is with the bottom 5 ft from the floor and the top intruding into the attic space? I just do not understand if it would structurally be possible to box this out. Obviously would then have stairs down to floor level in garage and up to the attic.

 

[turtl631]

For clarity. Clearly the alternative would be that I excavate an area for some steps in the yard to drop the door down a couple feet. This creates a cavity for kids to fall into and will be a pain in winter to keep clear of snow and ice.

 

[turtl631]

http://imgur.com/a/9T2kyEF

 

[rct]

Anything is structurally possible. Your plan/builder would need to use either stick built rafters, scissor or custom trusses the first several feet of the building near the house to allow space for the door, entry and stairs. That said, you'll need to check if your building department will allow that type of entry, see if there might be landing requirements to meet stair code. Otherwise door sized "windows" can be framed...

 

[ambenz]

Go for 13 foot high garage ceilings and avoid any issue with door access in the backyard. Internal stairs down to grade and up to attic will take up some space but no worries about a open well to the elements.
You can engineer a hip roof to keep the height and look of the garage in check.

 

[turtl631]

Code limited to 10' unfortunately.

 

[73fxe]

If the first truss is 2' in from the wall remove part of the truss for the landing area. Put headers in to tie the cut truss to the 2nd one. Or tell the truss shop what You need and They can build You the truss You need.

 

[NUTTSGT]

How about a covered entrance maybe 4-6 feet deep, Tie the roof line in with what you have on one side and just match the pitch/ridge for the other side.

 

[firebirdparts]

With an outswing door it's trivial to do. With an inswing door (the usual American way) you'll need a door-sized gap to the first truss that is hanging low. I would agree get a custom truss for the first one only. Structurally, the gable end of the building can work with any imaginable configuration.