I'm preparing to start a garage build and this forum was recommended by a friend (Toofart) to check out to get ideas. The garage will be detached and 24W x 34L. I'm planning a single 18" wide garage door facing front and a man door on the left side (as your facing the garage). The garage will be used as parking and an automotive work area. Planning a 2 post Bendpak lift down the road placed in the back right corner.
I got 4 quotes and the original builder of the home was actually the best by far, and they were pretty good to work with building the house. They're still building in the neighborhood so the contractors on on site and likely helped with the pricing. It will be 100% brick with double windows on each side and in the back, and a single window above the garage door. Shingle, brick, mortar, gutters, eaves, etc will all match the house per HOA requirements. I'm gonna have them put in a half bath and a shop sink as well as heat and air. 13' 6" ceilings to accommodate the lift.
I had the house built about 4 years ago with a nice 3 car garage and thought I'd be all set. The house I moved from was built by the same builder and had an attached 2 car garage that measured 24W x 24L. I had several vehicles and got tired of playing musical cars in the driveway so I had the new place built. Low and behold the new garage, while nice and 3 cars wide, was built 18 feet deep. My Challenger BARELY fits. A 3 car looks huge until you start pulling a big car like a Challenger in to it with tool boxes and a work bench in front
It has heat/air, lots of lights, etc but I need more room so it will be relegated to parking only for the most part.
Here's the current garage. 3 cars is nice, but it needed to be about 6 feet deeper.
18,000 BTU TPAC - works great to cool this space down to 70ish degrees in 90+ temps with 60% humidity.
One of the best things I did - satellite in the shop. I wear out Alt Nation on Sirius. New shop will have this for sure.
I need to figure out lighting, storage, power outlets, TV connection, floor coating, etc. After the garage on the house being too shallow I'm paranoid I'll miss something on the new one. Time to do some reading
So far I'm thinking Ucoatit for the floor. I have a buddy that does commercial lighting design for a living so I'm gonna get him to do up a lighting design for me. I don't know if it'll be canned lights or tube florescents, but it'll be a tiered approach where I can flip on the lights in 3 stages depending on how bright I need it to be. It'll be fully insulated and finished inside as well.
I'll post pics as I get it started. Time to do some reading. I'd love to hear some lessons learned from folks that have already been down this road.
Update 5/3/2015
I've finalized the garage size and layout. It will now be 24x34 which is about the biggest I can fit on my property and meet codes. You guys were right, bigger is always better when it comes to the shop
Met with the builder yesterday and got the layout down on the property, they got the project in queue, and should start pouring footers and the pad in the next couple of weeks. He's wanting to set the garage back from the end of the driveway 2 feet to allow for a grade as you enter the garage, kind of a small concrete ramp if you will that has a rise of about 2 inches over the 2' span. He says this will avoid any water issues. I'm wondering if that's the best solution, or have it **** against the driveway and install a channel drain?
The concrete will be 4" thick 3500 with two 3' x 3' pads that are 8" think incorporated where the lift posts will go. I'll start posting pics once they start work.
Updated 7/21/2015 with a detailed sketch of garage layout:
Update 8/1/2015
Here's the giant sign that had to be placed on my front yard for 30 days to get the city variance to build the garage the size I wanted. Went through unanimously no problem on the city vote. Bottom line, make sure you cross check EVERYTHING before starting a project like this. This held me up about 6 weeks as I got some incorrect information from the city inspector.
Staked out the location. This caused a massive fight with a neighbor who's an attorney and threatened to sue me. Once she learned the city had approved she didn't want to continue the fight Not sure how she missed that sign in my front yard but she claimed to not have been informed. Meh. She and her husband must not communicate either as he and I had discussed it for months.
Silt fence installed.
Footer dug.
And poured.
Update 8/16/2015
Foundation block was delivered this week.
The corners laid out and the foundation started. The builder gave me a little extra width, as much as would fit on the footer making the brick to brick 24'8".
They also went ahead and put in a few rows of brick on one side so they can grade that part of the garage. The builder told me they're trying to be careful with the yard and general "mess" to avoid as much inconvenience as possible. Some tubing was also installed for water/electric from the house to run through.
Update 9/20/2015
After more delays than I was happy with due to equipment malfunctions and some other properties the builder has been working on I made a call to my Realtor who lit a fire and got them moving again. For three weeks no work was done, then more was done in a single week than during the whole build so far. Concrete should be poured tomorrow.
The broken down excavator was finally repaired and delivered to clean up the area.
Excavated, leveled, and drains installed as a precaution.
Gravel poured
Plumbing prepped for the bathroom/ shop sink.
Floor drain installed
Recesses dug out for 8 inch thick 36"x36" pads for 2 post lift location. Concrete will be 4,000 psi 4" thick and 8" think in these two areas.
Update 10/3/2015
Been a bit busy, so this will be a pretty big update.
Concrete poured (4,000 PSI 4" thick except where lift posts will be and that's 8")
Christened
Frame package delivered
Framing started
And finished
Closet for compressor
And restroom
Man door
Roofing completed (architectural to match the house)
Electrical roughed in (house upgraded to 400A service with a dedicated box in the shop)
5 gang switch box by man door. Lights are wired in 2 banks on 3-ways to 5 gang by compressor room. Switches for exterior door lights, cans, and attic which will be illuminated so I don't forget to turn it off.
5 gang at compressor room. Light bank 1 and 2 - 3-ways; light/fan combo fan, light, and finally a switch to turn on compressor. The light and compressor switch will be illuminated on so I don't forget to turn them off.
4 20A outlets on one side, 5 on the other, and 4 on the back wall.
..............continued later in thread, this post hit the character limit
I got 4 quotes and the original builder of the home was actually the best by far, and they were pretty good to work with building the house. They're still building in the neighborhood so the contractors on on site and likely helped with the pricing. It will be 100% brick with double windows on each side and in the back, and a single window above the garage door. Shingle, brick, mortar, gutters, eaves, etc will all match the house per HOA requirements. I'm gonna have them put in a half bath and a shop sink as well as heat and air. 13' 6" ceilings to accommodate the lift.
I had the house built about 4 years ago with a nice 3 car garage and thought I'd be all set. The house I moved from was built by the same builder and had an attached 2 car garage that measured 24W x 24L. I had several vehicles and got tired of playing musical cars in the driveway so I had the new place built. Low and behold the new garage, while nice and 3 cars wide, was built 18 feet deep. My Challenger BARELY fits. A 3 car looks huge until you start pulling a big car like a Challenger in to it with tool boxes and a work bench in front
It has heat/air, lots of lights, etc but I need more room so it will be relegated to parking only for the most part.Here's the current garage. 3 cars is nice, but it needed to be about 6 feet deeper.
18,000 BTU TPAC - works great to cool this space down to 70ish degrees in 90+ temps with 60% humidity.
One of the best things I did - satellite in the shop. I wear out Alt Nation on Sirius. New shop will have this for sure.
I need to figure out lighting, storage, power outlets, TV connection, floor coating, etc. After the garage on the house being too shallow I'm paranoid I'll miss something on the new one. Time to do some reading
So far I'm thinking Ucoatit for the floor. I have a buddy that does commercial lighting design for a living so I'm gonna get him to do up a lighting design for me. I don't know if it'll be canned lights or tube florescents, but it'll be a tiered approach where I can flip on the lights in 3 stages depending on how bright I need it to be. It'll be fully insulated and finished inside as well.
I'll post pics as I get it started. Time to do some reading. I'd love to hear some lessons learned from folks that have already been down this road.
Update 5/3/2015
I've finalized the garage size and layout. It will now be 24x34 which is about the biggest I can fit on my property and meet codes. You guys were right, bigger is always better when it comes to the shop
Met with the builder yesterday and got the layout down on the property, they got the project in queue, and should start pouring footers and the pad in the next couple of weeks. He's wanting to set the garage back from the end of the driveway 2 feet to allow for a grade as you enter the garage, kind of a small concrete ramp if you will that has a rise of about 2 inches over the 2' span. He says this will avoid any water issues. I'm wondering if that's the best solution, or have it **** against the driveway and install a channel drain?
The concrete will be 4" thick 3500 with two 3' x 3' pads that are 8" think incorporated where the lift posts will go. I'll start posting pics once they start work.
Updated 7/21/2015 with a detailed sketch of garage layout:
Update 8/1/2015
Here's the giant sign that had to be placed on my front yard for 30 days to get the city variance to build the garage the size I wanted. Went through unanimously no problem on the city vote. Bottom line, make sure you cross check EVERYTHING before starting a project like this. This held me up about 6 weeks as I got some incorrect information from the city inspector.
Staked out the location. This caused a massive fight with a neighbor who's an attorney and threatened to sue me. Once she learned the city had approved she didn't want to continue the fight
Not sure how she missed that sign in my front yard but she claimed to not have been informed. Meh. She and her husband must not communicate either as he and I had discussed it for months.
Silt fence installed.
Footer dug.
And poured.
Update 8/16/2015
Foundation block was delivered this week.
The corners laid out and the foundation started. The builder gave me a little extra width, as much as would fit on the footer making the brick to brick 24'8".
They also went ahead and put in a few rows of brick on one side so they can grade that part of the garage. The builder told me they're trying to be careful with the yard and general "mess" to avoid as much inconvenience as possible. Some tubing was also installed for water/electric from the house to run through.
Update 9/20/2015
After more delays than I was happy with due to equipment malfunctions and some other properties the builder has been working on I made a call to my Realtor who lit a fire and got them moving again. For three weeks no work was done, then more was done in a single week than during the whole build so far. Concrete should be poured tomorrow.
The broken down excavator was finally repaired and delivered to clean up the area.
Excavated, leveled, and drains installed as a precaution.
Gravel poured
Plumbing prepped for the bathroom/ shop sink.
Floor drain installed
Recesses dug out for 8 inch thick 36"x36" pads for 2 post lift location. Concrete will be 4,000 psi 4" thick and 8" think in these two areas.
Update 10/3/2015
Been a bit busy, so this will be a pretty big update.
Concrete poured (4,000 PSI 4" thick except where lift posts will be and that's 8")
Christened
Frame package delivered
Framing started
And finished
Closet for compressor
And restroom
Man door
Roofing completed (architectural to match the house)
Electrical roughed in (house upgraded to 400A service with a dedicated box in the shop)
5 gang switch box by man door. Lights are wired in 2 banks on 3-ways to 5 gang by compressor room. Switches for exterior door lights, cans, and attic which will be illuminated so I don't forget to turn it off.
5 gang at compressor room. Light bank 1 and 2 - 3-ways; light/fan combo fan, light, and finally a switch to turn on compressor. The light and compressor switch will be illuminated on so I don't forget to turn them off.
4 20A outlets on one side, 5 on the other, and 4 on the back wall.
..............continued later in thread, this post hit the character limit
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