Starting the Big Build!

[Chopperpilotjeff]

Hello fellow Garage Journalists,

Newest Noob here - discovered the GJ while looking for tips for my Big Build. In less than two weeks, we will be sticking the shovel in the Florida sand to start building the detached garage. It's 30'W x 60'L x 16'H on the inside, concrete block, hip roof, 18'W x 14'H front panel door and 8' x 8' roll-up canister in the back. Billed as an RV garage for the HOA, I don't have an RV - just a lot of other rolling stock.

I'll build a full length 8' wide mezzanine later. Planning on a 10K Mohawk lift. Slab fortification is planned for the lift install.

Adding a couple of engineered trusses for 1 ton overhead chain lifts: 2 I-beams strapped underneath for two trolleys each. Their primary purpose is to lift or flip small boats, outboard motors, and load/unload ungainly things from the trailer or pickup.

The primary purpose of the garage is to store bikes, compact tractor, dump trailer, ATV, boats, vehicles, etc so that main house garage (1500 sq ft) can become a dedicated woodworking shop.

I'm posting a few Sketchup pics trolling for good ideas from all of you Good Idea Guys & Gals.

Cheers!
ChopperJeff

 

[jack stand]

Hey to me, a 'RV' or recreation vehicle encompasses a wide variety of motorized toy's
Concrete block due to hurricane code's?

 

[Stuart in MN]

I don't have much to add, but you did some great renderings. It will be a fun build to watch, be sure to post photos of the progress. Since you're in Florida, is air conditioning planned?

 

[drivesitfar]

Jeff: no windows or skylights cause of Florida code where you live or your preference?

welcome to GJ and plenty of newer members and some that don't even own a garage so enjoy your time here and hope you learn half as much as i have.

good luck with the build

 

[Chopperpilotjeff]

Hey to me, a 'RV' or recreation vehicle encompasses a wide variety of motorized toy's
Concrete block due to hurricane code's?

Jack Stand,

CMU is the material of choice across much of central and south Florida. Resistance to rot and insects as well as our occasional hurricane is only part of the attraction. It's cooler, fire resistant, and offers versatile attachment for the many bolt-on garage accessories, even very heavy ones.

There are many great engineered wood-frame builders who would sing the praises of their materials, but I prefer concrete block, with judicious application of solid fill and steel reinforcement. I have built a couple of homes with the post-Hurricane Andrew code for CMU construction in the last 22 years and have been very impressed.

 

[Chopperpilotjeff]

I don't have much to add, but you did some great renderings. It will be a fun build to watch, be sure to post photos of the progress. Since you're in Florida, is air conditioning planned?

Stuart in MN,

Thanks for the encouragement on the renderings. This project has gotten me back into Sketchup. It's very addictive - as a spinoff, I modeled my entire house!

I don't have immediate plans for climate control - going to wait to see how it fares. There will be at least one giant ceiling fan. The garage door will be a 2" thick insulated panel on the SW side to deal with the afternoon sun. That side will be like a brick oven!

Stand by for photos!

 

[Chopperpilotjeff]

Jeff: no windows or skylights cause of Florida code where you live or your preference?

welcome to GJ and plenty of newer members and some that don't even own a garage so enjoy your time here and hope you learn half as much as i have.

good luck with the build

Drivesitfar,

The window issue has been a point of consternation. I don't want any windows on the sunny sides of the building (big front door and walk-in door sides) for obvious Florida reasons. The opposite long side of the building is very close to and overlooks my neighbor's outdoor living and pool area. I don't want to irritate them with night time work lighting or to be that "window facing the swimming pool" neighbor.

But we do want some natural light and are planning on adding two high windows on the back NNE wall to the plan. Just talked to the builder about that a few days ago.

I didn't plan on skylights. We're going to have a solar power consultant take a look at the SE roof and see if PV panels will be efficient enough for an install. If there is room after a vent system is added on the NW roof panel, I may explore installing something like the Solatube <http://www.solatube.com> to bring in more natural light. We'll see how much light we get from the windows first.

Appreciate the interest. As you say, hope to learn lots here on GJ!

 

[drivesitfar]

Jeff: have you had your plan drawn up yet to submit for permits? does your area need any engineering stamps, drainage designs or other things to go in with your building plan and about how long do you think it might take to get approval?

also are you building this yourself or hiring it out and how long do you think it might take before you can have it ready to move in to and use?

good luck

 

[Chopperpilotjeff]

Drivesitfar - all plans, permits, etc were completed by the contractor with the usual struggles, re-submissions, etc. Nothing was easy with the county government (they're here to help, right?) but the contractor fortunately had good long-standing relationships that eventually fostered good will and cooperation.

We're all built! Watch for pics and posts.

 

[Chopperpilotjeff]

Building has begun! Actually, the next few posts are from 2 months ago. Just catching up with this GJ thread.

March and April were consumed by design, considerable leg wrestling with the county and eventually permits. Whew!!! What a hassle!

Site prep started with tree removal, grade raising, moving the septic leach field, form-up, termite prep, Visqueen, etc.

A 61' 4" by 31' 4" concrete slab was formed and poured to accommodate a 60' x 30' inside dimension. Florida code specs applied to footers, but I added a steel reinforced footer across the slab every 15'. 12" deep concrete pads were also added for 2 or 4 post car lifts (leaning towards a 4 post.)

Walls are 16', so I added external pilasters every 15'. Internal supports always end up in the way and they add interesting architectural elevation detail to the otherwise monolithic 60' x 16' side walls.

Block masons did a straight job. Some initial guidance was required to keep them on my custom details. More to follow ...

Florida code calls for steel-supported continuous pours every corner, window, door and every 4' between. The cutouts are inspection holes for the 4500 psi concrete pours. You'll see them covered later. We had a very strong thunderstorm just before the headers and reinforcements were poured. After a nervous night, the walls survived and work continued without incident.

The biggest change that I made before construction was the addition of 10 high windows, 2.5' square. More on those later and many more pics!

 

[Chopperpilotjeff]

After the block is finished, the steel is wired together vertically through the columns and horizontally through the headers. The pours are prepped by covering the inspection holes. Screen keeps the header concrete from pouring into the open blocks.

I made some changes from my original sketches. The 14' x 18' door opening was nudged closer to the far wall to straighten the path to the driveway. With no set-back requirement, the building is just over 5' from the property line.

Septic tank clearance requirements pushed the building a few feet farther back, so I nudged the walk-in swing door closer to the front wall for a straighter path to the house.

The monster crane came in to swing the trusses, followed by sheathing with OSB and soffits.

 

[Chopperpilotjeff]

Stucco!

In my neighborhood, a detached garage (or even a garden shed!) has to match the house in design, architecture, paint and shingle color. The first step is stucco, which is no small undertaking. It's one of the more expensive details of construction, but as you can see, the building is transformed from industrial to presentable. The Homeowner's Association will be so happy.

I expected a few days, but stucco took a couple of weeks. Rain was a constant threat and shut us down a few times. Banding details are added to match the house.

 

[Chopperpilotjeff]

Back door

I added an 8x8 roll-up canister door to the back of the garage so that I can bring the Polaris and Kubota compact tractor in and out easily. It had to be a canister due to the ceiling height and window - very clean installation.

I thought about making this door 10' wide so that I could back the dump trailer with loads of mulch for the garden, but that thought came about too late! I only need to do that every couple of years, so I'll use the tried and true Polaris/Kubota combo.

In the fall, there will be driveway, sidewalk and pads poured around the building. A 12' pad outside the door will provide a buffer zone for dirty tractor tires and a place to rinse off the yard machines.

This roll-up will probably evolve into the de facto Backyard Work Door. Of course, that means that one of those outlets will have a small fridge plugged into it.


Maybe a large fridge.

 

[Chopperpilotjeff]

Back corner

OK, so I'm pretty jazzed with how this turned out. If you go back to the beginning of this thread, you'll see my original Google Sketchup imaginings of this back corner. This clean, utilitarian idea survived the architect, the county, zoning, permits, contractor and even the block masons all the way to bricks and mortar. It looks every bit as great as I hoped ... and it's only the back door!

The double swing doors open to my external flammable locker. I don't want to store any fuels or oils inside, so this vented concrete closet is outside the building on the shady northern exposure. I'll probably store my collection of Echo yard tools in this lock-up as they also have the potential to leak fuel. There is no electrical inside the closet.

I had to protect this structure from the trades. At first the masons tried to make it open to the inside of the garage. Tear out the blocks and start over. Then they didn't lace either wall properly into the block. Tear out the blocks and start over. The truss supplier didn't do the eyebrow roof properly, so it had to be stick built on site. In the end: awesome! It's a very solid structure and cleanly executed.

Sidewalk and pad will civilize this area. The overhang will be a great place to loiter when contemplating work completed, not started or interrupted by rain showers. I'm going to have to put a couple of chairs back by the door. And there's going to be a fridge right there! Mmmmmm. Chaaaaairs. Doh!

 

[Chopperpilotjeff]

Property line

I was able to push to a 5' setback, so I'm wasting minimal backyard. This area will get a spruce up, narrow sidewalk against the building and gutters to channel rainfall to the thirsty landscape.

I poured sidewalks around the entire perimeter of my house and will do the same for this garage. It makes maintenance a breeze and keeps the building clean. Lawn equipment operated close to buildings is a menace to both.

Additionally, with common hazards ranging from fire ants to rattlesnakes, it's always safer in Florida to walk on concrete, especially at night.

 

[Chopperpilotjeff]

Paint

Paint always transforms the build. Here is the finished paint day and night.

All that's left for the outside is driveway and sidewalk. The green lawn will make it look all civilized and homeowner friendly.

 

[shortykorte]

Welcome fellow Floridian. Very nice start. What county are you in? I ask because I haven't heard of 5' setbacks. Great that was allowed.


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[Chopperpilotjeff]

Welcome fellow Floridian. Very nice start. What county are you in? I ask because I haven't heard of 5' setbacks. Great that was allowed.


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Shortykorte,

It's not really a 5' "setback." It's 5' clearance. There is no setback at all on that side of the lot. I do have utility easements on the three other lot edges. The driveway on that side is "zero lot line" all the way to the garage, but for the actual structure, the county (Lake) awarded the permit to build at 5'.

 

[Chopperpilotjeff]

Let there be light!

Couldn't be happier that we made the window decision. With 10 windows up at 12', there is plenty of daylight. Outer High-Perf Low-E glass pane and inner obsured pane give a diffuse, somewhat cooler natural sunlight illumination. As far as windows go, their small fixed pane profile and 12' height will thwart most of the non-ladder-carrying zombies.

Each outlet drop has its own circuit breaker in the 125A box. (I don't plan on doing multiple big electric loads simultaneously in here. My other garage has 300A service for big woodshop tools.)

There are 3 220V drops, each with its own circuit for:
1. Compressor
2. Lift
3. Welder

Each 110V drop has a quad outlet at 4' and 12'. The 12' quad has a switch just above the 4' outlet. This will make it handy to control task lighting and perhaps a little neon mood lighting.

 

[Chopperpilotjeff]

The Big Door

I went round and round selecting the big front door. The opening is 14' high and 18' wide to accommodate a full-size RV and also drive a vehicle in next to it. I haven't crossed the Old Guy Line into full-on RV Captain mode, but to build a garage of this size without the capacity for Winnebago's MacDaddy Grand Tour pimpwagon-on-wheels is just short-sighted.

I'm more inclined to have a boat with a full T-top than an RV. That's just how I roll ... er, float.

The big question? Cannister or Overhead.

Mercifully, I'll skip the bigger, better, faster garage door dissertation, I compromised some overhead ceiling utility for the far superior insulation factor, wind loading and final cost. As much as I initially wanted a canister, I eventually chose the overhead and am very happy with it.

Insulation - This door has 2" thick interlocking insulated structural panels, steel outside, vinyl inside. It's very quiet, too.
Wind Load - 150 mph wind load for Florida hurricanes. It's built like a masonry bathroom facility.
Cost - Far from inexpensive, the overhead was still 1/2 the cost of a canister with a similar wind load and had much better protection from the afternoon sun.

So, overhead door it is, then.

As you can see from the previous post, there is an offset automatic opener that gives me some of the ceiling back for my overhead lifts. More on that later ...

 

[shortykorte]

Damn my CRS. Forgot about zero setback.
That's a very clever way to install the drops. Thanks for the tip.
I thought going from a 10x8 OHD to a 10x10 canister was an improvement. Wow you have a door. I've realized if only one garage door, then 16' minimum is best.


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[Chopperpilotjeff]

So far, vents and ceiling fans have been keeping things cool.

 

[Chopperpilotjeff]

We finally decided to install 10 small fixed glass windows. After visiting a friend’s RV garage which had no windows, we found it way too dark. The light is great now!

 

[Chopperpilotjeff]

Scratch the mezzanine

The mezzanine idea was pre-empted by the warehouse racking and forklift solution. It saves a lot of material, construction and PITA and because: Forklift!

The rest of the racking will be moved from the attached garage, which should result in a most excellent Home Depot-like Big Box backdrop to the workshop atmosphere.

 

[shortykorte]

Congrats on forklift. You’ll find a lot of uses for it.


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[HOTFR8]

Welcome. It may be a better idea if you had a topic now in the Gallery so more see what you are doing.