steep hill site for garage

[bosnip]

Hi I was wondering if someone has any tips or procedure to help me with my garage building. I have a very steep slope in back yard and not sure where do i start. I heard that i would even need to bring in engineer at the initial stages ...
any help would be much appreciated. Maybe some already had to built a garage on a steep hill and could share their experiences?
thank you

 

[stokefire7]

There was an Australian fella that did something to that effect. Can't remember the name of his thread. Sorry.

 

[Bondo]

Hi I was wondering if someone has any tips or procedure to help me with my garage building. I have a very steep slope in back yard and not sure where do i start. I heard that i would even need to bring in engineer at the initial stages ...
any help would be much appreciated. Maybe some already had to built a garage on a steep hill and could share their experiences?
thank you

Ayuh,.... Is it Uphill, so's ya gotta dig in, or downhill, so's ya gotta fill in,..??

Whereabouts on the planet are ya,..??

What's yer local soil conditions,..??

 

[sselander]

A good engineer is a must.
There was a thread on here who had something similar.
If I recall, his foundation wall collapsed, sending the fill down the hill.
This was before the main structure was built.
You may want to find it.

 

[Catadj78]

How steep is steep?

 

[wssix99]

Pictures would help here. In the meantime, you may find this thread helpful:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=211683&showall=1

 

[CNGsaves]

A good engineer is a must.
There was a thread on here who had something similar.
If I recall, his foundation wall collapsed, sending the fill down the hill.
This was before the main structure was built.
You may want to find it.

^ ^ ^ Thread below is the classic GJ you want to read . . .
. . . . . do NOT repeat what happened to that poster!!

Very painful to see someone trust GC and "mason"/concrete guy only to have the whole setup to be **** and have to be tore down.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=209748&highlight=West+Virginia

 

[bosnip]

here is a pic of the back yard, hope the pic works

Im in Alberta, Canada and soil is mostly chernozemic.

 

[ZRX1040]

2 levels with lower level storage? A friend used concrete spans and put a basement under his garage, came out great. I just did something similar with rear access. Click the "Basement Bike Barn" link in my signature.

 

[theoldwizard1]

here is a pic of the back yard, hope the pic works

I hope that cement wall has

1. a deep foundation
2. lots of rebar
3. DRAINAGE installed on the uphill side of the wall to divert the water away from the base

If you don't have all 3, that wall WILL FAIL. Only a matter of time and NOT a long time.

 

[volleyball]

I am thinking prestressed concrete may be useful.
How live is the load at the top? Vehicular traffic?

 

[bosnip]

Thanks ZRX1040, I looked at your page where you built 2 level garage, quite impressive! Dont know if i will be able to make anything similar, but i really liked the idea of having that top level with the doors for entrance! Your whole final project looks really good.

Retaining wall was installed a long time ago by previous owners and it doesn't show any types of leaning or cracking. It will have to go as i will want to cut in to the hill for my garage. At the top of the hill is my bi level house and the traffic is pretty slow, its a quiet street.

Appreciate all the replies! I will take some better pics of the site to give you better idea of what im working with.

 

[CNGsaves]

Since looks like you're digging INTO the hill, then I'd sure be going with radiant floor heat . . . maybe even radiant WALLS !!!

Any chance to make your radiant also "geo-thermal" of sorts (ie hybrid) since garage will be so far into ground ??

I bet in summer time, that will be nice cool Canada garage.

Update your GJ Profile with City/State/Country as longer thread goes, you will keep getting that question.

Good luck with planning, and keep pics coming.

 

[coder]

dude, I'ma use my first post on this. What kind of access do you have to that site? Can you even get a truck back there?

 

[coder]

so the next thing would be the neighbors up hill, you'd have to stabilize that slope.
That's where you'd need the engineer, to keep the neighbors happy.

 

[coder]

#3 oh yeah, that's probably your setback already

 

[wssix99]

Can you just build the garage in to the side of the hill and then walk up stairs to the house? It doesn't look like you have enough runway for a winding driveway. Digging it in to the side of the hill shouldn't be too bad cost wise (you'd build the walls like a basement) and it may help warm things up for you in the winters.

 

[sublimate]

There's a number of garages like that around here where they use a flat roof and then turn the top into a big deck off the back of the house. Makes for a nice layout.

 

[bczygan]

Hi I was wondering if someone has any tips or procedure to help me with my garage building. I have a very steep slope in back yard and not sure where do i start. I heard that i would even need to bring in engineer at the initial stages ...
any help would be much appreciated. Maybe some already had to built a garage on a steep hill and could share their experiences?
thank you

We need much more info.

Lot layout and zoning regulations including setbacks and height and area restrictions and easements.

A Google Earth photo would also help.

Yes, you will need walls that are properly engineered and proper drainage.

It won't be cheap. What is your desired size and your budget?

 

[volleyball]

A soil engineer may be the first step. Make sure the ground can support a structure. And also make sure you aren't trying to dig out a stone hill

 

[bosnip]

here is the a pic from google earth, but the white fence is gone now and the new fence is built up to the property line (about 8 feet further from concrete wall). Up on the hill behind the hedge is the house and to the right of the fence is my neighbors double garage. many garages in the area are built in the hill like that here.

second pic is view from top where house sits and third and fourth pics are from the bottomo near the fence

As far as i know the local bylaws allow for a garage with maximum height of 4.6 meters (15 feet). local garage contactors quoted me 50k CAD (maybe about 40k US dollars) for the whole project for a double size garage (not double level). my budget for this is about 30k, so if this cant be done i would have to rethink my strategy llol.

I guess im just trying to figure out all the costs involved first before i start. I will see what the soil engineer says. thanks!

 

[scheu]

There is a build thread on here somewhere with a garage built into a hillside in a backyard. Really, really, nice garage. Of course I can't find it....

 

[theoldwizard1]

... i will want to cut in to the hill for my garage. At the top of the hill is my bi level house ....

Unquestionably you need an engineer !

Depending on the type of soil and how close you will be digging to you house's foundation, there is a possibility of that foundation shifting or failing completely.

Not saying it can be done, but the engineers and the excavation crew had better be on the same page !

 

[bczygan]

It's not a big deal.

Your garage will just need to be built into the hill and correctly designed and constructed, just like the other ones nearby.

We still need some information, to be able to tell where and what you can build. What is your zoning and exact location?

Which direction do you want to access the garage from? The uphill side or the lower side?

Are you allowed to create a curb cut on the downhill side?

If so, you could just build a garage, nestled into the hill, and access it from below. You would need steps in the hill, to get up to the house. You could either build an extra height structure to accommodate a lift, or add a bonus room over the garage space, that would have access from the top of the hill.

If you need to access it with your vehicle, from the existing house side, then the structure needs to be constructed in one of two ways.

Either create a foundation and fill it and pour a slab on the fill to create a pad on which to build the framework, or dig into the hill and create a lower leven space out of engineered masonry or concrete, topped with precast concrete slabs, and then frame your garage on that.

This will be the most expensive option.

Do you understand?

 

[Lippyp]

Looking at that I reckon he wants to access it from the lower side, in which case surely its just a matter of digging the hillside away and making sure theirs either the right retaining wall behind it or that the garage is designed to be the retaining wall. Then you could either have another room up top level with the top of his land or even have a flat roof and a roof terrace.

 

[volleyball]

By comparing the house next door, the hill appears to be 10' to the top from the road. Which is a lot less than I originally thought. And easier to do. And there appears to be a shed with a cut out so it's base is at or near road level. What is that base constructed of?
To take a different route, maybe the design should be a retaining wall to the uphill neighbor and have it continue all the way over to the shed. Then you have space for a big garage or a smaller one with a parking pad.
With the home there, there is no live load. There is no vehicular traffic up there. That helps.
The OP could even take it as far as tunneling into the basement. That really opens usefulness.