Where to Start???

[maxpower_454]

My wife and I bought our house last year. It's a small ranch with a walkout basement on a relatively flat lot. The lot is actually (2) 1/2 acre lots. I'm looking at having a pole building built this year and I talked to a couple contractors but was looking for some advice on size. Right now I'm thinking I should go with a 30X36 building, 12' high with the (2) 10'X10' doors on the gable end facing the house.

The standard trusses for the building are 4/12. I'm not really sure what my house trusses are but I'd like them to be similar. Also, I (and especially the wife) don't want the garage to look monstrous next to the house. Is 12' going to look huge? The eve side will be visible from the road and I plan on putting 2 windows on that side with maybe some taller landscaping. Any advice?

 

[ddawg16]

Welcome to GJ.....

Please put your location in your profile....it helps to give you a better answer......solutions depend a lot on where you live....what works in NC may not work in ND.

First off....size.....it's never big enough....but there is a limit....and as the wife pointed out, you don't want it to over power the house....but you can also reduce that by how you make it look. A plain retangular box, no mater how small, still looks like a retangular box....ugly next to any house.

You can reduce the impact to the house by moving the garage futher away from the house. The closer it is, the more obvious the differance in size.

If you have kids...the more space between the garage and house means more space for the kids to play....and you can watch them from either building.

4/12 is a common slope.....basically, the roof drops 4" for every horz foot. Easy to measure...get on your roof with a 2' level....prop one end agains the roof...make it level...measure down to the roof at the other 2' end. What ever the inches...divide by 2.

Look at the build link in my sig....I added windows to the 'attic' of my garage just so it wouldn't look like a stucco brick. I also modified the roof line.....it would have been easier and cheaper to make it a plain roof....but would not have looked as nice next to the house.

 

[banzaitoyota]

I will add;
Makw your design flexible to accomodate your changes in the future; the lifted F550 you are building today isnt the restored carrige you may be working on 30 years from now,

And lastly; Don't build just to impressthe audience of a website. Build to the level of functionality, fit and finish that does its job and is within your budget. :aving a Uber garage with no cash flow left to have some nice projects is pointless

 

[holdover]

if you want the 12' ceiling for clrnc. as in height for a lift, you can accomplish that with scissor trusses, that way the garage will not overpower the house height wise. Best advice that can be given is don't rush, think it out before you build. Look at other garages, you may find a design that is perfect for your present and future intensions. try to place it in a way that if in the future you want to expand it you can.

 

[kbs2244]

Remember the pole barns do not have to have metal panel with vertical ribs on the outside.
It will cost more, but check into siding that matches the house.
The horizontal lines will emphases the length vs. the height of the building.

(Talk to your wife about this. It is why those tall, skinny model types can put on horizontal stripe outfits while their shorter, heavier sisters cannot.)

 

[Sureshot]

You should also keep any expansion plans in mind so if you decide to go bigger you have the room in the right direction utilities in the right place etc. Also depends on what you plan on doing in there and how long you will be living there.

 

[maxpower_454]

Thanks for all the advice. I have kept most of these points in mind so far.

Really the only things I'm unsure of are the size (30X36 or 30X40) and still the height. I'm 6'4" and while I do plan on getting a lift and would not want to be cramped, I'm just wondering whether it will be worth it or not since we most likely do not plan on being in our house forever and I know the extra $1500 to go the extra 2' is probably money I won't get back through the sale of the house.

Anyone on here have a lift with a 10' high building?

 

[maxpower_454]

Anyone?