WOOHOO!!! Possible New Garage!!

[Zilverado]

Hi Gang,

Been away from the board again for the last little while - a little pre-occupied. I'm getting pretty excited over here. Looks like we (wife and I) might be building a new detached garage this summer. We have an existing one approximately 12' x 20' - - VERY SMALL (approx 7' clg.). Just barely room for the Pathfinder - C10 is a "no-go". Needless to say no room to park and work at the same time.

So the new structure will possible be 26 ft wide x 28 ft long with 9 ft ceiling and "attic trusses" for extra storage space . Plenty of space to cut, weld, bang, crash, scream, shout, etc...

As you can probably tell, I can hardly contain myself. Have a meeting with the City today to discuss the zoning considerations, but initial phone conversations have been positive.

So, not totally truck related, but very exciting to me....I'll keep you informed. Any suggestions would be great.

[bagged81]

Sweet! I might be starting a garage this summer too.

[littlebubba]

Go as big as they will let you. You find out that 26 X 28 sounds big, then you put cabinets and workbench, compresser, etc. in there and you start to run out of room. Cheat a little and go 2 extra feet both ways on whatever they (zoning board) give you. If they say anything , blame the cement guys bad measurements. The only thing the inspecter checked on mine was the footing depth and width. Never measured the outside forms. I have a 24 X 30, wished I had a 30 X 40!

[Nvbowtie]

Posted by Zilverado,

"So, not totally truck related, but very exciting to me....I'll keep you informed. Any suggestions would be great. "

> It is totally truck related ! It's your trucks new home !!.

I wish I had a bigger garage, but two years ago
I just wished I had one, now I do I want a bigger one.

It's 20x20 they call it a two car garage, (maybe for two Yugo's!)

[swervin ervin]

Great news. When you get it built, you'll wonder how you ever got by without it.

Mine is 24 x 30. When I built it, I thought this would be as big as I ever needed it. Wrong. I wish I had went 30 x 40 also. I have 8' ceilings which is finished with drywall. No attic storage, but didn't want any.

Again, build it as big as you can or can afford. You'll thank yourself one day for doing it.

[LOHRTBT]

Sweeet..Hope it all works out for you!

[apstguy]

Hope your area isn't as bad about permits and restrictions as this area is. Our county says you cannot add a building bigger than the square-footage of your house unless it was a commercial building which would cost more in permits and you would have to pay to get the place zoned for commercial, and if you were going to have water put in, a permit, if electricity is going in another permit, blah blah blah it goes on and on . . . UGH! The city and county is impossible. Your in Canada so you probably have no restricitons like that! Darn Canadians!!!

Just kidding!

[Zilverado]

Thanks for all the well wished and suggestions.

Hey Apstguy
No restrictions??? are you kidding??? We're "permitted" to death up here as well. The reason I will likely not go any bigger is because the City only allows a maximum of 12.5% of your property to be unattached buildings. With our 6123 sq. ft. of property, 26x28 takes me pretty much to the limit - at least using standard sizes (even though I would love 30 x 40, too)

nvbowtie
Actually you're right it is truck related. Unfortunately for my wife, she thinks I'll be living out there with my truck.

I had a great meeting with the City this afternoon and they seem to be onside with everything so far. Now I just need to get the Forestry Branch (tree guys) to remove some trees in our back lane. Hopefully they'll do that and then all is a go...

Thanks again for everything Guys- we'll keep you informed.

[swervin ervin]

Good luck with it. I know how it is to want one of these things. I wanted one for many, many, years, and for one reason or another, I never did build one. To top this off, I am a Carpenter.

Well, I finally decided enough was enough. I built mine and never looked back.

I'm sorry to say, but your wife is probably right. You will live with the truck for awhile. It's nice to be able to tear it apart and leave everything laying right where it fell, if you like. I'm a neat freak when it comes to my stuff, but sometimes, after working on something for hours, you get tired and say, ahh, it's fine until tomorrow.

A man and his shop. It's a beautiful thing.

[apstguy]

Don't you hate those restrictions? 12.5%??? Why don't they let people do what they want on their properties? Rules . . . who needs them? Same goes for permits too Happy building!

[Zilverado]

Originally posted by swervin ervin
...I'm sorry to say, but your wife is probably right. You will live with the truck for awhile. It's nice to be able to tear it apart and leave everything laying right where it fell, if you like. I'm a neat freak when it comes to my stuff, but sometimes, after working on something for hours, you get tired and say, ahh, it's fine until tomorrow.

A man and his shop. It's a beautiful thing.

I definitely agree whole-heartedly, Mike. My current setup is sooooo frustrating. The space is so small, I'm forever moving things around just to get at stuff. The other day I must have spent a total of an hour looking for my safety glasses just to do a 2 minute wire brushing job on my exhaust pipes. Ended up not finding them until a couple days later....aaarrrrgggg.

Not to mention as soon as it rains, I gotta go hide inside. Shame is, I've always liked rainy weather, but not when I need to work on something in the driveway....

Oh well, if all goes as planned, those days are numbered.

[82 Silverado 4X]

No matter how big you build one it's never big enough. I filed for, then got, a zoning varience from the township to build mine.

It's a concrete block 30'X40' with 10' ceilings. I ran an 18"x30' steel I-Beam front to back so I don't have any posts inside. Instead of the attic trusses, I built my own barn style trusses that give me a 16'x30' 2nd floor work shop with 12' wide storage spaces in each of the eves. After the garage was done I added a 20'x22' carport to the right side of it to store my other projects.

I installed PEX Hydronic Tubing in the floor slab and I heat it with an oil fired boiler.

[Zilverado]

Originally posted by 82 Silverado 4X
No matter how big you build one it's never big enough. I filed for, then got, a zoning varience from the township to build mine.

It's a concrete block 30'X40' with 10' ceilings. I ran an 18"x30' steel I-Beam front to back so I don't have any posts inside. Instead of the attic trusses, I built my own barn style trusses that give me a 16'x30' 2nd floor work shop with 12' wide storage spaces in each of the eves. After the garage was done I added a 20'x22' carport to the right side of it to store my other projects.

I installed PEX Hydronic Tubing in the floor slab and I heat it with an oil fired boiler.

That sounds really SWEET. I assume that's it in the background of your avatar. Great Job. What I love about yours is the concrete block walls. I imagine you can make a fair bit of noise in there and not disturb too many people (if you have neighbors). Assuming, of course that you keep the doors closed...

I could probably apply for a zoning varience in our case as well and go larger, but the truth is I'd like to maintain some yard and outdoor parking space. And like you and many others have said, and I agree, "it can never be big enough". So there comes a point where you have to say "that'll do" and live with the decision. Truth is, I know I'll be happy with it. It's certainly a HUGE step up from where we are now.

So hopefully I hear back from our City's Forestry Branch soon. I need them to remove about 5 full size Chinese Elm trees from our back lane before we proceed. Unfortunately, a previous owner of the property planted them out on City property, so they need to approve any removal. Good thing - apparently they pay for the removal. I hope this is just a formality and it'll be taken care of shortly.

We'll keep you all informed.