Please Help Me Design a Home for my 911

VroomGrrl · 04-09-2009, 06:40 PM

We are looking to move very soon, and finding a home with a garage in the area where we're looking has proven close to impossible. Frankly, finding safe off-street parking was a challenge in this intown area.

So this is the house we are considering, from the back. My first thought was that the car would fit right under the deck. Can anybody suggest materials and design ideas for enclosing that area to house my car? Short term, and longer term.

The space under the deck is the back wall of the basement, knowing nothing about construction, I am guessing could also be made into a garage space? There is actually a door into the basement at the back of that light concrete pad.

Here's the back facing away from the house toward the alley. There is a gate that opens to the alley at the end of the paved area. There is room in the grassy area to put a free-standing one-car garage, assuming there are no zoning laws which would prohibit this.

I would love to hear your ideas on converting that under-deck space to enclosed parking: good idea? bad idea? design? materials? A quickie way to fix it up for the short term? Longer-term ideas?

jyl · jyl's Garage

No on the one car garage. They suck - I have one - there's never enough room to work on the car. I don't even think I could extract a rear torsion bar in mine.

If the deck is deep enough for a garage, that looks like the logical route. If it is tall enough for a 911 on a lift, that would be gravy. There's lots of PPOT'ers with construction and design backgrounds here who will chime in, sorry that I'm not one of them.

From my inexpert POV, it seems pretty simple, assuming the deck structure is sound. I'm thinking you'd prepare and pour a concrete floor (thick enough where a future lift might go), frame and sheath walls, install garage doors, electrical, siding and paint. If the deck isn't waterproof (e.g. rain drains right through it), then not sure how that's handled.

Anyway, should be less expensive than building a freestanding garage structure, and that space under the deck isn't doing anything else useful.

Oh wait, maybe you'd want the option of someday finishing the basement into living space with a direct daylight from and exit to the backyard, or even extending the basement living space to the under-deck area? Like, an in-law or guest unit, even a rental unit, or family space, etc? In that case, might want to anticipate that future inhabited use, when building the garage.

stomachmonkey · 04-09-2009, 07:12 PM

I'd go for under the deck if possible.

Should be easier to get water, electricity and maybe even heat in there.

Also closer to the two B's, beer and bathroom.

EDIT:

Were you also thinking about busting thru the wall and turning part or all of the basement into a garage/workspace?

VroomGrrl · 04-09-2009, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyl

No on the one car garage. They suck - I have one - there's never enough room to work on the car. I don't even think I could extract a rear torsion bar in mine.

If the deck is deep enough for a garage, that looks like the logical route. If it is tall enough for a 911 on a lift, that would be gravy. There's lots of PPOT'ers with construction and design backgrounds here who will chime in, sorry that I'm not one of them.

Thanks for your thoughts! I'm not much on DIY wrenching (yet) - and when I am looking to work on the car, I generally take it to the home of a friend with all the stuff I don't have, including good work space. And as luck would have it, one of my coworkers and dear friends, a primo car guy, lives just a few doors down from this house, and he has a good garage space for when I want to actually work on the car. My main concern is to keep the car safe from the elements.

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

You might get the dimensions of the under deck area for them.

VroomGrrl · 04-09-2009, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by porsche4life

You might get the dimensions of the under deck area for them.

I'll be back over there with a tape measure in hand tomorrow & will update with measurements after noon.

VroomGrrl · 04-09-2009, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Were you also thinking about busting thru the wall and turning part or all of the basement into a garage/workspace?

Yes, that is one idea that occurred to me, as a longer-term project - nothing that could be done by the time we move in anyway. It would obviously involve breaking through that exterior wall and putting in a garage door (assuming this could be done given the house structure) - and there's a dirt floor in that area, so I'd want to put some concrete down there.

ruf-porsche · ruf-porsche's Garage

You might want to check with the local building dept. on requirements for an "Attach Garage".

Racerbvd · Racerbvd's Garage

This is what I'm thinking about.

Heel n Toe · 04-09-2009, 09:25 PM

If you do end up with that house and decide to use the space under the deck, you will have to do something to keep rain and shoe grit and spilled beer and barbeque sauce and cigarette butts from last night's party from going between the boards and ending up on your car.

Or you could just hose it off everytime you pull it out. Heh heh.

You could build a few feet of shed roof (flat, shallow angle roof, probably covered with roll roofing) coming out toward the back yard to get more length to house your car and have room on the house end of the space for access to that basement door... and some shelves and possibly a workbench.

As far as how to enclose it, I would recommend the same siding that is on the house. Insofar as a door, why not a typical garage door, painted the same color as the house?

Heel n Toe · 04-09-2009, 09:33 PM

BTW, I'm sure there are several ways to keep stuff coming through the deck from getting on your car, but the only ones I can come up with seem a bit wacky... they're all either very primitive (tarp attached to bottom of deck in a way that water drains to rear or one side)... or less primitive, but equally sketchy (metal roof material used in the same way as the tarp).

Heel n Toe · 04-09-2009, 09:40 PM

The more I look at that first pic, the more I'm seeing a shed roof coming toward the back yard from the level of the deck railing... extending 20 ft. or so.

That way you don't have to deal with the stuff falling through the deck onto the car, and if it's raining, you'll be able to get out of the car underneath the roof, open your umbrella, and go up those steps. Is that a kitchen extension where that door is? Mudroom?

VroomGrrl · 04-09-2009, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ruf-porsche

You might want to check with the local building dept. on requirements for an "Attach Garage".

Found it:

Accessory buildings and structures may be built in a rear yard, but such
accessory buildings and structures shall not occupy more than thirty percent
of the required rear yard and shall not be nearer than three feet to any side or
rear lot line, except that when a garage is entered from an alley it shall not be
located closer than five feet to the alley line.

I don't see a permit requirement, but I need to check a little further to be sure about that - I'd be surprised if there was no permit required.

VroomGrrl · 04-09-2009, 10:20 PM

Wow. Thank you guys! I'll get the measurements tomorrow.

I'm trying not to get tooooo excited about this place, but it seems just right. The deals to sell our place and get into a new place have fallen apart several times in the past few weeks - major roller coaster. Fingers crossed that this time's the charm!

tedward515 · 04-10-2009, 06:28 AM

For a quick fix I would get some corrugated metal or plastic that you might see on a shed. I think it is rather cheap and can pick it up at most any lumber yard. You could attach it directly to the underside of the deck to keep rain, dirt and so on form falling on the car similar to what heel n toe described. Just be sure to angle it so that the water drains away from the house.

For a more permanent solution I would build a detached two car garage. It appears that you would have enough room for say a 24x24 garage, maybe larger. A 24x24 would give you space for two cars and plenty of tools. I don’t know if the fence represents your lot lines but I would put the front of the garage with a 20ft two car door to the ally and then have a single door on the back side so you have a pass through of sorts. If like many of us you end up with more than one p car you could pull it forward and park it under the rear deck and not take up all of your garage space. Just my 2 cents.

Zeke · 04-10-2009, 07:04 AM

We are assuming the deck isn't solid. I could be made solid easily.

The concrete or masonry wall can be cut. You will need to place header in the opening. Steel would be great. Also, you will need some footings at either side of the opening for engineering. Check the relative inside to out side grade from a known point above.

Any garage that is half again as wide as a one car or 2 cars would work well for a shop. Just don't fill up your extra 4 feet with too much work bench. There are many prefab designs that go up in a day on your slab. Just get some 220v power out there and maybe natural gas or a propane tank for heat in the winter.

Having lived in AL, I would have A/C in my garage as well. So, I wouldn't build more than I needed and opt for shed space outside of the main garage for dry storage and a place to have an air compressor so I don't hear it much. A great design would be to be able to access the non heated/cooled storage from both inside and outside. Garden equipment goes in there and seldom used shop stuff goes in there.

VroomGrrl · 04-10-2009, 10:26 AM

OK things are moving along quickly here - I got by the house and measured things today, including the space under the deck. It's 132" deep, 114" wide, and 81" tall.

I got pictures of the basement - I really like the idea of punching thru the outer wall to put in a garage door and pouring a concrete floor in there. Could possibly even do a 2-car under there. Will post pics later tonite. Fingers crossed it alllll comes together!

Thanks yall!

jyl · jyl's Garage

So, deck is not deep enough for garage, will need to use the basement in addition to, or instead of, the under-deck area. Unless you do the shed roof extending from edge of deck, but may not be enough height.

Should build garage long enough for the biggest SUV plus plenty extra for clearance, cabinets and whatever - think resale value. A Suburban is appx 220" long. A 911SC is appx 170" long.

Under deck is tall enough, 81", for a big SUV as long as no roof box - not much room to spare by the time you think header, door, lighting, and roof rack on the SUV - but should work. Not tall enough for a lift, but sounds like that is ok w/ you. Is there more, or less, headroom in the basement?

I assume each of the two "bays" under the deck is 114" wide, so both together are plenty wide enough for a two car garage.

Say, why is the finished/inhabited portion of the house raised 8' off the back yard grade? Is is a flood thing, does the lot slope, or what?

VroomGrrl · 04-10-2009, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyl

Say, why is the finished/inhabited portion of the house raised 8' off the back yard grade? Is is a flood thing, does the lot slope, or what?

The lot slopes down to the back.

VroomGrrl · 04-14-2009, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

I'd go for under the deck if possible.

Should be easier to get water, electricity and maybe even heat in there.

Also closer to the two B's, beer and bathroom.

EDIT:

Were you also thinking about busting thru the wall and turning part or all of the basement into a garage/workspace?

OK I've been mulling this over. The more I think about it, it seems a waste to take up so much of our tiny back yard with a free-standing building when we have all that space right under the house.

So I am going to get an idea of the cost involved in turning the basement into a 2-car garage. This will mean getting a floor poured, and either a double-wide or 2 single garage doors cut into the outer walls - plus, ideally, electric, water & HVAC. I have no clue if there might be any structural issues involved in taking out all that surface area from the back wall of the house. The deck looks too low for standard garage doors but I imagine something could be fashioned to work there. It's not a perfect solution, which would probably involve digging out some to add height to the entrance? I know less about construction than I do about cars!

Here are some shots of the basement area, which I will measure when I'm out there for the inspection on Thursday.

This is looking down the length of the usable area toward the back of the house where we'd put a garage door. Looks like there's been a door in this part of the wall in the past. Those poles will be a pain - will have to cover them up with some foam.

This is taken from the same spot, only looking over to what could possibly be bay #2 in the 2-car garage:

From the outside looking at the back of the house: