My Porsche Playhouse Shrunk

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

Well, I lost my battle with the county over the size of my new shop. I wanted 25x30, but due to zoning issues, I can only do 25x25. My current garage is 25x20. I could have spent ~$6k to try (no guarantees) and get a variance, but if I was going to go thru all of that trouble, I'd make the damn thing a lot bigger; 25x50 would be the max before I infringed on the setback.

Then again, I know of people who would lease their own mom for a single 25x25 shop, much less 2 of them.

So, I'm looking at a 10-day turnaround between getting the plans re-printed, re-submitted to the county, and the next ya/nay showstoppper. I'm hoping to break ground by April.

jpachard · 02-21-2003, 03:34 AM

Thom, Can you go Up?? Sometimes there are no restictions on the height of an addition( within reason). I have a shop that's 25x 25( old barn) but I have a big upstairs loft in it where I keep all the extra stuff: air compressor, extra wheels etc. it really makes a difference. Hope this helps.

Cheers, James

makaio · 02-21-2003, 04:36 AM

Ditto, on the second story or loft idea. Then you can store things upstairs out of the working area.

cary · 02-21-2003, 05:35 AM

tsuter · 02-21-2003, 06:20 AM

I wonder the cost of all that CA regulation? I think it part of the plan to minimize population growth and or transfer. I hear there's water shortages too!!

MotoSook · 02-21-2003, 06:26 AM

A loft for poker nights!

gregk1 · 02-21-2003, 07:08 AM

I built a 24x40 and before I had it finished it was to small!! So I bought the house next door with a 25x36 and a20x12 so I'm just about right Now, Still need a place for the boat Oh well

Dantilla · 02-21-2003, 07:17 AM

I used to think my garage was huge. Now I could use a bigger one. Is there a law in physics (6.25nd law of thermodynamics?) that says the contents of a garage will always expand to the point of clutter?

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

Actually, I'm limited in square footage, so going up wouldn't work. The shop is fairly tall though, which will give me good headroom for a lift and whatnot:

boyo · 08:41 AM

At LEAST build it with 10'+ ceilings - then you can use that $6K to buy a couple lifts. You can double your parking area without increasing your square footage.

Also, remember that attic storage doesn't count against square footage! Looking at your plans, that means switching from trusses to beams, and pitching the roof steeper for more space.

Make the doors as wide as possible too, if you park like my garage it makes getting in and out much easier...

My "shop" is a 3 car garage - one half is 13x25 with a 10' ceiling (fits 3 cars parked tightly without a lift - though normally I just have 2 there), the other is 18x19 with a 13' vaulted ceiling (for the 2 daily drivers). So with some creative parking, I'd bet you could fit 6-7 cars on there. Just

How many cars do you have?

-Boyo

Rob McKibbon · 02-21-2003, 09:25 AM

Try putting swinging door and call it a "Garden Shop"
It's worked before?

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by boyo
At LEAST build it with 10'+ ceilings
Yes, that's already in the spec

Also, remember that attic storage doesn't count against square footage!
But I have height restrictions, too. I could have gone a little higher, but I wanted good ceiling height, so I decided to just go with a V truss and forgo the upper storage. I already have a good-sided external storage shed.

Make the doors as wide as possible too
16' wide, 9' high

How many cars do you have?
Just the 911 and 2 buses right now.

-Boyo [/B]

boyo · 02-21-2003, 09:55 AM

Oh well, I tried...

One last suggestion - are there restrictions on the size of the bathroom? You could make it smaller (toilet only) and move the sink outside. Then fit the sink into a corner, instead of the middle of a wall, and it'll save some room.

Or get one of them porta-potties...

-Boyo

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by boyo

One last suggestion - are there restrictions on the size of the bathroom? You could make it smaller (toilet only) and move the sink outside. Then fit the sink into a corner, instead of the middle of a wall, and it'll save some room.

The bathroom is already as small as they'll allow. I could delete it, but that would defeat one of the purposes of the shop, which is to allow me to work on stuff and not have to tromp into the house. I'll also have a small fridge, a microwave, and a LAN drop. Heck, all that and a cot, and I'd never have to go back into the house!

boyo · 02-21-2003, 11:17 AM

Too bad! I'm out of ideas.

I know how it goes - I'm looking to expand my garage by going under the house. There's about a 6' tall crawl space behind the back garage wall now, I figure it's perfect storage for another 6 cars, a pool table, and a wash room of my own. I'm sure the building commission will have some ideas of their own, I'm nowhere near breaking ground on that one...

Good luck, and let us Sacramento folks know when the grand-opening BBQ will be scheduled!

-Boyo

makaio · 02-21-2003, 01:10 PM

Thom you pounding all the nails yourself, or are you having someone else build it?

Chuck Moreland · 02-21-2003, 07:06 PM

Thom

Are you replacing the existing garage or is this in addition?

FYI, I'd kill for 25x25.

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

Yes, I'm doing it owner-builder, but I have competent help.

This will be in addition to the existing garage.

Oldporsche · 02-22-2003, 06:19 AM

I built a pole shed behind the house many years ago. I checked with buillding regulations and found, at that time, there were no regulations against pole barnes. This was in a decrepit old neighborhood. Many of the houses in the neighborhood were built around the turn of the century.

I built the pole barn at the south of the existing garage. I found that I didn't need a permit to re-roof the existing garage. Instead of doing that, I tore the garage down instead, and extended the pole barn over the existing concrete pad. Thus I avoided the building regulations again.

The neighborhood recieved the dreaded historical designation. My brother in law helped finish enclosing the thing. The pitch of the roof is lower than the vintage garages in the neighborhood. I would like to change that. Its now 44'X28'. We now can only have accessory buildings with a limited square footage of 519'. To have a larger garage it must be attached to the house. I intend to put up a garden shed. It will contain the mandatory lawn mower, wheelbarrow, air compressor, fuchs, beadblasting cabinet and flamable storage. (Safety move you know)

And so it goes!

Good luck,
David Duffield

rboylan · 02-22-2003, 06:58 AM

Thom,

I went through the exact same thing. My original separate garage was slated for 30x26 single story. Great on paper except Palm Beach County told me I'd need to add second septic system due to the use and square footage. This was necessary because I wanted a bathroom in the separate structure. The long and short of it was I decreased the building to 25x25 and added a second story. For permit's sake it is called a gameroom. In reality it will be a little apartment/storage area for the Outlaws(In-Laws). You win some you lose some. I'm much happier with the addition of the second story. Here's a few shots. good luck with it. I'm tired of the kids banging into the 930's anyway. Liberation. Take care.