Building a garage- first photos

[carnut169]

Hello all. Just wanted to share my project w/ the group. Started this thing back in June (when we purchased the house). What a PIA! Because we live "in-town" our lot is tiny (.224 acres). We have no storage and only one covered parking spot- so we decided to build a garage. It will be 17x24.7, and I am building it w/ 13' ceilings so that I can put in a lift at a later date.

The main problem was getting the varience approved, then the building permit, then trees had to come out, plus a cement patio...geez! But today we pour cement! The garage is sort of behind and to the side of the house and will be connected to the existing drive w/ a 70 x 10' new driveway. I will be posting new photos as the garage gets built, but it will be a slow process b/c I am doing the building myself (here we go....)!

Any suggestions?







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Sean O.
Atlanta, Ga.
87 Carrera Cabriolet

[davis911s]

Looks good. Please keep us updated. Great idea leaving room for a lift later.

Shawn

[jabb]

You need more stakes in place especially on the long side to hold the forms in place...
or more backfill. The concrete is very heavy
and will push with a great deal of outward force on the forms. The wire needs to be pulled up into the concrete after you pour it needs to be in the middle of the pour. put rocks or bricks under it so it does not rest on the ground. Why the opening in the front of the garage or did you just not finish the form when you took the picture ?

Good Luck

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• Joe A.
• 84 911 Targa
• 75 914/6 3.0

[collier]

If it were me, I would go ahead and run some PVC to the garage for a buried electrical service (whether that is in the budget for now or the future).

Are you pouring a slab, and then constructing your exterior walls? Or are you pouring footers, then building the walls, then coming back and doing the flat work?

BTW, I am jealous of the 13-0 ceilings

Just my $0.02

chris

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chris collier
collier@iglou.com

72 911T
stock and ok with that, for now

[david w.]

Wow, where I live we have te excavate down 4 feet below grade for frost protection.
That looks alot easier and less expensive.

How about a 3" pvc floor drain so you can wash your car inside?

[rvanderpyl]

Usually you don't need footings if you are not attaching the garage to a house. However that may be dependent on your local regulations.

Robert

[ClayMcguill]

Looks like fun!

Seriously, I concur on using more stakes to brace the forms, and spacing the rebar up from the base a little.

A drain is a great idea-just run the PVC from the center of the floor out to the closest side wall, with a slight slope to it-or, make sure the finished slab has a very slight slope towards the door so fluids can drain-standing water in a garage is no fun.

Be sure to attach the back wall to the rest of the structure with wing nuts-it'll make it so much easier when (not if) you decide it's not big enough and need to expand.

Wire it with at least 1 (maybe 2) 220v circuits-if a compressor or welder is in your future, you'll be glad you did.

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Clay McGuill '66 912 My 912's restoration website, '97 Jeep Cherokee, '70 Ford Bronco My Bronco's rebuild site

[jluetjen]

Wow Sean; it sounds like you have quite the project. After having my own garage built, there is nothing like it. I have to admit that I did it the easy way and hired a general contracter to put it up. Even so I did the interior and painting and THAT was still a lot of work.
BTW: I found the book "How to Design and Build your Auto Workshop" (by Dave H. Jacobs, Jr., Motorbooks International -- Powerpro Series) a real help to plan the project and do some of the work. Since you're already setting up the foundations it sounds like you have a plan. A couple of things to consider...
1) Do you plan to do any alignment work on your car? If so have the floor poured flat rather then slopped. It doesn't drain as well but it saves a lot of time measuring and shimming.
2) Do you have enough storage planned in the attic and a way to get there? Remember all of these spare parts you're going to be finding.
3) Do you want to have power or air? If so; put it in prior to finishing the interior. It's easier then ripping out the walls later.

Good Luck. There's nothing like a warm dry place to work on a Porsche in the off season.

- John
'69 911E

[carnut169]

Thanks for the replies- Joe I will be sure to add some more stakes to the forms I was planning on doing that when I had finished the front forms. The inspector was supposed to come by today to look at the footings and as of yet, he has not come. I did not know that the wire had to be elevated, so thanks. I do have "rebar" in the bottom of the footings.

Chris the electrical service will be run through the roof- that way I can get away w/ no eletrical inspection, and since the house is set-up that way I can run right from my main box.

The inspector did come a day early and said that the footing had to be 20" deep, plus the 4" slab. (Now waiting for the second visit).

Great suggections Clay- I will be sure to use the wing nuts- however if it needs to be longer it will be back to the varience board b/c I am out of room... we have a setback limit of 25 feet in my area.

And, I still can't decide about plumbing. Really don't want to mess w/ it, but I know that it does make sense. Perhaps I will put the drain in so I have the option in the future.

John- It will have 13' above the area for parking the car, but the ceiling above the other part will be 9' so I will have storage there. I also plan on building a workbench on wheels so the garage can become wider, or the workshop can be wider depending on what is going on.

Thanks a ton for the ideas, and suggestions. This is the first project of this type for me so it will be interesting.

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Sean O.
Atlanta, Ga.
87 Carrera Cabriolet

[Mrdi]

Good to see the viscayne.
_Plumb for a toilet and sink now, only costs a few dollars to plumb under the slab. The connection to the main lines can come later, but the possibility is there. Nothing like not having to mess up the kitchen or even the door knob when you need to go into the house.
Makes it much easier to drink beer too.
If I was building a new garage I'd definitely make arrangements for a hydraulic lift.


Cheers,
Mrdi

[carnut169]

lol- thanks Mrdi- but I don't plan on installing a bathroom (it is only 17 x 24!). Although, depending on the cost of this project I may need to build a bedroom as well!

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Sean O.
Atlanta, Ga.
87 Carrera Cabriolet

[motion]

That's a tiny lot? Hey, come check out my neck of the woods. You'll see tiny. They build 1500 sq foot 2 story homes here on 2200 sq ft lots and charge $400k for them.

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Let's Roll!
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-Richard
'84 Carrera Cabriolet
'74 911 Widebody 3.6 Project
My Porsches

[makaio]

Put plubing in for a toilet and sink. You'll want that toilet after the cops come by and bust you for taking a leak in your back yard, when it's pitch black out. ( don't ask how I know)



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Matt Chamblin
78 911 SC

[expat]

How about a recessed floor spotlight that shines upwards. Great for when working under the car and needing general light all under. Still won't negate needing a moveable light for nightime, but a general, powerful light at floor level could be real handy.

Love the 'woods' environment of your home. Very cosy and private.

Cheers
Mark

[hhazrati]

Sean:
That's a great project. I am so jealous, I live in the 'burbs of Atlanta. We have 0.58 acres and the perfect lot for a garage/adult clubhouse for me. But, our subdivision Homeowners Ass. is so strict, you have to go in front of the board for Christmas Decorations or a fence. It would be so funny if I go to the board meeting with plans like yours, and watch half of them pass out.
We have a three-car garage and 4 cars. they even get on my case for a car in the driveway overnight.
Good luck.
HH

[Kahuna]

Underground electrical service is much easier to deal with than above, put .75" pvc (just in case) where the service needs to pass through the foundation. The inspector won't like floor drains, wouldn't let me have them anyway, so I had to go with slope floor and grooves which will lead water to the door. Use torsion springs for the door rather than more common coils. A large tub type sink is incredibly handy and will ensure domestic tranquility(ask me how I know!)

[PFAMCO]

Anyone out there heat their garage? I would like to heat mine using an external propane tank to feed a ceiling mounted heater with a reliable thermostat. My garage is only about 2500 cu/ft and insulated. What size (BTU)and type would you suggest? Any other ideas?
Thanks, Paul

[rvanderpyl]

I have heat in my shop, it's not usable in the winter otherwise (live up in the great white north), I ran a natural gas line to it which was a bit expensive as the shop is around 300yds back from the house. The difference in price between ng and propane and the savings in the hassle of having to maintain the tank made it seem worthwhile. Of course since then we have decided to build a new house further back and MUCH closer to the shop so that expensive gas line is going to be so much pipe in another year.

I bough a used house furnace from a furnace installation place. It had been refurbished and only cost $100 (cdn). I just sized it according to what the heating guy recommended plus a little extra so it can heat the place up quick. I leave the heat set to just above freezing normally and turn it up when I go out to work.

Robert

[jluetjen]

This is a reply to Paul's question about heating a garage. I live North of Boston and we get pretty cold winters. I have a 2-car garage attached to the house and the garage is insulated in the walls and ceiling with R13 insulation. The interior was then finished with sheet-rock. Doing that alone keeps the garage at about 34 to 36 all winter which is actually quite comfortable to work in with just a space heater. If you want some cheap heat, take the family car for a drive and then park it in the next bay. It will put out heat for a couple of hours.