Looking to build a garage/workshop. Advice needed.

[451-74Charger]

I am looking at building a 24x24 garage, preferably with loft area for storage.
I am in KY and had "verbal" approval from the planning dept. (dont worry, i wont start building without it in writting).
being limited to 24x24, does anyone have experience with either Carter Lumber or 84 Lumber's Garage kits?
does anyone have any pictures or plans they wish to share to make my life easier.
My wife is prefering the barn like structure.

[Todd Wilson]

Well I was gonna tell you to decide on a size of garage and then times it by 3 and then you will have enough space. Since you are limited on size I would think about ways to utilize every square inch of space you have. The barn style with a loft would help things out a lot. You'll need and easy way to get up there with your self and parts and pieces and other household items that may be stored. Air compressors and stuff take up space so if you could find an out of the way place to put them that will gain you more working room on the floor. Maybe a far corner upstairs out of the way with plumbing down to where air will be used. Ventilation/heating and cooling would be things to consider.


Todd

[miamivice]

so not sure if you have this, but here is the link to the ultimate garage forum/info site:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/

tons of great ideas there

[Blown70]

I am looking at building a 24x24 garage, preferably with loft area for storage.
I am in KY and had "verbal" approval from the planning dept. (dont worry, i wont start building without it in writting).
being limited to 24x24, does anyone have experience with either Carter Lumber or 84 Lumber's Garage kits?
does anyone have any pictures or plans they wish to share to make my life easier.
My wife is prefering the barn like structure.

I would build the sidewall/ceiling tall enough to stack cars if need be.  Meaning 10 foot to 12 foot ceiling.  That way you could have 4 cars if you stack them, assuming you may want to buy a stacking system.  Just a thought

[nitrousn]

24 x 24 is small. If thats what you are limited to go with at least 12 foot walls. The kits are very skimpy. If they give you a quote you can bet on adding 25 percent or more to the price. Reason I say that is the kits have the materials down to the last nail. Codes and the individual constructor will dictate the actual materials needed to be used. Plus you will always have upgrades. Sometimes its best to have a plan drawn up to meet codes with a more exact material list and shop your list at the different lumber yards. I just built a basic 24 x 24 and the basic kit was like 4,200 and by the time i was done i spent about a grand more. So dont go cheep on the get go with that being your budget because it will always be more. Figure excavation, footings and floor, materials, labor and add 25 percent to cover your butt.

[supserdave]

Another thing, if you build it with tall side walls, if you do get the chance to add on later you can add a lean to off the side and it's a little bit cheaper. Our garage started at 28x30 with 16' side walls, half of it is a finished loft room for a rec room, the other half has a 4 post hoist. Its now 28x60, with a loft in the lean to addition to store parts as well. Hopefully we can add on to the other side next year, you can't ever have enough room!

[451-74Charger]

Thanks Miamivice, that site has a whole wealth of info I never thought of.
I am restricted to about 600 sqft by the city ordinances, (I wish I could build deeper and wider), hence the idea of 2 stories.
I think a stirwell in 1 corner shouldnt get in the way too much, and I can always tuck a car right back against the wall if im not using it.
The problem is really the working room for the Charger, I dont want to feel cramped in there.
I plan on installing cold water suply and power, but have not managed to cost out the waste piping yet.
I plan on building this all by myself, over a few weeks in spring/autumn but want to get the ok from the city first in writing.
They say that you can never have too much space. I have a 10x25 attached garage at the memonet, and beleive me, i have no where to work on the car. It bearly fits in there

[whitehatspecial]

24 x 24 with a stairway leading to a second floor loft will be very tight. I have a 28' wide by 24' deep with a stairwell and I can't imagine taking 4' away and having sufficient room between cars/ walls.
Stay away from kits and trusses if you want the second floor usable.
Being in the remodeling business for over 20 years, I can offer this advice:
1. Build walls high enough to give you 12' ceiling height. That way if you ever get a lift you'll have the head room.
2. Use 9' wide by 8' high garage doors (2 doors is better than 1 big one).
3. Use a steel I beam across the garage as support for the second floor joists. This will eliminate the need for a column which always gets in the way and will give you a nice track for an overhead hoist for pulling motors, heavy items, etc.
4. Use 2x10's minimum for second floor joists and 3/4" plywood for at least an 80#/sf floor capacity.
5. Use conventional framing for the roof with at least a 7:12 pitch which is walkable but steep enough for a decent height in the loft..
6. Pour a minimum 5" concrete floor with 3000 psi mix.
7. Use Douglas/Fir framing and plywood.
8. Put at least a 100 amp electric service panel, run underground in conduit, with #4 THHN wire run a couple of spare feeds.

Hope this helps.

[PocketThunder]

What is the roof height limit according to your city planners?  How high up can you go?

And do everything whitehatspecial just said. 

[RECHRGD]

If you plan on putting in a lift or lifts be sure to install garage door openers that keep the tracks up tight to the ceiling with a wall mounted screw type motor.  More money now, but cheaper than changing them out later.  Been there done that.   Bob

[NHCharger]

I've been building for 23 years, lots of detached garages. To maximize room see if you can put the stairs on the outside on the back of the garage. Just did this on a friend's 24x36 garage.

[Chatt69chgr]

Put the air compressor outside------under the outside stairs recommended above.   The noise and heat from those things is not something you will be wanting to listen to all the time.  Put running water out there and a toilet if at all possible.  You won't have to run back in the house all the time to go to the bathroom.  Your wife will appreciate you washing the grease off your hands before you come back inside.  A unit heater in the corner mounted up 10 feet would be nice--------gas or electric.  All your heat will rise to the second floor unless the upstairs part is separate from the ground floor.  Running the stairs outside would help facilitate this.  Also, use a insulated garage door.  It makes a whole lot of difference.  Finally, put in plenty of outlets for 120VAC.  Salt in some for 220.  And locate a bigger one for your welder to plug into near the door.  Code in your area may force you to use sheetrock on the walls and ceiling.  But you could put cdx plywood under that on the walls to make it easy to hang cabinets, etc.  By the way, discarded kitchen cabinets make excellent storage cabinets for a workshop/garage.  Finally, I ran iron pipe off my garage ceiling from the back to the front (sloping it) and then dropped it down to floor level so as to drain condensate.  I connected the compressor to this with some stainless flex line and then pulled my air drops off the main line near the ceiling going up and then down and then to my gauge and final dryer.  Easier to put this in while building the place than when you get a bunch of stuff in there. 

[BigBlackDodge]

Also keep in mind any property setbacks you have. The last thing you need is an idiot neighbor pointing out that you've built to close to the propery lines when your done...........even though he watched you from the start.


BBD

[dukeboy_318]

ive got one that you might like to see, ill get pics tommorrow and post, its basicilly the design you're looking at, only 25x30 and i still need more space after i got the fridge and deep freeze in there, it also as a fully furnished apartment above it

[Old Moparz]

One thing I can think of to add to all of the above advice, would be to rough in your utility connections during construction. What I mean is, to at least have a few conduits & pipes for electric, water, & sewer, stubbed up through your concrete floor & capped. Extend them down to whatever depth your local codes require, & go out a few feet from the walls so you can connect them later when you have the extra funds. I did exactly that with my garage & glad I did because I was running over budget & knew I'd need time to recoup.

I connected a sewer pipe to my septic tank & capped it inside the garage. I put one conduit in to use as a sleeve to put a flexible copper water line in later. I installed the electric about 6 months later in the 2 conduits I ran underground from my house. The only regret is that I wish I had put 4 conduits in the ground. The reason is because later when I wanted to run a 2nd satellite dish cable, I had to pull the low voltage wires back out, add one, & then pull them back through. It wasn't too bad, but it would have been easier to have extra conduits.

[Charger74]

Something to consider for heating if possible and that is a in floor radiant heat system setup.  That way the floor is always warm and the heat goes from the ground up.    My neighbor installed one when he built his garage.

[bull]

Put the air compressor outside------under the outside stairs recommended above.  

Yes, the more big, immobile items you can put outside the better. Compressors, heaters, bathrooms, etc., all take up space that could otherwise be used for cars and the ability to move around them.

Also, I don't know if this has been mentioned yet but I would use one big door instead of two little ones like in your top drawing.