Enough of COVID...what are you doing to the house?

[Mad Mike]

Yes wife has never had garage parking so I'm hoping these wider doors will avoid carnage.

The are great, my wife used to roll in a GMC 2500 Denali -- that was an easy roll thry 9' doors.

In 1995 I built a place in Holland Landing with a 3 car garage. When I costed the build, it turns out that 9' wide doors cost about $40 more than 8', considering the bricks for 1' x 8 cost $80, if the front of your house is brick, stone or stucco -- it's cheaper to install 9' wide doors.

Another no brainer is a rear yard facing garage door (if the back of your garage faces the yard). A basic 8' insulated door costs $750 Installed, vs exterior cladded wall in the same opening costs $650 for stucco to $1200.

 

[Lyndsay]

The are great, my wife used to roll in a GMC 2500 Denali -- that was an easy roll thry 9' doors.

In 1995 I built a place in Holland Landing with a 3 car garage. When I costed the build, it turns out that 9' wide doors cost about $40 more than 8', considering the bricks for 1' x 8 cost $80, if the front of your house is brick, stone or stucco -- it's cheaper to install 9' wide doors.

Another no brainer is a rear yard facing garage door (if the back of your garage faces the yard). A basic 8' insulated door costs $750 Installed, vs exterior cladded wall in the same opening costs $650 for stucco to $1200.

You'd need to take into account the additional costs for a 9" span on the beam, vs 8', and the cost of the beam for the opening vs 2 pieces of sheathing. Still probably pretty close to a wash though I'd think.

 

[Mad Mike]

You'd need to take into account the additional costs for a 9" span on the beam, vs 8', and the cost of the beam for the opening vs 2 pieces of sheathing. Still probably pretty close to a wash though I'd think.

Most garage doors openings are not floor or roof loads so the cost of beams would be offset by by the savings in framing and cladding. I guess the main point is it shouldn't cost extra to have a rollup door to the yard if it's in the initial plan - so given the benefit, why not?

 

[Lyndsay]

Most garage doors openings are not floor or roof loads so the cost of beams would be offset by by the savings in framing and cladding. I guess the main point is it shouldn't cost extra to have a rollup door to the yard if it's in the initial plan - so given the benefit, why not?

Oh, I agree. The (potential) incremental cost for the advantages is way in favour of doing it. When I built my house I put a room under the garage. You had to dig it out anyway, and then when building it usually just gets filled with garbage that settles. Since it is assumed you have a good base, the concrete is thin and after a few years you get cracking. I figured the extra cost was about $4000 for thicker walls and concrete floor etc. but got over 4000 sq ft of useable space for that. Just happens to fit a 6 X 12 snooker table with no need for shorty cues, what a coincidence.

 

[GreyGhost]

Oh, I agree. The (potential) incremental cost for the advantages is way in favour of doing it. When I built my house I put a room under the garage. You had to dig it out anyway, and then when building it usually just gets filled with garbage that settles. Since it is assumed you have a good base, the concrete is thin and after a few years you get cracking. I figured the extra cost was about $4000 for thicker walls and concrete floor etc. but got over 4000 sq ft of useable space for that. Just happens to fit a 6 X 12 snooker table with no need for shorty cues, what a coincidence.

4000 sq ft garage? I am assuming you mean 400?

 

[Lyndsay]

4000 sq ft garage? I am assuming you mean 400?

Yes, 400. That would have been massive. It's actually about 440 for the room, a bit bigger for the garage.

 

[Mad Mike]

Oh, I agree. The (potential) incremental cost for the advantages is way in favour of doing it. When I built my house I put a room under the garage. You had to dig it out anyway, and then when building it usually just gets filled with garbage that settles. Since it is assumed you have a good base, the concrete is thin and after a few years you get cracking. I figured the extra cost was about $4000 for thicker walls and concrete floor etc. but got over 4000 sq ft of useable space for that. Just happens to fit a 6 X 12 snooker table with no need for shorty cues, what a coincidence.

The cost of a basement under a garage is high, I looked at doing it recently when planning a detached 24x30 garage, the basement option was $26k extra. Extra excavation $3k. 6 courses of block, $1.5k, damp proofing $1k ,insulation $2k, structural steel $1.5k and the biggie $15k for a 6” structural floor. Also $2k for engineering/permitting.

Its way cheaper to build space above the garage. I went with room in roof trusses and external staircase for $4.5k additional cost. A full second story with vinyl cladding would have added $10k. The whole garage was about $25k with room above, vs $45k with basement.

 

[mimico_polak]

One of my neighbours told me that the side split he has (very similar to ours) has a dead space below half the house which can be dug out and made into additional space...I haven't tried it. And when COVID subsides he invited me over to take a look. Basically he cut into the block in the laundry room, and dug out all the earth in that section. I'd be honest if I didn't admit that I'm tempted to take a look there! It's about 200sqft or so, but would add so much storage space to the house (not livable space).

 

[GreyGhost]

One of my neighbours told me that the side split he has (very similar to ours) has a dead space below half the house which can be dug out and made into additional space...I haven't tried it. And when COVID subsides he invited me over to take a look. Basically he cut into the block in the laundry room, and dug out all the earth in that section. I'd be honest if I didn't admit that I'm tempted to take a look there! It's about 200sqft or so, but would add so much storage space to the house (not livable space).

Just go for it. Underground bunker in your backyard. As long as you don't break the surface, so one will be the wiser. You need to design now so your hot tub is not on top of the bunker.

What is above the section he dug out? 1600 cu ft is a lot of buckets of dirt up the stairs.

 

[mimico_polak]

Just go for it. Underground bunker in your backyard. As long as you don't break the surface, so one will be the wiser. You need to design now so your hot tub is not on top of the bunker.

What is above the section he dug out? 1600 cu ft is a lot of buckets of dirt up the stairs.

Haha I know you’re mocking me!
Best way to describe it is that it’s the space under the main floor bedroom. It’s basically the space between the outside block walls and inside supporting block wall. So it’s within the confines of the structure, not out. Space is about 15x15ft or so. Like a crawl space.

 

[GreyGhost]

Haha I know you’re mocking me!
Best way to describe it is that it’s the space under the main floor bedroom. It’s basically the space between the outside block walls and inside supporting block wall. So it’s within the confines of the structure, not out. Space is about 15x15ft or so. Like a crawl space.

After 40 years' burrowing, Mole Man of Hackney is ordered to stop

From the outside, the house that stands at 121 Mortimer Road in Hackney, east London, looks no different to the thousands of other decrepit old buildings scattered across the country. The roof has caved in. Three of the windows are boarded up and cracked paint peels from the wrinkled walls.

www.theguardian.com

"I first tried to dig a wine cellar, and then the cellar doubled, and so on. But the idea that I dug tunnels under other people's houses is rubbish. I just have a big basement. It's gone down deep enough to hit the water table - that's the lowest you can go."

almost half a century of nibbling dirt with a shovel and homemade pulley has hollowed out a web of tunnels and caverns, some 8m (26ft) deep, spreading up to 20m in every direction from his house.

Their surveyors estimate that the resident known locally as the Mole Man has scooped 100 cubic metres of earth from beneath the roads and houses that surround his 20-room property.

 

[Scuba Steve]

Unfortunately for me the garage floor is at water table level any deeper and it would be a pool. When I rebuild the "shed" I can only go so high 17 feet or so and I want a 12' ceiling so no upper level I would have like to be around 30x40 with an upstairs but no go according to the building dept.

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[GreyGhost]

Unfortunately for me the garage floor is at water table level any deeper and it would be a pool. When I rebuild the "shed" I can only go so high 17 feet or so and I want a 12' ceiling so no upper level I would have like to be around 30x40 with an upstairs but no go according to the building dept.

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Where does your building department measure the height from? I have seen peak, half way up the slope or at the break point on a gambrel roof. Breakpoint on a gambrel gives you maximum volume and useful width upstairs if your building department will do that.

 

[Lyndsay]

The cost of a basement under a garage is high, I looked at doing it recently when planning a detached 24x30 garage, the basement option was $26k extra. Extra excavation $3k. 6 courses of block, $1.5k, damp proofing $1k ,insulation $2k, structural steel $1.5k and the biggie $15k for a 6” structural floor. Also $2k for engineering/permitting.

Its way cheaper to build space above the garage. I went with room in roof trusses and external staircase for $4.5k additional cost. A full second story with vinyl cladding would have added $10k. The whole garage was about $25k with room above, vs $45k with basement.

Well, maybe since I was using ICF anyway the incremental was less. I had dug down all the way anyway so that I wouldn't need to spend the time making a stepped footing. Damp-proofing and insulation is built-in to the ICF. Engineering was only $1000 and as I was already building a house, the permitting was paid for. I probably would have put similar amounts of rebar in anyway to prevent the cracking after the slump. Or I would have spent money and time ensuring the base under the slab was not going to drop. It was a good deal for me to do at the time, but maybe not as an add-on after the fact.

 

[Mad Mike]

Where does your building department measure the height from? I have seen peak, half way up the slope or at the break point on a gambrel roof. Breakpoint on a gambrel gives you maximum volume and useful width upstairs if your building department will do that.

I’m with you on this, most bylaws I have worked with are average heights, not peak Height. Also, they usually allow that to be the average calculated off any corner and two Grade points of your lot. My limit was 12’ so I dropped the grade by 2, around the garage and was able to fit an 18’6” tall structure with a 6/12 roof.

 

[Mad Mike]

Well, maybe since I was using ICF anyway the incremental was less. I had dug down all the way anyway so that I wouldn't need to spend the time making a stepped footing. Damp-proofing and insulation is built-in to the ICF. Engineering was only $1000 and as I was already building a house, the permitting was paid for. I probably would have put similar amounts of rebar in anyway to prevent the cracking after the slump. Or I would have spent money and time ensuring the base under the slab was not going to drop. It was a good deal for me to do at the time, but maybe not as an add-on after the fact.

For 400sq your incremental costs would have been at least $14.5k.

$10k ($25sq) for the floor, $500 steel beam, $2k under floor insulation (code for basement), and the $2k for engineering is because the bldg department requires an engineer be on site when forming the floor.

ICF and a full dig are unnecessary expenses for a garage with no basement, necessary for one with - so the real incremental cost would be closer to 17k, still 3x or more costly than an above garage room.

 

[Mad Mike]

Anyone know local stair builders who will just cut stringers? I’m replacing 12, 8 and 3 stair runs, all 36 wide. They need to be transported a long way so I’d like to assemble them on site.

 

[Scuba Steve]

I’m with you on this, most bylaws I have worked with are average heights, not peak Height. Also, they usually allow that to be the average calculated off any corner and two Grade points of your lot. My limit was 12’ so I dropped the grade by 2, around the garage and was able to fit an 18’6” tall structure with a 6/12 roof.

It is midpoint interesting on grade point as the front yard is 10' higher that the ground at the base of the garage I want 12' ceiling and a 8' upstairs if possible.

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[GreyGhost]

It is midpoint interesting on grade point as the front yard is 10' higher that the ground at the base of the garage I want 12' ceiling and a 8' upstairs if possible.

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That is similar to why so many houses with walkouts have a steep slope in the side yard. Keeping some magic point underground (something like middle of the wall 6' up from the floor) makes the walkout a basement and reduces taxable square footage.

 

[Scuba Steve]

Hmm my garage is on the basement level at the same level as part of the backyard. Although the pond water level is only about 1 foot lower than the garage doors and the river maybe 2 feet below that. If it floods the water will come through garage doors right into the basement.

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