Parking Collector cars with Daily Drivers

[Mr70]

Alright Larry,how did you get those Pictures?
Didn't the restraining orders specifically state 1000ft.?

[Pantera]

I measured carefully! Honest I did.

Now how many times does it take to make up 1,000 ft using a 25 ft tape?

Actually on pic two a lady came out to the mail box and I rolled down the window and asked her if they were seperate or connected inside and she was happy to explain that they were seperate and she liked them that way.

If a guy had a narrow lot you could use the smaller one to go deeper than just for one car on one side of the house and park 3 or even 4 cars end to end and still not have a problem with the neighbors. I would bet that it would resell better that way too. It would be a great idea to use it on the north side of the house as a buffer to hold down cold north winds in the winter. You would not have to heat that area as warm as the rest of the house and having a dead air space like that will help on the heating bills.

I remember living in a house with the garage on the north and it sure made the house warmer in the winter.
The house I live in now, had the original two car garage O/H door closed in and they made a clubroom out of it and went behind the back wall of the room and built a two car garage 24x32 on a lower level with a staircase walking down into it from the room above.

Of course I am on a wide, almost 1 acre lot on the crest of a hill too, so there was lots of room to run the driveway down to the back of the lot.

Now I am working on plans to build a 4,000 sf two story addition on the back next to the existing two car garage.

I plan on using a metal building contractor to do it and then have it finished on the outside in rock to match the rest of the house. Termites are a real pain in this part of the woods that I live in.

[Zedder]

Thanks for all of the replies guys...I'm taking all suggestions into consideration. Pantera: Thanks for taking the time to take those pics - that was extremely nice of you. Yes, that set-up is pretty popular here also and it is one that we are looking at. Like SSL78 said though, the trick is making sure the garage doesn't look bigger than the house! Nice job on your garage John. I had that same idea of making part of the garage look like the house and parking the cars sideways. Your tree does a great job of hiding that part of the building nicely

[mhassett]

Mark, Hi, here is a little story on my garage. When we were buying our Home we had our Realtor/Buyer Broker put in our offer that we had to have some land behind the house included. Thank GOD that we did make that deal as that is why we are Fortunate to have the big garage in back of my house. It is a Nice Looking garage with a couple of skylights and some brick work. Mark another thing is the Car Capsules, I have them and they work well. Good Luck with your Garage Project, alot of good ideas here. Everything takes ALOT of Time and MONEY, this summer my project is to tile the garage floor.
Take care, Mark

[Zedder]

Hi Mark, Yeah, I would love to have a garage that's 30 x 90 like you, but it's gonna have to wait a few more years Land in the area we are moving too is just too expensive to build on two lots, so we decided to sell one and build a home that will suffice for the next 10 years or so and move at that point to something a little further out. Here is a pic of the two lots we own (until April 30th that is...then one of them is sold )

[Zedder]

Here's a shot of the houses directly across from us. You see how a garage that is reallyn big just doesn't fit in with the neigborhood.

[77Z28]

Zedder:

I am glad to see you are utilizing an architect, as this is my profession. I assume your classic cars that you have or will have will not need much work performed on them. The 22'x40' garage size you described earlier is going to be very tight. My parent's garage is of same width, but with side approach to two separate 8 foot wide doors along drive it does not work well.

My 2 cents on this subject would be to make sure the garage had the following:

1. A single garage door for both bays at least 16 feet wide.
2. No interior support posts down middle between car bays. (Again my parent's garage has this due to the garage being part of the basement and there are 2 floors atop it. Single framing members across garage width can be done, but are tyically deeper and thus more expensive.)
3. Tape off a 40'x22' space on concrete and place 4 cars within this area and walk it to determine if this is a space you can be happy with. I do not see you having hardly any workbench/tool space once 4 cars are in-place.
4. You said you were going to have a car lift at rear bay. Make sure you have the height clearance and concrete slab has been designed for this increase loading at car lift attachment points. Also, when considering height clearance remember to take into account in suspended piping or HVAC ductwork.

Well I know I said a lot, but I always try to tell my clients that I am not a mind reader but a problem solver if I trully know the building problem. Try to think through what minimum features/capabilities you want this garage to have (given your constraints) and then build that and you should be happy.

Best of luck,

Todd