Howdy,
Ok, I'm looking into options for building a garage. Due to money, I need
to do as much of it myself as is reasonable, balanced with timeliness.
Step 1 is to have some plans. That's the step I'm on. :-)
Step 2 is to almost certainly pay someone to pour the floor and build the
exterior shell. I.e. get the building up, with no electric, plumbing,
insulation, interior walls, or any non-structural work done, but weather
tight.
Step 3 is for me to get the rest of the work done. Step 3 could literally
take years, though I'd work to get the electric & insulation done
reasonably quickly.
Anyway, before I can get someone to quote step 2, I need to have plans.
And me being me and my wife being herself, there isn't an example of "that
one" I can find on the various ready made plans. If it were just me, I'd
probably do it as an (ugly) pole building / steel building which is
'easy'. If it were just Laura, she'd probably pick some plans that look
nice and would look nice with the house (and there are plenty of those
ready made) but have some functional stuff I don't like.
Currently the closest plan I've found ready made is this one:
http://justgarageplans.com/63/plan-detail/2303.php
Of course, that has a couple drawbacks... First, the stairwell is in the
middle of the workspace and I really want it over on the left wall and to
have no walls between the two garage sections. Presumably that wall is
load bearing though, so "just move it" isn't going to fly.
2nd, they seem to be using trusses for the roof / 2nd story on the main
section and I'd really rather have regular floor joist / rafter
construction, so that I can make the 2nd story dormer 'functional' as well
as having a similar dormer (or perhaps shed roof or two smaller dormers)
on the back roof. Again though, that's all structural so I don't know if
that means I'd need a big beam down the center of that section supported
by posts, etc.
I've talked to an architect about this, and him doing the plans for me
from scratch along with having a structural engineer size stuff would be
on the order of $3k to $4k. And that's at his "friends and family" rate
of $60/hour not the normal $90/hour (he's the son of our neighbor and
lives in Seattle as well, so perhaps those rates are higher than is
typical?) After talking with him, I'm really wondering if I need the
architect part of the deal vs. the structural engineer part. I don't have
issues designing the building in terms of knowing what I want and being
able to trade stuff off, my issue is not knowing what the tradeoffs are
(for instance, is it realistic to have an unsupported in the center beam
26' long holding up 17' floor joists on either side, coupled with a
standard rafter roof that's 34' wide at the base?)
If money wasn't an object, there wouldn't be an issue and I could just pay
the $4k for plans or whatever and I'd be done with that part. However
money is very much an issue... In my ideal world I'd be able to get the
shell built for $15k or less, would be happy to get it done for $20k or
less, and would probably find a way to pay up to $30k if that's what it
required. With that kinda budget, $5k for an architect doesn't seem very
likely. Hell, for that matter, with that kinda budget I don't know if
this is possible if the plans were completely free, but of course I can't
know that until I get some estimates from builders which I can't do
without plans.
Anyway... If anyone is or knows a structural engineer, that'd be super
useful. It'd totally be worth paying for a couple hours of time to have
them say "yeah, that won't add much to the costs so quote the plan as is"
or "you're smoking the crack" or whatever.
Thanks!
Mark
(Oh, I live in Youngstown, OH. There's no zoning here to worry about, but
I haven't yet called the permit office to find out what they require in
terms of drawings for a new garage either).
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