Living in a garage? I have some questions!

this is my building i built a few months ago its 50x70
you will have to check on your local zoning laws to find out if you are
going to have any unforseen problems , sometimes even your neighbors can give you
a lot of unnessisary grief ..i have not hooked up the plumming yet but mine should not be difficult
as i built the shop on the site of our old farm house and the sewage and water
lines still run to the building i also built it tall enough to make the shop two story for storage or a possible small living quarters good luck to you..


before yall break out the flame torch and start the popcorn the show truck is my youngest daughters ride..

 

Thought about it and planned it for years and now we are living the DREAM! We have 4000sqft of shop and 1000sqft of living quarters upstairs on the last 24 ft of building. We have strict building laws and like several of the guys have stated, make sure you have a good fire wall, ventilation and CO detectors. Also make sure the HVAC systems are seperate and an air exchange system for the living quarters ensures fume free living! Send me an email if you want a copy of the floor plans.
tssrodandkustom@sasktel.net

 

My only advise because I have worked construction for a number of years... You get what you pay for, get a middle of the bid contractor and if you do it yourself send as much as you can afford you'll be happier in the long run.

 

Check on insurance also. We live in a warehouse and have to have commerical insurance on the building and a renters policy to cover all the junk in our place.

 

There are at least 40 hanger/homes here on Propwash.

As T said, Comps and insurance/financing is tough, because they don't know what to do with you.

Most of these are totally inside the metal building, but some are 1/2&1/2.

Most all of these are really nice homes:
One has a New Orleans theme w/ banisters and Gas lights etc. It also has a "Out of Control" tower that is for drinking beer with a view.
Another is like a deco nightclub,and my ******* neighbors live in a big kitchen. (thats good for the gumbo)
Several are southwest themed, but on the outside its just a metal building.
These are not garages they are 100x100 that have large free standing homes inside. You also get double insulation to boot.

Examples:
http://www.argylemls.com/airports/propwash/cessna.htm
http://www.argylemls.com/airports/propwash/collins.htm

Fly down, I'll show you around.
PROPWASH "16X" Just north of Fort Worth,

Out of Control tower!

 

I just finished a 40x60 with a 15x60 lean to off one side. I put a 12x60 loft on one side inside. My walls are 14' tall and I wish I had made them 16'. Would have been a lot better headroom towards the outside edge. I am making a small office at one end in the loft and the rest storage but if I had made it 2' taller it would have been easy to make the loft bigger and made living quarters up there. I kinda always wanted to live in a shop like that but the wife hated the idea. Good luck however you decide to go.

 

Jesus... those would be amazing ThunderRocket. Of course, I'd have to put wings on my chevy to fit in I guess.

 

Thank You all for your input! You have given us a few more things to look into now.

As of now its just the two of us. We do not have any children and are not sure when or if we will have them in the future. We are both fairly young (25 and almost 30). We will not be building in the city limits, too much of a h***le and too much $$$. For now it will be permanent living. We are still looking at land right now, but we will be out in the country. Thomas will not be working out of the shop, but maybe one day. Right now our plans are only calling for a 2 bed 2 bath floor plan, all on the first level. I really want to hire a general contractor so that we are sure that all the codes and contruction goes as planned. Plus if anything goes wrong I have someones hiney to eat!

Again Thank You all! Any picture you have would be great - I am blonde and a very visual person!
- Mrs. MORodder

 

This is something to think about. My 60 x 100 was big enough for living space, but I didn't want to live in my Garage. The smoke from welding, exhaust & paint fumes are a major concern.

 

We are planing on doing the same thing as soon as we can buy some land some where in Texas where trees grow. We have 5 acres here with a 2000 sq ft house and separate 2000 sq ft shop. Taxes are cheaper as long as the living space is less than 1/2 of the total area. Qualifies for comercial or something line that. Were thinking along the lines of a 40x75 with one third of it living area. We dont need much now with the 2 of us and look at all the storage space you wont have to allow for in the living area.

 

ThunderRocket - The tower is FREAKIN' Awesome! How can I make the husband see the need for that? I think I forsee a game of Lets make a deal coming on....

Mrs. MORodder

 

I bought this place about 4 1/2 years ago for the garage, it's a 30 X 60 concrete block with brick on the outside with 15 ft. ceilings and attic above that. The house was just a 3 bdrm cape, the whole deal a little fixer upper for 80, the garage had a 1 bdrm apt. built inside.
The bad thing about this is the furnace is in the part of the garage I work out of. I do get some complaints about certain fumes coming in through the furnace's air intake, so I try not to do that kind of work unless I can open the 12 ft. doors to the outside.
The old couple that live there were there when I bought the place, so it's cool, I would like to use the apartment space for work or club house one day but he's 75 yrs. old and I'm not kicking him out..lol Plus they act like an extra security devise for me too. Like was said watch your fumes and firewalls.

 

I lived in the below loft apartment in a building I own. The shop is 3000 SF, and the upstairs apartment is 800 SF. Nice setup, finished out well, carpet, trim, central heat/air, large bathroom, kitchen, etc.

I lived there about 3 years, various women in and out. It was GREAT at first living in my toy box shop. After a while it just got old. I bought another house about six months ago and am much happier. Sometimes you need some separation from work/play/home, etc.