Living in a garage? I have some questions!

We are seriously thinking about building a big metal building (roughly 50x60) and half of it would be living quarters built very nice and the other half would be my garage. How many of you out there have done this before or currently living like this? What obsticles have you run across if any? Any problems with insurance? How do you like it?
I have seen some buildings built like this but needed to ask these questions before actually building. Any help or even pictures or layouts would be appreciated.

 

Have Flat-Top Bob post pics of his monstrosity. 60'x120'......wow.

Bob you out there?

 

check local zoning laws if your like here you can't live in a garage.
it against building code to have a livible space in a detached structure.
only a home can be livible. but you could build a small house with a huge atached garage.
1 bed 1 bath kitchen living room and 50x60 shop.

 

I am doing it. We have 2800 sq feet of house/shop. I am also in the Mortgage business and underwriting is tough on things like this. Check into it before you try. Feel free to PM me.

 

One of the tough things for financing is COMPS or comparable sales in your area to appraise the place. Even around here where it is common, the comps are tough to find.

 

Yeah, my grandfolks did this. Awesome place. They've had some issues with zoning when they were getting their permits but other than that it has been ok. They also had to get commercial sprinkler systems and that sort of thing.

Like Tman said, financing can be a ******, but if you get a good commercial lender/local credit union or something, you'll be fine.

 

My Father friend built a 30x60 garage on his property and it has an upstairs that is 20x60 with the barn style roof he can use the sides for storage, he thought about turning the upstairs into a apartment to rent out but then decided a huge playroom would be better but since he initially thought it up I have been thinking about the same thing, one big structure with 1800 s.f. of shop and 1200 s.f. of home.

 

I watched a guy and his family(wife and 3 youger kids) build their house in a little Texas town where my wife's family is from. They built a 3 car garage with a small apartment on the end first. Then over the next 3 years or so. They gathered up the funds for the slab and septic system and power pole the first year, had the house framed, dried in, plumbed and electrified over the second year, and all the interior work, ceilings, walls, carpets, florring, paint etc over the third year. One day we drove by on a weekend and they were have a big Housewarming Party celebrating the completion of their home.
I spoke to the guy once and he said the whole operation was put together on a pay-as-you-go basis.

 

That is sometimes the easiest and smartest way............debt free.

 

A friend of ours just built a 6000 sq ft pole building. 3200 sq ft of garage and 2800 sq ft of living space . . . on 20 acres. Way nice! Wish I would have considered something like that. They've got about the same amount of loot into all that as I have into my modest home in the burbs on a postage stamp lot.

 

I don't know about the legali***es, but I am a firefighter and would offer a couple of safety things, if indeed you were able to do this. First, make sure you seal the area between the garage and housing. Second, build a fire wall in the attic between the two areas as well, this will help slow or stop a fire from spreading from the shop to the house and vice versa. Third, and probably the most important, make sure you have a working CO detector in the living quarters.

 

Also look at our sister site

www.garagejournal.com

Lots of cool shops/ideas there. Check the Gallery.

 

I am thinking about doing the same,I am going to see if I can find a building on a couple acres and sneak in the living quarters. If I have to I will rent a cheap apartment to call home and stay at the garage on the weekends.

 

A close friend of mine does this....Its an old construction building--one bay which is wide & tall that you actually walk down (also has an oil pit) is for washing/waxing/detailing w/hoses/drains etc, 1 bay has a lift & the last bay is double wide...The office and sorage area were made into his living quarters but for a single guy he does what he wants & when he wants....I dont know if anyone really even now he exists there cause he usually doesnt move around till its dark...

I look at a similar building and had an agent look into this for me cause i wanted to do the same thing which he said was a big no no cause all of the stuff involved with zoning...I'm sure theres ways around it esp if you find an old firehouse and what not...

 

When talking to a lender, refer to it as a "coach house". They might understand that a bit better.

 

piant fumes and exhaust might be a problem

 

a couple friends of mine have this type of setup....one has a 50x80 with 20x80 of it as a living area on the main floor....and the upper area is storage....the other has a 40x80 with a 24x24 living area....the last one started out there in the small area....then built a nice sized house later....i've been kicking around doing a 50x80 with 30 x50 of it as a living area....was curious on the fume / fire block issues....big issue in my area is A. finding a piece of property flat enough to big such a build on.....B. being able to afford said such property when you find it..... brandon

 

I did exactly that. I built mine in 98 and had no zoning issues due to being out of the city. It was originally a 30 x 75 and we have since expanded on it, totaling 3500 sq foot with 1500 sq ft of shop. My insurance company gave us a break because the metal walls and structure qualified it the same as a masonry exterior.
After the metal building was up we stick framed the house on the inside. I would suggest that you have the builder of your metal building put the insulation in, even on the side where your home is going to be. The one thing I would change is to make mine a little taller. Mine is 12' in the center and I have minimal attic space. Real pain to get around up there. It would also make some more storage for parts if you planked it.
The house is extrmely energy efficient and when the neighbors have lost their roofing shingles in storms, mine has always stayed solid. I can show you some pics to give you an idea on how we constructed it. Good luck!

 

"kr*** and bernie" style. i would love it.

 

Do the 50x60 but make the walls 16' so you can put a loft in it and have a bigger shop area!!

 

I know of several people who have this arrangement at small airfields. The garage half is for the plane. The fire wall consideration is great.

 

im living in a barn/garage that me and some friends built, we didnt have much troubles with the insurance, but we got the run around from the city for the permits... but i would say the biggest obstacle we had was the inspectors, we figured if we just did everything the best way we could, that would work.. well apparently i was wrong.. they ripped me a new ***hole when they saw what we had done.. so despite the inspectors and the city problems it was a breeze, little manual labor never hurt anyone.

 

Around here nearly all new houses have 3 car Garages. Your 25'X30' would be considered a Small 3 car garage.. I also have a large shop with an Office in it. It's double 5/8" sheet rock which is Fire code here and well insulated. You can't smell Exhaust, welding, or Paint. The only thing I wish I had done was make a Fire Exit on the second floor.
The Wizzard

 

Quite common here. No restrictions on that sort of thing in the county.


In an industrial area you may get around the regs by calling the living area "watchman's quarters."

 

I've Done It And My Buddy Still Does To This Day Don't No One Give A **** If You Live In It If They Do They're Paying To Much Attention Cheaper Financially To Live At Work Is What I Think

 

this statement made my brain hurt lol just playin'...my parents neighbor did it. He built his "house" above his garage, two bedroom one bath...it is a nice little setup

 

Pretty common thing actually, but as other have said, be especially careful with safety; fire, chemicals, paints, heavy metals, dangerous tools and all that since you now be around it 24/7 instead of just whatever you do now. Not only for yourself but more importantly for the rest of your family, especially children who are especially vulnerable to toxics and quite inquisitive and sneaky. I remember playing in my dads shop and doing stuff all the time with the sheets and bars of lead he had for making decoy weights. Some how I didn't die of lead poisoning, a small miracle probably giving how much I fooled with it. Also, I often took liberty with tools when I wasn't suppose too and did things with them I knew I probably wasn't suppose to either.

 

Living and working in the same building is a dream. I have always been self employed. Some shops were near by and for the 18 years prior the 25'x75' shop was behind the house. Our buisness out grew our shop in Bristol,PA (Just right outside of Philadelphia) We found 60 acres in NE PA, Near the border of Binghamton,NY. We built a 50'x104' pole barn style building. There is a 20'x30' dwelling in the back. The rest is work space for our business. www.metroracing.com We have been here for 4 years and it has been perfect. The house is completely separate from the shop. Plastic (vapor barrier) lined, very well insulated + 5/8" drywall on both sides. No problems with sounds or smell. The town had no zoning and did not care what we did. Because of our business and the contents, we are very heavily insured. The agent and inspector that came out also didn't care. The mechanical room 20"x20" doubles as a work shop with a bike lift, welder, Smithy 3 in one, oxy accetelyne unit, Gl*** beader, ect. The inspector seen everything well organized, with a lot of fire extinguishers and the O A tanks chained and capped. He didn't care. I painted the walls around the apartment with fire resistant paint also. If the town is ok with it and you use some common sence. It is the best thing going in my opinion. We did a lot of the work ourselves. What we have in the 60 acres and the building, would not have got us a Mc Mansion with a 2 car garage on 1/2 acre, just outside of Philly where we use to live.

Find a lot and get to building, Don

 

I dunno about this. I have a buddy that lives in an old military quonset hut. It's a small two story apartment on one side and a giant car storage on the other. He paid like $4k for the whole thing at a Government auction and built it himself on property he inherited. Pretty sweet deal. I'm jealous but you'd have a hard time talking most women into living there. He's tried taking dates there but they were pretty sure he was going to kill them and use their skin to make canoes or something. It's like driving a panel van.

On the other hand, I bought a 1900 square foot ranch house on a full acre and it's got two garages. One is a generous sized two car garage and the other is a very generous sized four car garage. Both garages are attached to the house and the whole place was under $200K. I had been looking for a house with enough acreage to build a pole barn but this was even better...I don't like to mow. Something to consider...

 

The fire separation wall comment is right on, Its usually a "1 hour" wall required between the garage and the living area. with Type X drywall etc. etc.

We also need a lot more info from you on what your needs are.
Is this going to be your primary residence or are you just looking for a garage with a clubhouse for your buddies? Is it a short term living arrangement or ? You said you wanted a "nice" Living area...give us an idea of your tastes. Are you trying to do this on a shoestring budget? or do you have a pretty good budget? Do you have kids/dogs/ married, single etc? Do you entertain friends? How many/often. Are you looking for property in an urban infill lot setting or rural/suburban area/acreage? Do you have any idea which steel building company you want to go with? There are tons of them out there. Usually a 2 car garage is 20x20, so maybe you have some kind of a linear plan with the fire wall separating the living area...

Give us as much info as possible.

I used to live in a warehouse loft a few years ago. It was zoned as live/work, so people had their businesses and also lived there. It was a lot of work but really worth it, we had to build are own rooms and put cabinets etc. I was in my last year of arch. school with 2 room mates. We had plenty of space and we would throw parties with about 100 people!

PM me, I have a bunch of crazy ideas about this kind of stuff..