Anyone add to their existing garage?

The roughly 20x20 garage size has been a complaint from day one so I think I'm at the point where I want to add on. Our house does not have the room above the garage and there is 10' or so between the garage and edge of the most rearward wall of the house.

I don't know who at Van Metre designed the garage but the steps cut into parking space and prevent a straight pull in.

I was considering pushing the back of the garage 10', making it an area for the toolboxes and shelving, then have a set of steps up to the "2nd floor" storage area. I don't think there is enough room to add to the side and make it a 3 car garage.

Has anyone added to their existing garage?
Would Van Metre do something like this since they build the homes?

I appreciate any feedback and suggestions.

 

Would you REALLY want Van Metre to do that work?!?! I'd go somewhere new for it. Not sure what the HOA rules are regarding additions, might wanna check w/them too.

 

Seems like a pretty major project. Good luck with it. A large gagrage good.......

 

Keep me updated if you decide to do this. I hate that I can't pull my car into the garage due to the steps.

 

Van Metre doesn't do remodeling, probably a good thing. I was curious.

I've got Keller & Sons Construction coming by tomorrow night to give us some ballpark pricing and options, finished/unfinished, etc. If the pricing is not crazy, we'll finalize things and put together whatever the HOA needs. I'd want to use the same siding and roofing materials.

I doubt there is anything we can do about the steps, since they go into the laundry room, if the garage was only 2-3ft more to the left it wouldn't be an issue. I would also like to remove the two garage doors and center post and do one single door. We had a single garage door on our previous home, a little easier getting in and out with the two cars. Ok, at this point we should probably just find a house with a 3 car garage.

 

It does seem that the architectural plans for most new homes have poorly thought-out garage egress. Stairs typically block a car or something else.........

 

Will you post if it was possible to convert to a 1 door garage.

 

Garage designs these days only are planned to meet marketing requirements (look, a two car garage!). That does not mean that you can actually fit two cars in it... We looked at some homes in the northend of Ashburn Farm that have a curved opening to the "two car" garage. However, the ends of the curved top were so low that you could not fit in a taller SUV/minivan on the sides, meaning you could only park one car in the center!

 

Don't forget .. this definitely has to go through the Modifications Subcommittee for approval before any work is done. FWIW .. I'd get an architect involved so that you don't have engineering problems as well as a good design to work from.

The Modifications SubCommittee needs full site plans and detailed exterior elevations. Then you need to get to the county if you're doing anything with the footprint of the house to insure you're within the proper setbacks. Then there's the construction permits and inspections which the construction company should take care of.



Neil Z.
Resident since 1999

 

Yes - if we raise the roof and make a bedroom we will be switching to a single garage door, we discussed that tonight.

 

Thanks Neil, I appreciate the info.

We are in the very early stages. If the pricing is affordable, we'll then nail down the specifics and start the process with the HOA and county.