Building a 12x20 stand alone garage - advice/architect needed

With the Emerald Ash Borer wiping out the trees on my small suburban lot I can now fit a toy garage. It has to have the door opening on the long side so it's looking like a custom design. Need to fit in a workshop, toy storage, and general storage of stuff that doesn't belong in the house.

Looking for an architect/designer that could draw up some plans. Does anyone have any recommendations for such a person?

Suggestions for features to put in the garage? I read the other garage thread already so I have some ideas I'm looking into.

Thomas

Loft. even if its just for storage. What size of area do you have to work with ? Heated or partly heated ?

I agree with Randy, I am a big fan of the attic area in my garage/shop. I can store a good bit of stuff that is rarely used but still needed. If your planning on heat go in floor.
Also hieght is your friend, I wish mine was taller.

Good luck!

If I was building a garage. Tall doors, In floor heat and 220v

I'll have to see what my zoning restrictions are for height. I definitely want storage spots up high for infrequent stuff.

@Randy_K : When you say loft do you mean a full floor on the rafters?

Isn't your backyard hidden from view? Who has to mention anything to the "zoning restriction police"? Just build it, no?

But if you really care, the height restriction is 10' in Cambridge, anything above that needs a higher level of approval; with your size garage, it shouldn't be a problem to obtain. At 12 X 20' you shouldn't need a proper foundation; anything under 400 ft² you can build on a floating slab or on pilings (like a deck).

The good folks on the 3rd floor of City Hall (building permits dept.) have packages to hand out that give the basic outbuilding restrictions.

Michel

Depends what you have for height. If you only have room for a 4 foot loft or part loft then do that. Even if it is only big enough to store parts bins it will be well used. You could have a 12 foot ceiling in part of you shop and drop to a 8 foot at one end with a loft for storage.

When I built my garden shed years ago, I went with a 9x12 with 8 foot walls, sitting on a floating slab. Biggest I could go without getting permits and crap....
I stick-framed the roof instead of using rafters. I went with a 1:1 slope for ease of building and to get decent height. I put a loft in at 7ft high using ledger boards and joist hangers. I have lots of room under the loft and can just about stand up in the center of the loft. Lots of stuff piled up there now....The roof peak is about 13' high or so.

The 10' height restriction will need to be tossed for what you want. I'd go bigger floor area if you can, as garages have a habit of quickly filling up with stuff. The law of the universe is 'More room is better'. This law applies until you hit 100,000 sq ft.

What Randy said; put a loft over part of the shop, leave the rest open. Throw a few cheap standard sized windows in for extra lighting. Keep them at least 5-6'ft off the ground to discourage it as a breakin point.

I wouldn't pay an architect or ?? to draw up plans, as you can find zillions of ready made plans on the internet & there's bound to be a few that will work for you. Any half decent builder would only need a pencil sketch of what you want & most builders nowadays can draw up their own plans. There's a few guys in the KW area that specialize in garages etc.

Features? Sky's the limit, or the budget that management sets....

I'll fit in a partial loft in my plan. At the moment the largest space between my trees and the neighbours' fences is 12x20 so that's pretty much decided for me.

Heating sounds appealing but I'll only be out there once or twice during winter so I don't plan on running the heat every day. More in the spring and fall. Heated floor sounds great but everything seems to be water based - that means it will have to run all the time to prevent freezing won't it?

I have gas heat in my shop. I don't even notice it on my gas bill. when I'm not in the shop I keep it at about 14 and turn it up on the weekends or when I'm working out there. Its nice to be able to keep things like paint outside with out worrying about freezing. I also only heat about 600 sq feet and use a insulated door so as not to heat the rest of the shop. Even if you don't plan on heat I would rough in what you need to add it later. Cheaper to do that now.


We may be a bit unusual as we spend more awake time in the shop then the house .

I think hydronic heat can be modified to use antifreeze as the heat transfer liquid. But that's on the expensive side...Gas infrared or forced air heaters are a lot cheaper.
Having said that, we had in-floor hydronic heat installed in the addition at the back of the house, the water is heated by the water heater, and it is a very comfortable, quiet heating method.

What about doors? I don't want to give up ceiling or attic space to a slide up door. Swing out doors seem like a bad idea once the snow builds up. And sliding doors don't seem to have good weatherproofing capabilities.

My shop has home built insulated swing doors, I like them and do not regret the choice, but I do have to keep the snow cleared in front of them. You're right about sliding doors being hard to seal. There's always overhead garage doors...

Hydronic in-floor systems usually use a glycol/water based fluid for heating. They are a bit pricy to install, especially if you're only going to use it sporadically. They work best in steady use and give a nice even heat at low heating cost. However, if you raise the heat level, it takes a long time to feel it.. ~ like 2 hrs or so.
Not 100% sure, but I do believe you need to use a frost wall foundation when using in-floor hydronic heat. If so, the foundation and hydronic heating system will easily cost as much, or more than the shed itself. You'd also need a dedicated heating unit & pump.

For a smaller shop, probably better to just use an electric heater, especially if you're only going to use it once in a while. It's way cheaper to just run an electric service to the shop than a gas line (and gas heater) (assuming you have enough spare capacity on your house electric panel) It will only cost maybe 25-50cents an hour at most to heat when you actually use the heat. And, you have to run electric anyways, if you want lights, receptacles etc. Just run enough power for a 50-60 amp sub panel in the shop.
Turn the heat on an hour before you want to use the shop, turn it off when done.

If you have the vertical height above the door, you can just install vertical tracks for a roll-up garage door. For what your doing though, it doesn't sound like you need a garage door. I installed a double residential entrance door on my shed & just reversed it, so the doors swing out. If you do your grades properly and pour a small sloping apron pad in front of the doors, snow isn't that big of an issue.

If you won't be out there very much the guys are right, in floor may be over kill. I have a gas radiant tube heater in my shop and love it. They are nice because they heat objects rather then air. Objects then hold the heat and warm the space around you. I keep mine around 5 dg during the week and generally when I go out to work I bump it up to 10dg and I am more then comfortable in a long sleeve shirt, no coat. We have a couple of electric ones at work in our spray booth. Also a great option they are are considered in door ,out door and are a lot cheaper then the gas ones. Same idea they heat objects and are pretty effective. Keep in mind the better you seal and insulate the more efficient everything will be.

This is my bike storage shed. Meet the local requirements and has tons of loft storage without creating a really tall building. has roll up doors in both ends. Strictly used for storage though as I have a huge 30' x 26' shop as well

Thanks for the pic. Roll up doors seem like the right thing for my needs.

Any recommendations for roll up doors or installers in the KW area? My usual goto garage shop wasn't well versed in roll up doors.

I use a direct vent gas furnace converted to propane, and run it off a 30lb tank. I don't heat when I'm not working, and heat it to only 10-12 degrees when I am. This winter (not the best example) it cost me $40 to heat. I paid $125 for it used.

I have had great results with Waterloo Garage Doors Inc.