Garages Two
Overhead door sizes and the building code drive the width of your garage. The space required on either side of the door to meet the braced wall panel requirements of the Residential Building Code can drive the overall width of the Garage. It may not be as easy as having a 24’ square garage with two nine foot wide doors; it may need to be wider to accommodate the intent of the code.
There are several ways to meet the intent of the building code and each has their advantages and disadvantages. A particularly tall garage may have to have an engineer provide for the wall bracing. A tall foundation may need to be shortened to make the proscriptive method work thus resulting in a frame wall that is too tall and needs to be reviewed by an engineer. On the other end of this there are ways to work within the building code that can be implemented easily in the field and these are spelled out ad infinitum in the building code but these methods may limit how the Garage can be built. The builder and framing contractor should be aware and follow these methods but if more information or knowledge is needed then the designer should be able to answer the questions or these choices should already have been made during design.
Thanks for reading and please visit my website
www.cshadedesign.com
I look forward to hearing from you…
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Garages
Garages
Garages are very personal buildings. In the nine years I have been designing I do not believe that I have created the same Garage twice. Some want access to a second floor for storage or an apartment. Some need to stack cars on lifts to feed their auto Jones and others just need a place to park all the toys. Thinking about what you are hoping to achieve from your Garage may not be as simple as just saying “Honey, we need a garage”.
What do you want it for? Most are looking to park a car for dry and warm access in times of inclement weather. For this you need to ask if you want to attach to the home or have a covered breezeway. Local jurisdictions will have say over how this breezeway can be attached and limitations to its size for the zoning in your area so having a knowledgeable designer and builder is helpful at the beginning. How many cars, what type of car, what type of toys, and how much storage are questions that need to be asked before and during the design process. The size of the garage may most depend on the potential vehicles that it will house. Think about the parking lot at the local grocery store. Are you comfortable getting in and out of your car? An average parking space is eight feet wide. Would you like more room in your Garage to get out with the groceries and the baby seat?
A quick calculation would look to have six feet +/- for the car and three feet (think of your homes front door) to either side for door swing. This would be a space of 12 feet per car. Making a two car garage at least 24’ wide to the interior! Add a typical foundation wythes to this mix and the Garage should be 25’-4” to the exterior. This exterior dimension also plays well with the current Residential Building Code when using a 16’ or 18’ overhead door. The doors themselves could add to this dimension and we will talk about that in another post.
Keep in mind that this has left no real room for storage to the sides if you want complete access although this is rarely addressed as part of the design despite what you may be told. The depth is usually pretty good at 24’ although as little as 22’ can be done. Keep in mind your vehicle when thinking about depth. You may be driving a midsize car now but the family van or SUV could be in the future. 22’ can get a little thin for that type of vehicle.
Interior stairs to a second floor will usually take up a side wall and generally rise to the center of the upper floor perpendicular to the ridge so that there will be sufficient headroom at the top of the stairs. This stairwell will eat into a bay of the garage fairly well and needs to be considered during the design process.
Thanks for reading and please visit my website
www.cshadedesign.com
I look forward to hearing from you…
Garages are very personal buildings. In the nine years I have been designing I do not believe that I have created the same Garage twice. Some want access to a second floor for storage or an apartment. Some need to stack cars on lifts to feed their auto Jones and others just need a place to park all the toys. Thinking about what you are hoping to achieve from your Garage may not be as simple as just saying “Honey, we need a garage”.
What do you want it for? Most are looking to park a car for dry and warm access in times of inclement weather. For this you need to ask if you want to attach to the home or have a covered breezeway. Local jurisdictions will have say over how this breezeway can be attached and limitations to its size for the zoning in your area so having a knowledgeable designer and builder is helpful at the beginning. How many cars, what type of car, what type of toys, and how much storage are questions that need to be asked before and during the design process. The size of the garage may most depend on the potential vehicles that it will house. Think about the parking lot at the local grocery store. Are you comfortable getting in and out of your car? An average parking space is eight feet wide. Would you like more room in your Garage to get out with the groceries and the baby seat?
A quick calculation would look to have six feet +/- for the car and three feet (think of your homes front door) to either side for door swing. This would be a space of 12 feet per car. Making a two car garage at least 24’ wide to the interior! Add a typical foundation wythes to this mix and the Garage should be 25’-4” to the exterior. This exterior dimension also plays well with the current Residential Building Code when using a 16’ or 18’ overhead door. The doors themselves could add to this dimension and we will talk about that in another post.
Keep in mind that this has left no real room for storage to the sides if you want complete access although this is rarely addressed as part of the design despite what you may be told. The depth is usually pretty good at 24’ although as little as 22’ can be done. Keep in mind your vehicle when thinking about depth. You may be driving a midsize car now but the family van or SUV could be in the future. 22’ can get a little thin for that type of vehicle.
Interior stairs to a second floor will usually take up a side wall and generally rise to the center of the upper floor perpendicular to the ridge so that there will be sufficient headroom at the top of the stairs. This stairwell will eat into a bay of the garage fairly well and needs to be considered during the design process.
Thanks for reading and please visit my website
www.cshadedesign.com
I look forward to hearing from you…
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Tax Incentives
This was in response to a question in a Builder Forum concerning the $1500 tax incentive for 2009 and 2010:
Tom, I've heard that from several vendors who were selling windows and insulation that the client really was doing this regardless of the cost because they wanted the tax "break". Many were spending thousands of dollars to save a small portion on their yearly tax burden. A one time benefit that they could easily have recouped by just putting the money in an IRA. Thankfully you were able to see the benefit of this "break" from the government and I hope that your business is able to generate the same numbers without the incentive.
No taxes have been cut though. Is your tax burden smaller this year? Assuming you are the business owner did your FICA, MCARE, and Fed Tax burden go down? I expect not. Will you be paying a smaller portion of your income to taxes in April? Again, I expect not. $1500 is about $30 a week for the wage earner. Would cutting payroll taxes by a small percentage create a greater "stimulus" in the marketplace? Maybe; but it would not be targeted and therefore not benefit the chosen industry regardless of who in Washington controls the purse.
What may be truly interesting is did these purchasers pay for the service with cash or did they finance it? What is the cost of that financing over the near term? Does it outweigh the benefit of the $1500? Do you truly save on your heating, cooling, or electric bill just just by replacing a window when this if factored in? Was just the sash replaced or was the trim removed and the jamb space air-sealed? Have the plate to sub-floor or plate-to-plate connections been air-sealed? Was the siding removed and a building wrap installed? In my own home air-sealing the furring cavity at either the attic or the crawl is the way to go; how many do this? Is the client willing to have a PV array large enough that it will truly give back to the grid? Or are they just cutting a monthly bill? Does this return on investment depend on your cost per kwh? Sure does. I installed an on demand hot water heater three years ago. Currently I am ahead on the electric bill by $6. At that rate it may take 750 years to pay back. I suspect I'll have to replace it by then so will it ever be cost effective? BTW - Electric rates in Virginia are some of the lowest in the country.
Potential short term benefits will come from Government action in regards to increases in consumerism on a macro economic scale when an item otherwise out of the reach is provided at a lesser cost. (Why do you think Going out of Business sales work so well?) These benefits will end when the incentive ends with nothing lasting created because there was nothing lasting to begin with.
It's too bad that your thriving business cannot sustain more employees with this incentive from the Government. It would seem that all that has been accomplished by the Government borrowing this money has been to keep you employed during this downturn. While I think that is a worthy goal I would still rather have my $30 back.
As I said I hope your business continues to grow and that you are able to prosper. Good luck!
Thanks for reading and I hope you will visit my website
www.cshadedesign.com
Tom, I've heard that from several vendors who were selling windows and insulation that the client really was doing this regardless of the cost because they wanted the tax "break". Many were spending thousands of dollars to save a small portion on their yearly tax burden. A one time benefit that they could easily have recouped by just putting the money in an IRA. Thankfully you were able to see the benefit of this "break" from the government and I hope that your business is able to generate the same numbers without the incentive.
No taxes have been cut though. Is your tax burden smaller this year? Assuming you are the business owner did your FICA, MCARE, and Fed Tax burden go down? I expect not. Will you be paying a smaller portion of your income to taxes in April? Again, I expect not. $1500 is about $30 a week for the wage earner. Would cutting payroll taxes by a small percentage create a greater "stimulus" in the marketplace? Maybe; but it would not be targeted and therefore not benefit the chosen industry regardless of who in Washington controls the purse.
What may be truly interesting is did these purchasers pay for the service with cash or did they finance it? What is the cost of that financing over the near term? Does it outweigh the benefit of the $1500? Do you truly save on your heating, cooling, or electric bill just just by replacing a window when this if factored in? Was just the sash replaced or was the trim removed and the jamb space air-sealed? Have the plate to sub-floor or plate-to-plate connections been air-sealed? Was the siding removed and a building wrap installed? In my own home air-sealing the furring cavity at either the attic or the crawl is the way to go; how many do this? Is the client willing to have a PV array large enough that it will truly give back to the grid? Or are they just cutting a monthly bill? Does this return on investment depend on your cost per kwh? Sure does. I installed an on demand hot water heater three years ago. Currently I am ahead on the electric bill by $6. At that rate it may take 750 years to pay back. I suspect I'll have to replace it by then so will it ever be cost effective? BTW - Electric rates in Virginia are some of the lowest in the country.
Potential short term benefits will come from Government action in regards to increases in consumerism on a macro economic scale when an item otherwise out of the reach is provided at a lesser cost. (Why do you think Going out of Business sales work so well?) These benefits will end when the incentive ends with nothing lasting created because there was nothing lasting to begin with.
It's too bad that your thriving business cannot sustain more employees with this incentive from the Government. It would seem that all that has been accomplished by the Government borrowing this money has been to keep you employed during this downturn. While I think that is a worthy goal I would still rather have my $30 back.
As I said I hope your business continues to grow and that you are able to prosper. Good luck!
Thanks for reading and I hope you will visit my website
www.cshadedesign.com
Monday, January 24, 2011
Universal Design
Universal Remodeling
As we grow accustomed to our homes we find that our needs change in the spaces that we have been living in. Windows are not as easy to open, doors seem a little too thin, and stairs just keep getting steeper.
It may be time to think about Universal Design, a concept by which the home can be remodeled to be easier as we mature. It may be time to move the master bedroom to the first floor. Is there a room (or rooms) that can be converted? Do you need to add on for the space? Is there a bath accessible or do you need to add one? There are lots of ideas and directions that you can go to fulfill your needs. Spending time to answer a few simple questions can lead to a world of satisfaction.
Access to kitchen
Access to bath
Access to the exterior
Access to bedroom
Dealing with stairs
Wheelchair or scooter access
Low or no threshold showers
Door handle-sets
Consultation with an home designer who has had these questions asked of them before can help to guide you in your future needs. Universal Design is not all about making the house look like an institution. It is about wedding different aspects of accessible and adaptable design. It is oriented around all age groups in a family being able to comfortably live in a home together.
Thanks for reading and please visit my website
www.cshadedesign.com
I look forward to hearing from you…
As we grow accustomed to our homes we find that our needs change in the spaces that we have been living in. Windows are not as easy to open, doors seem a little too thin, and stairs just keep getting steeper.
It may be time to think about Universal Design, a concept by which the home can be remodeled to be easier as we mature. It may be time to move the master bedroom to the first floor. Is there a room (or rooms) that can be converted? Do you need to add on for the space? Is there a bath accessible or do you need to add one? There are lots of ideas and directions that you can go to fulfill your needs. Spending time to answer a few simple questions can lead to a world of satisfaction.
Access to kitchen
Access to bath
Access to the exterior
Access to bedroom
Dealing with stairs
Wheelchair or scooter access
Low or no threshold showers
Door handle-sets
Consultation with an home designer who has had these questions asked of them before can help to guide you in your future needs. Universal Design is not all about making the house look like an institution. It is about wedding different aspects of accessible and adaptable design. It is oriented around all age groups in a family being able to comfortably live in a home together.
Thanks for reading and please visit my website
www.cshadedesign.com
I look forward to hearing from you…
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