Detached or attached garage?

[JDgreen227]

Built this back in 1990....24X36, full insulation in walls, 60 amp sub panel, complete floored storage area in overhead area trusses....cost me about $8,000 for everything including upgrade to vinyl siding in 2006 and replacement roof in 2009... about 100 feet south of the house.

 

[LBrown59]

Not sure in your area but here the insurance cost difference was substantial so my garage is 6 feet from the house, eaves are only 3 feet apart. Just far enough to lower the premiums yet close enough on rainy days not to be to big of a hassle.


An attached garage is a much greater risk than an unattched one .
So the insurance is a lot higher.

 

[bp fick]

Both

Because I get to call the detached one My Shop! :thumbsup:

 

[Otto Syracuse]

I have both, attached and detached. The attached garage hold cars, extra fridge, some garden tools and the recycling bins. The detached is known as the "Toy Box" and holds the Atv and plow, snowmobile, boat, ice fishing gear, more garden tools, etc etc.

 

[tallyho8]

In Louisiana where insurance is very expensive since Katrina, an attached garage can raise your homeowners insurance bill by thousands of dollars a year. Your house is appraised by the amount of square feet under the roof and this includes the garage. A 3 car garage like mine would raise my insurance $2000 a year if it was attached.

Unattached the garage does not raise your premium because it is covered under the "other structures" part of your homeowners policy. I can build a garage, a barn and other outbuildings without it raising my policy but they will only be insured for 10% of the amount my house is insured for. I can live with that to save thousands a year on my policy.

 

[phiferpharm]

None. I'm just getting the final plans for a new home on my property and didn't include a garage. I have my barn about 400' from my present house and the new house will be about 75' closer. It seems like everyone I know who has a garage (my son, my daughter, several friends in Miami) have ended up either cramming them full of stuff or converting them to workshops, bedrooms, etc. We do have a portico in the design.

 

[Tollster]

Here in Pennsylvania,if you attach the garage,there are additional fire codes that must be implemented into the construction,thereby driving the cost up. Something you may wish to check in your local area that could sway your decission.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

Our house used to have an attached garage, but the previous owner turned it into a family room (where I sit as I type). He then built a two car double-deep detached garage with attic.

 

[Bota Bum]

Here in Pennsylvania,if you attach the garage,there are additional fire codes that must be implemented into the construction,thereby driving the cost up. Something you may wish to check in your local area that could sway your decission.

What code requires is fireproof drywall and a fireproof door entering the living area. If you have appliances with ignition in the garage, furnace, water heater, gas dryer, they must be 18" off the garage floor.

 

[JDgreen227]

What code requires is fireproof drywall and a fireproof door entering the living area. If you have appliances with ignition in the garage, furnace, water heater, gas dryer, they must be 18" off the garage floor.

To me, those are not that costly to add to construction costs. Do you know what fire rating for drywall and door might be? 1/2 hour, maybe 1 hour? Do they mandate steel studs for the wall itself? Or is SPF lumber okay? Do you know if special fireblocking is required for the wall?

 

[3930dave]

Here, you are expected to have an automatic door closer on the door into the house from the garage. There is a higher risk of fire starting in a garage than a dwelling, or at least it is perceived that way by many insurance companies. The door closer is also intended to deal with CO, every winter there are poisonings or even fatalities from cars left running in attached garages - in most of these cases, the vehicles were accidentally left running.

I could live with additional construction cost for attached, as that is only a one time charge. Depending where you are, the annual insurance $ delta can be high for an attached garage. But, they are convenient in nasty weather, for sure.

I built a detached here, partly for insurance reasons, partly because I wanted to be able to build an addition to the house in the logical spot to attach a garage. Don't plan on attaching the garage, if/when I get the addition built.

Rgds, D.

 

[forgeblast]

We were thinking of a detached garage with a root cellar on the side. I was throwing around ideas to get from the garage to the house. I was thinking that using precast concrete stormwater pipe (if we could find it big enough would let us walk from the garage to the house underground (It would only be 20-30 feet) (cant attach the garage due to the a-frame and we need access to our well pipe.

 

[JDgreen227]

We were thinking of a detached garage with a root cellar on the side. I was throwing around ideas to get from the garage to the house. I was thinking that using precast concrete stormwater pipe (if we could find it big enough would let us walk from the garage to the house underground (It would only be 20-30 feet) (cant attach the garage due to the a-frame and we need access to our well pipe.

Now THAT (the huge concrete pipe) would be quite original and I am sure you can get the size you need, be really heavy though. How about buying an old schoolbus and pulling the body off the chassis, it would be lighter, have windows and a flat floor, a door at the back end, and if your buildings were yellow the bus would look right at home...:laughing:

 

[murphy1244]

Built this back in 1990....24X36, full insulation in walls, 60 amp sub panel, complete floored storage area in overhead area trusses....cost me about $8,000 for everything including upgrade to vinyl siding in 2006 and replacement roof in 2009... about 100 feet south of the house.

Are you saying the garage in the photo is 24 x 36? I don't see it.

 

[JDgreen227]

Yes, you are right..it does not look that size, that pic has a very poor angle...attachments below show two full size cars inside with room front and back....

 

[forgeblast]

Now THAT (the huge concrete pipe) would be quite original and I am sure you can get the size you need, be really heavy though. How about buying an old schoolbus and pulling the body off the chassis, it would be lighter, have windows and a flat floor, a door at the back end, and if your buildings were yellow the bus would look right at home...:laughing:

If you thought just throwing the idea out to my wife that maby we should try to do a concrete pipe was an easy sell, let me try the school bus haha.

 

[murphy1244]

Yes, you are right..it does not look that size, that pic has a very poor angle...attachments below show two full size cars inside with room front and back....

Is that a 16 ft garage door?

 

[3930dave]

Forge - no point in mentioning the black 'copters that will show up once you start burying school buses.

If you can face down the ferocious SWMBO then clearly you fear nothing on this planet.

 

[JDgreen227]

Is that a 16 ft garage door?

I would think that would be obvious. What's with the queries about the size? Want me to show you a copy of the building permit?

 

[murphy1244]

I would think that would be obvious. What's with the queries about the size? Want me to show you a copy of the building permit?

Yea.ok