New garage time!

[airbiscuit]

 

[fatjay]

Since floor space is so critical, I would build stairs outside the building.

They specifically prohibited exterior stairs. Interior stairs have a sizable footprint. Lift was the best idea I could come up with.

 

[pmsmechanic]

They specifically prohibited exterior stairs. Interior stairs have a sizable footprint. Lift was the best idea I could come up with.

Did they prohibit an exterior lift? A circular stairway where your lift is planned to go wouldn't take up a lot of room. If the manure hits the fan you could always put the lift inside.

Or....I see you have room for a small patio over the garage doors. I'd be tempted to install patio doors on the second floor, a short section of removable railing and use a fel or a forklift to move the larger/heavier stuff up and put a set of stairs inside.

 

[MossRoad]

OK, safety police hat on... :laughing:

Just as a winch is not a hoist, a lift is not an elevator.

Lifts aren't designed for riders. There's no safety systems to prevent you from getting crushed. At the least, you should have a deadman control so if you let go of a button the thing stops immediately.

As someone else mentioned, put a hatch in the upper floor and use a straight ladder to go up and down when needed.

Hat's off now. Be safe.

 

[MickeyDBC]

How about using the lift for moving stuff up and down and then add in a set of retractable attic stairs for getting people up and down?

 

[mred2]

No fire escape from the 2nd floor. You can always ask for that. Or do what you have to, get it inspected, power on and moved it. And than do what you wan to do.
My pier on the lake, I want rebuild. City said permit and inspect. The law says that as long as not more than half is done, I can tear it out and replace, no permit or inspection. The city still wants me to permit, because they wanted it, even if it was not the law. I told them I would follow the law. They just said ok.

 

[fatjay]

No fire escape from the 2nd floor. You can always ask for that. Or do what you have to, get it inspected, power on and moved it. And than do what you wan to do.
My pier on the lake, I want rebuild. City said permit and inspect. The law says that as long as not more than half is done, I can tear it out and replace, no permit or inspection. The city still wants me to permit, because they wanted it, even if it was not the law. I told them I would follow the law. They just said ok.

The goal is to get the final inspection, then figure out what I want to do. I was thinking a 2nd floor balcony with french doors might be nice to go out and sit. It could connect down the line with the master bedroom's 2nd floor balcony that's 20' away.

 

[EddieWalker]

Will the final inspection include the lift as the only way to get to the upstairs living area?

 

[fatjay]

Will the final inspection include the lift as the only way to get to the upstairs living area?

Final inspection will include a ladder and the second story will be storage exclusively for now. The plans are bare minimum building, no electric, no bells or whistles. I知 blowing my whole budget on just the building, other stuff can come later.

 

[MossRoad]

Final inspection will include a ladder and the second story will be storage exclusively for now. The plans are bare minimum building, no electric, no bells or whistles. I知 blowing my whole budget on just the building, other stuff can come later.

That's what we put on our application for our garage addition. Storage. No water. No heat. No phone, no lights, no motor car
not a single luxury
like Robinson Crusoe,
it's primitive as can be. :laughing:

Made it a lot easier and we can add lights later if we need them (wink wink).

 

[fatjay]

That's what we put on our application for our garage addition. Storage. No water. No heat. No phone, no lights, no motor car
not a single luxury
like Robinson Crusoe,
it's primitive as can be. :laughing:

Made it a lot easier and we can add lights later if we need them (wink wink).

It's my property. I get there are codes, and everything i do meets or exceeds code. Except installing a railing for 3 steps off the porch. But they want to charge me for building on my own land. They want to charge me for everything I do. Now they're giving me a hard time for a second enterence for the driveway when there's 4 other houses in the neighborhood with a second enterence.

 

[EddieWalker]

Being from CA, I understand what you are doing to avoid dealing with the city as much as possible. I am concerned about your plan for a lift to get to the upstairs living area. While I would be perfectly fine using it myself, if I built it, I would never allow anybody else to use it. There is a massive difference in what I am willing to risk for myself, and what I will risk for others. Would you let your daughter use your lathe as it is right now? If it was my building, I would install stairs. They might only bet 2 feet wide, and have a 9 inch step, but they would be safer then a home made lift that will not work, or fail, one day in the future.

 

[airbiscuit]

If it was designed by Wile E. Coyote, what could possibly go wrong?

 

[Ford850]

Along with the slide from the upper floor down to the pool that I suggested earlier, I think a zip line would be great too. That would provide year round emergency exit options and some entertainment too!

 

[MossRoad]

We've got an attic in one of my employer's buildings. It has a hatch for access. What is nice is that when you open the hatch, you reach up with a hook and pull a rope. An extension ladder pulls down out of the attic to the floor at just the right angle. It's all counter weighted, so it only takes about 5# of pull. Very easy to access the space when needed. And it all slides up into the hatch when you're done. No need to haul a ladder around and out of sight when not needed.

 

[not2old]

We got a new young lady for a building inspector right after I poured the foundation for my shop. I made a point of getting on her good side right away. On several occasions I've been told to "wait on that until after the final inspection". She admits that some of the rules aren't practical but has a job to do. You learn how to work around the rules.

 

[fatjay]

120 12' 2x8's and 20 sheets of plywood dropped into my driveway first thing this morning. Started putting up exterior plywood, got 2 rows done and the pump jacks set up on the back side.

Tomorrow I'll take the top plates off the walls and nail the 12's to the 8's. Trusses arrive friday so we have to move quickly.

 

[dragoneggs]

Yep, definitely more progress! :thumbsup: Amazing how fast the fasteners stain the plywood.

 

[fatjay]

Yep, definitely more progress! :thumbsup: Amazing how fast the fasteners stain the plywood.

Yes, I was a bit surprised by that as well. Learn something new every day though. Getting a 3rd leg of pump jack tomorrow so we won't have to leapfrog. I would love to get the front done, but the easiest way to get stuff up there is passing it strait up the front. And really for the rafters we won't need the front wall, just the sides. So tomorrow and thursday we'll get as much side walls done as we can. I don't expect the rafters to arrive first thing friday morning, but at $120/hr i don't want him waiting around.

 

[dragoneggs]

It's been years since I built and contracted our previous house. I don't know if I could do it today... in fact started down this trail again with a 2 story 24x36 shop of my own but permits quickly became a show stopper. Steep land in a seismic slide zone with Bald Eagles nesting in the area, and water runoff into the Hood Canal fertile with crab, shrimp, oysters, etc. give the county so many reasons to charge you up the yin yang! Could it be done... yes... but at what cost?

I truly admire your efforts. I know what you are wrestling with... physically, logistically, and mentally. Keep plugging!