Critique of initial idea for a garage apartment

[Industrial Toys]

Take it from me. Anything unconventional becomes more expensive in the end and you still have some kind of a rube-goldberg. We were going to put modest living accomodation in our traditionally framed barn years ago and I'm glad we didn't. First off, it would have been terribly cramped but maybe more importantly, it would have been poor bang for the buck. Plumbing, heating and electrical all cost the same whether for "REAL" accomodation, as for something modest or improvised.

As it is, I use that space for heated storage, but even that has been at a hefty price, because everything was just so unconventional. The irregular framing centres, corners, odd heights and cramped working spaces offered no economic advantages at all.

 

[JFoy]

Funny this topic comes up now. My wife and I are planning to sell our current home and build a new one. As a transition place, I plan to build a shop at the new house location with an apartment in it on the same level. When we build and move into the new house, we'll rent out the apartment. Zoning folks say ok to this as we're zoned for 2 dwellings on one property track. The main reason for the transition apartment is because we can build the shop/apartment for less financing monies and when we sell the house, we can build using the money from the sale of the old house.

 

[Raspy]

Funny this topic comes up now. My wife and I are planning to sell our current home and build a new one. As a transition place, I plan to build a shop at the new house location with an apartment in it on the same level. When we build and move into the new house, we'll rent out the apartment. Zoning folks say ok to this as we're zoned for 2 dwellings on one property track. The main reason for the transition apartment is because we can build the shop/apartment for less financing monies and when we sell the house, we can build using the money from the sale of the old house.

That's more or less how it went for us. I wasn't worried about financing, but it was much quicker to get the guest house done enough to move in, then focus on the main house. I tend to wing it on projects and my house turned out much better because of it. We had a permit and a basic set of plans, but the details make it nice. Since there was no hurry I had time to work through it carefully.

It has amazed me how much better it came out when not in a hurry or not based strictly on plans all drawn up in advance with no flexibility. Doing this kind of custom work is far different than simply slapping up a dwelling for the lowest cost, as you know. I plan to stay here and I built it to match our wants and needs. So, I took my time. This paid off with a sophisticated solar/radiant design, beautiful custom cabinets, a hand built glass and steel front door, etc.

One problem with that logic though, is if it's financed. The bank wants it done in a timely manner. Their timing, and they have strict penalties if you don't keep up. That can be a problem even if you are making good progress. Sounds like that won't be a problem in your case since you'll only be financing the apartment.

 

[crazyal]

My garage is 28 by 32. I used a steel I-beam down the middle (32' direction) and welded joist hangers onto the sides of the I beam so the top of the 2x10s were flush with the top of the i-beam vs resting on top. It really didn't cost more to do it this way over just building from wood. The I-beam sits on steel tubing next to the walls. I made sure to have plenty of cement to carry the load of the But by doing so I have no posts in the center of the garage area. I use it for storage but I could have turned it into an apartment. There's no post upstairs either since I used trusses. So any snow/ rain load on the roof is transferred to the exterior walls and any load on the second floor is split between the two steel posts and the side walls. When I put the sub floor down I started in one corner and went right across the top of the I-beam. The upstairs floor is solid as a rock, no bounce or flex at all. I even have a beam trolley so I can use the I-beam in the garage to lift a motor out of a car or something heavy out of the bed of a truck.

 

[Raspy]

^^^^ That sounds very nice. Totally functional.

 

[PILOON]

Marrying wood to steel can be simpler than some think.
I found that it is easy to shoot Ramset nails into steel, in fact easier than shooting into concrete.
Concrete has stone in it that deflects the nails while steel is always consistent
More than once I have fired Ramset nails into steel with excellent results.
Plumbing, suspended ceilings etc are frequently attached to steel structures with this method.