perfect ratio for house to garage size

roermo · Nov 4, 2006

Hi every one. I am going to be starting my dirt work this week for my 30x34 garage and have two or so questions. Keep in mind I am not a builder but my brother in law is and he will be helping out when needed. Like the footing, and slab, setting the rafters etc.

1st question: When finishing the interior of the garage walls I have heard many people talk about ½ sheet rock then the other half osb board or plywood. Which do you folks prefer?

2nd question: This is a bit more abstract. My house is 1600 sq.ft, gable roof line, brick veneer. The garage will be 1200 sq.ft., vinyl siding. Some friends of mine have said it will look out of place due to the size of the garage almost being the size of the house. The house and garage will only be 6 to 8 feet apart and the two of them setting on a 100x120 lot. That is 12000 sq.ft lot. And 2800 sq.ft. of building. Or 23 % of the lot taken up by buildings. And 72% lot.

I would like to have this size garage and can use the space but do not want to hurt the resale value and the appearance of the property such as it is.

Any thoughts or comparisons you might have would be helpful

thanks

roger

MrJimi · Nov 4, 2006

Roger, remember this, A boat and a garage etc. is always too small no matter how big it is. How about a two story garage? More room same foot print. Here is ours we built over 20 years ago

Jim

EddieWalker · Nov 4, 2006

Roger,

There's no set rule on size of one, versus the other. If they are done well, they will compliment each other and look great. Sometimes a homeowner cuts corners on the finish of his detached garage, shop or barn, which results in an eye sore.

Some of the most expensive properties you can buy is horse property. The larger the horse facilities, the greater the value of the land. Usually it seems to me that the house is small in comparison to those facilities, yet if they are done nicely, it looks fantastic.

I don't see any advantage to splitting sheetrock and osb on the walls. If you don't need osb, than rock it all. You need to decide if this is a garage for parking cars or storing stuff. If so, than there is no advantage to spending more money on OSB. If you plan on using it as a workshop and do allot of work, than OSB has advantages for attaching things to.

It's very rare to see a garage with sheetrock that has very much damage. I've done a few repairs to sheetrock in homes, but that has been from either driving into the wall when parking the car or lifting something into the ceiling.

Remember, it's how you finish it, not how big it is or how much space it takes up.

Good luck,
Eddie

roermo · Nov 4, 2006

thanks, for the reply. I have about 2000 bricks left over from a room addition, of course they did not match the old brick perfect but color match was good texture was off. I was thinking of bricking the front around the garage doors to spiff it up a bit. I would like to brick front and left side. The garage is going to be for a work area our truck and of course my tractor. so i am still wondering what to finsh it with. Could a person do osb in the work area and sheet rock in other none work area. And would it look right. I am planing on taping and mud and paint.

Again thanks.

roger

LarryD · Nov 4, 2006

I don't know what your area is like but around here, it's common to see a shop/barn larger than the house.

Sometimes the shop is just a metal building that doesn't even come close to the same finish as the house and other times the two have a similar architecual look that compliments the property. I think if you stay away from the commercial look for your shop, the two buildings will not look out of place on your property.

CurlyDave · Nov 4, 2006

roermo said:
... My house is 1600 sq.ft, gable roof line, brick veneer. The garage will be 1200 sq.ft., vinyl siding. Some friends of mine have said it will look out of place due to the size of the garage almost being the size of the house.

There is no such thing as a garage which is too big. The way to make it look right is to complement the house. Since they will be close together, you must match the architectural styles. Finish it the same or very similar to the house.

You will be surprised at how much bigger a garage will make your house. A lot of the stuff you now store in the house can go in the garage, and that will free up space in the house. I would go for the biggest gagage I could get a permit for.

BTDT · Nov 5, 2006

CurlyDave said:
There is no such thing as a garage which is too big. The way to make it look right is to complement the house. Since they will be close together, you must match the architectural styles. Finish it the same or very similar to the house.

You will be surprised at how much bigger a garage will make your house. A lot of the stuff you now store in the house can go in the garage, and that will free up space in the house. I would go for the biggest gagage I could get a permit for.

Oh yeah, the "permit". What's your HOA (homeowners association) gonna say about this? Inside or outside city? Bigger is better if allowed.

scesnick · Nov 5, 2006

I built a 30X40 pole garage last fall. it is only about 20 ft. from my house. I have a log home so there was no way I was going to spend that kind of money for a log garage. So, I put la sort of light tan metal on the sides of the garage and hunter green on the roof to match the roof of the house. The house is a 2 story " country home ,it is 3,500 sq ft. of living space but the footprint is only 28x40 so my garage is actually bigger ( footprint wise ) than my house is.
It looks great and MrJimi is right, you can never have a garage that is too big...

jwstewar · Nov 5, 2006

roermo said:
Could a person do osb in the work area and sheet rock in other none work area. And would it look right. I am planing on taping and mud and paint.

Why not OSB the whole thing and paint it white and forget it? Around here right now OSB is $5.49 a Sheet and drywall is $8.99 - $9.99. OSB and you can hang stuff any where you want. Once painted it will look just fine - after it is a garage.

I've got 50 sheets waiting to be put up to the ceiling of my garage - just trying to decide if I'm gonna do it - can't decide if we are going to stay here or if we are gonna move