brianhughes
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- Feb 16, 2008
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My goal is to also build a two story garage/shed on an existing garage slab in the back corner of the yard.
This idea has been inspired by the large yard-barn prefab kits that I see for sale at the local big-box home store. Unfortunately those kits are not a good match for my existing slab, which for reasons of property line and other obstructions can not be widened from its 10.5’ by 19’ dimensions.
I have also discovered that while plans abound on the internet, I am having trouble finding any which would efficiently use my slab, and/or are two stories.
Firstly, I am interested in any source where I could buy plans appropriate to my slab.
As a backup plan I could probably buy plans for a 14’ by 16’ model and modify them with a little common sense…
I would assume that in a 14’ by 16’ design with an open floor plan in the lower level that the longer, the 16 foot, wall would be the load-bearing walls using a joist to span the shorter distance…That said, if I shrank the narrow side, even more to 10.5 ft and kept the joist the same it would only be stronger, right?
By the same logic, if I increase the distance between the non-load-bearing (end) walls it shouldn’t de-rate the integrity of the structure, should it?
Regardless of what I think I could do, I will need to permit this structure, and I really would hate to spend between $40 and $140 on plans that I modify, and then have to pay an architect several hundred dollars to give an official nod to my modifications.
This seems no better than me buying a bunch of lumber, several cases of beer and inviting a half dozen of my friends over for a modern barn raising.
The orange tinted big-box home improvement store sells several software packages for designing simple structures, but the details on one of the software titles states that it can do/calculate a design for any single level garage of up to a certain dimension, and the other 2 or 3 software titles make no mention of single or multi story capability leading me to think that multi-story is unlikely…
So I am back to thinking that I need to:
A. Purchase appropriate dimensioned plans, prefab plans
B. Engage a professional to design to suite
C. Find a Software title that will accommodate my needs
Any advice along these lines would be greatly appreciated and considered.
Thanks in advance,
BGH
This idea has been inspired by the large yard-barn prefab kits that I see for sale at the local big-box home store. Unfortunately those kits are not a good match for my existing slab, which for reasons of property line and other obstructions can not be widened from its 10.5’ by 19’ dimensions.
I have also discovered that while plans abound on the internet, I am having trouble finding any which would efficiently use my slab, and/or are two stories.
Firstly, I am interested in any source where I could buy plans appropriate to my slab.
As a backup plan I could probably buy plans for a 14’ by 16’ model and modify them with a little common sense…
I would assume that in a 14’ by 16’ design with an open floor plan in the lower level that the longer, the 16 foot, wall would be the load-bearing walls using a joist to span the shorter distance…That said, if I shrank the narrow side, even more to 10.5 ft and kept the joist the same it would only be stronger, right?
By the same logic, if I increase the distance between the non-load-bearing (end) walls it shouldn’t de-rate the integrity of the structure, should it?
Regardless of what I think I could do, I will need to permit this structure, and I really would hate to spend between $40 and $140 on plans that I modify, and then have to pay an architect several hundred dollars to give an official nod to my modifications.
This seems no better than me buying a bunch of lumber, several cases of beer and inviting a half dozen of my friends over for a modern barn raising.
The orange tinted big-box home improvement store sells several software packages for designing simple structures, but the details on one of the software titles states that it can do/calculate a design for any single level garage of up to a certain dimension, and the other 2 or 3 software titles make no mention of single or multi story capability leading me to think that multi-story is unlikely…
So I am back to thinking that I need to:
A. Purchase appropriate dimensioned plans, prefab plans
B. Engage a professional to design to suite
C. Find a Software title that will accommodate my needs
Any advice along these lines would be greatly appreciated and considered.
Thanks in advance,
BGH