How to Build a Garage - The quest for approval

How to Build a Garage - The quest for approval:

Normally getting the permit to start work is pretty painless - at least around here, (upstate NY). Everyone is pretty friendly and easy going they'll bust on you a bit with building codes etc. That usually happens after you get the permit to start building. I haven't even got that far on my latest garage.

I got all my ducks in a row, I had my plans, I'd had my survey, I had spoken with the village clerk and the codes officer and my neighbors. Everyone was ok with everything the only sticking point was that I wasn't 10 feet from my neighbors backyard. I'm 50-70 feet from any of their buildings. My driveway runs straight back and fans out to be 25' wide I had planned on putting my 24' garage right there at the end of the driveway. When I had spoken to the village clerk, who is also the neighbor whose backyard isn't 10' away from the garage, she told me she didn't have any problem with it I just had to get approval from the village board. I had started this process in July so I could get it built and situated before the weather started... around here it's usually late November.

I went to the board meeting and they gave me conditional approval - pending their lawyer's final decision. What that means is that I can't start building until I get that approval, which was two weeks ago.

I'm sure I'll get the approval and yes I've been in since to rattle the cage but I guess the moral of the story is that it will always take longer to do anything when the government gets involved - any government so be sure to take that into account when trying to plan - add a month or two for the FUBAR factor.

Thanks for reading

How to Build a Garage - Part 1

How to build a garage - one of the first considerations should be how big and what kind, how many stalls. You've got a lot of options I looked at most standard type construction, mainly, "stick built" framed with lumber on a foundation, slab, artic slab, footings etc. - more on foundation types later, or a Pole Barn which doesn't need a full foundation per se

It really depends on how big you want it to be - if you were just using it to store stuff and your vehicles you could probably get away with a 24' x 24' Stick built garage. Usually your plans will give you options for 1 or 2 stalls. If you wanted a workshop or something similar in your garage you might want to think about a 24' x 32' which is what I'll be building soon - I hope - more on that later too. If you want a three stall or bigger garage or need a lot more room for whatever, I would really recommend looking at the pole building type. It gives you a lot more options span wise, and the larger buildings are more cost effective then the standard lumber framed garage.

So first you want to figure out what kind of garage, then you'll need to find the survey of your property unless you are 100% sure you aren't anywhere near your neighbors property. If you don't have a survey I would recommend you get one. They run $300-1000 (mine was $750) but it's vital if there is ever a question from your codes, or your local government.

Next you should check with your local government - town clerk, codes office etc. to find out what kind of restrictions there may be on you type of construction and distances you have to maintain, for example it's suggested that I stay 10 feet from the property line, some localities don't allow pole barns. Obviously this is good to know ahead of time.

Next post on How to Build a Garage will be on site concerns and grade. In the mean time Check out some pretty good books from amazon.