Building a DIY garage

Unless it goes to your pole (haha) 3 phase is very, very expensive.

A rotary phase converter, however, isn't.

I'm running a 5hp milling machine and a 5hp lathe lathe on a single Phase-a-matic RPC, which is on a dedicated 30A 220 circuit.

It'll run both simultaneously with no problem provided you start them sequentially. And it's a one man shop that's no problem.

If the long run of the mezzanine is supported on columns at 4 points and is well fabricated from correctly sized steel with a concrete over corrugated steel deck, you'll be fine. You'll need to pay an M.E. to either design it, or evaluate your drawings and provide a wet-stamped drawing so you're legally OK for the building inspectors.

why not add a little more support than just the 4 posts as shown? :P I assume there would actually be 5 in that configuration (one at the far wall, not shown), not to mention another assumed 5 posts along the back wall of the building, then add another 5 (or less) maybe halfway between the shown posts and the back wall, if necessary..

i assumed the drawing was just a rough visual, not necessarily how you wanted it built to a T

I do like the idea of a lift that doubles as an "elevator" for one of the upper bays, or at least consider having a pit on the lower level for under car access while it sits on the slab. one of my friends had that done when he had his house built.

moparman76_69 wrote: I assume the plans aren't complete? I'd hope you'd have more support for the "mezzanine" if you're parking cars on it.

The doors are on the 40' side. This was an older drawing when I was planning a 40x40.

... and yes, very incomplete. This was me playing with sketchup one night. Not really plans at all. Just a drawing.

Tom_Spangler wrote: Personally, I wouldn't use the mezzanine for cars, I'd just build it with a standard wood floor and use it for storage, office, or maybe lighter work. Building something that far off the ground that's strong enough to safely hold cars would be pretty expensive to do right. And dangerous if done wrong.....

Unfortunately that would remove nearly all of the functionality for which I designed this garage.

Don't listen to the haters, build as drawn but for your mezzanine just build for you to stand on and where you want to park your cars install 4 post lifts in cutouts. Drive onto in the raised position and lower to main floor level if desired.

As far as that goes, all you need is something to support the cars, just separate that function from the mezzanine floor.

I'm not sure about using a 4-post lift as an elevator between the ground floor and parking deck. Mainly due to the height. I've never seen a 4-post lift with a raised deck height of more than 6 feet, give or take, which would greatly limit the usefulness of the space below. I shudder to think what a custom 4-post that can go that high would cost.

The house is on the upper grade level. The parking mezzanine would simply function as a covered parking area without removing half of the garage for parking space. Under the mezzanine will be parking for tractors, a boat, and a long-term car project. The tall part of the garage will have a lift, but there is no plan for any connection from the lift to the mezzanine... other than standing on the mezzanine to be able to work under the hood as well as under the car without going up and down all the time.

Even if I anchored the top of a 4-post lift to the mezzanine, driving on a lifted platform is a big no-no.

If the mezzanine can't be used as daily-driver parking then I'll just skip it somehow. I thought about making the upper level be partly on terra firma on the upper grade level, but the upper grade level is fill that is only about 10 years old. Its not a good firm foundation for building. The lower grade level is rock solid. I have a feeling that building a mezzanine that is supported by the lower grade will be stronger than a ground-level pad build on the upper grade.

There's nothing wrong with the parking mezzanine idea, it'll just a require a bit more engineering thought. Whether or not that would be easier or cheaper than doing a slab on the upper grade level would be for a civil engineer to decide by actually looking at your soil, not any of us speculating.

You're in Pittsburgh still, right? If so, the fact the wall foundations will need to be below the frost line will reduce your concerns about the fill quality.

oldopelguy wrote: As far as that goes, all you need is something to support the cars, just separate that function from the mezzanine floor.

I like that idea except for driving on a lift in the up position. I don't mind a few poles under the mezzanine. My original thought was to make three bays under it (so two sets of poles) but since its mostly storage I could make four 10' bays. That would put three sets of poles directly under the parked cars above.

A revised drawing showing the rows of support posts.

And an idea a buddy of mine had... Adding a parts/build room would spread the load a bit over a wall that is 5-6' out under the mezzanine.

Ian F wrote: There's nothing wrong with the parking mezzanine idea, it'll just a require a bit more engineering thought. Whether or not that would be easier or cheaper than doing a slab on the upper grade level would be for a civil engineer to decide by actually looking at your soil, not any of us speculating. You're in Pittsburgh still, right? If so, the fact the wall foundations will need to be below the frost line will reduce your concerns about the fill quality.

Good point on the footers, I'm just worried that I do a 36" footer the whole way around and then the poured floor sinks 3" in the next 5 years

Are ICFs as strong as block or solid pours? I know there are several different types of ICF - some containing more concrete space, others with more foam. Just seems like replacing any of the concrete would nominally weaken the walls.

Given the topography, I think the mezzanine is a great use of space for daily in/out parking and lower project storage. I wish I had the space for something like that. I think your best bet at this point or at the point when you are ready to start the project, would be to find a way to sit down with an architect/engineer to explore design and material options. If you were to build at least the lower walls with block, I'm confident you could do a steel beam at the end of the mezzanine across that span, additional support, steel decking and a concrete slab, possibly without needing all of those columns. If you wanted a steel building and just a retaining wall, I'm sure supporting the mezzanine gets more complicated, but - more expensive? No idea.

In reply to curtis73:

My understanding is ICF's are used for two reasons, to provide insulation and to speed up construction. The concrete will be what it needs to be, regardless of what its poured into.

If the poured floor sinks, then the concrete guy didn't do his job.

A structural engineer will tell you how many columns you'll need to support the deck. To put it bluntly, there's a lot you're missing wrt supporting the deck. Columns are only part of it.

I can think of number of reasons why the offset room below is a bad idea, but I've already typed too much on a phone...

Ian F wrote: I can think of number of reasons why the offset room below is a bad idea, but I've already typed too much on a phone...

Hahaha... what if I said I was going to use the room as a secret sex lair?

I think the additional room does bring its own problems to the table, though.

I have taken some steps toward GRM'ing this project. Some of it I'll feel more confident just farming out, but I think it can happen with my local resources. Working at Home Depot I do have access to a wealth of resources. Unfortunately some of them are questionable resources, but here is what I've discovered so far.

One of my co-workers is currently in school for architecture. He is taking my drawings and plugging them into his software (as well as running it past his classmates and professors) and he wants to make this his practicum project. He's pretty new to the engineering side of it, but he's hip to the codes and resources he needs to engineer it properly.

My neighbor is a closet GRM'er who has access to tons of friendly help. He has a friend who can lend us a backhoe, our neighbor down the road has a landscaping business with excavation experience, and he has a brother who works in concrete. The contacts are coming together.

The other big resource I need to tap is the steel building supplier. Once I'm ready to pull the trigger, they will send me detailed foundation specs that are (vaguely) catered to my region. With this I should be able to fine-tune the specs while applying for permits and then I'll have everything I need to start sub-contracting the work.

This also brings up another question...

Can you think of any PBS or DIY TV shows that do this sort of thing? When I was discussing landscaping someone suggested I contact "Landscape Challenge" on some network and maybe I could get my work done nearly free. Can you think of any DIY or HGTV shows that do this sort of thing?

I'm just sayin'... I have no objection to a free garage.

Maybe it would be easier/cheaper to just pour a regular floor under where you want to park your daily drivers, then raise the side walls of the building enough to put an entire second story above both those cars and the lower shop area? Essentially you would gain half a building worth of floor space and eliminate a ton of engineering costs for the cost of a few feet worth of wall materials.

Pretty much building a small two story house with a walkout basement, just without a main floor over the basement.

oldopelguy wrote: Maybe it would be easier/cheaper to just pour a regular floor under where you want to park your daily drivers, then raise the side walls of the building enough to put an entire second story above both those cars and the lower shop area? Essentially you would gain half a building worth of floor space and eliminate a ton of engineering costs for the cost of a few feet worth of wall materials. Pretty much building a small two story house with a walkout basement, just without a main floor over the basement.

Its an idea I considered briefly. Unfortunately code won't let me. That would raise the peak height of the roof higher than code allows, and it would remove the ability to use a lift on the first floor. It would also make the garage such a dominant fixture on the property that it would be aesthetically ugly. (IMO)

I've been chewing on this design for a year and a half and its hard to find a way to deviate from it without taking away very large functionality for my purposes. This is intended to be an auto shop with storage for DDs and other things.