Using an empty house as a garage

I have a garage problem, it's too small. I live in a normal subdivision that would not allow a big shop/garage to be built. I just bought an empty lot a couple of houses down from me and I'm thinking about building a house there to use as a garage. Build the shell where it looks "normal" from the street but leave it unfinished inside so as to have lots of parking space. If/when I get tired of the space, I could finish the inside and sell it/rent it as a normal house. I was thinking about what would be the best traditional house design where I could optimize my go forward plan. My initial plan is to build a two story (1st floor would be ~2k sq ft) and not finish the inside except for a bathroom. Any ideas?

Buy a warehouse or airport hanger, what you are envisioning will be extremely expensive and not render a lot of useful space.

 

The construction of most typical residential structures has quite a few load bearing walls that will ruin your chance of useful space. Also, you won't pass final inspection without completing plumbing, electrical, and mechanical.

 

They aren't designed to be a shell that is built out like a commercial space.

Buy a warehouse or airport hanger, what you are envisioning will be extremely expensive and not render a lot of useful space.

 

The construction of most typical residential structures has quite a few load bearing walls that will ruin your chance of useful space. Also, you won't pass final inspection without completing plumbing, electrical, and mechanical.

 

They aren't designed to be a shell that is built out like a commercial space.

 

My problem with the hanger/warehouse is it's too far away. I like the idea of having all my stuff close by. Your point of the walls is why I was asking the question. Any designs that would maximize the space but still be useful later on? I was thinking there may be some permit issues but haven't progressed the idea enough to investigate. I was thinking I could finish the outside walls and have the plumbing capped off but ready for finishing?

I'd listen to emanon, great advice. I've been looking into hangars and warehouse properties. The shit thing is in So Cal even those cost an arm and a leg. I'd expect you could find something nice and not stupid expensive in Houston?

My problem with the hanger/warehouse is it's too far away. I like the idea of having all my stuff close by. Your point of the walls is why I was asking the question. Any designs that would maximize the space but still be useful later on? I was thinking there may be some permit issues but haven't progressed the idea enough to investigate. I was thinking I could finish the outside walls and have the plumbing capped off but ready for finishing?

 

Won't pass inspection, you need it finished.

 

If you're in a subdivision, what building guidelines are in the CC&R's, or does it just revert to the city building codes?

 

You would have to design it as a shell structure with the required bathrooms completely finished, etc. Go through the whole permit/build/inspection process and pass the final. Then, if you wanted to change the interior to make it livable, you'll have to pull permits, gut it, and build out from there.

 

You'll be far ahead to just move and buy a house with enough garage space, or build something from the ground up that fits your needs. This will eat a small fortune and chances are the finished product will be a clusterfuck that nobody (err nobodies wife) will want to buy.

 

Talk to a local architect and see what they say. Consider that this is going to be very expensive construction (big open spans need big $$ steel and/or glulam beams). You'll probably be priced out of the local market before you eat the 6 figure cost to turn it into something livable.

 

Which takes me back to my original thought, put all that $$$ into buying yourself an awesome place that has the garage space you want.

emanon completely knows what he is talking about, +1 on following his advice.

 

Even if you managed to pull off the inspection, getting the proper insurance is going to be a nightmare. Heavens forbid if you have to make a claim; having the insurance people to deny your claim will be like taking candy from a baby.

Buy a house with more garage space. Cheaper and less headaches then having a house down the street. Whether its renting a place to park your cars or walking down the block to a second home its always nicer to just have them where you live

Buy a house with more garage space. Cheaper and less headaches then having a house down the street. Whether its renting a place to park your cars or walking down the block to a second home its always nicer to just have them where you live

 

 

I would agree. I would never consider what you are doing when you could easily spend more money to upgrade to a nicer home with more garage space since you obviously have the money to buy a lot/build another home.

We looked into turning a downstairs family room into an extension of our garage. It shares the garage wall and we thought we could take down the wall - putting in proper structural support if it's load bearing. We could fit two cars in the family room - so our three car garage would have two space that were tandem (meaning a car is parked in front of another car. Figured we could put it back when we sell the house.

 

Our insurance agent told us that we needed the cars enclosed by proper fire wall. If we wanted another man door into the basement (where we have a bar/kitchen plus bedroom, bathroom and some storage rooms and furnace room) - the door needed to pass certain codes.

 

There is a fire place in that family room and that posed a problem and would have to be walled off with 2 hour wall because it goes up through the center of the house - into the upstairs family room. Flues are separate but it's all in the same chase. The ceiling of the room also needed to be beefed up for fire. And the room cannot share any HVAC with the house - so the vents that heat/cool the room would have to be properly contained so fire cannot spread through HVAC. I may be forgetting other annoying details.

 

By the time we learned about all the code issues and that any space containing a car must be built to certain specs - it was too much expense/aggravation to bother.

 

Can you build an addition to your garage that's high enough for a lift? Would that solve the problem? Do you have enough ceiling height in your existing garage to put in lifts?

 

A friend in a swanky Illinois northern suburb used to rent his house when his was living with his GF. His lease specified that he kept some of his garage space. His tenant was great and obviously it's risky - but what about building the house next door with a 3 or four car garage, and then walling off one or two bays to keep for yourself, and rent the house allowing tenants some, but not all garage space. And when you no longer need the garages you remove the walls within the garage and sell the house (or rent it with all garages).

Why can't you just build a 3-5 car detached garage without a house? This way, build the house when you want and you don't have to convert anything?

 

You can also look into a pre-fab.

Build a very small house with a massive basement. Get a development approval which will enable you to do a two stage build so you could potentially add to the house in the future if you want to control the initial outlay.

Well I like the idea.....fake house right across the street from your residence.

 

But.....moving to a home with a larger garage may be best as an investment.

Airport hanger etc...I understand the burden of traveling to it.

Local permits...I'd imagine this requiring skill for approval.

Construction...cement box/ fake residential swing out door, then "Hollywood/ Fake" residence façade.

(Reselling this place, since it is only a garage, not zoned for business, may not be beneficial to your wallet.)

Construction...regular residential, with unfinished downstairs I also think the walls or support pillars may be an issue.

(Also depends on how big a garage you are desiring.)

 

Yet...I love the idea.

Good luck.

Why can't you just build a 3-5 car detached garage without a house? This way, build the house when you want and you don't have to convert anything?

 

You can also look into a pre-fab.

 

I would consult an architect who knows zoning laws well in your area and see where you could build such a thing, and maybe somewhat close to residential where you can get needs met.

 

Only other thing I can think of is somehow trying to finagle some kind of variance.

 

 

Park in the house. Live in the garage. I like it. Keeps the neighbors guessing.

My original idea for my house was to make the whole bottom level a garage. When we started to design it we found out it would just be way to expensive to have the whole lower level open with no load baring walls. The next two levels would have had to be built on top of it.

 

Sometimes ideas sound great on paper but in the end are not worth it.

 

If you did this you would have two mortgages just so you could have a bigger garage. I say you just find a house with a massive garage or a house with a lot so you can build your dream garage! It's always better to have your cars live as close to you as possible

Park in the house. Live in the garage. I like it. Keeps the neighbors guessing.

Plus thieves do not know where to rob.

Yep, I'd move over having two mortgages and the trouble it would come with.

Thanks for all the input. A lot to think about, no pun intended. It's a non-starter for me to move to a different property, we live on a lake and the family likes the neighbors, etc. Because we are on the lake the lots are too close together to build on to my existing home. Since I want something super close, a hanger or warehouse is ruled out as well. I need to investigate more but I think it's coming down to either I just use the lot to build a proper garage (I bought the house next door as well as a package deal just in case I could only build a garage if it was "attached" to a home). The other option is to build a normal house on the lot with a large garage, rent out the house and keep the garage for myself. First world problems as they say...

Thanks for all the input. A lot to think about, no pun intended. It's a non-starter for me to move to a different property, we live on a lake and the family likes the neighbors, etc. Because we are on the lake the lots are too close together to build on to my existing home. Since I want something super close, a hanger or warehouse is ruled out as well. I need to investigate more but I think it's coming down to either I just use the lot to build a proper garage (I bought the house next door as well as a package deal just in case I could only build a garage if it was "attached" to a home). The other option is to build a normal house on the lot with a large garage, rent out the house and keep the garage for myself. First world problems as they say...

 

Knowing all this up front would have been helpful.

 

How far away from your current house are the other properties? If you seemingly don't care about the $$, tear down the existing home, combine the lots and build something cool.

 

You might be able to get away with combining the lots and building a cool standalone garage, but it will be one property at that point and very difficult to separate later.

 

You need to talk to an architect familiar with your local building codes, there is just way too much speculation to form a reasonable opinion.

 

The lot and house I just bought are four houses down the street from my home. The local codes will not allow me to build a standalone garage so either I need to build a new house and garage on the lot or combine it with the house I just bought next to the lot and build an additional garage there for my use. An additional garage would be best but probably not the most financially prudent idea.

The lot and house I just bought are four houses down the street from my home. The local codes will not allow me to build a standalone garage so either I need to build a new house and garage on the lot or combine it with the house I just bought next to the lot and build an additional garage there for my use. An additional garage would be best but probably not the most financially prudent idea.

 

None of this is anywhere in the ballpark of financially prudent. That case was out the window several hundred thousand dollars ago, when you bought two additional properties without doing any due-diligence on your master plan.

 

If it's that close, I would work with an architect to combine the lots and either do a teardown with a fresh build, or addition to the existing structure.

 

Getting the appropriate size lot might remove a building code restriction that is preventing your separate garage at this point. Most times it's difficult because they have maximum land coverage clauses and setback guidelines, with a ton of empty space that might be workable.

 

 

Start again.

 

Tell us more details please.

Is my underground suggestion an option? In that instance, providing basements are acceptable under the code, you could build minimum necessary above ground which satisfies code, rent it out and use the basement.

 

A friend of mine has a 7 car garage basement under his two level house which sits on a 800 sqm plot of land so it's doable.

You are not alone on this idea.

 

I know someone who bought their next door neighbor. He has two water front properties that value now at 2.5m each. He was able to put 6-7 cars in that house. I think the value of the house doubled in last 7-8 years.

Is my underground suggestion an option? In that instance, providing basements are acceptable under the code, you could build minimum necessary above ground which satisfies code, rent it out and use the basement.

Wasnt there a guy that did just as you said a few years back? The HOA said no for more garage so the guy dug underground and did a bad ass garage. The whole process looked way worse than just adding an aboveground garage but it was up to code. I want to say it was in Utah. Rob? And I think I said it was stupid because it was in a neighborhood of for example 500k houses and he spent way more than that to complete. But it was bad ass!