Workshop or garage with living quarters above

[sarmanz_male]

Has anyone here ever built a workshop or garage with living quarters above? My wife and I are considering this as an affordable way to start living on an acreage. Or thought is that without the basement, this would be much cheaper to build than a house. We would likely have a triple car sized garage below, which would give us a decent sized apartment above. Eventually, and slowly, we would build the house we want and this could be used as a mother in law suite to rent out our as a guest house. Any thoughts on this?

[CaberTosser]

All I can say is if you want a triple garage, go with a quadruple. If you want a quadruple, build a quintuple. Put a washroom in the garage level too, it saves running stairs every time you need to use the facilities.

[GregT]

We built a small apartment into my shop. There was a full bathroom with laundry, small kitchen with a counter and space for a couch and tv. I also backed in a camper trailer and walled it into the apartment so I didnt have to build bedrooms. We only stayed in there 8 months but once our house was built we pulled out the trailer and furniture and it was back to a shop. There wasnt much wasted material. I went to that Restore place on mayfield road for a bunch of supplies. Looking back i would have added an extra window or two. It was a little dark in there through the winter.
Greg

[Dean2]

When my mother-in-law was building her home that is exactly what we built for temporary living quarters. Four car, 40x40 garage with a living quarters on top. There was a shower, toilet and Laundry facility on the main garage level as well as a full bath upstairs. Had lots of room for 5 bedrooms, kitchen, family room in the 1600 Sq ft upper level. Made a nice, private guest house after the house was built. It could of also have been a great rental property that would have drawn in substantial rent as a revenue stream and given you someone to look after the place over winter if you want to go south..

[owlhoot]

Granny suites over garages are done all the time. I would look into the fire separation required by the county or governing agency.

[Grizzly Adams]

It's called a Coach house, practical way to have your cake and eat it too. Not necessarily cheap but gives you the flexibility to build your main residence as time and finances permits.

Grizz

[Sooner]

My Uncle & Aunt built a big garage package, plumbed it and basically one room held the bathroom, utilities and laundry. Lived in an open space it until their house was built. Once they moved in, garage became an awesome work shop and you didn't have to, clean off the clothes etc & leave the garage to go the bathroom. I have seen other garages with living spaces above all over the city. Great idea, future in law/rental suite.

[sarmanz_male]

A Coach House is exactly what we were thinking. I don't it expect it to be cheap, but it should be more affordable than a full house considering that the main floor is pretty much just open garage and there will be no cost of a basement.

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by sarmanz_male

A Coach House is exactly what we were thinking. I don't it expect it to be cheap, but it should be more affordable than a full house considering that the main floor is pretty much just open garage and there will be no cost of a basement.

Keep in mind you’ll be needing at least 1.5 meter footings. I’ve been looking into the coach house / large garage and the 1.5 meter footings are required whenever there is a coach house or if the garage is over a certain square footage. Of course the requirement was stated in metric but I recall it converting to somewhere around 1000 to 1100 square feet. Being that my own plans for a coach house fall into both requirements it makes me curious of the additional cost of putting in a full basement, I know an engineered slab capable of supporting a loaded 1 ton van will be substantial, but man would it ever be cool.

[sarmanz_male]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

Keep in mind you’ll be needing at least 1.5 meter footings. I’ve been looking into the coach house / large garage and the 1.5 meter footings are required whenever there is a coach house or if the garage is over a certain square footage. Of course the requirement was stated in metric but I recall it converting to somewhere around 1000 to 1100 square feet. Being that my own plans for a coach house fall into both requirements it makes me curious of the additional cost of putting in a full basement, I know an engineered slab capable of supporting a loaded 1 ton van will be substantial, but man would it ever be cool.

I was considering doing a frost protected shallow foundation (thickened edge slab), which should be significantly less concrete.

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by sarmanz_male

I was considering doing a frost protected shallow foundation (thickened edge slab), which should be significantly less concrete.

Depends on your location, but I'd sure not risk it with my money. Frost heave or settlement would sure make that a regrettable decision. I know it says frost-protected in your link's title, but why risk it. Also, your link is bad.

[sarmanz_male]

Thanks, fixed the link. You're right, I will definitely do my research before committing to that method, but I know it is commonly used with success in northern Europe.

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

Keep in mind you’ll be needing at least 1.5 meter footings. I’ve been looking into the coach house / large garage and the 1.5 meter footings are required whenever there is a coach house or if the garage is over a certain square footage. Of course the requirement was stated in metric but I recall it converting to somewhere around 1000 to 1100 square feet. Being that my own plans for a coach house fall into both requirements it makes me curious of the additional cost of putting in a full basement, I know an engineered slab capable of supporting a loaded 1 ton van will be substantial, but man would it ever be cool.

Caber

I it any cheaper for you to use screw piles. I know it saved me a ton when I built the second garage but I only had to go down 8 to 14 feet get the torque ratings I needed.

[jpohlic]

Here's some free advice from a guy who's been designing homes for 21 years... don't do a slab on grade garage if you've got finished living space above it. Caber is right, even if it's "frost protected" and engineered with loads of rebar, it's gonna move. That might be ok if its just a garage or shop or commerical warehouse, but not a house. I've done a few frost protected slab on grade houses and am not happy with their performance and I no longer recommend it. Also, I have a slab on grade garage and I hate it, always having problems with the doors not opening due to movement of the slab.

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by Dean2

Caber

I it any cheaper for you to use screw piles. I know it saved me a ton when I built the second garage but I only had to go down 8 to 14 feet get the torque ratings I needed.

I've not started formal design work for mine yet, though I am serious about at least costing out the same building with a full basement option versus the 1.5 meter foundation to see if its financially viable. The suite above will be for a rental so that will help with the building costs, I could probably pull $1200 - $1400/month out of it. Have the suite pay for my garage/shop

[CantThinkOfAName]

Edmonton calls them garden suites (https://www.edmonton.ca/residential_...en-suites.aspx).

[curtis_rak]

I might be in this same boat one day here soon and have also considered buying a nice park model/tiny home to tide me over until the build is done and then selling it. These mobiles that you see now at these golf course subdivisions like Trestle Creek are super nice, reasonably priced, and I think you could off load it after a year or so without much of a loss.

However I love the one idea that was posted about building a shop with a bathroom/laundry/kitchenette and parking the RV inside the shop to sleep in. That’s really appealing to me personally.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sneeze]

Originally Posted by sarmanz_male

Any thoughts on this?

Yup. It will be as expensive. Change your thinking - you are not building a garage with a living space above it. The building code interprets it as a house with a carport beneath it.

You will need to do all the same fun & expensive things you do when you are building a "normal" house.

[sarmanz_male]

I have no doubt it will still be expensive, but it should be more affordable than building a full house to start. We have considered other options including a double wide trailer, but building a coach house gives us something we will need and use once the main home is completed. We are actually approved for enough to build the house right away, but I feel like just because I am approved for that amount, it doesn't mean it is a good idea.

[canuck]

Originally Posted by sarmanz_male

I was considering doing a frost protected shallow foundation (thickened edge slab), which should be significantly less concrete.

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

Depends on your location, but I'd sure not risk it with my money. Frost heave or settlement would sure make that a regrettable decision. I know it says frost-protected in your link's title, but why risk it. Also, your link is bad.

Originally Posted by jpohlic

Here's some free advice from a guy who's been designing homes for 21 years... don't do a slab on grade garage if you've got finished living space above it. Caber is right, even if it's "frost protected" and engineered with loads of rebar, it's gonna move. That might be ok if its just a garage or shop or commerical warehouse, but not a house. I've done a few frost protected slab on grade houses and am not happy with their performance and I no longer recommend it. Also, I have a slab on grade garage and I hate it, always having problems with the doors not opening due to movement of the slab.

My parents are in a thickened edge, slab on grade home and they love it
We built it ourselves 12 years ago and it hasn't moved a bit - and we (dad and I) are just dumb plumbers, not engineers.
It takes a a lot more concrete than you might think, and success depends very much on your subsoil conditions or, maybe we just got lucky?

Myself, I live in a "shouse" - a pole building with attached living quarters.
2100' of shop/garage space with 1650' living space all infloor heated.
I probably wouldn't go this route again but its sure been cheap living for the 8 years I've been here now.

[crackerJ99]

First time post here,

Just wondering if anyone has any information on zoning, bylaws, minimum acreage size for building a shop with living quarters.

I would like to purchase 5 to 10 acres around the Calgary area and build a 50 x 80ft shop with living quarters.

I am having problems finding out if this is even allowed in the local counties?

[Trochu]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

Keep in mind you’ll be needing at least 1.5 meter footings.

I'm almost certain that isn't correct. I believe the building code states it needs to be "designed for frost protection" whether that be via depth, heating, hoarding, or a combination of the three, is up to the owner. I specialize mainly in commercial/industrial/institutional structures, so I may be wrong, but I also don't recall to many 5' trenches along the back wall of homes with walk-out basements either.

Originally Posted by jpohlic

Here's some free advice from a guy who's been designing homes for 21 years... don't do a slab on grade garage if you've got finished living space above it. Caber is right, even if it's "frost protected" and engineered with loads of rebar, it's gonna move.

Essentially all slab-on-grade slabs move, warehouses, shops, garages, basements, all of them. Some just move more than others. Not sure why you think this is such a bad idea though, essentially 99% of the homes in Alberta are grade supported via shallow foundations. Additionally, the floor slab in the vast majority of these homes are also grade supported. I don't think I've ever seen a house with a structural slab in the basement. If you've designed it for "frost protection", and it still moves via frost, there are a few options. A, your design wasn't adequate, hence, it wasn't designed for "frost protection", B, the heat went out, or C, it's a 100 year event. Living in a slab on grade structure, designed properly, would not concern me. The vast majority of us are currently doing so....

[Berniebeag]

I would recommend to check your local development regs. closely. I did what you are planning. I built a 3 car garage with living area above it with plans for a retirement home in the future about 50' away. I shared my plan with the development people at the time and no problem. 10 years later I go to build the house and am told I cannot have two residences on the property and was always the case. In the end I had to attach the house to the garage and even then it was a fight. One board member even wanted me to remove the second level of the garage completely, another was trying to force me to tear out all the plumbing so that it would not be considered a residence!!!! in the end I am happy with how it turned out being attached but as quite the fight and a lot of frustration to get it done.

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by Berniebeag

I would recommend to check your local development regs. closely. I did what you are planning. I built a 3 car garage with living area above it with plans for a retirement home in the future about 50' away. I shared my plan with the development people at the time and no problem. 10 years later I go to build the house and am told I cannot have two residences on the property and was always the case. In the end I had to attach the house to the garage and even then it was a fight. One board member even wanted me to remove the second level of the garage completely, another was trying to force me to tear out all the plumbing so that it would not be considered a residence!!!! in the end I am happy with how it turned out being attached but as quite the fight and a lot of frustration to get it done.

Excellent advice. I would also suggest you get formal development approval for what you are building immediately and the FINAL completed design and get both in writing. Approval is technically only good for X number of years, depending on which County, but having it in writing will make it a lot easier later on if there is an argument because the staff have changed at the County.

[curtz]

Originally Posted by sarmanz_male

I was considering doing a frost protected shallow foundation (thickened edge slab), which should be significantly less concrete.

I did a engineered slab ( thickened edge ), for my 30 x 40 garage and it's fine but if your doing 2 stories you would deffiently want to do piles and pony wall.