Garage - Triple Oversized Garage (Yippee!)
We built an Over-sized Triple Car Garage on this house, and if we ever get our way, we'll build a House with a Five Car Garage, just because I think that would be great! The thing to keep in mind when you are at the Building Stage (hopefully still at the Planning Stage) is that a Garage is not a terribly expensive thing to build, so go as big as you can.
We were restricted here by the Architectural Controls in our Neighborhood -- no Garage could be over 1000 square feet, so ours is just under 1000 -- I think we came in at 956 square feet -- it's a 36' X 28', I think -- I'll need to have a wee look at the Blueprints to refresh my memory!
So if you have room on your Lot, and the Architectural Guidelines allow for it, at least build a Triple Garage -- you can't go wrong with that. It's always surprising how much stuff you can pack into a garage, then there's no room for your Vehicles! ha,ha! Happens to everyone, especially when you live in the Country, because then you'll have a Riding Lawn Mower and a million other 'country-related' items! The cost to add on more footage to your Garage is relatively minimal, but it will greatly increase the Value of your Property. And make your life a whole lot better, too!
If you can swing the Cost, have the Garage Insulated, Drywalled and Painted before you move in. It makes a huge difference in the look of the garage, and it'll save you a bundle on Heating costs if you live in a Cold Climate. And in terms of Heating a Garage, the best way to manage that effectively and with a reasonable cost is with an Overhead Heater. We have ours hanging from the Ceiling in the Garage, and the Control is by the Back Door on the way into the Garage. If it's cold and I want to get some painting done (no, nothing fancy -- just a whole pile of Trim!), I turn the heat up to 70 Degrees, then by the time I'm dressed in my Painting mini-skirt (it's blue with quite a bit of paint on it -- and then I have a purple long skirt with a tremendous amount of white paint on it if any other workers will be at the house while I'm painting!), the garage is nice and toasty!
Some folks like to put Radiant In-Floor Heat in their Garages, but it's very expensive and not much more useful than the Overhead Heater (very inexpensive), so keep that in mind when you are building. The exception would be if you have a Workshop in your Garage and you're working out there all the time -- then you might like to have a nice warm floor. I would do both, if that were the case. We have Radiant Heat in our Lower Level and anywhere there is a Tiled Floor in the house (and we have over 1500 square feet of Tiled Floor, so that's a fair bit on In-Floor Heating...), and it is a very pleasant thing to have.
** 
Photo Gallery Step-by-Step Pictures of the Entire Building Process! Everything From the Photo Gallery... LAND *** HOUSE PLANS (All About Blue Prints!) *** EXCAVATION *** FOUNDATION *FRAMING * WINDOWS & DOORS *DRIVEWAY ***MECHANICAL & ELECTRICAL *** INTERIOR WALLS & STAIRS ***GARAGE ***EXTERIOR FINISH (Scratch Coat) *** LIGHTING ***KITCHEN CABINETRY *** FLOORING ***APPLIANCES ***EXTERIOR FINISH (Stucco) **DECKS, PARKS & PATIOS *** KITCHEN ISLAND ***MOVING DAY! ***DECORATING ***LANDSCAPING *** LINENS 'N THINGS * Time-Line for Our Build.
It's a Great Big Site, chock full of all sorts of Fun Stuff and Useful Information... take your time and have a wee look around -- I think you might be surprised by some of the stuff you find!<
>
Site Menu ** My Overstock.com Page!**My Amazon Page**Home Improvement Shopping!**Great Shopping!** Webmasters** Contests ** Get a Mortgage * Internet Connections * Recipes ** Tips ** Photo Gallery *Real Estate * Home Improvement * Skin Care * Fitness At Home *Scottish Highland Games * Home Improvement Shopping * 10 Tips to Sell Your House Faster! * Mortgage Info Made Easy! * Ailsa's Biography *Tia -- The Dog!* Great Gifts! *Online Education * Travel * Links *Personal Breathalizer* Books & Magazines *Fantastic Freebies!
<
>