The long trek to build a garage for my Saab

[Golfhunter]

Fantastic !!! I'm impressed !! And looks very nice !

[Dave T]

It may be another 6-8 weeks until it gets the city's certificate of occupancy. The interior of the garage is not yet finished. The structure hasn't been named yet. How about calling it Saab House? Or Saab World?



March 2012



Inside of the second floor of Saab House

[Dave T]

Saga to build a home for the Saab completed

The long saga to build a new garage for my Saab is finally over. It was completed last June.

The saga took almost three years to complete; 2009-2012

The idea to build a garage began in 2009. I did thinking and sketching on my own, as well as researching the municipal codes. Architects were interviewed in late spring of 2010 and one was chosen around July, 2010. The original goal was to get a building permit by around February 2011, but the approval process was slow. The city required hiring many consultants, including a consultant for the trees, a geotech consultant to report on drainage, a surveyor, a consultant to prove the altitude of the property and that I had not built a man-made hill to place the structure on (and get a better view). A general contractor was selected by July 2011 just as there were indications that the building permit was about to be approved. The building permit was approved in August, 2011. Construction began within a month and was not completed until early May 2012. The city issued a Certificate of Occupancy in June 2012.





Some nice things about the garage

1. 220V outlet for future electric car. It is the dark outlet on the stub wall on the left.
2. 2 windows, frosted glass for privacy, can be opened for view of the trees. One of the windows is shown
3. Window screens to keep out flies. You would be surprised to see how many windows in houses don't have screens.
4. There is a shelf on the wall to store things for the car, such as car wash solution or a squeegee
5. The stub wall on the first and second floor is there for improved structural support against earthquakes.
6. The garage has a burglar alarm. Whether or not it has a booby trap, like James Bond's Lotus Esprit Turbo, you'll have to find out first hand.



7. Exhaust fan on a timer, good for smelly exhaust fumes on start up. One fault is that the timer switch is not near the garage door switch. The location was not specified by the architect and I did not catch it in time.
8. There are globe shaped light fixtures to illuminate the engine compartment so that one can check the car without a flashlight.
9. There is a large rectangular light fixture to make the room brighter, if necessary.
10. Not shown is that there is a water faucet/bib for a garden hose inside the garage. The lower part of the wall is waterproof so one might be able wash the car inside the garage if it is too sunny outside or if it is raining. I would have to make sure that water drains outside. The floor is sloped so it should.
11. Not shown is a grab bar by the step to enter the house. The step up also reduces the amount of carbon monoxide seeping into the house.
12. Also not shown is a bollard in one of the spaces to reduce the chance of a driver driving into the wall.



13. The garage floor is not merely concrete. It has an epoxy coating with decorative chips inlaid.



14. In case of a power failure, there is a concrete pad behind the garage and a connection to hook up a portable gasoline powered electric generator.



15. There is not just an attic above the garage but fully finished space to think about Saabs. This space is heated.
16. There are plenty of shelves to store Saab parts or Saab books.
17. There are many windows so the space is well lit. One window is designed so that a window air conditioner can be easily installed. Air conditioning is relatively rare in Seattle.

Fireman's pole is banned
A fireman's pole to slide from the 2nd floor to the garage was considered but banned by the city.

In retrospect, I would have considered a window with a curtain so that one could sit inside the house and look at the car.

I do have a small disclaimer. This is a shared garage, like a duplex. I have two spaces of the four. It's not all mine. However, I get the credit (or blame) for all of the design features.

[nordwulf]

Who needs a house when you have a garage like that. Add a small kitchen and bathroom and I could live there! That's an amazing garage and it looks like it was worth the all the planning and the wait.

Thanks for sharing and making me quite a bit jealous of such a nice place. Was there a garage-warming party, fireworks or ribbon cutting upon completion?

[Dave T]

One source of inspiration was a Jiffy Lube that has two bays, an office, but a high, sloped roof that looks like a house. That gave me the idea of space on top of the garage, not connected, like Jiffy Lube.

My unit has merely 1200 sq ft., not counting the above garage space, plus two garage spaces so it really is a garage with an attached house, not a house with a garage. Before, the house had a one car garage, which is too few spaces for a duplex. Clearly, not designed by a motor head.

[nordwulf]

Sadly, your garage is bigger than my apartment and my Saab has to sleep outside! If I ever get filthy rich, I'll build a garage first and then a house around it. Yeah, probably not going to happen..

[nordwulf]

Any updates after having used the garage for a few years? Curious to see what you did with the space above the garage.