Hi everyone, I have a design question for anyone out there:
I’m building a shop/garage for my dad, it’s 20’x24′ and will have (i think)a 5/12 pitch gable roof. The total height will be 14′ and the walls will be 10′. It will be sided with T1-11 (to meet his budget).
My goodness what a boring looking building this will be. anyone have any ideas to spice up the appearance? So far the ideas are are a glass-block window and a round gable-window.
Any more Ideas??
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Replies
Cupola (wire it for lights and impress your neighbors)
Dormer(s)
Carriage house garage doors
Severe overhang (cantilever) the roofline for appearance and storage (if in back)
Skylights
thanks for your reply nick! I forgot to mention skylights, we are doing that. Dormers will add too much to the price.we will be lighting it, It's a re-build/expantion of what was there, before i demo'd the old one, and there is allready a 100amp box.I like tha GAR. door idea, we were thinking of doing that Overhang will be 18", no more room then that.----------------------------
But what about some wacky soffit/facia ideas.. Simple stuff to take your yeys off of that nasty looking T1-11. --Any ideas on where to look (on the www) for building/architectural accents for small buildings?
Cupola (wire it for lights and impress your neighbors)
Very cool idea.
Dormer(s)
Might be tough with the low pitch.
Carriage house garage doors
Barn sliders, too/besides/in lieu
Severe overhang (cantilever) the roofline for appearance and storage (if in back)
I'd be tempted to a farmer's porch with metal roofing--since you can change the pitch, there's less problems with headroom & space under. It also adds detail to a "plain" building.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Dormer, maybe shed, but it doesn't matter, as any type would probably be out of the budget.
I wired the cupola on our garage and it attracts comments, especially when the buld is different colors. Just beware of wasps.
I never met a tool I didn't like!
Just beware of wasps
Hey, Protestants can make good neighbors <g>
Actually, the nylon window screening hammer tacked to the inside of the cupola works pretty well as keeping the striped ladies outside.
I see a newly built cupola on may way to work every day--I want to detail it with just one strand of rope lights so bad . . . Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
cupola: Anyone know where i can look online to figure how to tie that in to a gable roof? I've never built one of those but I'd like to learn how
No web sites off hand, but I haven't googled for any, either.
The simple geometry is a square from the center of the ridgeline. Now, what proportions are best for your structure are tied into the size (and treading into where I start charging <g>).
We can bash some numbers together to make a bit of a word picture, though. Say your rafter spacing is 24" OC. You could double up the two rafters on either side of the center and have a 22 1/2" space. That space would want "headering" off 11 1/4" on either side of the ridge. That gives a 22 1/2" square framed hole in the roof. The roof could then be sheathed normally. Now, for the height of the cupola box, the golden section would certainly suffice--so the either the height or the width gets to be part of the ratio. Traditionally, the height starts even with the height of the ridgeline. Also traditionally, the sides are typically just a framed opening like a window, which is filled with louvered slats.
More and less complicated cupola examples can be found. A hipped gable roof using hand seamed standing-seam metal roof is also traditional, andlong with a weather vane--but neither are required.
The framing, and the eventual flashing are rather just like that for a square chimney passing through a roof ridge.
Hope that helps.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
great! thanks for taking the time CapnMac, good writing too, you made it very clear
could I roof it and then build on the cupola later, just on top as if i were framing a dormer?
Sure can. If you want the cupola to add light or ventilation, it's a bit harder after the fact--but entirely possible.
You may have hit on the best description, a cupola is rather like a dormer turned 90 degrees.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
great CapnMac! I thanks for all your help. Im looking forward to building it.
Another idea: Add a 2-3 foot pergola over the garage door with members perpendicular to the garage. It be cantelevered or sit on clad 4x4s with a little mold around to match it up to your house molding. Simple to make, minimum cost for lumber and it adds enormous architectural interest. Then plant a wisteria vine so that it climbs up and covers the top of the pergola. Wisteria grows like a weed (duh), looks great and you get the double benefit of an interesting pergola and the planting. I've used this to dress up garages on multimillion dollar homes, and everyone loves it even though the cost is minimal.
SHG
yes, That is an excellent idea as well (pergola) My pop got excited to hear about it
Do you have a picture of the house or other structures this building is going up near, or a shot of it's proposed location? Are you comfortable giving a rough estimate of the budget? Are there any labor costs or are you doing it all at free gratis?
What I'm getting at is that there's no point in proposing the outlandish on a T1-11 budget but there are probably a few things proportion and fenestration wise that could make a nice difference. (see attached for example)
Tying it to the design of nearby buildings, particularly the house, is going to be key. It would help a lot to have a little better scope defined.
golden: Thank-you for the reply. I really aprriciate you taking the time I'll try to make this as simple an answer as possible.. Budget was higher than it is now. My dad is retiring and my sis was putting about 800 a month into the GAR. project.. My contribution will be to build it.. My dad can't re-tire untill it's built but it needs to happen soon.. His work is cutting re-tirement benefits almost every month. My sis lost her job the same week that the foundation was expanded(also the week we had planned to start framing).. So we are over on the budget allready.As far as the house that it will compliment.. The roof pitches wont be the same (un-fortunately dad wants 10' walls and height limit for us is 14').. (sorry no pics but..)The house is a 1909 victorian(simple for a victorian) with what I think is a 10/12 pitch roof.. The siding wont match but in a few years the house will need siding and the gar. will get it too..
AS far as labor, no cost. I am certantly willing to put in extra time in an effort for vanity but more $$ will be harder to come by.. What would be particularly usefull is ideas that could be implemented later(a few months after siding and roofing) when the budget wont be so tightDid that clear it up at all? I dont know If I've really "narrowed the scope" but I agree that: "there are probably a few things proportion and fenestration wise that could make a nice difference"..I think as far as windows and doors we've got it figured out to our satisfaction. But really I think that what would help alot is just little creative details here and there. example: Rafter tails that give the illusion that the roof pitch isnt so shallow.. Please anyone feel free to chime in with ideas, even bad ones! they can be great brainstorms and grow into a great ones..
Edited 11/24/2004 12:34 am ET by skyecore
"As far as the house that it will compliment.. The roof pitches wont be the same (un-fortunately dad wants 10' walls and height limit for us is 14').. (sorry no pics but..)The house is a 1909 victorian(simple for a victorian) with what I think is a 10/12 pitch roof.. The siding wont match but in a few years the house will need siding and the gar. will get it too.."
You may have already checked into this, but it may be possible to get a variance to build the roof at 10/12. I went through the same thing when I built my garage - I wanted it to match my 1913 colonial house, but city code wouldn't allow it. I applied for the variance, got signatures from neighbors OK'ing it, and went before the zoning board with drawings and photos to show them why it was a good idea. It was a lot of messing around, but in the end they allowed the variance and I got the garage I wanted.
wow! great! I diddnt think of that. I'll talk to the city about it next time I'm there.
Any construction salvage places in your area for some of the materials - doors, windows, etc?What hardware will you need for the interior or shop set-up. Maybe some of us here can contribute to this project. God knows we all do occasional freebies for our customers. We should be able to do it for "family". Either way, email me with an address and I'll send a modest check amount for whatever you can use it. Do you have a Sherwin Williams near you. You're gonna need paint and I can have it put on my account.
Sonny. That is terrably kind, my eyes were welling up when reading your response and it's touching that you would be so supportive without ever even meeting us. But I simply cant accept, I really appriciate it but perhaps I've overstated the situation. We will get it done, It's just the start date has been put off, and we're having to get a little creative with the matirials list.
To be clear. I think that this is a greater priority for my sister and I than it maybe is for my dad. This crap at work is normal in different levels for everyone, but I guess we just feel protective, and feel that a certain respect should come with his seniority and level of experise and knowlege. We do have a salvage supply here(my girlfriend's favorite place to waist time in) and it has been great, we got windows and a door for a great price.
I'd try to match the horizontal lines from the house if it has any. Or maybe use some half-timber looking trim to add some pizzaz? More Tudor than Victorian...ps does your girlfriend try sink aprons on her 'waist' at the salvage yard?
if you would like to dress it up later you could do this:apply the T1-11 now, and paint.Later, when you feel like it, apply batten strips over the T1-11 grooves to create a board & batten appearance. I suppose you pre-paint the strips. The batten strips help to minimize the "plywood" siding effect that T1-11 has and they provide more surface variation that tends to be pleasing to the eye.Also, I second the earlier suggestion of "carriage house" doors. The pre-fab jobs are very expensive but you can make your own. Buy the basic overhead wood door (like $500 ~ 800) and lay out the sections on a large flat surface. Space the sections apart by one saw kerf width and nail decorative wood over the top in a pattern you find pleasing. When finished, carefully cut the sections apart and hang. Voila, custom carriage house doors.The biggest challenge with DIY doors like this is getting the saw cut straight (so the joints will be as inconspicuous as possible) and remembering to install all the interior hardware carriage bolts before you start covering over the outside surface. Be sure to cut and install any diagonal decoration parts AFTER you have cut apart the sections and hung the door so that they will meet up correctly when the door is closed.You can get nice looking fake strap hinges and grab handles to put on the outside to complete the illusion of swing out carriage doors on your overhead sectional door. Lee Valley sells some good stuff for that.hope this helps,
Norm
Norm: Thanks for the batten strip idea, I hadnt thought about that.the carrage doors: Great Idea! I was just thinking of making them from scratch but that would be, for me, a bit of a challenging project.
"ps does your girlfriend try sink aprons on her 'waist' at the salvage yard?"-BSayerHA! no, but she does buy stuff like doors that dont fit, and then yells at me for not cleaning up all the "construction garbage".. does that count?
Boring is way underrated.
ha! you sound like my X-boss. He thought anything that wasnt purely for function was foofy and garbage. I think he is a product of 1950s & 60s building techniques
Before you take any of these suggestions, take a good look at the house and see if the idea will compliment the existing architecture or take off in a whole new direction. A new direction is fine if it doesn't detract from the main structure.
Creating a wide roof overhang, and leaving the rafter tails exposed with a custom cut end, is a nice Craftsman touch that costs very little. It also eliminates the minor expense of fascia. Look for an interesting detail on the house for the profile of the custom rafter tail cut.
A hip roof will add a little expense and complexity but it would really change the dynamics of the whole structure. A hip in place of a gable, on a low pitched roof, will help minimize the "cheap," prefab building look, especially with a deep over hang.
If you stay with the gable consider a sunburst or some other detail to spice it up. Try and work out a detail that will look nice on the house when you re-side it too.
I like the carriage door idea a lot. I seem to remember someone posting some pictures of a garage door they skinned like that a while back. I thought it was impressively nice and innovative.
Just keep studying the house for clues. Play off of that design if you can and the buildings ought to get along just fine. That's the real key to making it work without seeming clunky and out of place.
You might consider framing the walls with window openings now and then down the road when you have more money you could cut the openings out and pop the windows in quick and easy.
Parking a Corvette out front improves the appearance of any garage.
Paint flames on the garage door?
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