THSCC Forums

As the title states, I'm kicking around building a garage to support my long term goal of building a kit car. Has anyone dealt with building a garage in wake county? I'm sure permits are needed, but do you need to supply plans? Would a kit plan suffice? What is the set back distance from the property line to a structure?

Has anyone dealt in any kits? If so, from where? Just getting started here, so I have time to investigate. Just wondering if someone has already tackled the issues of building in the county.

thanks!!

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Rodney

'08 Bullitt mustang, CAM 7
Autox VP '09-'10, President '11-'12, interim President 2nd half of ‘14
proud recipient of the Bowie Grey service award '12
Now just a guy driving a mustang....

Rodney, you can check out this place.

http://www.carolinacustombuilders.com/

I haven't used these guys, or know anyone who has, but might be a good place to ask some questions, and get an idea of cost.

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In need of car.

Rodney - I built my garage in Cary, here is a summary of what I did:

- Bought a "Build your own garage book" to decide on overall plan and for lots of education.
- Had an architect put together basic plan (was a freebie with house plans). Wall construction details and elevations only -- I had roof trusses designed separately.
- Had builder do grading, lot clearing, drainage, foundation, slab, and extra driveway when house was built ($13k)
- Moved into house, then applied for building permit at Town of Cary. Used architect's plans
- Went to Lowes and had them do the "design your garage" program on their computer to spit out a bill of materials.
- Turned the Lowes BOM into a spreadsheet, sat down with experienced people and made changes (eg Lowes suggested treated lumber studs which was dumb, and I upgraded all the trim, and changed other stuff to match the house). Carefully reviewing the BOM was critical to success.
- Took my completed BOM to Stock Builders for pricematching -- they beat Lowes on probably 20% of the materials. Placed the order there for the cheap stuff and custom roof trusses.
- Applied for a Lowe's commercial account and credit card and ordered all the other stuff on my list with the intro 10% off order.
- Had everything delivered a few days before starting to build.
- Hired Adam Ligon to be my crew chief
- Had a garage building party, got the 4 walls up and sheathed in one weekend. Roof trusses were up and it was dried in within a month.
- Spent the next 3 months finishing it mostly by myself.

It was a ton of work but lots of fun and I wouldn't change much if I had to do it over again. I have about $10k in the building above the foundation, or about $23k overall with lots of clearing, grading, and driveway. Then again lumber was cheap then in 2002-2003. It's 24x36.

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

I had mine built this spring but it was in Durham co. I found all the zoning specs on line. If you are going to build it/act as general contractor yourself, start off right by making friends with the inspections department. They won't bite, and it makes for much smoother sailing later on. Call or better yet make an appointment to see him before starting, to find out all the answers to your questions. In Dc I did not need engineered or sealed architect drawings. I designed my own plans and gave them to the builder. They added the boilerplate to them and submitted for permits.
Durham was a real stickler about setbacks and location, the person who issues permits definition of front and side yards was not the same as in the zoning regs. I had to reposition it on my lot before they would issue the permit. then I had to have a survey crew do a full survey of the property and foundation before they would sign off on the foundation to begin construction. If you are relocating/and or widening your driveway approach you'll likely need a separate permit from public works for that. (or do it after the garage is given final inspection. ) There are a number of inspections that need to be made in order as work progresses. If the work is not ready for inspection when you call for the inspection you will be fined and it will have to be paid before the inspector comes out again. If the work is completed but it fails inspection you must make any and all changes before reinspection. A second failure for the same inspection may also result in a fine. The most difficult inspection for a DIY construction is probably the framing inspection since there are strict materials and fastener schedules that must be adhered to, and they look much more carefully at non licensed contractor's work. You will need a licensed electrician to apply for the electrical permit, likewise a plumber and Heat /AC if you are installing any of those services. Those are separate permits that can be applied for any time, but must be signed off before final occupancy will be granted.
If you want to build a 28x28 2 story garage with 12' ceilings downstairs for a lift I'd let you copy our plans. If you want ideas, I'd be glad to give you a tour of what we call our "garagemahal". I prefer traditional stick framed roof over trusses for the extra storage and/or headroom under the roof.

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SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.

Just a comment that this was not the case in Cary in 2003. May be a county specific requirement. Adam and I wired everything up, passed w/ no problems.

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

or you could use my guy. i am sure you could work out a sweat equity plan. let him pull permits etc., dry it in & turn it over to you. pm me if you are interested Rodney.

No major hands-on building projects since my house in '88 (some "other stuff", but not useful here), but I'm often *thinking* about it. A recent discussion about garage-building here at work brought up these ideas to investigate. I got so far as to search out the webpages and take a quick read. Sounds fairly interesting. One of the sites mentioned that, in addition to their other benefits, these sytems are good for DIYers. Anyone with any experience with this stuff? If not, Rodney, you might want to dig a little deeper than I have so far...

Tech Block and Cempo
and info on concrete building systems.

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The person with too many names...
Mary E./ME/Emmie Fisher/Daniel/Daniel-Fisher
(& some others not suitable for posting!).
Help support our habits; BUY http://virginiabreeze.us !

When contemplating any unconventional building system it is HIGHLY advisable to get cozy with your building inspector! They don't like what they don't understand/are unfamiliar with, and building codes are highly rigid and traditional thanks to construction worker union lobbyists. I had a friend build a house using prefab unitized panels (not unlike your tech blocks but in whole wall sizes), but because the permits department was unfamiliar with the system they forced him to build a full conventional 2x4 frame inside the panels before they would sign off on it.

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SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.

This is the stuff we had used to do our foundation. ECO-block. www.eco-block.com

It's kinda like being in a styrofoam cooler when you're in the basement, but it's keeping it nice and comfortable down there with no heating vents open to the area.

They say you can do a whole house in it, but we wern't quite up for that adventure.

Diane


Description from the website Mary E. linked (http://www.scrapbookscrapbook.com/DAC-A ... stems.html)...

"ECO-Block is an ecologically sound building system. Insulating Concrete Forms (ICFs) represent one of the fastest-growing sectors in the construction industry today. ICFs are hollow blocks or panels made of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) that a construction crew stacks to create the exterior walls of a residential or commercial building. Workers then add reinforcing steel and fill the gap (typically 4” to 8”) between the two layers of foam with concrete. This combination of concrete, steel and foam creates a very strong and energy-efficient structure. After the concrete has hardened, the forms stay in place and become the insulation for the walls. ECO-Block gives you unlimited design flexibility. Got a saw? ECO-Block cuts easily into any shape you need — perfect for unique window openings and arches. You can also choose from our pre-formed corners in varying sizes and angles. And any exterior or interior finish can be directly applied to the panels. With their multiple manufacturing locations throughout North America, you can save on transportation costs and delivery time. Because the flat panels can be packed tightly, ECO-Block is easier to ship and handle than other fixed-block ICFs. Energy savings generated by an ECO-Block building are enormous — and continue for the life of the building. You save on utility and maintenance costs. ECO-Block buildings stand strong against the wind and weather and will not warp over time. They can have up to a four-hour Fire Resistive Rating. And many companies give discounts to ICF building owners for disaster and fire insurance."

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Diane (Hall) Bundas
1992 Spec Miata #48 - 1997 Chevy Tahoe - 2007 Honda Civic Coupe

Also make sure if you have a homeowner's assn. you comply with their rules. Setbacks from neighbors etc. I think that you need a licensed electrician for the electrical and the plumbing maybe too.

Oh yeah, and one of my neighbors did a Carolina Builders garage. It was not bad, they do a lot of them and they did a lot of the finish work themselves.

I checked with them when contracting our garage. It's a husband and wife operation, they do not do the work themselves they hire subs for all the work. Biggest turn down for me was they were unwilling to build anything but one of their stock plans with no modifications or substitutions and you had to have the site prepared yourself.

PS: 84 lumber offers kit garages and are often a little cheaper than the big box stores. Carolina Builders no longer exists they were bought out by Stock Building Supplies.
Many municipalities allow homeowners to do their own wiring, but some require you to take a course first. Since I was having separate meter and service panel run to the garage I had an electrician put in the meter and panel plus bare minimum wiring required to meet code and get final approval then did the running of all the branch circuits myself afterwards.
The electrician's charge was only a small amount above what the components would have cost me to purchase them myself, and the electrical inspection consisted of the inspector looking at the inside of the panel box and the electrician's name on the permit a total of 5 minutes. I was surprised he didn't even question the fact I had 200A service and 20 circuit panel box with 3 breakers in it.

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SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.

Hmm, I see there definition of custom is different than my own.

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2001 Honda S2000 - SOLD
2012 Boss 302
2003 BMW 330i

Another outfit I would NOT recommend is Vanderbuilt Homes in Sanford!
Their prices were the best I found, but they jerked me around for 4 months of excuses trying to get an actual contract out of them. I finally quit trying, I figured if I was having that much trouble with them just getting a contract, no telling what would happen once they started building. If contracting out the work, be sure to shop around, and have every detail and spec listed in the contract including firm starting and completion dates. DON'T take their verbal promises on ANYTHING! I got a wide range of prices, several were double what I actually paid in the end.
Maybe now that the building boom has tapered off you might have more luck finding contractors that actually WANT the job.
Even tho I got a good job in the end, I can't recommend the contractor I went with, they went out of business not long after, which didn't surprise me at all with all the work they ended up doing twice (it was a good thing I watched them like a hawk, I knew more about how to do the work then they did!) They tried to cut corners a number of times. Plus they didn't check the codes before starting the work and did things that didn't meet it. They promised to be done in 4 weeks, it took them 4 1/2 MONTHS and a threat of a suit by my lawyer to finish. DO NOT pay more than 10% up front then any additional payments should be dependent on and only due after each inspection is passed. The final payment should not be due or paid until you have the certificate of occupancy IN YOUR HAND, and should be large enough to be an incentive to finish.

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SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.

Mine too! they were even unwilling to change brand of windows or size of door on their own plans!

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SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.

When asked them a few months ago, they said they could build what ever I want, but the price would be higher than indicated on the website.

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In need of car.