THE GARAGE PROJECT

This house was built with a small porch originally. Soon after it was built they added a 3 car carport. They poured a large slab and then added the massive structure above. Most of the framing was re-purposed barn wood and the posts that supported the structure were re-purposed telephone poles. It was rustic.

I probably would have left it alone even though I really enjoy a garage. I am constantly working on some project with a car, zero turn mower or something large that takes up space. It’s very helpful to have a space to work out of the rain AND leavers. We have so many LEAVES!. The wind blew them through the carport constantly and it was such a huge mess all the time.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was water runoff. The old carport slab was poured with the terrain, sloping down into the house. This is NOT good. We discovered very old and constant problems on the 1st floor with mold and water seeping through the walls. This problem had to be fixed.

The dream was a new level slab with a drainage trench running across that channels water away from the house. AND a garage! Originally I was just going to do the footprint of the original carport. During the planning process I changed my mind after realizing I would have very little working space if the cars were all in the stalls. So We added an extension to the last stall so it could hold two vehicles. This altered the budget substantially but I knew it was worth it.

Cindy wasn’t crazy about the rock concept because we don’t have it anywhere on the house. She was mixed on the entryway idea.