from The Capital

Need space? A garage can do the trick
By ELLEN M. SCARANO, Staff Writer

You can't have everything. Where would you put it?
-- Steven Wright, comedian

There comes a time in every one's life that something is just too big or has too many parts to have a storage place in the house. Children's toys, hobby tools, garden machines and even a car need a place to be when not in use.

For some people, buying a house with a garage is a homeowner's dream come true. For others, building one after the existing house is purchased is the only way to go. Frank Chamberlain, owner of Custom Exteriors and Remodeling LLC in Harwood says that adding a garage later has several steps to get the job done correctly.

"It's a process. People probably want to start with a budget to find how much money they can spend first. Then get in touch with planning and zoning with the county," he advises.

Issues to discuss with county planning include things like setbacks, or how far from the neighbor's or other buildings another structure can be, height limitations or where the well and septic tank are located.

Next is meeting with an architect or a contractor, who can take care of the drawings you'll need when applying for the building permit.

Pam Jordan, a spokesman for Anne Arundel County Office of Planning and Zoning, advises that an accessory structure can not be larger than the principle structure in a residential area and can't be used to store trucks or run a business.

Along with design and size are other considerations, such as for which purposes do you want a garage? Will it be just to park the car and store a few tools, or will it have a full workshop? How about a second story for a game room that fits a pool table? Maybe it's just for bikes, toys and gardening equipment. All of these ideas come together for planning of the structure and in consideration of zoning laws applicable to each area.

The building itself can be wood frame covered in fiber cement, vinyl siding or painted, or built with masonry, which can cost more.

If you're concerned about resale value of the house, Mr. Chamberlain recommends consulting a realtor before adding a garage. More than likely if you like the neighborhood and you want to stay or would only move because you have need of a garage, it's probably worth building one.

Mr. Chamberlain says there are a lot of options for garages. Sketching an idea on paper is a good idea. Show it to the contractor when shopping for estimates and getting ideas. "What we try to do is make the architecture of the garage the same as the house so it doesn't look like an add on," he adds.

Mr. Chamberlain says that once a plan is drawn, stick to it. Don't suddenly change from a one floor storage and one car garage to a two floor plan incorporating an artist's studio, for example. "People have a hard time visualizing a plan. Get someone to draw a plan - an apartment for an elderly parent or a game room. It's important that the garage doesn't dwarf the house," says Mr. Chamberlain.

It doesn't look nice either. An attached garage has advantages, such as leading right into the kitchen when bringing groceries in. But your house may not be able to accommodate a garage off the kitchen. It may be closer to the family room or a back bedroom.

A detached garage is especially good if it will be used for a noisy hobby, such as woodworking, or a game room where teenagers may want to hang out and play loud music as well. It can be connected to the house with a breezeway, which adds design character and protects you from the elements as you walk through to the garage.

Mr. Chamberlain says people tend to build a one-car garage and then regret that they didn't make it for two. A two-car garage measuring 24-by-24 feet, or about 600 square feet, offering a large door, will be about $75 per square foot for the basic structure. Insulation, drywall and other finishing touches are added on, Mr. Chamberlain said.

The foundation and footings are reinforced with wire and rebar and are poured at the same time for a one-piece system, depending on if the cement truck can get close enough to the site. The walls are framed with two-by-fours like a house, and then finished in stone, brick veneer, vinyl siding or fiber cement siding. Inside can be finished like a house wall with insulation, drywall, pegboard for tool storage, and even lighting done by a subcontractor.

Don't forget heating and air conditioning.

"Motorcycles are big now so people want climate control when storing the bike," he adds, or when doing mechanical work on bikes and cars or in the workshop.

In the issue of regulation, experts agree that the planning and zoning requirements must be considered before building.

Ms. Jordan says homeowners will need to determine if they are in the critical area and if they can increase impervious surface at all. Rooftops don't absorb water runoff from rain, which can affect any body of water nearby. In an area zoned for what's called a 20-foot combined set back, it could mean that the garage is as close as 7 feet to a neighbor's property line and 13 feet on the other side. A garage does have to be in a side or rear yard, however.

She adds that people "can apply for a variance to the zoning code if there's not enough space on the side of the yard so they can put a garage in logical place." It's best to call planning and zoning first to confirm setbacks and vary according to community zoning rules.

Zoning rules protect people, property and the Chesapeake Bay. For waterfront property, buildings must be 1,000 feet from the tidal water, Ms. Jordan adds, and there are extra requirements in the code when you build such as full grading permits.

"It's your property. There are ways you can do it but the building permit process will be more detailed."

You might need rooftop water collection, to collect and manage on your own property to keep it from going into bay, for instance. Rooftop water is heated and picks up pollutants and debris as it washed down the roof, all of which can adversely affect the bay's water. Even erosion may be a problem because water gathers speed as it runs off.

There's also a 100-foot buffer from the mean high-tide line and typically no construction is allowed in the buffer. Also, if you have waterfront property, your waterfront is the front of the yard, so a garage is not allowed there.

Pictured at left is

Mr. Chamberlain in front of

a three car garage/workshop being built by his company.