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Posted by Goedjn on October 2, 2006, 10:21 am
>
>> Hi,
>> I have a separate garage with an unfinished upstairs. Its a pretty large
>> garage, a big 2 car with a single "attached" for my tractor, etc. The
>> apartment has a large main room and a nice "cape" style side room. I
>> would like to make it into a studio or possible one bedroom apartment.
>> Does anyone know of online plans? I've found plans for garages with
. . . .
>Before you expend time, money, and effort on worrying about layout and
>interior design, first 3 steps are to make sure the basic structure there
>meets local code for living space (floor strength, fire breaks, egress
>requirements, that sort of thing), that there is a practical way to get
>utilities (plumbing and HVAC) up there, and that local zoning and the
>covenants for your neighborhood or subdivision (if they exist), allow for
>rental units and/or 'granny flats', aka 'mother in law' apartments. For
>example, on the egress, most of the areas I am familiar with require an
>exterior stairway, and most areas require a full fire break between the
>garage area and the living space.
While all those are good caveats, I don't think you necessarily
need an architect/engineer to desing the place, unless your
municipality requires stamped drawings.
Find a website on which to stick measured drawings and a couple
photographs each of the inside and outside, along with an
order-of-magnitude guess as to how much money you've got
to spend. (Raising the roof is going to cost a bit more
than adding a skylight...) and then ask again.
--Goedjn
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