By: Mark J. Donovan
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If you are considering adding a
garage onto your home, you may want to go one step further and consider building
a two story garage addition. Building a two story garage addition is an
extremely cost effective home remodeling project. Not only do you realize a
garage out of the project, but also additional living space, such as a bedroom,
bonus room, or in-law apartment.
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Building a two story garage addition,
versus building a garage on one side of the home, and a family room on the
other, is an extremely cost effective solution due to the fact that there is
only one excavation and foundation effort required. In addition, only one side
of the existing home is impacted by the removal of home siding, and gaining
ingress/egress into the home.
The other major benefit of a two
story garage addition is that the second level does not necessarily need to be
immediately finished.
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If you are on a limited budget, you can build the two
story garage addition, and leave the second story unfinished until you can
afford to finish it. If you're a do-it-yourself person, you can also elect to
finish the second level at your convenience, and as your budget permits.
Design of Two Story Garage
Addition
The only real difficulty in building
a two story garage addition is properly designing and integrating it into the
existing home.
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An architect is highly recommended in
the design and building of a two story garage addition as it is important from
both a functional and aesthetic perspective. A number of key items will need to
be addressed when designing a two story garage addition.
One key area is how the two story
garage addition ties into the existing home. Frequently with two story garage
additions, the garage roof line impinges upon existing windows within the main
portion of the home. These windows may need to be moved or removed altogether.
Another key topic in the design of a
two story garage addition is providing ingress/egress into/out-of the main home.
With a two story garage addition it is important to have ingress/egress from
both levels of the garage into the main body of the home.
Another major issue involves the
heating and cooling of the second story in a two story garage addition. The
home's existing heating/cooling system will need to be evaluated to determine if
it can support the added living space. In addition, plumbing, particularly if
the home is hot water heated will need to be addressed.
Building a two story garage addition
is an excellent home remodeling project, both from a utilization perspective and
a cost per square foot perspective. However, before embarking on such a project
it is highly recommended that you work with an architect and/or your local
building inspector before beginning such a project.
Fill out our 3-5 minute quick and easy form, and receive a free price quote
on a garage addition from one of our prescreened and licensed garage addition
contractors. This process is free and there is no obligation to continue once
you receive your garage addition price estimate.
