Please tell me this is a joke.

Before you worry about how to get a "bonus door" that looks good, may I suggest a couple of things that are faaaaaar more important:

1) Assuming that you will actually use the space, how is it heated and cooled and are those extra vents, returns and load calcs figured into the HVAC for your place? And, is it zoned to shut it off?

2) Assuming that you will actually use the space, why would anyone in your family actually leave the house to re-enter the house to use that space?

Once you can really answer those, only then you should worry about how to leave your nice house, only to re-enter it again in the rain and the wind and the snow. And, with all due respect, why is that a bonus -- sounds more like a hassle?

*Actually* we considered having the upstairs of our future detached garage accessed by exterior stairs. The space was going to be finished for guest quarters where a little distance between the main house and guest quarters is desirable.

I don't know about your situation... previous posters have brought up some great points. Also remember that stairs can become slippery in the rain.

Your bonus space may not be as big as you think... you know the foot-print of it, but with the ceiling slope there may only be one usable run down the center of the room where you could actually stand up straight!

Sorry for your problem. Who did the plans? If you had an architect this should be his problem and expense to solve.

I don't know what you planned to use this for, but paint_chips had a good point about the usability of this space. I wouldn't want stairs outside, and if you really don't need the room, why not put pull down stairs in the garage and use it as a storage area.

Kevin

First, let me say that this space is not a priority to us. We have all the room we need in the interior of our house without the bonus room. It was originally planned as unfinished attic space (so no designer liability); however, once we began framing we realized we have more attic than we need without the space over the garage. Potential uses for the room are teenager hangout , space for husband's part-time hobby/business (saltwater aquariums), or office for me if I ever choose to work from home. For any of these uses, I would not want people to have to enter the room through the main house.

As far as HVAC is concerned, we are currently having those plans redone as we have decided to go with foam insulation rather than bat as originally planned, so we have time to change whatever we need to change.

I agree about useable space. I don't get the sense that this room will have much room in it once you put in kneewalls to overcome the slope of the ceiling.

Our bonus room, for instance, is much larger than your garage, at 32'8" wide and 25' deep. Yet there is only useable room of about 14 feet wide with kneewalls starting at 4'10" high since the ceiling slopes so low on the sides.

Since your garage is 8'8" more narrow than ours, you are going to have a very narrow room, as someone pointed out above. it will be the length of your garage, at 21 feet, but it will only be about 5 or 6 feet wide.

It sounds much more suited to becoming a great, roomy storage area than a guest room.

I'd love to see the actual floorplan instead of elevation. :)

We have a small garage...20 x 20. Our finished bonus room over the garage is 10'1" by 20. Lots of "bonus" space.

I would talk to a professional about getting code compliant stairs designed for access. I personally do not think exterior stairs are that bad, I have seen exterior stairs covered with awnings, small roofs, etc.. I have also seen exterior stairs that are "enclosed" like a breeze way, with screens, or fully enclosed with walls to match the structure.

As far as AC/ heat you could install what is called a mini-split system for just the bonus room. This would allow you to heat and cool the room only when you needed and would not require increasing the main system or adding extra duct work.

The biggest issue I see in all of this is that you said that your husband may want to use the space for saltwater aquariums. If that is the case, you need to consult an engineer to determine if the structure can hold the weight. Attic storage loads are usually much less than is required for normal living space, much less than what would be required for a room full of glass, water, and rocks. When you take in to account the weight of the glass, water, live rock, and all of the support equipment, a single 100 gallon aquarium can weigh close to a 1500 to 2000 pounds. You put 2-3 aquariums, of that size and weight, you are putting the equivalant weight of a small to medium sized car in your attic!!!!! Again, you must have this check out before you have a wet garage floor full of glass, rocks and dead fish!

After you've answered Dallasbill's questions, consider if you've overlooked any options on the interior. Is there a space where you could put a circular stair? A circular stair can fit in a very small footprint, but you need to think about the use of the room. You won't be able to get a pool table or a queen size mattress up circular stairs. We had a room accessed by circular stairs and it was furnished with a love seat, small arm chairs, book shelves, tv and accessories. It was cozy and had some nice drama with a vaulted ceiling, but it would not have been suited for a guest bedroom. The HVAC was already factored in on this room.

Is there an interior hallway next to the garage where a traditional stairway could be built? You might be able to accomplish this by buiding one or two stairs, then taking a 45 degree turn to complete the remainder of the stairs. You see these stairways in old houses where space was at a premium. The stairs might rake into the garage ceiling, but that might not be a problem with the height you have in the garage.

In either case you would want to be able to close off the area, so you need room at the top of the stairs to box in a door that opens into the room, or allow enough room at the bottom of the steps for a door.

Mitsubishi (Slim Man), and others, offer a self contained unit for heating and cooling that particular room, which could solve an HVAC issue.

If you purchased the plan from one of those house plan companies, call them and ask for a solution. I know Southern Living, Donald A Gardner, and others have design people who are able to make changes reasonably and can give you an upfront cost of their time. Often for popular plans, they've already answered the question for another customer, and their fee/timing is, IMO, quite reasonable.

If you did the design yourself or don't have access to the designer, you could call a local architect service, and ask what they would charge to consult and provide an opinion/or design based on their findings.

I realize this must be a big dissappointment for you. Good luck and let us know how it works out.

Well, that's a pretty big oversight. Can't see how it would have happened but.....

I second rar1's concerns on the weight of fish tanks. If your bonus room floor are joists and not the bottom chord of a slightly beefed up truss, then you are likely okay, but if it is just a truss, I would not be inclined to put tanks up there. Also, depending on where you live climate-wise that could be a hard space to keep cool as saltwater reef lighting generates lots and lots of heat. You will need to consider electrical (GFI) and plumbing (supply and drain....for the never expected but always possible leak). I would also add an exhaust fan for releasing moisture if you do end up using the space for your husband's fish hobby.

As far as the stair access goes, I would try to find room to frame an interior stairwell near the garage/house wall, or if you think you can borrow room from the garage, do it from inside there. Outside access might be okay but for the aforementioned reasons, perhpas not ideal.

I think the best option is a pull down stair to a landing built in the garage (because of your 14 foot height).

There appears to be a second floor at the front(?) of the house. Is there any way to create an access-way (wall)to the bonus room area by going over the screened porch? This would be simplest approach at this point. Be sure to check the structural capability of the roof members (actually the bottom of the roof trusses or the main floor ceiling rafters) to make sure they allow for the added live and dead loads of the habitable walk-way. Also be sure to add both HVAC outlets AND HVAC cold air returns to the room to get good air turn-over. Good luck, and don't give up on that space!