OH ML Sounds wonderful. Such a lovely picture of MIL's cottage too.

it sounds like you and dh have got things worked out well for it! and it makes sense to get it done and have a safe place to put your things while the other work is being done. It'll make the other work so much easier on both of you.

am excited for you to get started on it!

Thanks. Depending on the work load of the contractor, it could begin before Christmas.

Every night, I lie in bed thinking about different elements of the new project. This is the way I used to fall asleep as a child, only it was make-believe then. This, being FOR REAL, sort of keeps me in a pre-sleep limbo. But FUN.

Oh great!!!!
I sent the contractor an email last night, asking if he would like to do the job. This morning I had his reply.

He would be happy to do the work, none is pending for him this winter.

So I promptly sent a scan of my drawing and the notes, and told him to give us an estimate and his ideas for any better options that I list. This will be a really fine
project, giving us a place to store stuff when we next tackle the kitchen expansion project and the power supply update. For that, we must get out of the house.

.....which means we can restore it better than new on the old footprint. The fact that we bought 25 feet more land behind the garage was a good move apparently, because the garage was built right along that old property line.

So now we just have to meander along to the permit office and get legal with the upcoming improvements. It is nice when a plan comes together.

Hey I'm glad your contractor can get right on it when you get back. How exciting! I can't wait to see it.

Great news ML. Now you hurry on home and get started on this.

Our contractor saw the garage while building our bath/closet bumpout. He took another look at it a few days ago, and is concerned about the strength of the walls and the foundation. Which we were aware of their problems and the need for reinforcing or replacing. Just so we maintain whatever we need to keep that will allow the garage to be "grandfathered."
So it will be discussed in a "walkabout" with him when we do get home.

ML around here if one wall is remaining and the foundation it is considered a remodel. UNLESS the building was not in proper set backs and other regulations. Then if 75% of the building or more needs to be redone it is then considered new. I am sure every city town county has their own building codes. Most can be looked up on line if they are of any size.

You might be able to check Sterling codifiers and enter your city or just google your city and building codes. If it is online it should come up.

Shades, I do appreciate your informed post. I will look up the code online, but so much has changed around here because of hurricane losses. Some of what I've looked for before says it complies with the IBC for 2006 Residential. And I'll have to see if I can find that at the library when I get back home.

The existing garage is within 7 feet of the property line. I was told that the space between adjacent homes has to TOTAL 20 feet. So if the neighbor is 12 feet away from the line, then I can build by code within 8 feet of the line. That is the way it was on the north property line. The garage is on the other side, and I'll have to check how close the neighbor is. There is a garage in the back corner of that lot also.

DH says that up here, as long as a single post remains, the structure is considered doable. Not a new structure.

Since the damage to the walls and the cement slab was done by a tree growing big, we will need to remove some of the slab and dig out that root. And we will tear out that part of the wall and also remove the stump of that big tree. Two years ago when we cut down 6 huge trees, we also took down this sweetgum tree which was then on our neighbor's property. We since bought that strip of land from her, and might have to grind out the stump. But the damage was done before we moved in here, before we bought the house.

When I called the city urban development and engineering office, they indicated that I could rebuild it. I'm sure it would have to be according to the new code though. As soon as we return home, our contractor is coming over to talk to us and then we'll see what we have to do to replace our derelict garage.

I will try to find Sterling codifiers. Never heard of that before. You are so experienced, and I thank you.

ML Not positive but I think IBC has updated to 2009 now. I have an online webnar to go look at as soon as I can deal with it because from the blurb all cities have to adopt the new IBC. Hummmmmmmmm
But if you were current at 2006 I would think you are grandfathered in. I am sure you can work it out. Would be such a great use of space for storage and use.

Chris

Kicking this thread back into the game for a while.
The contractor, Robert DeMouy, is on a cruise this week...hopefully they won't LOSE POWER like others seem to be doing, or I might have to go rescue him in time for our meeting come Tuesday afternoon.

Yep, we are getting set for the big DERELICT GARAGE REDO. What better time to get a contractor than the middle of winter in an economic downturn? We will be able to have this garage done first class by the top craftsmen as well.
I am so happy that I could.....SING.

That garage will be our Christmas present to each other. And on this project, it will be totally completed by the contractor. I don't want DH to have to finish anything later. He is still working on the master suite bath/closet tile flooring.

And if DeMouy's bid comes in low enough, I might ask him to build the two pantries and window seat in the dining room. I can always use the extra storage space. Having this available will also let us put away kitchen items before they tackle the next remodel portion, the kitchen.

But first things first, my Teahouse/Garage. Hopefully by next Tuesday night I will have word on when this will commence.

Very exciting! I can't wait to see the plans and the results.

OH Goody. I love your projects. Have you decided on a plan or are you waiting for DeMouy to ponder it too?? This will be fun.

Yes, I am interested in watching this, too. ML, I know what you mean about keeping the contractor busy in winter. Our kitchen contractor, Jim, is not busy. I think he may be doing handyman work, taking anything that comes his way. He has been trying to reach us all week to give us a price on our attic insulation, but we have been working late and shopping in the evenings. We might could get a better price from one of the companies that do only insulation, but in this house, any job Jim wants, Jim gets. He is too great a resource to lose to a rotten economy.

DH is working on de-cluttering his office/music room/ library. It is also where my clothes hang on racks to dry (until we get Dad's bedroom empty of the kitchen remodel stuff and strip wallpaper and paint and put in flooring). So the poor front room in this house is a MESS. DH had some kind of paper/receipt/important papers for taxes sorting project going on in there a couple of years ago and he got interrupted. He never got back to it and the dogs knocked the piles of paper from hither to yon. Then I started stacking kitchen remodeling supplies in the entrance because there was no more room in the garage. After I cleaned that up, I put the dog cage there. Just a MESS! At least DH did pick up his scattered papers six months ago. I just have to hope we never get audited for the tax year that ended up on the floor! Every other year's paperwork is neatly packed away in manilla folders. (Maybe because I did it?)

So DH is now thinking that he wants more solid bookshelves in there, instead of the ones he has now that are the Sauder or Bush brand of particleboard with a photo of wood on top. They are starting to sway after 20 years or so. We may see if Jim can make built-in shelving, instead. Maybe with some cabinets at the bottom. Jim said "Design it, Nancy and will give you a price." But that was before I got all interested in spending a thousand or two on a far-infrared sauna. We are not exactly rich, so something has to go!

Yes, in this economy, we do have opportunities for getting top-notch craftsmen to do little jobs they may have passed up in the past.

Nancy, if that near infrared sauna can be purchased in the future and simply popped into place (you save the room for it), then I'd go ahead and get the contractor to do those other jobs now. But that is just my way of looking at stuff.

Your DH's storage places will be great to get things out of the way when you work on other projects. That is why we leap-frogged the garage redo ahead of the kitchen. I am so very very tired of things being in totes and boxes where I cannot get to it. So having the storage projects done will make life easier.

Ok, wish I could make sense here, but my brain is sort of medicated now, and I got confused about the roofline of the garage, so that will have to wait a few days.

Anyway, DeMouy came by and talked with us, got my drawing for the garage, gave us his ideas for strengthening the block walls and attaching the roof with a loft and spiral stairs, and we agreed to move the bushes adjacent to the garage so work on the foundation could commence, and then he went home to meditate on an estimate for the job.

We decided to leave off the work for electrical at this time, since our outlets etc would be surface mounted and not built into the walls. And, we can make this electrical work part of the major expansion of house electrical service when we remodel the kitchen. I was surprised that we only had 150 amp service and not 200 amp, so that HAS to be upgraded, requiring the power company to run the new power cable when we have the house ready for it. I can see that we will be spending a month or so at the beach while the house is torn apart for that. Mercy, it's like pulling a thread in a sweater and it all comes unraveled!

My DH is doing some research into the Lexan roofing material for the garage. I want one half of it, the back half, to be Lexan and multiwall or double walled as in greenhouse roofing.

He is looking at the single wall corrugated Lexan. He says that the double walled will have condensation that would lead to algae turning green on the roof and obscuring the sunlight.
I'm asking him, CAN WE HEAT AND COOL THE GARAGE WITH A SINGLE WALL ROOF?

He says that the double walled would create a problem at the ridge where the back half of the roof joins the front. The front will be (preferably) standing seam metal. So justhow DOES the two roof halves come together?

We live in a humid and mostly hot climate, so a single layer of Lexan would not be very much protection from the heat, and therefore hard to air condition inside. If it is the corrugated shape, would it be best to make the METAL half of the roof corrugated also, so they can come together neatly? And with the roof being open rafter with no ceiling, and having a greenhouse look, how would it be kept cool or heated in the winter?

I want the dual layer Lexan. DH says that the "weep holes" for the condensation will plug up, and the roof would get green algae on it. That is frustrating me, because GE, the manufacturer, says that is a problem. So how do the folks who build structures with this material manage to keep it looking good? With lots of money? Humphhhh~~ !!!!

I don't like it when someone tells me I cannot have what I want. Especially when it is not an unreasonable WANT. So now I must do some problem solving before the selection of roofing material. And my brain is not hitting on all cylinders so it will have to wait a couple of days until I get over this debilatating cold.

But meanwhile, any ideas will be appreciated.

I believe they use special fans and ventilation to keep moisture down. We have the algae problems in our window sills in spring. Even winter can be a problem. Also the double paned windows do blow their vacuum and condensation does get between the panes. Usually windows need to be replaced within a few years. They are better with the vinyl than aluminum. Still they do blow. It seems to be the extremes of heat and cold.

So sky lights will not work for you? If you make the open area smaller it would let in less heat and cold and they are made to vent.

Ok, time to revive this thread, because the contractor is just about ready to start his engine!!!!!

What a nice thing to have beginning with the new year.
See you guys later.

Congrats ML, sounds like you're finally going to launch your teahouse! Can't recall the exact number of related threads about this to-be-reborn detached structure, lol. Sounds like the very biggest in hurdle in ANY such project has already been conquered--finding a competent and honest contractor--touche'! (Told ya the "grandfathering" thing would work out.)

Some notes:

> If it's sprayed on, it ain't really stucco, I don't care what the 3 market-eers call it. ;')

More to the point, since Portland cement makes up so much of our built-environment, I doubt that is the component of this spray coating that is impacting the health of humans and canines. More likely it's some nasty VOCs or other chems, used as the "vehicle" to make this stuff sprayable, which then evaporates as the stuff cures in place.

Regardless, I guess it has worked for you in the past, and you now know to get the heck out of its way, not put it on your breakfast cereal, etc.

>On the Lexan, I would heed well the warnings on avoiding double-panes in your climate. After all, in summer you are usually only changing the indoor temp 10-12 degF from outside--it's the HUMIDITY REMOVAL that makes the A/C most useful. That's why most CBS homes, even down here at latitude 26N, have no insulation in the walls--we save it for the attic, where the SUN-load is.

If you keep the SUN off that South-facing (and up-facing?) Lexan, via some combo of roof overhangs, shutters, etc., you should be fine with single pane. Remind yourself that high-maintenance is anathema to teahouse Zen. (Lexan is usually quite thick in this application, yes/no?... esp. if meeting updated windstorm codes, e.g. Miami-Dade, or FBC 2006)

With open-rafters though, how do you plan to reduce heat transfer through the metal roof???

I remain curious as to what methods (and madness) will be employed to rectify the non-trivial structural issues you have, from foundation to roof peak, and will follow along. (Pics and sketches to woo the crowd!) Best of luck!

Fixizin, I just now noticed your question about heat transfer through the metal roof. On that half of the roof, facing west, there will be the plywood just above the rafters or whatchamacallits that peak the roof. And above that, will be some sheet insulation foam board, so it will be external insulation to the enclosure itself. I've been reading about that in a great site about roof insulation types. And then to make sure the metal roof reflects most of the heat away instead of absorbing it, I've decided to give up color in favor of the silver more reflective material. Sigh. I really did want a straw color up there, a la thatched roof appearance, but so be it. Plus it is cheaper. My insurance company is happy with metal roofs and cement block, especially since we will have the blocks poured solid and rebar tying it all down. I'm pleased to report that the City is agreeable with it all, and work is now begun.

Yes, the crew showed up this morning to dig under the existing slab and pour new footings which will anchor the new 6" addition to the slab, and rebar will somehow be inserted in the floor and walls.

I am continuing the actual construction phase of the project in a new thread beginning today, Jan 20, 2011.
If interested, look for THE TEAHOUSE TAKES SHAPE on this
forum.

ML- I like your teahouse! What a great idea and how fun to have your own little retreat. I wish we could all visit, have tea and see your parrots :)