 | Dee Hodges is the owner of D & D Garages. He was born and raised in Wichita. During high school, he owned a lawn maintenance service, but general contracting was always his first love. At the age of 18, after a hail storm hit Wichita and damaged virtually every roof in town, Dee saw an opportunity to start his own business and did so, being one of the youngest business owners in Wichita. Today that business is thriving and consists mostly of garage construction, concrete work and roofing. You can reach Dee Hodges @ 687-3900. |
Home Improvement
2006-09-01 15:33:00
Garages: attached or deattached?
ANSWER: There are a number of considerations when deciding to add an attached garage or a detached garage. Design, use, code requirements, cost, air filtration from the garage into the home, and city bylaws are some of the major items to think about. If you are contemplating an attached garage, the exterior design will need to fit the design of your home and you need to make decisions about the interior of your attached garage. Detached garages will have all of the same issues, in addition to exterior design. Most garages, attached or detached are used for parking the owner’s vehicles, yard storage and sometimes a small work area. If you plan something more ambitious, such as vehicle maintenance or major hobbies, then these should be taken into account when deciding on the type of garage you will select as well as interior design.Most cities and towns have code requirements covering the construction of attached and detached garages. I would strongly encourage you to check with your local officials for these requirements and also any permit requirements you may need. Your local builder can also generally assist you with city bylaw requirements and all inspections as well.There are many variables that affect the cost of your garage. You may decide to hire a general contractor or manage the construction yourself. If you decide on a detached garage, you may need quotes for excavation, form setting, concrete, carpentry, roofing, electrical, bricklaying if applicable, siding installation etc. However, when a garage building contractor is used, all of these items are typically factored into the cost of the garage, and usually at a better price than if subcontracted out by an individual or house contractor. Building your attached garage can be more costly due to attempting to "tie" the garage into the existing home. Typically, an attached garage needs to be an exact match to the architecture of the home, and sometimes finding the materials to achieve that match can be very expensive. Whereas, a detached garage can be built to look almost exactly like the home but without having to use identical materials.
