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In some areas, the garage appears before the house. You can spend the night in a tent yourself, and put the car under the roof. Therefore, the question of how to build a garage with your own hands is not idle. We start by choosing a location.
Site Selection
Choosing a place for a garage is not an easy task. I really want it to be convenient to use, but at the same time so that the building does not spoil the appearance of the site. Immediately you need to decide whether it will be freestanding or attached to a house or other building on the site.
- Standing separately. This option is chosen if the house has already been built and / or the shape of the site is such that the access roads take up too much space. In this case, it makes sense to move the building closer to the entrance gate, or make the garage door open directly onto the street.
- Being part of the building. It can be a house or a hozblok, and the garage itself can be built along with the building, or attached later. Good if the house is built close to the border of the site. It is attractive because there is no need to think about how to heat it and pull additional communications.
With independent construction, the garage is most often placed separately, since an extension to an existing house requires serious measures to strengthen the foundation, and this is definitely not cheap. Cheaper to build separately. Only when choosing a place, it must be borne in mind that the distance to the neighboring site must be at least 1 m, and the entrance at a distance of at least 10 meters from the neighbor’s windows. The distance to the nearest residential building is also normalized. It should be more than 9 meters if the house is made of non-combustible material and 15 meters if the house is fire hazardous.
Dimensions and designs
First you need to decide for what purpose the garage will be used. If this is just a parking lot, the dimensions can be done back to back – add one meter in length and width to the dimensions of the car. That’s enough for a parking space. If repair work is also carried out in the garage, you need a lift or a viewing hole, a bunch of equipment and spare parts, then the dimensions should be larger. It is advisable to leave at least a meter on the sides and the same in front. At the back, half a meter is still enough. If the garage is used as a workshop or as a club, the dimensions can be even larger. Restrictions only in the available space and the budget for construction.
With or without hole
The most important thing is to decide whether you will make a hole or not. It depends on how and what kind of foundation you will make. You can make a basement under the garage, and the pit will be the “entrance” or only part of the occupied space. The option is attractive, but expensive and requires large volumes of earthworks.
How to make a viewing hole in the garage, see here.
The second option is more economical: only a pit 1,8-2 meters deep and about 1 meter wide. The width is optimal, but the height depends on the height and it is better to choose this parameter individually: the depth should be 15-20 cm more than your height. The length of the pit is about 2 m. This is enough to inspect any passenger car.
The floor in the garage without a pit is even easier to implement. Then a monolithic slab is simply poured without any difficulties.
Foundation for a garage
The foundation for a garage without a pit can be anything, even a tape, even a pile-grillage. Another issue is that you still have to fill the floor. And if so, then it’s easier to immediately make a monolithic reinforced slab and not make the foundation first, and then the floor.
Tape – monolithic and prefabricated
If you decide to make a strip foundation, and the soils are heaving and the groundwater level is high, you need to make it below the freezing depth of the soil. In the Middle Strip it is about 1,7-1,9 meters. A trench is dug to this depth, formwork is placed (the width of the tape is not less than the thickness of the walls). A frame of reinforcement is laid in it and all this is poured with concrete. After the concrete reaches 50% strength, the formwork is removed and you can start pouring the floor in the garage.
In the case of sand and the absence of close groundwater, a prefabricated strip foundation or a shallow strip foundation is made for garages (tape height is about 40-50 cm). The prefabricated foundation is built from ready-made blocks. The blocks are connected with a mortar, and the rows are reinforced by laying bars with a diameter of 10-14 mm (depending on the soil, wall material and number of storeys of the garage). But such foundations normally stand only on soils that are not prone to heaving: sand and sandy loam, and with a low level of groundwater.
Another option is to make the tape level with the ground and cover it with reinforced concrete slabs. This option is also good on sandy soils.
You can read more about strip foundations and their types here.
Pile or pile-grillage
An economical foundation, which for some reason is rarely used for garages. Pile in its pure form under the garage is not very suitable – the floor turns out to be raised above the ground, but if you make a check-in, you can use it. He and a pile-grillage with a low grillage are an excellent option for heaving soils (clay, loams with a high level of groundwater).
In the manufacture of a pile-grillage around the perimeter, a shallow pit is dug in the form of a tape (about 40-50 cm deep). In it, with a step of 1,5-2 meters, wells are drilled below the freezing depth of the soil, formwork is inserted into them (a plastic pipe or a roofing material rolled into a roll). Three or four bars of reinforcement are placed inside the formwork with a release of 70 cm and poured with concrete. After that, the formwork is placed on the tape and the reinforcing cage for the tape is knitted, connecting it with the reinforcement of the piles. And it is also filled with concrete.
You can read more about pile-roster foundations here and this article describes TISE piles.
Monolithic slab
For any type of soil, a monolithic reinforced concrete slab is suitable. Along the perimeter, it is made larger than the dimensions of the garage by at least 30 cm. They remove the soil, digging a foundation pit 40-45 cm deep. Level the bottom, pour a layer of gravel. Its thickness is about 20-25 cm. The gravel is well rammed, using a vibrating plate if possible.
Formwork is placed along the perimeter, reinforcement is placed on the compacted bedding in increments of 15-20 cm (along and across, getting a cage). They usually use 10-14 mm in diameter, two tiers of reinforcement, the distance between which is about 20 cm. All this is poured with concrete grade M 250 – M 300.
What are the walls made of?
Most of the walls in the garage are made of building blocks. It can be cellular concrete (foam block and gas block), or it can be filled with slag or expanded clay. They are good because they are warm in themselves and there are no problems with subsequent heating of the garage: a small stove is enough to heat the air to normal temperatures. True, with this choice, exterior decoration is necessary. It is usually made the same as at home or as similar as possible.
The second popular garage wall construction technology is frame. The frame is made of a metal profile pipe or a wooden beam impregnated with flame retardants (flammability-reducing additives). Sheathing can be anything – from sheet metal to siding (on metal), lining, imitation timber, plywood (moisture resistant) or OSB. Yes, some materials are combustible and cannot be called reliable, but if you need a cheap garage, for example, for a summer residence, and only as a temporary parking lot, then why not.
Read about wood frame construction here, and this article describes metal frame technologies.
Roof types
The easiest and most economical way is to make a flat roof with a slope of a few degrees. For the Middle Strip, the minimum slope is 8 °, but at least 10-12 ° is better – the snow melts better.
In the case of a detached garage, the front wall is made higher and all precipitation flows / falls back. This must be borne in mind and do not put any objects there, do not place buildings. If the garage is attached to the wall of an existing building, the slope is made away from the house.
The downside of a shed roof for a garage is that there is no attic. Pros – simple device and low cost. Another positive point concerns improvements: then it will be possible to build an attic floor above the garage.
A gable roof is more difficult to implement: assembly of the truss system is required and more roofing material is needed. But – there is an attic and the appearance is more “civilian”. Quite often you can see the attic floor above the garage. The room can be used as a guest house. The cost of arranging the attic, of course, is more than the construction of a conventional gable roof, but an additional decent area is also obtained.
The manufacture of a gable roof is described here (photo report), read about the construction of mansard roofs here.
Goal
Garage doors can be swing, retractable, lifting. Swing – the simplest and well-known to everyone. If desired, they can be automated (how to read here).
Sliding gates can be made if the exit from the garage is in the same plane as the fence, and there is a free section of the wall nearby, 1,5 meters longer than the width of the gate. What they are good for is that it is easier to dig them out in winter.
Gates with a lifting mechanism are perhaps the most convenient, but also the most expensive. In the simplest version, you can put roller shutters. If you take non-automated ones, they are unlikely to be too expensive. Roller bars are made of thicker metal, the color can be any.
If you want automation, they install pneumatic lifts that lift the entire sash. In that case, it is immediately necessary to develop the doorway and the garage design itself, taking into account the operation of such a mechanism. Sectional models are more convenient in this sense. When folded, they take up less space. But they all cost decently, although they are certainly comfortable.
Interior finish
The type of garage wall decoration inside largely depends on the material of the walls. If these are building blocks, then the walls are most often plastered. Some do not pay much attention to beauty and leave it as it is. But in the case of some blocks, it is better to plaster them (non-autoclaved cellular concrete, for example, or shell rock with limestone) to protect them from high humidity.
Frame garages are often sheathed with plywood from the inside. If the garage will have constant heating, you can use any, if it is heated from time to time, or not at all – then you need moisture resistant. You can make sheathing with any sheet material – GKL, for example.
You can read more about frame construction technology here.
Heating and insulation of the garage
If you plan to use the garage all year round, you must either immediately make the walls warm (from blocks with low thermal conductivity) or insulate those built using frame technology. Materials for insulation are standard: mineral wool, polystyrene (extruded or ordinary foam). There is another option for non-combustible insulation, which in the case of a garage is just a great option – low-density foam concrete. It can be laid between the racks of the frame. Non-flammable, inexpensive, keeps heat well. The only bad thing is that you can’t hang anything on it, but there are frame racks, so you can mount it on them.
There are two types of organization of heating in the garage: constant and periodic. The constant can be separate or part of the heating of the house. If done separately, this is the same house system, only in a smaller volume. It turns out expensive and difficult: a separate boiler, which also needs to be maintained and controlled.
One of the options to organize heating in the garage is to hold on to a branch from the house. But here it is also not easy: a pipeline that requires good insulation, a large amount of land work for its laying, and, preferably, not just into the ground, but into the sewer.
Periodic heating – stoves such as bourgeois stoves and their modifications. You can heat them with firewood, all sorts of combustible rubbish, which is usually enough. But the most attractive idea is to make a stove for testing – there is a lot of fuel around, and for free (or almost). There are different designs, they are described with the article “Do-it-yourself waste oil furnace“.
This type of heating is the easiest to organize: he put a stove and a fire, but there is less comfort. Firstly, the heat is mainly near the stove, and secondly, you come to a cold garage and melt it until it starts to warm up …
Drawings and diagrams
Photo reports from construction
It is often difficult to understand the essence of technological processes from a verbal description, but drawings or photos help to put everything in its place. More questions arise about frame garages. They are the cheapest and are built quickly. A few examples are given below.
Wooden frame garage
The garage was built 4 * 6,5 m, with a gazebo 4 * 2 m. The lumber was delivered ahead of time, impregnated with an antiseptic and stacked in ventilated piles to dry.
The foundation is made columnar. Wells with a depth of 150 cm and a diameter of 35 cm were made with a manual drill. Sleeves made of roofing material were placed in them, three rods of plastic reinforcement were inserted, and they were filled with concrete.
Two weeks later, when the concrete was almost ready, they began to put up the walls. The bottom harness was assembled first. Used timber 150 * 100 mm. The harness was installed on three sides, the fourth remained open – there will be an entrance.
The problem turned out to be a bunch with plastic fittings. Not a particularly good idea: they drilled holes under it, but it’s not clear how to fix it further. Anchors were fixed in concrete (two per pole), and holes with reinforcement were filled with epoxy. Whether they will help or not is not clear, but we hope to somehow keep it.
Further, racks were placed above each column (1,5 meter step). They must be placed strictly up, without deviations, otherwise the structure will be unstable – bursting loads will appear. We started from the corners. One was exposed, fixed with temporary braces, then nailed, moved on to the next. The rest were leveled according to the set angles, not forgetting to check the verticality (with a plumb line, since the level gives an error). Fastened to nails, reinforced with metal mounting plates.
So that the free ends of the lower harness do not move apart, they were temporarily fastened with a board.
After installing all the racks, logs were attached below. They gave rigidity, and it is needed, as we will climb up and fasten the upper harness.
Next, intermediate racks and jibs were assembled. Again, for more rigidity.
When all the beams are installed and assembled, we begin to assemble the truss system. It was decided to make the roof sloping, and it is temporary. Subsequently, the garage will be adjacent to the house (this is the first building on the site).
Having collected the required number of trusses, they installed them on the upper harness. They fixed it with pieces of boards to the racks on both sides, then they hammered it with nails, reinforced it with corners on self-tapping screws.
The rafters must also be placed exactly up, otherwise the roof will be taken away in winter. Therefore, how correctly it is worth checking often: before scoring, and after ….
After everything was installed and fixed, the crate was laid. A board 40 * 150 mm went on it, it was laid with a gap of 40 cm.
A corrugated board was stuffed on the crate.
We started to make the gate fastening area. Installed a beam at the top and sides.
The gates will be lift-and-turn. Under them, a frame is cooked inside, along which they will drive off. A gate frame is welded from a profile pipe 25 * 50 mm according to the size of the opening (with a small gap).
Next, the DSP was brought in, and the sheathing of the frame began. The sheets were cut with a grinder with a diamond blade. Cuts well, but a lot of dust.
It is necessary to fasten the sheets with a gap of about 10 mm. For moisture-temperature expansion.
There is still a lot of work, but basically everything is ready. Rubble was poured inside until the floor was poured, but the car can already be parked, as well as drinking tea in the gazebo))
Do-it-yourself garage on a strip foundation
Garage for two cars (separate boxes) unheated. They were built on sandy soil with a low location of groundwater. Because the foundation is shallow. They dug a trench around the perimeter, put up the formwork, tied the reinforcing cage. Everything is as usual. Filled with concrete.
Inside the tape, they took out excess soil, leveled the foundation pit. The bottom was covered with geotextile and covered with sand. It was spilled and rammed (with a vibrating plate).
A polyethylene film was laid on top (for waterproofing), a metal mesh was laid and poured with M300 concrete.
The height of the screed is 10 cm. They left it to set for 2 weeks. Then we started putting up the frame. Boards 50 * 150 mm went to the frame itself and the rafter system, struts and jibs are made of 100 * 25 mm.
In the corners, additional boards were placed – for reinforcement. Racks are also reinforced in the places where doors and windows are attached. The installation step! walks” – the dimensions are small, but you need to either put a door block or a window block. I divided the rest as it turned out, but did not do more than 60 cm.
The truss system was assembled immediately. Since the supporting beams passed in the middle, the rafter legs rested on them. They were placed at a distance of about 50 cm. For reinforcement at the attachment points, metal mounting plates and corners were used. They were put on self-tapping screws, the frame elements were connected with a long nail.
A windproof membrane is stuffed on top of the frame. On it is a crate of an inch board, the pitch of the crate is about 50 cm.
After stuffing the membrane and the crate, the installation of the outer skin of the garage began. This is a metal profile on the walls and ondulin on the roof. There are no difficulties. Cut to size, fasten with self-tapping screws.
Having spread the membrane on the roof (start from the bottom, glue the joints) and nail the crate, we mount the ondulin. It must be placed from below, moving up.
It takes longer to fiddle with filing overhangs. They were sewn up with perforated siding (remains from building a house). Installed dry wood wind board 145*20 mm, painted white.
There are wooden windows painted white and a cheap Chinese door, which will later be replaced and placed in a shed. The corners are sheathed with a wooden board 145 * 20 mm, painted to match the roofing material.
The entrance was prepared: on the one hand, when pouring the foundation, an extended tape was poured (the height difference is greater). On the other hand, they were supported by a board. They fell asleep with screenings, tamped. Entrance is ready.
Roller blinds were installed last. At first, lift-and-turn doors were planned, but the price for them became merciless, therefore a cheaper option was installed.