Garage  Manual

If you are reading this on your phone, I must warn you that many of the diagrams will not display, making much of the text ambiguous.  Please read these construction manuals on your computer.  If you need any small building, a single-car garage or garden shed or storage building, and if you have some place to put it but do not want to invest a lot of money, this project can be built by any reasonably fit man or woman with no previous construction experience. The very first thing to do is to check with your municipality's planning or zoning or inspection department to see if you need a building permit.  They will pribably want a ptofessional plan drawn by an architect, which I am NOT.  Always follow those plans which might show a different construction but the following illustrates the principle. I have tried to keep your cost in tools and materials as low as possible, while suggesting enhancements for which you might be willing to spend a little extra.

This sketch is presented for purposes of illustration only, assuming you will tweak the details to satisfy your local building code.  For example, the floor plan above shows a garage with a standard 8x7 foot garage door.  If you wanted a garden shed or storage unit, a regular locking entry door would be a few dollars cheaper, but a garage door makes it easier to move big stuff like furniture.  It lets in much more air and light and your building will perhaps be most valuable as a garage if you some day decide to sell or rent it.  There is no reason why a garage cannot be used as a garden shed or storage unit.  So from now on I will be calling this project a garage. But some garages have windows and/or both kinds of doors.  These options can add considerable expense unless you already have a door or window you want to use or, perhaps, know where to pick up a used item cheap.  For window and entry door instructions, have a look at  House Building Manual  on this site.

One of the first things to do is to buy materials.  Please lclick kere to learn how you can compile a shopping list.

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