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2 garages built connected together.

E

Exline

Registered User
Joined
Dec 8, 2019
Messages
8
Location
Warfordsburg, PA
I wanted to build a 30x60 pole garage to store equiptment and have somewhere to work on it when it breaks. When i went to get the building permit they told me that since its over 48' long i need engineer stamped drawings.
I am wondering if i can build 2 30x30 pole garages butted together so i still have the same storage space but have a door between them to walk from one side to the other. I would frame them as if it were still 2 buildings. Then i could avoid the expense of engineer drawings.
 
Welcome

Give it a day or two for great answers

Would they share a common wall??
 
Thanks. I was happy to find this forum. Its hard to get questions answered around here.

They would each have a seperate wall but they would be up aginst each other. I plan to have a door or opening between so i can go from one to the other without going outside.
 
ICE said:
The extra construction might cost as much or more than an engineer.
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The engineer quoted me $3200 to make the drawings and stamp them. I dont know if this is high or normal. I built my home 20 years ago and we didnt have building codes at that time in my area. I built it all myself and have not built anything since.
 
Well if not connected seems like it would fly.

You can call the building official and ask.

Or if does not cost anymore money

Built one and finish it, and built the other one a month later.

Maybe pour the entire slab at once and call the unfinished area a patio
 
Seems like you are trying to sneak around the codes. If you insist ... i agree with cda ... build one, wait a while, build the second 10 ft away with a covered walk. And while you are using the first one you might alter your design needs of the second one.
 
Beating design licensing law (and expensive plans), not code necessarily.....48' seems like an odd number, is that the same for houses? Or is it the "pole barn" factor?
 
Exline said:
The engineer quoted me $3200 to make the drawings and stamp them. I dont know if this is high or normal. I built my home 20 years ago and we didnt have building codes at that time in my area. I built it all myself and have not built anything since.
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There are plenty of pole barn companies out there that provide drawings and usually charge an additional $500-$1000 to stamp them up. A pole barn is outside the scope of the IRC and needs to be engineered. There is nothing prescriptive about it. You need stamped drawings. Your plan to put two together to circumvent an engineer may not work in the end anyway and be foolish in my opinion. If I can't afford to do something legal then I can't afford to do it until I can do it legally.
 
Be very careful about online Plans. Many times they are not designed for the climate zone they are built in. Snow loading? Wind Loading? etcetera.
 
mark handler said:
Be very careful about online Plans. Many times they are not designed for the climate zone they are built in. Snow loading? Wind Loading? etcetera.
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Tell me that’s not so!!! On the web site is says “meets all codes”. Surely they wouldn’t publish misleading information.
 
jar546 said:
There are plenty of pole barn companies out there that provide drawings and usually charge an additional $500-$1000 to stamp them up. A pole barn is outside the scope of the IRC and needs to be engineered. There is nothing prescriptive about it. You need stamped drawings. Your plan to put two together to circumvent an engineer may not work in the end anyway and be foolish in my opinion. If I can't afford to do something legal then I can't afford to do it until I can do it legally.
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Thats what i am asking. Can i do it legally? I have no doubt that i can build it without it falling down. I just need to figure out the least expensive legal way. At what point is 2 buildings considered 1 building? I see town houses that look like one building but some how they are considered 2 or 3 seperate houses. You can buy just 1 town house even though 2 more are connected to it.
 
Exline said:
Thats what i am asking. Can i do it legally? I have no doubt that i can build it without it falling down. I just need to figure out the least expensive legal way. At what point is 2 buildings considered 1 building? I see town houses that look like one building but some how they are considered 2 or 3 seperate houses. You can buy just 1 town house even though 2 more are connected to it.
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Property line and rated wall between them
 
Exline said:
Thats what i am asking. Can i do it legally? I have no doubt that i can build it without it falling down. I just need to figure out the least expensive legal way. At what point is 2 buildings considered 1 building? I see town houses that look like one building but some how they are considered 2 or 3 seperate houses. You can buy just 1 town house even though 2 more are connected to it.
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How about build it 48 x 48??? Or smaller


Is this in a city residential area?

Semi country/ big lot

Plain country acre or better??
 
10 acres of field out in the middle of nowhere. I cant see any houses or the road from where this building will be.
1 pole building cant be more than 30 wide and 48 long without engineer drawing. I am still looking for an engineer that will do the drawings for less. Made a few calls today.
 
Exline said:
10 acres of field out in the middle of nowhere. I cant see any houses or the road from where this building will be.
1 pole building cant be more than 30 wide and 48 long without engineer drawing. I am still looking for an engineer that will do the drawings for less. Made a few calls today.
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OK, your profile says you are in PA. PA has the UCC or Uniform Construction Code. I have a lot of experience in Pennsylvania. It is where I started in building inspections and plan review along with administering the codes prior to moving to Florida. With that being said:

You need an engineer. You can build 2 separate buildings if your municipality has no UCC amendments but as soon as they touch or open into on another, it is considered one building and you need engineering. PA does not have state licensed contractors and some of the absolute worst work I ever saw that was dangerous and not even close to code compliant was done in PA by contractors and homeowners.

If you don't have any amendments, keep it under 1,000 square feet if it is accessory to a single family residence and approved by zoning and you can build it without a permit. This way you can do whatever you want in your kingdom and don't have to worry about uplift, wind load, ground snow load or even electrical inspections if you feed it from the house or from another building. You can do whatever you want if you don't have to pull a permit because no one will have to inspect it and you get what you want. You get to save money.

You see, that is the beauty of Pennsylvania. They bastardized the UCC so badly that you can just do whatever you want. Keep it under 1,000 square feet and you have yourself a nice DIY project.
 
I may just build a smaller building. I could build the 48x56 for $13,000 instead of $18,200 if i could build my own roof truses and not have to pay $3200 for engineer drawings. It is a copy of a building i put up 20 years ago so i know it wont fall over. The last building survived hurricane sandy and almost 3 feet of snow in another storm. I know why we have building codes but it really irritates me that i am forced to spend that much extra money when i know it is not needed. Thanks everyone for the advice.
 
Exline said:
I may just build a smaller building. I could build the 48x56 for $13,000 instead of $18,200 if i could build my own roof truses and not have to pay $3200 for engineer drawings. It is a copy of a building i put up 20 years ago so i know it wont fall over. The last building survived hurricane sandy and almost 3 feet of snow in another storm. I know why we have building codes but it really irritates me that i am forced to spend that much extra money when i know it is not needed. Thanks everyone for the advice.
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Still going to have a lot more to do, since it will be on a commercial lot.
 
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