The floor area of an attached garage should be at least _____ lower than the interior floor. *

I have been drawing up a few concepts of what I wanted my garage to look like.

Where the problem starts is the fact that the town just told me the total height can be no more then 15'.

Does anyone have any creative ideas that would allow for a lift and still keep the roof under 15'?

Can you ask for a variance?

I'll bet a creative truss engineer could draw up a truss for the front of your storage area to transfer the load from the ridge beam down to the walls. Position your doors so that truss lands on columns between the doors to transfer the point load (too much Holmes, gettin' the lingo ) to the floor. The two issues will be roof load down the rafter pieces and the bottom chord holding the walls in. You'd have to make the lift area narrow enough to reduce loads - maybe 9~11' or so. A 28' wide building with a 6/12 pitch should put the ridge right at 15'. 5/12 should be around 13' 10". I don't see how you'd do it without a vault.

Do you have your measuremnts right? My maximum height was only 14 feet and I have an 11'3" ceiling height with standard trusses. There's plenty of room to stand under a car on my BP XTW lift, but not a truck - so I sit!

Make sure to call the city and find out how they measure the 15' height limit. My borough has the same limit in the ordinance.

However, the building inspector told me that means the mean height of the roof can't be more than 15'. So if the walls are 10' tall, the half way point of the roof can't be higher than 15', meaning total height to be 20. Or if your walls are 12' tall, the half way up your roof is 15', meaning the total height to be 18'. Worth calling the city and ask how they measure.

Make sure to call the city and find out how they measure the 15' height limit. My borough has the same limit in the ordinance.

However, the building inspector told me that means the mean height of the roof can't be more than 15'. So if the walls are 10' tall, the half way point of the roof can't be higher than 15', meaning total height to be 20. Or if your walls are 12' tall, the half way up your roof is 15', meaning the total height to be 18'. Worth calling the city and ask how they measure.

Ask if that is from the slab or to the ground surrounding the garage.

Can you ask for a variance?

I'll bet a creative truss engineer could draw up a truss for the front of your storage area to transfer the load from the ridge beam down to the walls. Position your doors so that truss lands on columns between the doors to transfer the point load (too much Holmes, gettin' the lingo ) to the floor. The two issues will be roof load down the rafter pieces and the bottom chord holding the walls in. You'd have to make the lift area narrow enough to reduce loads - maybe 9~11' or so. A 28' wide building with a 6/12 pitch should put the ridge right at 15'. 5/12 should be around 13' 10". I don't see how you'd do it without a vault.

Do you have your measuremnts right? My maximum height was only 14 feet and I have an 11'3" ceiling height with standard trusses. There's plenty of room to stand under a car on my BP XTW lift, but not a truck - so I sit!

Make sure to call the city and find out how they measure the 15' height limit. My borough has the same limit in the ordinance.

However, the building inspector told me that means the mean height of the roof can't be more than 15'. So if the walls are 10' tall, the half way point of the roof can't be higher than 15', meaning total height to be 20. Or if your walls are 12' tall, the half way up your roof is 15', meaning the total height to be 18'. Worth calling the city and ask how they measure.

Check my build in my sig. Its very similar to yours and I think if you went with 10' walls and scissor trusses it would be work-able. Its not ideal but you dont have many options. IMHO variances are a waste of time and money unless you have some bizarre occurrence on your property and they actually consider it a hardship. FYI - wanting a car lift in your suburban home will not qualify as a personal hardship. Its a 24x36. I was also limited to 15' height which screwed my "storage area" but I made due. You might have to go with a shallower roof pitch which may or may not be possible with jersey snow loads. Another option is to make the garage only 24 deep so the roof can stay at a 4/12 or 5/12 and still come in under the height. Also after building mine I realized how little the inspector really looked at my blue prints before approving them. You may be lucky as well and if you just need and extra foot or so, could probably get buy without anyone noticing. Its tough to tell the difference between 15' and 16' when you are looking straight up at it from the ground and every other structure around it is smaller.

I could take some measurements or pics if you are interested in clearances in my garage. Just pm me

I was faced with the same restrictions you have, but I ended up with a rather interesting solution. The lift I bought required about 13-14 feet to install with the safety bar. I put the lift near the center of the garage and notched the steel roof bracing (metal building) so the lift would clear. I them bolted the top of the lift into the roof bracing and made it part of the center support for the roof. The strongest part of my roof is near the middle of my 40 x 60 garage where the lift is located.

Make sure to call the city and find out how they measure the 15' height limit.

I think I need at least 11' there and I dont see how I can get that with standard scissor trusses.

A neat thing about a VPCT is that it allow you to have full height insulation at the top plate. Vent the roof using Accuvent's Cathedral Ceiling Vent System (seal edges with spray foam, please) and insulate between the rafters.

• 15' overall height
• about 13-1/2' clearance at the peak
• 9' walls
• 16" deep trusses (no ridge beam)
• 4/12 roof pitch
• 10'x8 + 14'x8' doors (my favorite configuration for this size building)

Make sure to call the city and find out how they measure the 15' height limit. My borough has the same limit in the ordinance.

However, the building inspector told me that means the mean height of the roof can't be more than 15'. So if the walls are 10' tall, the half way point of the roof can't be higher than 15', meaning total height to be 20. Or if your walls are 12' tall, the half way up your roof is 15', meaning the total height to be 18'. Worth calling the city and ask how they measure.

If I had built 2 years ago...

One thing, can you attach it to the house via a breezeway and get past height restrictions that way. Some have done it in the past I layed out you size, and if you go with an 8' wall and 15' to the top you have a 27 degree pitch which would be roughly a 5/12 without figuring too hard. That gives you 7' from th etop of the wall to the peak outside Now if you go with a 4/12 pitch, you can go with a 10 1/2' wall, that leaves you with 4'7" to the peak outside, but you gain some extra height from the peak inside to your outer wall. This is because the angle is not so steep

So what you have to do is figure in the trusses or the height of them and the wall will have to be lowered by that much. If you use a vaulted parallel Chord like RSA shows, you will loose about 1' of height on the inside. So going that route, and using a 4/12 pitch, you would have to stay with approximately a 9 1/2' wall height. And with thay, if you had a 16' long car on the lift, you would have about 11'4" high where the rafter would engage the hood and/or trunk

where I live in jersey, if i put a causeway attaching the garage to the house, its considered an attached garage now and i'm not longer restricted to height. but i'm limited to 400sqft without a variance. jersey sucks. otherwise i'm restricted to 16' peak measuring off the surrounding area (thinking about building into the hill to get around that) and 1000 sqft. good luck with your build

Make sure to call the city and find out how they measure the 15' height limit. My borough has the same limit in the ordinance.

However, the building inspector told me that means the mean height of the roof can't be more than 15'. So if the walls are 10' tall, the half way point of the roof can't be higher than 15', meaning total height to be 20. Or if your walls are 12' tall, the half way up your roof is 15', meaning the total height to be 18'. Worth calling the city and ask how they measure.

Does anyone have any creative ideas that would allow for a lift and still keep the roof under 15'?

Steve

We just built what you are seeking. We skipped a truss entirely where the lift is, and beefed up the trusses on either side and spanned between with joist hangers and 2x8's. All of this was engineered and architecturally stamped. We got amazing ceiling height while keeping a 11 eave height. Just something to discuss with your builder

I too was limited to 15'......

How about a ridge beam? No trusses. That is how I was able to make mine 2-story....pics are in the link in my signature.

I considered building modifications to get more ceiling height, in the end I put in a MaxJax lift. You can see it in the video link; Finished Garage with 2 post MaxJax lift:

I also think you should check back with the municipality. I am building a 24x36 with a maximum 15 ft. But here they check the 15 foot half way from bottom of the eve to the peak, so I am using scissors trusses with a 8/12 outside and a 4/12 inside. That gives me 10ft. just under the eve, and 18 ft. at the peak on the gable end, giving the average measurement of 14ft. The eve sits slightly lower than the top plates of the wall so I do not have to take them into consideration. I then get just shy of 14ft. in the middle of the garage, and12ft. half way from the wall to the center of the garage. That works out perfect for me because I will be driving into the 24ft. side on the gable end. I can then center a lift in the garage with work space along the walls.

Jim

Ok, I'll throw my 2 cents in. What about building with sip panels. Structural insulated panels.....I've built this way. Panels are awsome. With 10' sidewalls, 4/12 pitch, main beam from end to end. And using the sip roof panels, (12" thick)..Should give you about 14' inside. The panels are all engineered to your specs, and show up ready to install. 6" wall is r25, roof is R40. If the slab is ready, you and 2 buddies, could put up the outside walls in 1 day. the next put up main beam, and roof panels. ready for shingles and siding. Inside is already osb, so you could just paint it if you wanted. Fantastic system, and incredibly efficient. ..I'm pretty handy with sips, so I could answer most of your questions...

Jim

Assuming the absolute maximum height is 15', why not try a Vaulted Parallel Chord Truss? One example:

• 15' overall height
• about 13-1/2' clearance at the peak
• 9' walls
• 16" deep trusses (no ridge beam)
• 4/12 roof pitch
• 10'x8 + 14'x8' doors (my favorite configuration for this size building)

I layed out you size, and if you go with an 8' wall and 15' to the top you have a 27 degree pitch which would be roughly a 5/12 without figuring too hard. That gives you 7' from th etop of the wall to the peak outside Now if you go with a 4/12 pitch, you can go with a 10 1/2' wall, that leaves you with 4'7" to the peak outside, but you gain some extra height from the peak inside to your outer wall. This is because the angle is not so steep

So what you have to do is figure in the trusses or the height of them and the wall will have to be lowered by that much. If you use a vaulted parallel Chord like RSA shows, you will loose about 1' of height on the inside. So going that route, and using a 4/12 pitch, you would have to stay with approximately a 9 1/2' wall height. And with thay, if you had a 16' long car on the lift, you would have about 11'4" high where the rafter would engage the hood and/or trunk

One thing, can you attach it to the house via a breezeway and get past height restrictions that way. Some have done it in the past

There are several ways to do this:

First of all, consider coffer trusses, they may or may not get you enough height. Check with a truss company.

We just built what you are seeking. We skipped a truss entirely where the lift is, and beefed up the trusses on either side and spanned between with joist hangers and 2x8's. All of this was engineered and architecturally stamped. We got amazing ceiling height while keeping a 11 eave height. Just something to discuss with your builder

Lots of good ideas here. I appreciate everyone's ideas. Definitely going to further pursue the parallel truss and conventional framing between trusses ideas.

I'd suggest to check with the regulations. In my area, the max height was a "median" height...not the absolute height.

Median height is the mid way point between the tip of the peak to the gutters.

I want the garage door to follow the roof, coffer trusses would prevent that.

Assuming the absolute maximum height is 15', why not try a Vaulted Parallel Chord Truss?

A neat thing about a VPCT is that it allow you to have full height insulation at the top plate. Vent the roof using Accuvent's Cathedral Ceiling Vent System (seal edges with spray foam, please) and insulate between the rafters.

Do you have any ideas about the installed cost differences ?

I live in nj as well yes it sucks for code, dont waste your money on a variance if you do and you lose there goes your cash over 2gs easy and if they say no its done at NO, i have 9ft 5in wall height and scissor trusses in my 30x80, no mine is a pole barn so i cut one truss down and modified it so i had 1 bay with 8 ft wide opening, it works great for all my cars heigher than i can reach, my big 4x4 van i can just bend at the knees alittle bit and im 6ft tall. now i added 2 other lifts another 4 post and a 2 post floor plate design with out moding any joists i have 11.6 ft to center of scissor joist and suprised that with most cars i play with it just heigh enough to get under. good luck with your deal, go chat with your local zoning officer and double check on how they measure 15ft i think youll be able to squeeze what you need out of there interputation of 15ft. My z.o is a jerk weed, hopefully yours is better. after all your taxes pay his salary

We just built what you are seeking. We skipped a truss entirely where the lift is, and beefed up the trusses on either side and spanned between with joist hangers and 2x8's.

• What was the "standard" truss spacing ?
• What were the length of those 2x8s ?
• I assume those 2x8 were connecting the top chords, correct ?

I keep staring at this truss system and have a couple of questions as compared to a glue lam ridge beam and wood I-joist rafters. I assume the big benefit is the trusses can be pre-built and "flown in" via a crane. Any other benefits ?

Do you have any ideas about the installed cost differences ?

I confess I've got vaulted parallel chord trusses on the brain lately. You know, to a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

I live in nj as well yes it sucks for code, dont waste your money on a variance if you do and you lose there goes your cash over 2gs easy and if they say no its done at NO, i have 9ft 5in wall height and scissor trusses in my 30x80, no mine is a pole barn so i cut one truss down and modified it so i had 1 bay with 8 ft wide opening, it works great for all my cars heigher than i can reach, my big 4x4 van i can just bend at the knees alittle bit and im 6ft tall. now i added 2 other lifts another 4 post and a 2 post floor plate design with out moding any joists i have 11.6 ft to center of scissor joist and suprised that with most cars i play with it just heigh enough to get under. good luck with your deal, go chat with your local zoning officer and double check on how they measure 15ft i think youll be able to squeeze what you need out of there interputation of 15ft. My z.o is a jerk weed, hopefully yours is better. after all your taxes pay his salary

In the mean time though I'll keep playing with sketches and getting feedback from the lumber yard to see whats possible.

Well I checked and its 15' from mean grade to absolute highest point. That's a bigger problem then I originally thought. My lot is almost perfectly level. Over all it have 2' of elevation change. There is a small stream on maybe 50' north of the property. During the hurricane this fall a good chunk of my yard was under water. I wanted the garage floor to be 16" higher then the current grade, which would be the same elevation as my existing attached garage. Figured this would guarantee things stay pretty dry, but it would take away 16" from usable interior space.

Use this site http://www.ecode360.com/TU0477 look up your town, also check and see if you can build bigger than your house foot print,thats our local law. if you have 3 acres and a 10x20 main house foot print you cant go bigger than that foot print for a secondary building.

One thing, can you attach it to the house via a breezeway and get past height restrictions that way. Some have done it in the past

In my area, a breezeway makes the garage "attached" and there are separate rules for things like lot line setback and square footage for attached vs detached garages.

I had a 16' limit. Neighbor 285 feet to west contested my permit and everything else including a 4' privacy fence. I was requesting variance to 17' so that garage would match home. Neighbor claimed it would affect his view etc...total BS. After serveral mods and an extra 5 grand later I just brought in a 100 yards of base course and had it packed. This raised the area I was going build the garage over a foot (sorry I just had to prove a point) Then I built a big box with 16' walls. Interior height is 5/8" short of 12'. I too went with engineered trusses so that I would have easy access as opposed to TJI with no real perpendicular access. I can crawl through the trusses if I needed to. My neighbor calls it the big ugly and every time I hear that I laugh.

I had a 16' limit. Neighbor 285 feet to west contested my permit and everything else including a 4' privacy fence. I was requesting variance to 17' so that garage would match home. Neighbor claimed it would affect his view etc...total BS. After serveral mods and an extra 5 grand later I just brought in a 100 yards of base course and had it packed. This raised the area I was going build the garage over a foot (sorry I just had to prove a point) Then I built a big box with 16' walls. Interior height is 5/8" short of 12'. I too went with engineered trusses so that I would have easy access as opposed to TJI with no real perpendicular access. I can crawl through the trusses if I needed to. My neighbor calls it the big ugly and every time I hear that I laugh.

I would go 30' deep. A 4/12 roof pitch. Have the ceiling be 10' tall. The roof will be 5' tall. With the depth you can walk around the car and put the garage goodies at the back wall.