Garages and barns need to have ventilation. Most homeowners put windows in their garages to be able to see outside the building without having to leave the building or open a doorway. Garages that have second stories have permanent stairways that take up most of the wall they are placed on. This presents a number of safety issues. Window placement in relation to a stairway is one of those safety concerns. Window size is important for safety reasons as well.

If you want a garage that has optimal wall space, you probably want to limit your openings. You are going to have to have room for the garage doors, which will leave you three walls to have workbenches, shelves and work boards. If it was winter, you wouldn’t want to open them. For safety reasons and convenience, most garages have garage door openers installed. In the event of an emergency, you would have to lift them manually. If you had no windows to escape through, how would you quickly get out? What would you do if you were on the second story and the only way down was a stairway to below where the fire would be growing?

Both one-story and two-story garages, barns, additions and shell homes have decorative windows in the gables of their buildings. Some are for functional reasons, some are just decorative. The size of the window, the type of glass and where it is located is important. Direction of travel in any new construction building should always be a concern that an experienced building contractor should plan with you, both for ventilation and safety.

If you are walking up a stairway to a second floor, is there a continuous route to the outside of the building from that floor? Every time I meet with a consumer to plan a garage, barn, shell home or accessory building, one of the first questions I ask is whether or not the building has more than one floor and what will that second floor be used for. The customers answer then dictates what size window will go there, what type of glass should be in that window(s) and that will allow access to the outside of the building in the event of emergency.

Windows placed within 36” or less of the bottom of the tread or landing, must have tempered glass.

Windows within 36” of a stairway in any direction must have safety glass. Any window that is closer than 18” to the floor of a structure must have tempered glass. Why? Anyone could trip and fall out of the building. Ouch!

The size of the windows used in garages, additions, barns, shell homes and accessory structures should be planned to make sure that a grown fireman, with an oxygen tank on, can knock in the glass, come through the window and take you to safety. CALL H.W. ENTERPRISES, INC. to plan your next garage, barn, addition or shell home at 757-595-4562/757-696-1927 or visit: www.hwenterprisesinc.com.

Most garages are used to house automobiles. Garages are used for storage as well. It is every man and woman’s dream to have a utility sink and a garden hose hook up on their garage. Clean up in the garage and not the house, right? Many people want garages and barns with bathrooms. “Man caves” want to have bars and bedrooms. Most equine barns want cold and warm water for their wash stalls. What is involved with putting in plumbing in garages, barns and other accessory buildings?

One consideration before planning a bathroom in an accessory or storage building is the connection to the sewer and what the land perks for. If your main home has 3 bathrooms and the land only perks for 3 bedrooms, most principalities won’t allow any more fixtures. There are different requirements for sewer systems with drain fields and city sewage disposal systems.

When you are building a garage and want water, there are a few things to make sure are part of the installation process. In concealed places, piping has to have steel shield plates unless the piping is cast-iron or galvanized steel. The plates cover the holes and notches in the lumber members that support them. Pipes passing through concrete or cinder walls and floors must have protective material to prevent corrosion. In garages, plumbing pipes have sleeves that are 2 sizes bigger than the pipe. These help the piping from freezing.

Any plumbing piping shall be supported to ensure alignment and prevent sagging while allowing for expansion and contraction. Fasteners, hangers and anchors have code specific application and are critical to the success of the project. The piping that runs along the ground must be insulated and protected also. Planning for weather affects is crucial for plumbing piping. Garages are usually unheated and are used infrequently; therefore those pipes are at greater risk of freezing.

Plumbing piping is traditionally sealed with caulk. Any space between the outside of the pipe and the inside of the pipe sleeve, or opening into a building, home, garage or addition, must be sealed. When building garages, conduit is placed in the footer and runs up through the slab or block. In the State of Virginia, code requires any plumbing to be taken to stub-out, whether a garage or habitable space. What that means is that you can’t just put a staging conduit in the footer and cap it off. Code says you have to run all of the plumbing piping through the inside of the garage for inspection along with a grinder.

When you want to build an accessory structure, garage or barn, planning is just one service that H.W. ENTERPRISES, INC. will do for you. Call H.W. ENTERPRISES, INC. to plan your next building project.
757-595-4562 or 757-696-1927. Visit us on the web: www.hwenterprisesinc.com

You’ve decided to build. You have spent months planning and saving and sacrificing to be able to have that garage, barn, shell home or accessory building at last. You and your wife have discussed all the details. So you go to the internet to find a Building Contractor. What do you find? Terms and titles like: General Contractor, building contractor, framing contractor, remodeler, and the list goes on. Who is best suited for your building project and what will it cost?

SUCCESSFUL GARAGE CONSTRUCTION COMES FROM EXPERIENCE AND NOTHING ELSE.

The cost of the materials, the labor to install them, the insurance to cover the project, and supervision of the job determine the price of a garage, shell home, addition, or accessory structure.

When you want to build a new structure, you want a Building Contractor, preferably one that specializes in the type of building project you want to undertake. You want a Building Contractor that has been in business for many, many years. You don’t want a remodeler who is short on business and has decided to rebrand themselves a new Construction Builder. The knowledge it takes to produce a worry-free building in a timely fashion can only come as a result of building those structures over and over and over again. Every detail of a successful garage project counts. The way you turn a board, the nails you use, the importance of leveling and measuring twice and therefore only cutting once. All of these things are watermarks of an experienced tradesman.

The materials used to construct a garage are as important as who is building the structure itself. There are multiple grades of lumber. Lumber in some applications must be salt-treated. Grade one lumber is custom cut lumber, largely used for custom cabinetry and other products that are high-end building products. Grade two and three lumber is used in construction of buildings. Grade two is a bit better than three. It is uniform, unwrapped and with few knots and other deformities inherit to wood products. Grade three lumber is considered by many to be “trash” lumber because it is riddled with knots, decay, warping and other either natural or imposed defects.

Knowledge of which fasteners to use and where is as important as the wood they are affixed to. Caulks and other adhesives used in building are numerous and many are specific to application. If you use the wrong adhesive to caulk around windows and it shrinks because it isn’t an exterior product, you might as well as used nothing at all.

If you want to cut corners to save money you will be giving something up elsewhere. If you chose number three lumber you will spend an enormous amount of time sifting and returning bad lumber. Depending on the task, you may have to increase the amount of lumber used to accomplish the same result. If your contractor puts the bottom plate down upside down, the base of the building will curl up over time. If studs are used that are twisted, the walls will rack over time. If the trusses are offset and out of plumb, and the fasteners are off at the corners, the roof assembly will shift over time.   The torque created due to the offset will cause the trusses to lift off of the top plates. If fasteners necessary are not in the proper place(s), or there aren’t enough of them, the lumber can pull apart.

Ideally, the cost of each project has 3 proportional components: materials, labor and overhead.   If a company suffers intense overhead, it may try to either lower the wage for labor or alter its materials to remain competitive. In order to lower the labor expense, the laborers used must change. Experience commands higher wages, so using less experienced workers can help lower the overall cost. Exchanging number two lumber for number three will also reduce the material costs.

Let me give you an example. When I need a “throw-away” notebook for my 3 year-old child, I can go to the local dollar store and get one for a buck and be on my way. Nothing lost, it’s a notebook that she will scribble in and draw pictures and spill her snack-time milk on. No biggie. If I need to get a 3-ringed binder that will last her a couple of months for school work, I’ll probably go to Wal-Mart. If my office needs a new job board, I’ll probably go to OfficeMax to buy that because I need it to last a long time. So, that longevity justifies paying a little more money for better quality.

Buildings are not disposable. They are to stand erect for decades, in good condition.   In order to do so, they must be able to withstand tens of thousands of pounds of force and weathering, on a daily basis, from beneath, the sides and the roof, individually and collectively.   Safe construction isn’t something an ordinary person can undertake. You have to have specialized training for years in many disciplines to be a successful builder or construction worker. Hey, will a little common sense and determination be enough? NO. Can extra adhesive in the corners make up for missing nails and fastening plates? NO.

In a tax-conscience world, a stable, responsible Building Contractor who has long-term workers, not necessarily employees, with years and years of established work, who specializes in the project you want to start is a company you want to do business with. While it is great to help out a “new kid on the block”, it will be a life-long decision you will have to live with. SUCCESSFUL GARAGE CONSTRUCTION COMES FROM EXPERIENCE AND NOTHING ELSE.

Building using kits is a cost-effective choice initially. You get your lumber and fasteners delivered straight to your door and all you need is labor. Okay, established builders don’t build with kits. Why? Changes on-site and changes in code render kits annoying, at best, to established contractors. There is a swap of lumber due to poor condition, there are fasteners missing, the lumber count is off, door frames that are warped and no threshold exists, windows are smaller than you wanted, so what to do? Get some friends or workers together waiting for a days work at the local 7-11? Besides, you can get some names when you have to hire out the foundation, right? WRONG. This isn’t a Barbie Treehouse, it is a building that you are going to be in along with your cars and tools and belongings. It’s on your property next to your home. Do you want it to add or subtract from the property value?

An experience garage builder has already planned for all of the things mentioned above and about 50 other things. You sit back with your coffee and watch a hole turn into a building that in some cases is built better than your home. Call H.W. ENTERPRISES, INC. for a successful, timely garage project at 757-595-4562 or 757-696-1927. VISIT US AT: WWW.HWENTERPRISESINC.COM . Short-sighted building is a nightmare from start to finish and beyond. H.W. ENTERPRISES, INC. HAS OVER 59 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE BUILDING GARAGES, SHELL HOMES, ADDITIONS AND BARNS. We are cost-competitive while being quality orientated. There is no need to go anywhere else.

Ask yourself this question before you build: Do I want a Dollar Store, a Walmart or Office Max permanent garage, addition, shell home, barn or other accessory structure?