Garage Plans With Apartment Attached: 4 Things to Consider

When I was first stained concrete floors okc my wife and I moved in with her folks for a year while our first house was built. She was pregnant at the time expecting our first and we were crammed into a tiny room in my in-law’s house with a toilet and 4′ x 4′ shower for a whole year. By the end, I was ready to pull my hair out! I love my in-laws, but after that year, my relationship with them was strained, my relationship with my wife was struggling, and I was getting frustrated with my brand new baby because I didn’t want her to wake anyone up at night.

Talk about miserable. My life is totally different now, thank goodness. It’s the twilight years for my in-laws, so now my wife have figured out how we can set up a way for them to stay with us. We have a modest house on a little bit of land, so we’ve built a separate garage with an apartment above it. We use the extra space as a shop for some of my tools and projects, and the apartment is a guest suite for people visiting until my in-laws are ready to downsize.

Here are 4 things I found helped me find the right garage plans with apartment attached when I was searching for plans.

1. Consider what you’re going to use the garage for, not necessarily the apartment. Different garage plans with apartment attached may not only have different layouts, but may also serve different functions.

Is it just for storage or are you going to store a car or cars in the garage? If so, how much equipment will you store? There’s tools, spare tires and parts, bike or luggage racks.

If it’s going to be a shop, consider the ventilation. Lay out your tool set up first so you know what kind of garage floor plan makes sense.

How high do you need the bay doors and ceilings? My father in law keeps his boat in his garage, but he hates it because he has to put the boat’s tower up and down when ever he takes the boat out. While looking for garage plans with apartment attached, that’s something I’ll have to consider.

Think of recreational equipment you may have or things you can migrate from the house or main garage to make more room for living.

2. How much and what shape is the land you have available? Pick the right garage plans with apartment attached by asking how much and what shape the land is you have available

A double garage with extra deep bays could be just as good as a 4 bay garage. Play with different configurations and make sure your garage plans with apartment attached match your available space as much as possible.

3. What is your budget?

While adding on to your home may cost an average of $100 per square foot, a garage could cost you much less. Depending on what part of the country you’re building in you could be building a garage for as little as $20 per square foot. Now, keep in mind that there’s an apartment above the garage, so your cost is going to go up. I’d plan on budgeting between $35 to $50 per square foot. Remember if you look for those free garage plans with apartment attached online, be aware that you may have to have someone adjust them for your specific needs.