Hi,
I’m about to retire to a small farm with a cabin. I want to build a proper house that will meet Pennsylvania building codes. It will be a studio/workshop/living quarters.
I’ve seen amazing enclosed carports made of steel that come in my desired width (24 ft), 12ft height at the peak, and as long as I want. My idea is to put down a Frost Protected Shallow Trench slab foundation, build the steel carport on it, then finish the inside as a regular house. I’d attach wood 2×4’s to the vertical steel studs. They would act as thermal breaks and be the base for sheetrock, etc.
Can anybody see any downside to this? Would I get a building permit for such a design? I’m not concerned about external appearance or resale value. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Paul
Replies
Greetings workalone,
This post, in response to your question, will bump the thread through the 'recent discussion' listing again which will increase it's viewing.
Perhaps it will catch someone's attention that can help you with advice.
Cheers
I've often wondered the same thing when thinking about replacing my garage--you may have better luck in the country than I would in the city. I guess I'd ask the building inspector. In subdivisions, sometimes there are subdivision rules that an association will enforce, but I doubt you'd have to worry about such a thing in the country.
the carports you refer to are pretty light weight... the metal roof acts as the roof & perlins... usually on a 4- 5 ft center... around here you get a 20 x 24 for about $900... thats sides open about 8ft off the ground... guess it'd take 3-4 more sheets to get to the gound on each side...
if it was me... and it ain't...
I'd look at a real metal building... 30ft wide is pretty standard for the smallest..bays are usually 20-25ft... so you could/can get 40-50ft deep with only one heavy steel center support... the end walls can be metal framed... you can get any ceiling height you want.. and it'd be pretty simple to build out a living quarters front rear or side... place some pex in the slab for hot water heat.... cost per SF is pretty cheap... you can build the building on footers and finish inside after... if thats what you wanted...
been a while but i'm guessing a 30ft x 50 metal building with 12' eve with insulation would be less than 12k with a walk in door... you could do as much slab as you wanted or needed... most come with stamped plans... so thats a huge plus
p
Youwill need to get the engineering from the manufacturer to see what live loads it will handle succesfully, then ompare to what is required locally
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carport house
I live in Texas and plan on making a house out of one of these carports.. I plan on having the whole building insulated with the blown in foam insulation. I then plan on strippping it with 1x4s and the putting sheet rock on the walls and even on the ceiling.. I will be adding extra bows (these are the supports for the metal walls and roof). I plan on putting these on either 16" or 24" centers. the bows I am using are 3" x 2 1/2" so instead of the usual 3 1/2 " wall ours will be 3"...We will be adding interior walls and an AC unit.. On ething I have been told about the AC is that you will have to install a system that draws in some air form outside.. this is because the house will be so air tight that it will cause mold on the inside... Our place will have the vertical roof and walls.. This does cost a little extra but thats is what the little woman wants.. It will be 24' wide and start with a 20' carport the the house will start and it will run for 40' and the we will have a 16' porch on the end.. so I will have a building that is 24' wide x 76' long.. There is no way you could build this building with wood even close to the price of these buildings. They will come out and install it in 2 days.. the savings in labor alone is unbelievable.. The quotes I have gotten in the past week have been around $17,000 with extra doors and windows and the extra bows for support.. If all this works out I will be building several of theses a lot small as rental property.. There is a huge need for rentals in our area and will be able to pay for them in just a few years and then it's all profit from there...
Holler back
James Birmingham
[email protected]
In theory, if the AC is properly sized, you should not have mold problems if you don't draw in outside air -- the AC should dehumidify just fine. However, you may have "stale air" problems.
Update?
Hello James,
I was curious to how this project has gone since the original post. Have been able to move forward on this or did you decide against it?
Thank you and I appreciate your response.
Todd Hicks
Dear James,
I know its been a while since your original post in this forum but I wanted to reach out and ask if you had had any success with your project? I too live in TX and have a metal carport/shed thats 18x20' that I want to convert over to a studio to rent out.
If you have an update that would awesome to see how you did it, what it took with planning etc and if you could give us some tips and tricks on how to do the conversion. Anything you can provide would be really useful.
Thank you in advance.
Paul,I've had the same idea myself,If u attached 2 by 4 to ur metal studs, that's a 2 by y wall,put a bottom and top plate on it,put it on 16 inch centers,Plus if u could pour ur concrete 4 inches over ur walls,U would have to put it on top of ur concrete, Plus it would be help by the concrete,I think these few things and a few more, would make it stronger and than a regular stick build house,of course do yr rafters similar, and put plywood on the exterior for your base coat,I don't see any problem in a metal carport build like this,would have any problem passing any inspection.If anyone thinks it would be a problem to pass inspection,Please let me know your ideas,Thanks
excuse me,let me straighten out my typos,By attaching 2 by 4s to yr metal stoods, u would have a 2 by 6 wall, more than enough for city code,plus if u could put ur plumbing in the concrete slab,Maybe pour ur slab 4 inches over ur walls after u have the built and tied into your bottom plate,this would anchor your building down,Make it stronger than a house predate when the walls r,set on top of a slab and nailed to it,I think pouring ur concrete over ur walks 4 inches, would be a goid idea, Thanks
Good grief.
I too am speechless.
I converted my metal carport to a room using 2x6