Building a garage need advice?

Thinking of building attached garage - what about basement windows?


I am thinking of building an attached garage. Our house is small and we do not have any windows in the basement to the front part of the house. If we build on the side we will be covering up two fairly large windows (which was some of the appeal to this house).





What are my options? I thought maybe we could have a skylight type area.. but not sure if this would work or if it is possible. Is it hard to put a window in the foundation towards the front of the house instead? We will be contacting a contractor in about 6 months to a year - but I just wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts?!Building a garage need advice?
To put a basement window in you would need to cut out the appropriate sized hole in the block or poured wall. It's a dusty job if poured concrete, don't feel guilty about paying a company to do it.


If you are doing this, consider installing a larger window. As long as you are making a mess, go big. Make the rough opening about 4 inches wider and longer than the window, then frame that hole with treated lumber cut to fit, like a 2x10. Attach the lumber to the concrete, then you can install and trim a normal window in a conventional manner. Of course, you need to dig out on the outside and install a larger window well from metal or plastic corrugated material or even landscaping blocks. Dig deeper than you need to dig and try to connect a drain to your home's existing perimeter drains; either way, provide a rocky volume bottom for water to keep away from the bottom of the window.


If you don't have a code-approved egress window, this will fit the bill if appropriately sized and located - check with your building department for their requirements.Building a garage need advice?
Other than adding a couple egress windows elsewhere in the foundation one may wish to simply have a detached perhaps with a breezeway.These can be semi closed in.





Good Luck
In my state (NY), it is a code requirement to put fireproof drywall on the house side of the garage and ceiling, on attached garages. This is for your protection; your life depends on it!





You would need to check with your building code enforcement officer in your city/town/ village to get proper info.


When you hire a contractor, make sure you ask for their insurance card, and check with the BBB (Better Business Bureau) to make sure they are an upstanding company. My friend just hired someone (bogus company) he found in the local paper. Needless to say he got ripped off. The state attorney general鈥檚 office is now very interested in the bogus company. Also, get a minimum of three estimates. If two are in line and one is out of line.... ask why. Sometimes the cheaper estimate doesn鈥檛 do the same work or use the proper materials. COMPARE APPLES TO APPLES not to Oranges.





As an added note, make sure they get building permits to do the work, and see the permit yourself, just don鈥檛 take their word for it. I鈥檝e seen Code Enforcement Officers make people open every wall to inspect the various stages. This is where you need to contact the building dept., and ask what they require and what stages of construction they need to inspect, DO NOT rely the builders word.





As for putting a window in the foundation, it鈥檚 not hard if you know what you鈥檙e doing. Again, get estimates and check with the building dept., for the rules and regs. Just like above!





Good luck with your new project!