We have always wanted to have a breezeway between the garage and the pantry door so we can go between the house and the garage without getting wet if it is raining or snowing. However, as I have mentioned before, the current garage (and the replacement garage we will be building) is “non-conforming” because it is too close to the road. Because it is non-conforming, if we were to attach the house to the garage, the entire house becomes non-conforming and we would require a special permit (which is not guaranteed).
In the past, we believe that we had to keep a 10 foot gap between the house and the garage to avoid a special permit. So we designed the house that way, and planned on adding a breezeway in five years, which we believe allowed for enough time to establish the house as existing, and thus circumventing the issue.
However, it seems that when we change our plans to tear down and rebuild the garage in place instead of preserving it, the rules changed. Or maybe just the building inspectors interpretation of the rules changed. I am not sure. That said, the new rule is that we only have to have a 1″ gap between the house and the garage to avoid a special permit. However, that includes a 1″ gap between the deck and the garage as well.
So our architect came up with a design for a breezeway that met the requirements. The design pictures are shown below, but before I get to that I will go right to the punch line – the building inspector approved these plans and they have been adding to the building permit. Woo hoo.
This is a side view of what we are proposing. The garage is on the left, the house is on the right and the flooring between the two is the end of the deck. I have highlighted in yellow where we will have a 1″ gap.
This is a cut view from same angle. Once again, the gap is in yellow. What you will notice is that there is an overhang on the garage which will overlap the breezeway. This means that any rain will have to blow in sideways in order to get into that gap. This is, of course, will not prevent a cascade of water, but make it much less likely. Also, since the breezeway can not be attached to the garage, it has to be supported with columns.
And here is an isometric view of the breezeway itself.
Some other notes. We had another Wednesday design meeting, and this one was relatively short at only 2 hours. We decided on the lighter color for the accents in the siding (see earlier post). We waffled a little but ultimately approved the windows that had been planned for a while. We agreed to use the pretty standard Zip-R siding solution (which goes under the actual siding), even though it was not clear whether it would reduce the ability of the house to withstand a brush fire.
Work on the foundation continues. They are installing the french drain system and also the radon reduction system. (We do not believe we have any radon, but it is trivial to install it now and add a fan in the attic later, if necessary, to complete the system.) They are also filling in the base with gravel, which will then be covered with waterproofing. After that, they will frame and then pour the actual foundation.
As work progresses, I hope to have pictures and construction videos so you can see the progress.
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