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Message |
    
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 7723
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, May 18, 2006 - 8:42 pm: | 
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My friend has an 80 y/o garage. There is a 60 ft. oak in the back-right corner which has been slowly lifting the garage for years. In fact, when my friend bought her house, the tree did not touch the garage. Now it has smushed the gutter into the roof.
A tree specialist told my friend last year that the tree was finished growing. My friend's beloved spouse vows to sell the house before taking down the tree.
My friend has been dreading the day that the garage would start leaning so much that the doors wouldn't open. She is preparing for that day by designing hypothetical scenarios.
The sill plates are rotted out, the floor is a mess and the root system of the tree is well ensconced under the garage and can't be cut without killing the tree. So, simply jacking up the garage and straightening it out would not be a long term (if even possible) solution.
My friend would like to pick up the garage, move it 4 feet forward and fix it. It would solve all kinds of problems. Alas, it would require a variance because it does not meet current setback codes.
Hypothetically, my friend has this notion that they can just cut 3 feet off the back of the garage and build an extra 3 feet onto the front. Thus, "moving" the garage without moving the garage. And staying within code, since most of the original structure will remain in place.
My friend's beloved spouse thinks that my friend is crazy. Hypothetically speaking, does anyone have any thoughts? Remote idea of how much it would cost?
It's a good thing that this has not actually happened because it's a bear of a problem. And my friend was planning on spending her hypothetical money on a new bathroom. |
Travis
Citizen
Username: Travis
Post Number: 427
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, May 18, 2006 - 9:25 pm: |
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Lose the tree.
By the sounds of it, just stopping this garage from falling over is about as much as a new bathroom, if done right.
Double that for a new garage.
And the time to act is now, the longer your friend waits, the bigger the repair bill.
Call Vinny @ Vinpat Construction, they specialize in garages. |
gotoffadaroof
Citizen
Username: Upondaroof
Post Number: 708
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, May 18, 2006 - 9:47 pm: |
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I have no idea what it would cost, but I do like the idea of removing from the back and adding to the front. Very novel! My daughter bought a house with a detached garage that was in very poor condition. There was a maple tree pushing against the rear end wall and the front doors (swing out, barn type) wouldn't open. We had the tree taken down (to the ground) and then pushed the building back with a 4x6, a car jack and an '88 Ford van for ballast. When it was as close to plumb as we could get it, (we lost it a couple of times and thought it would go over!) we braced the front and then installed gusset bracing to the end walls and main beam. Let it sit for a couple of days and cut her loose and damned if the sumbitch didn't hold!! The doors swung free and I was truly amazed. There was a dirt floor in the garage, so we opted to build a wooden floor/ deck since the cars weren't going in and it would be used only for storage / workshop. I installed new wall studs as needed and its been good to go for two years now, needing only a new roof and a few other cosmetic items.
Price wise? Tree removal, $650, (very difficult to work between garage and border fence). Decking and bracing, $600 material and a lotta sweat equity. |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 7725
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, May 18, 2006 - 10:16 pm: |
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Daddy!
 |
Case
Citizen
Username: Case
Post Number: 1612
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, May 18, 2006 - 10:34 pm: |
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My garage started life as a carriage house; it was so small that 4' was added to the front sometime in the last 50 years.
I think it could be done, for sure. I believe (but this needs to be checked) that the way around getting a variance is to leave 1 wall untouched. Sounds like they could do that.
I've been really impressed with the garage work that Bob Hume does; give him a call! |
jab
Citizen
Username: Jab
Post Number: 565
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, May 18, 2006 - 10:35 pm: |
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Here's a timely article for you...
www.nytimes.com/2006/05/18/garden/18brooklyn.html |
doulamomma
Citizen
Username: Doulamomma
Post Number: 1429
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, May 18, 2006 - 10:56 pm: |
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re. article:
yikes - roll out of bed & you're ready for breakfast! - hope they don't have aged parents visiting that guest room! But it is beautiful! |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 7728
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 8:58 am: |
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That's a wild house. I'd love to see the inside in person. They probably work out a lot since it sounds as if the neighbors see them undressed on a regular basis.
So, the advice to my friend would be to build a smaller garage meeting setbacks and buy a Mini?
My friend put in calls to 4 places.
Elite Door in the hopes that he can do something simple and inexpensive (Allen bailed her out when it wouldn't close on 4th of July weekend about 5 years ago).
Vinpat, Hume and Honeydo.
Do you think that my friend should call Mittemier and ask about building three feet onto the front when it only has a one foot setback on one side? Does anyone know what kind of permit/plans would need to be filed?
Oh - friend's Beloved vigorously enforced the "save the tree" priority this morning. When all the options are evaluated for cost, divorce may have to be one of them. |
Wilkanoid
Citizen
Username: Cseleosida
Post Number: 584
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 9:08 am: |
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If money and marriage were no object, I would vote to keep the tree. I do understand that they need a garage, though.
That wasn't helpful at all, was it? I'm just kibbitzing (sp?) because I would love to have more light/sun for a garden, but won't cut my trees down.
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Bob K
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 11571
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 9:18 am: |
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The only practical solution is to six the tree. Even if your friend could get approval to rebuild/relocate the garage in spite of the setback issues the town would require that it be brought up to current building standards and codes, or at least I am pretty sure they would. Mucho dinero!!
Demolishing the garage may or may not be an option. I don't know if the building code requires a garage or not in Maplewood.
In any event, your friend has a major resale issue. |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 7730
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 9:26 am: |
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Yeah - I think that it will cost $$$. Even if the tree is removed, the garage is still so crooked that it would have to be dealt with. And the root system underneath which is pushing the foundation up would have to be removed, which I am sure means excavating the floor.
Is it even possible that removing tree and excavating the floor would allow the garage to fall back into place so that the doors work? I, I mean she, didn't think so.
Oh - demolishing the garage is out of the question, since moving it to meet set-back would tear up the major landscaping job (fieldstone walls and patio) that was done last summer.
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kmk
Supporter
Username: Kmk
Post Number: 1252
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 9:42 am: |
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Good lord! Save that tree!
A 60'oak tree (that probably took 100 years to grow) adds more value to your proprety than a friggin' 80 year garage and it may even be more valuable than a brand new detached garage as well. I can not fathom how folks who have a "problem" with a tree, see $$$$ signs and take the short-sighted UGLY approach their environment. It is my opinion that NJ residents cut down trees and pave over surfaces way too often ...that's one reason why we don't look at all like Connecticut!
Think of everything involoved in the very, very big picture.
Imagine what your house and yard would be like without the tree. If it were some super fast growing tulip tree I wouldn't be so adament...but it's an OAK tree.
There should be no problem with extending the volume of your garage forward. The set-backs are from the property lines....you are not getting any closer to any property line. Carefully evaluate the effort and cost involved in modifying the existing garage vs. building a new one.
Would you consider no garage or a car-port and a garden shed, for a short period, as a temporary solution? |
Bob K
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 11573
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 9:46 am: |
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"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot".
kmk, I tend to agree with you. But at some point a tree that is destroying a structure that, apparently, Greenie's friend wants to keep, has to go.
We had to remove a tree for similar reasons. |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 7731
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 10:06 am: |
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Um, the tree is not in danger of losing its life. My marriage, maybe, the tree no. The problem may be the the extension has to meet current set-back requirements, which it won't.
In terms of the bigger picture, if you saw my yard, you would know that the one thing that I do lack is trees. |
Pippi
Supporter
Username: Pippi
Post Number: 2225
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 10:19 am: |
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My marriage, maybe, the tree no.<-- you mean YOUR FRIEND'S marriage, don't you?
 |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 7733
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 10:26 am: |
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Pippi-
I meant to say that I do not lack trees. I have 5 50+ feet in my back yard. And we had two others, but lost them to disease a few years ago. |
Richard Kessler
Citizen
Username: Richiekess
Post Number: 125
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 11:21 am: |
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we had a very similar issue, albeit with an ash rather than oak. It had lifted the garage way up on one end, leading to sill root and all sorts of other issues. When our insurance company told us they would cancel our policy if we didn't fix the garage, we had to deep six the tree, which really bothered us, and have the garage repaired. Fortunately for us, there are lots of trees near where the ash tree was, so while we hated to have it cut down, it's loss isn't that severe. |
Elizabeth
Citizen
Username: Momof4peepers
Post Number: 76
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, May 20, 2006 - 8:51 pm: |
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Maybe a dumb newbie question, but why not apply for a variance to the setback requirement? Argue that the tree adds value to the town, get the neighbors to not oppose it, dot the i's and cross the t's, show how it's increasing usable square footage of the garden/yard, is in keeping with what's ALREADY there, but will be a new structure that meets code, will landscape to improve the view of the neighbors, etc. "modifying an existing variance" is the lingo used in one of our former locales.
Just a thought (I like the idea of keeping a tree, even if you/she already have 5+ old trees on the property). |
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