<VV> Will it stink? (...And Other Stuff.)

[RoboMan91324 at aol.com]

Ignacio,
 
Is your new home in the USA?  My response assumes this  but whatever your 
building codes are where you live, impose your safer  requirements on your 
builder in this area.  You can always require higher  safety levels of 
construction than your building code requires.
 
The fact that you are building a new house gives you lots of  options.  
These building options can be relatively cheap if you incorporate  them in the 
design stage rather than introduce them in the building stage or as  a 
retrofit.  A builder will have incentive to give a low price in the bid  stage 
but they absolutely love change-orders in the building process because it  can 
represent more profit than the entire original job.  Sometimes these  
upgrades can be for free if they are introduced in the design  stage.
 
First, building code in the USA requires a firewall (and  ceiling in your 
case) between your garage and your living area when the garage  is attached 
to the home.  The integrity of that standard barrier should  reduce any 
infiltration of fumes from the garage to the home.  Make sure  your builder pays 
special attention to this area and seals everything up better  than usual.  
Don't get me started on contractors cutting corners.  YOU  must pay 
attention to the work they are doing.  Don't trust that they know  what they are 
doing or that they care.  The builder and estimator may have  expertise but the 
guys with the hammers and nails are often the cheapest (least  experienced) 
guys they can find.  Even the good and experienced guys will  just do their 
usual good job and ignore the upgrades.  Once a wall is up  and covered, 
you don't know what is under there.
 
Second, for your own health and safety while in the  garage, make sure the 
garage is properly vented to the outside.  This is  probably covered by 
code.  Many fumes and vapors from your  car/paints/solvents/etc. are toxic and 
explosive.  Proper ventilation will  greatly reduce the possibility of fumes 
entering your home in addition to  preserving your health while you are 
working in the garage.  You don't want  to open your garage door for an hour or 
two to ventilate it before you start  work.
 
Third, If you are building a new home, why on earth are you  building parts 
of the garage with only 6 feet of headroom?  Is that  area a "tuck under" 
design like you might find in a split level home?  If  that is so, it might 
be an intelligent use of space if you are shorter than 6  feet tall.  You or 
your passenger don't want to step out of the car and get  a concussion when 
you stand up.   Keep in mind that visitors or the  next owner of your home 
might be taller than you.  At this stage, could you  lower the overall floor 
of the garage by 2 or more feet at minimal  expense?  If I were building a 
new home, I would want ceilings to allow a  car lift in the garage.  If you 
do this, require the builder to pour  "footing" pads where you will anchor 
the lift.  Again, this should cost  nothing in the build stage.  You will need 
to do a little research before  telling the designer where to position the 
pads and how thick they should  be.
 
Fourth, a "cubby hole" like yours might not benefit from  the normal 
venting of your garage and could trap toxic and explosive fumes in  your car and 
under your kitchen even though the rest of the garage is OK.   Also, that 
"cubby hole" for your car might act like a fireplace/furnace if you  have a car 
fire.  The flames and heat will be much more intense there and  the 
firewall/ceiling should be thicker.  God forbid there is an explosion  but an 
enclosed "stall" is not a good place for that to happen.  Keep in mind, a car 
fire can quickly turn into a car  explosion.  The shock wave could rupture 
through your kitchen floor.   Make sure that area has extra structure.  Be 
certain that your builder  understands the importance of these issues.  The 
builder and building  inspector may not take things to a logical extreme, as I 
have.
 
In a home I had in Minnesota, I had a tuck under garage.   I used Spancrete 
above the garage.  That was overkill and it wasn't the  cheapest solution 
but it was very secure.  When the tornado sirens  went off, it was a good 
place to be.  I didn't want myself or any of my  cars showing up in The Land of 
Oz.
 
Other than safety issues, water and moisture issues are  important.  Of 
course, this depends on where you are building.  A home  in the desert 
shouldn't have a problem but in most places, it is an issue.   In new construction, 
it is cheap and easy to water-proof your floors and  walls.  It is very 
expensive to do so after the fact.  The amount  invested during construction is 
a lot cheaper than fighting rust on your cars or  suffering from mold, bugs, 
etc.
 
You might also consider piping the garage for compressed air  at this stage 
as well.  Of course, this is a DIY job if you are a "hands  on" person.  
Make sure you have plenty of AC outlets; both 120 and at  least one or two 230 
volts.  The compressor and/or car lift  may need 230 volts and/or higher 
amps.  You will appreciate the  foresight.
 
Those are just a few thoughts off the top of my head.  I  don't want to 
seem paranoid but I have seen situations where the worst case  actually happens.
 
Good luck with your and Lisa's new home.
 
Doc
 
1960 Corvette, 1961 Rampside, 1962 Rampside, 1964 Spyder  coupe, 1965 
Greenbrier, 1966 Canadian Corsa turbo coupe, 1967 Nova SS, 1968  Camaro ragtop

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
In a message dated 4/7/2013 6:42:51 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
virtualvairs-request at corvair.org writes:

Message:  3
Date: Sun, 7 Apr 2013 14:01:05 -0500
From: Ignacio Valdes  <ivaldes1 at gmail.com>
Subject: <VV> Will it stink?
To:  virtualvairs at corvair.org
Message-ID:
<CANPWqJGJVqWyyNN8ayS3yqSuMKiF-cbrKdt4b6+q=qkoEXDoeQ at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type:  text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Hi all :-) I am designing a new house.  The garage will be attached with 6 
foot high ceiling 'stalls' for 'Lisa' my 64  Monza Coupe. Lisa will be right 
below my kitchen. Since they don't have vapor  recovery will she be 
gasoline stinky in my house? My current garage is  detached and Lisa can do what 
she wants when I am not around :-) Anything I  can do to mitigate that?

--  IV