Two Story Garage Plans

by Jay Behm

Two story garage plans by Behm Design are available in many styles and sizes and feature a building code-compliant stairway access for the second story. These garages' second stories are used for many purposes such as dwelling space, home business,office, studio (for art, music, etc.), recreational space, workout or exercise room, work shop, hobby space, entertainment center, gaming room or guest facilities.

There are a few issues to be aware of when considering building a 2 story garage:

• Second Floor Occupancy - Zoning for your property may or may not have specific restrictions or limitations for the property zone, such as no secondary or accessory dwellings allowed,whether second story may be used for other, utilitarian purposes B
• Building-height-dependent setbacks from property lines.
• Building height limited by not exceeding existing home built height
• Fire Resistance and Separation - A garage space is considered to be combustible and must be placed in certain proximity to residential use structures and property lines will have code required distance separations and/or fire resistive construction to provide fire separation. A garage space under a living space, for example, needs to have walls and ceiling of garage sheet-rocked for 1-hour fire resistance
• Stairway access to second story can be interior or exterior and should be considered early-on in planning the garage

 Garage plans with garage space below and usable space above can add great value to your home. Your local building, zoning or planning department can provide the information you need to start planning.