Increasing garage roof height for a lift?

[Proyecto2000]

Hey all, I have a finished detached two car garage that I would like to raise the roof height on to fit a car lift. Ideally I would go as high as the city allows to make this all worthwhile.

I called 3 kijiji garage builders last week and after telling them what I wanted they all said that they would call back and never did. So wondering if anyone has any recommendations on companies that would modify existing garages?

I would assume that cutting the roof off and building up would be the way to go so that my windows and man door stay functional and then modifying the overhead door.

Have any of you done this before?

[ExtraSlow]

I swear someone in this forum did this before by lifting the entire structure and building a taller pony wall at the bottom. Can't recall if that pony wall was concrete or wood. Does seem that it would impact door and windows though.

First step is quotes on demolish and rebuild. That gives you a baseline or a boundary condition. . Most builders have no skill so most will refuse this niche work. But someone out there must do it.

[Proyecto2000]

Well I paid Jayman $28k for this garage when I built the house 12 years ago and then spent $6k to finish with 3/4” birch panels to hang stuff off the walls so ideally I would want to avoid the demo and rebuild as at that point I might as well just buy a new house

Jacking up and building cinder block wall seems to be the most common way on YouTube. So I’d be down for that provided that the contractor cuts new window and door for me. I need about 4ft height increase but I’ll take as much as I can get away with

[firebane]

I had a neighbor do this on his own accord.

He basically got the permits and approval then cut the strapping for the trusses and lifted the whole roof up and then built up a small pony wall on top of the pre-existing wall then lowered the roof back down.

Didn't take him long once the roof was up but still looked pretty daunting.

[Ca_Silvia13]

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I had a neighbor do this on his own accord.

He basically got the permits and approval then cut the strapping for the trusses and lifted the whole roof up and then built up a small pony wall on top of the pre-existing wall then lowered the roof back down.

Didn't take him long once the roof was up but still looked pretty daunting.

My FIL basically did the same thing. Disconnect trusses from the header boards, used bottle jacks to raise the roof part up 18", then built a taller header section and lowered the roof. 100% can be done. His garage was an attached unit too so his would be way more complicated then a detached.

[G-ZUS]

Sam @ yyc_built can probably take care of this for you.

[ExtraSlow]

Probably correct that lifting just the roof is simpler than lifting all the walls.

[Darell_n]

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Probably correct that lifting just the roof is simpler than lifting all the walls.

Especially with pre-existing gas and electrical services. Adding a 2ft lift kit to the top of my garage walls has been a dream of mine for the last decade or more. It’d probably throw a 6” straight piped stack on my heater too, maybe tune it to roll some coal on demand, as per Alberta doctrine.

[Proyecto2000]

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Sam @ yyc_built can probably take care of this for you.

awesome thanks. I left him a voicemail and will see if he can tackle the project. Another reason why id love to raise the roof / door of the garage is that it annoys me that my forester does not clear the door with a low profile thule cargo box on. It always pisses me off when i have to stand out in the cold / rain to load / unload gear lol

[arcticcat522]

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my forester does not clear the door with a low profile thule cargo box on.

My Yukon fits in with a XL Thule on the roof....good luck to you. Take pictures if you get this to happen

[never]

What’s the current ceiling height?

[Proyecto2000]

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My Yukon fits in with a XL Thule on the roof....good luck to you. Take pictures if you get this to happen

my garage looks like it was built wonky. My next door neighbor has the exact same Jayman built garage and his door frame height is 90". Mine is 85" and I am 2" off on being able to clear the door with the thule cargo box

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What’s the current ceiling height?

Currently i am just shy of 9ft from the dry wall. Neighbor is 9ft 5". so i must have got the long weekend crew has to go home special

[killramos]

So raising is a thing.

How about lowering the floor 6-18” and pouring a new slab within the existing footprint of the building? My garage is currently a fair bit higher above the grade of the lane with a pretty steep apron, and I’m wondering about adding some height by bringing the floor and apron down a fair bit. Would solve several problems I currently have.

There are reasons why just rebuilding might not fly.

[JfuckinC]

is there pony walls at all? or is it just framing on slab... I'd say the only issue would be the fact you would need to somehow form pony walls or undercut the existing ones to form deeper ones and footings, then what would you do to temp support your structure? The temp supports would be in the way of new construction unless you could somehow pour around/on them.. That's just my simple mind thinking about it though lol

If you could excavate the perimeter then demolish the slab(and pony walls if applicable) Some how support it, then do it in sections it might work? Then pour the slab later like they do a normal attached garage. Seems like a pile of work compared to jacking it up and filling in the gap.

[Tik-Tok]

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So raising is a thing.

How about lowering the floor 6-18” and pouring a new slab within the existing footprint of the building? My garage is currently a fair bit higher above the grade of the lane with a pretty steep apron, and I’m wondering about adding some height by bringing the floor and apron down a fair bit. Would solve several problems I currently have.

There are reasons why just rebuilding might not fly.

There's two houses within my vicinity that did this to their basements, so I imagine it would be significantly less complicated on a garage.

[killramos]

Yea I have a cement pony wall so I think it would be pretty doable. Lower floor, once concrete set prop garage up on floor and reinforce/redo pony wall as needed after?

I’ve actually debated lowering some of my basement floors as well. Garage seems like a good test.

[JfuckinC]

ya i guess that makes sense if you break out the floor do it first then support off it. Seems expensive, but if there's no alternative then realistically it isnt

[HiSpec]

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So raising is a thing.

How about lowering the floor 6-18” and pouring a new slab within the existing footprint of the building? My garage is currently a fair bit higher above the grade of the lane with a pretty steep apron, and I’m wondering about adding some height by bringing the floor and apron down a fair bit. Would solve several problems I currently have.

There are reasons why just rebuilding might not fly.

The OP can build the lift base into the slab with a lowered floor and a new slab.

@2:20

[ThePenIsMightier]

LoL "cement".
Stop being a girl and call it what it is: concrete.

[Proyecto2000]

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is there pony walls at all? or is it just framing on slab... I'd say the only issue would be the fact you would need to somehow form pony walls or undercut the existing ones to form deeper ones and footings, then what would you do to temp support your structure? The temp supports would be in the way of new construction unless you could somehow pour around/on them.. That's just my simple mind thinking about it though lol

If you could excavate the perimeter then demolish the slab(and pony walls if applicable) Some how support it, then do it in sections it might work? Then pour the slab later like they do a normal attached garage. Seems like a pile of work compared to jacking it up and filling in the gap.

The attached photo is my garage. Jayman dug it as deep as my basement and the floor is sitting on piles. I always assumed that all that extra work is why they charged so much. Not sure how this would affect the digging portion but I assume that the walls are super sturdy to hold up extra weight.

Btw Sam must be busy as my voicemail and text message have gone un answered. I will keep trying other contractors this week and report back if I can get a quote from someone.