Except for the siding. Oh, and the fascia. And the soffits. Not to mention any trim you want to add. And if you want to do any work or have lights you will need to do the electrical installation which requires a completely different permit and series of inspections. After all that you can then insulate and finish the interior.

The good news for me is that you have now built or at least have an idea of how to build a garage from the ground up, which is the limit of my involvement. Good luck with the rest of it. The electrical is the only real challenge. Keep your eyes peeled for another Instructable detailing the electrical process. But don’t hold your breath.

The photos below show the completed project from the front, back, and a show of the interior in all its messy glory. In the corner by the windows is a built-in workbench that may be the subject of a future Instructable, it is sturdy as a tank and cost about $10 to build out of scrap lumber.

Thanks to all my friends and family who helped throughout the garage project. I could have done it without you, but it would have sucked a lot. And would probably have fallen over on my head. Twice. Thanks also to the patient inspectors who answered my questions and put up with our shenanigans.
Visit www.instructables.com to mare information.

If your windows have a built in jamb, you can use shims from the inside during the leveling process as well to help get the window in position. Since this is a garage, I didn’t sweat this too much. Next you need to cut a strip of drip cap to width and nail it on over the window. This is not needed if the window has integrated J-channels. The drip cap should be trimmed so that it is the same width as the window frame so that it doesn’t interfere with installing trim or siding later.

With the window nailed in and the drip cap on, cut some more window wrap tape and run pieces up the sides and a strip across the top. The top piece should be last and should overlap the tops of the drip cap and the side strips so any water will not get under them. The side strips should overlap the lower strip so water running down the window wrap tape doesn’t get under the lower tape. If the weather is cold and the window wrap isn’t sticking well to the sheathing, you can punch a few staples into it to hold it in place until some hot weather seals it up. Alternatively you can get a heat gun or hair dryer to heat the tape so it seals to the wall. Repeat this process for any other windows.

Entry doors are installed in a similar manner, but may have some variation depending on manufacture. Depending on the door, you may also need to apply construction adhesive or caulk underneath the door threshold or otherwise secure it to the floor or landing. In the case of a simple pre-hung steel security door you need to apply glue/caulk to the floor and threshold, caulk the integrated brick molding and nailing flange, push it in place, square and plumb the door in the opening, nail the door in place through the exterior flange, check the measurements again, and then shim the hinge side and drive screws through the hinge plates as directed by the manufacture and through the shims into the building framing for strength. Sometimes they recommend that you remove a few of the smaller hinge screws and swap them for longer deck or drywall screws that will go through shims and into the framing. Check for squareness and operation of the door. Install a handle and lockset as desired. Screws should also be driven through the door frame into the building framing and shims on the latching side of the door as well. Cut a strip of drip cap for the top of the door as well, nail it in place and then add window wrap to the sides and finally top if you have some extra around. Otherwise it is overkill.

There are several methods for shingling. The easiest is to snap a line up the sloped roof in the middle, equal distance from the gable ends. When beginning to shingle, you will start at this centerline and move out towards the edges, staggering the shingles like the OSB panels so that the cuts in the tabs are offset a half tab from the course below. This allows two people to work out from the center towards each gable. You can also start by cutting a shingle in half leaving 1.5 tabs and start in the lower corner. This method can result in fewer measured cuts since if you keep everything square you can cut a bunch of shingles in half in advance and only have to measure the far side. This assumes your roof is square to begin with, so the center method can result in a more even look for the beginner. If you start from a corner, one person can move horizontally while the other builds up and diagonally as the first person’s progress allows.

Each shingle may have a different recommended “exposure” or amount of the single below that shows when overlaid correctly by the upper shingle. Whatever the exposure, you can use that number to snap chalk lines across the roof after you have the first course of shingles nailed down. Measure up from the top of the first course this exposure distance and snap a line. Measure from this line another exposure distance and repeat snapping lines until you reach the peak. If your lines are not parallel to the peak then you have a problem with the squareness of your roof, the lay of your first course, or your line snapping. In any case, you want the shingles to be parallel to the peak at the top so you can cheat the shingles as you go without it being too obvious. If no exposure distance is available from the manufacturer, you can put a nail in the top of the tab cutout of the lower shingle and let the top shingle rest on the nail to get a consistent exposure. This can lead to wandering rows as the shingles aren’t exactly machined to aerospace precision.

You should put 4 nails in each whole shingle. Nails should go right above the cutouts that define the tabs, far enough up so that they are not exposed and just below the adhesive tar strip. See the sketch for details. You want to put the nails in deep enough so that they don’t stick up and tear the overlaying shingle but not too deep that they tear through the underlaying shingle. The nails should go in straight so that the heads don’t cut into the shingles. If you mess up, use the cat’s paw to pop the nail without damaging the shingle and try again. If the shingle gets damaged, remove it and use a new one.

Start shingling as shown in the sketch and work your way out from the corner or from the center. When butting shingles together on the same course, try to space them so that the resultant cutout resembles those on the middle tabs. A little space (1/16-1/8″) will also prevent buckling when the shingles expand in hot weather. When you get to the gable edge, measure and trim a shingle with your utility knife, using your speed square as a guide. Cut from the backside and use a scrap shingle as a cutting pad. You don’t need to murder the shingle, you can cut 75% of the way through and the shingle will easily tear on the line. On the gable ends, try to evenly overlap the drip edge by 1/4′ or so. If your cut shingle ends up with a tiny tab strip you can put another nail in or use roofing cement as needed to hold this piece in place. Be sure that no nails are exposed to the elements as this will provide a route for water to get to the roof deck.

As shown in the sketches you can proceed with whole shingles working towards the edges and upwards diagonally until the bottom courses meet the gable ends. At this point you need to start measuring and cutting shingles. Precision is not all that important, so do your best and don’t sweat it. Continue up the roof, while hopefully another crew works on the other side so you meet at the peak in short order. You may need to trim the top of the last course of shingles so that you cover all the nails on the underlaying course but do not plug up the ridge vent slot. Use the vent as a guide to make sure that you will be covering all the nails with the vent.

When it comes to installing the ridge vent, follow the manufacturers instructions. Typically, the ridge vent comes in 4′ sections that you nail to the roof using extra long roofing nails (>2″) that are nailed in at regular intervals marked on the ridge vent. The ridge vent is flexible and it is up to you to flex it over the peak and keep it centered. You will also need long roofing nails for putting the cap shingles over the ridge vent. To make the cap shingles you cut the tabs off of some extra shingles and use just the tabs. Start at one end and overlap the cap shingles by 50% or so, using two long nails in each covered corner that will go through the ridge vent and into the underlaying roof sheathing. Proceed down the vent until you get to the end. The last cap shingle can be put in place with roofing cement. I don’t have any pictures of the shingling process since by that time in the project I was in a pretty big hurry to get the heck off the roof.

step 12 : Roofing is fun and easy

Roofing IS fun AND easy, as long as you are watching someone else do it. But having come this far, there is no reason to quail at the prospect of falling to an ignominious end while trying to catch a sliding hammer. In the following sketches, the sheathing is not shown on the structure because I was too lazy to draw it, your garage should be sheathed before roofing. Get to it!
A word about roof pitch. Premade trusses and roofs in general are rated by their rise over a fixed distance, usually 12 feet. So a 5/12 pitch means that for every 12 feet of horizontal travel, the roof will rise 5 feet. Many older homes, like mine, have a pitch that is closer to 10/12. Let me tell you that unless you are a planning a loft over the garage or are a huge stickler for detail and want your new garage to match the pitch of the existing house, then do yourself a favor and go with a lower pitch. Additionally, local building codes often limit the height of accessory structures and a steeper pitch can push you over the limit so that you will need to secure a variance permit which will require approval by people who don’t like to give variances. I thought I was being smart by choosing 5/12 over the more standard 4/12 in order to gain a few more inches of storage space, and by the end of the job I cursed my incompetence and inexperience roundly. It turns out that right below 5/12 is the slope that shingles and other objects will stay put on a slanted surface covered in roofing felt. So unless you like making frantic grabs for stuff that is sliding inexorably down the roof like Lando into the maw of the Sarlacc then I suggest you opt for a modest 4/12 roof. This advice would have been helpful during the planning and purchasing phase, but like those tests where the first instruction is to read all the instructions sometimes the devil is in the details. Muhahahaha!
OK, before we begin roofing, you will need to switch your tool belt to the “roofing’ configuration pictured below. The key differences are that now you only need roofing nails and staples, you will want to switch blade styles in your utility knife, and it can be helpful to have a cat’s paw for removing nails without damaging shingles. Contrary to the photo, it is helpful to have two utility knives for roofing, one with a standard straight blade for cutting roofing felt and a hook blade for cutting shingles. Another note, I only had a framing nailer for my project and shingled by hand. Hammering the roofing nails by hand is not too bad since the nails have a big head, are shorter, and not that many nails are used. You may want to track down a roofing nailer however, especially if it is really hot out. Surprisingly, a black felt covered roof is not top on any lists of summertime hang out spots.
With the garage below fully framed and sheathed, the roof sheathed, and the eaves and truss tails trimmed, we can begin on covering the roof. The first step is to get your D-style drip edge and haul it up on the roof. Using the 1 1/4″ roofing nails, you want to nail this drip edge all around the edge of the roof. Use nails every 12-16″ or so. Cut the metal drip edge to length with a pair of tin snips, which will also come in handy when installing vinyl siding. On the slanted gable ends, be sure that the sloping drip edge overlays the horizontal drip edge so that water does not get channeled under the drip edge and cause rot. Also, if you plan on putting gutters on your garage, then you will want to use a different drip edge style on the lower, horizontal edges. This is called gutter flashing or fascia or something. You will find it in the same place as the regular drip edge at your local building supply center.
After the edging is installed all around, get a broom and sweep the roof to remove any sawdust, nails, or other junk. This helps the ice and water barrier stick to the roof deck, improves traction, and protects the roofing felt from damage. Then you want to unbox your ice and water barrier and install it along the lower edge of the horizontal sides of the roof. Strictly speaking this ice and water barrier is only really needed if you heat your garage and you live in a cold climate with snow. Heat escaping through the roof melts snow which runs down to the eaves which are cold and refreezes the water. A dam forms and water builds up and can penetrate the roofing material. The membrane seals nail punctures and prevents water infiltration. If you live in a snowy climate this barrier is cheap insurance against water damage so I installed it anyway even though I don’t plan on heating the garage. Peel the protective backing off the barrier as you go. It helps to have two people. You can pop a few staples through along the way to help hold it in place as you press the sticky side down to the roof. Working this close to the edge may be easier for you from a ladder. You want the ice and water barrier to stick to the drip edge but not completely overlay it. Repeat the installation on the other side of the roof. It is OK to have a seam in the barrier, overlap cut edges by a foot or so and press the adhesive down firmly. Take care when installing to avoid air bubbles.
Next get the rolls of 15# black roofing felt (AKA tar paper) and start rolling it out parallel to the ice and water barrier. You should overlap the horizontal seams by a good 6″ inches, do not make any vertical seams if at all possible. Cut the roofing felt with a utility knife and make sure that it overlays the drip edge somewhat but doesn’t hang all the way out beyond it. Roofing felt is cheap so don’t be shy. It should be noted that all seams in your roof should be made such that the uphill layer is on top of the downhill layer. Use a hammer tacker or stapler to staple the roofing felt to the roof. When tacking the sheets in place, measure to make the roofing felt layers are as horizontal and parallel as possible. If you do so, then the lines printed on the paper can be used for guiding shingle placement. Continue laying layers of roofing felt up the roof until you reach the peak. Since we are using a ridge vent, we want to trim the felt so that it does not obscure the slot for ventilation. If you have any protrusions in your roof for lavatory vent stacks, chimneys, etc you will have to cut holes in the roofing felt for them as well as do any needed flashing. I’ll let you figure that out, because you should have planned a hole-free roof. Repeat the process on the other side of the roof.
With the roof felted, it will withstand some light rain in a pinch but the best plan is to push through the whole roofing project in a single sprint if at all possible. See the sketches below for clarification on the layers involved in the roofing.

With pre-built trusses, roughing in a roof is pretty easy. You will need some ladders and some help since the trusses are heavy and big. The first thing is to rack the trusses at one end of the garage upside down resting on the top plates. See the sketch below to see what I mean. This makes it alot easier to work with since as the roof trusses go in, it gets tougher to fit them trough the opening in the roof. Also, you can stay up on the top plate and install the trusses without having to climb back down.
Using your ladders and tape measure, go along the top plate and mark the 24″ on center points that you will install the trusses on. If you do this correctly the trusses should sit right above your studs. Se I left the top part of the wall unsheathed I was able to just place the trusses right over the studs without measuring. Lazy!
When you are working on a roof, you need to take safety seriously. In an urban environment, overhead cables for phone, TV, and power can be running very nearby while you are building the roof. If you have power lines overhead that you could potentially touch while working, you will need to be extremely careful. If the lines will touch the building you will need to talk to your electric company about raising or moving the power lines. Take care as well to avoid falls, and always have someone else around while you are working so they can help in an emergency. Be safe.
Now that all the trusses are racked and ready, take one of the end frame trusses (the ones with the vertical slats and start at the top plate at one end of the garage. In my case the gable ends were E and W walls so I started at the E wall. Toe nail the truss to the top plate as best as you can. It can also help to nail a 2×4 from the lower sheathing to the truss to hold it up or you can hold it while some other people install the second truss. See sketch. Take one of the normal trusses and toe-nail it in on the first 24″ mark on your top plate. Then take a long 2×4 and nail it to the bottom stringer of the trusses so that it ties the two installed trusses together. Do the same on the top slanted surface. See the sketch to get an idea of what I mean. The toe nailing won’t really hold the trusses so you need to tie them together temporarily until you can get the sheathing on. If you have someone working on the rafter ties in advance you can set the trusses directly into them without having to toe nail. But with a power nailer, toenailing is a breeze.
Continue installing the trusses as described until you have them all upright and square. When nailing a new truss to the 2×4 used to tie them together, make sure and measure so that you maintain the 24″ spacing at the bottom as well as the top of the truss. While the trusses are being installed, have someone install the rafter tie hangers from below. Use joist hanger nails for this job. These nails are thicker and made is a different way so that they are strong in shear and will bear the loads transmitted from the roof to the framing by the metal hangers. Click here to see the kind of hangers I used to tie the trusses to the top plate. A photo of them installed is also below.
As we move towards sheathing the trusses, be careful not to trust the trusses for support. If you are falling, grabbing one will probably bring it down with you. The trusses are not really stable until the sheathing starts tying them all together and to the gables. So take care with the first few sheets and stay on the top plate until you get some nails into the sheathing.
Once all the trusses are tied to the top plate and spaced properly you can start work on closing up the roof. The tails on the trusses are probably too long for the eaves you have planned. You can cut them off now of wait until after you have sheathed the roof. I think it is easier to cut them plumb before sheathing so I would trim them first. Next, start at the bottom corner of one slanted face of the roof and nail a 4′x8′ sheet of OSB to the trusses underneath. Be sure to have the OSB with the textured and lined side up so you don’t slide off the roof and so you can see where to nail. When positioning this first piece of sheathing, you will want to overhang the gable end as pictured. Once you get the whole roof sheathed you can trim this to the desired overhang. When sheathing, the seams between panels must meet on top of a roof truss, so you may have lots of overhang. It may be helpful to cut some OSB sheets in half to limit the overhang since you must also stagger the seams in the panels as pictured. Nail into the truss every 6-8″ or so using the 8D nails by hand or with the nailer. When you start on the second row of OSB panels, stagger the seams like in brickwork and install H-clips between the abutting panels between the trusses. See the sketch for details. The purpose of the H-clips is to provide flexural strength by tying the panels together where they are not supported by the trusses underneath.
Work your way up the roof towards the peak. Once at the peak you will have to trim your OSB panels so they stop at or before the peak. If you are installing a ridge vent, you should leave about 1-1.5″ open on each side by trimming the OSB panels. When the roof is completely sheathed this will leave a slit about 2-3″ wide running along the peak for ventilation. If you are really serious you can stop this slot a foot or so from the gable. Since I am lazy and was covering the gable ends with trim I ran the slot all the way.
Repeat the sheathing process on the other side, removing the 2×4s from the top surface as you go. You can leave the interior 2×4 bracing or remove it before you sheathe the gables. When both sides of the roof are sheathed you will need to get out your chalk line and snap a line along the slanted edges of the roof and use a circular saw to trim the gable ends of the roof deck to the proper overhang. I used about 4″. This measurement depends on your plan for finishing the gable ends. Since this is a garage you can keep it pretty basic and just nail up a painted 2×4 or 2×6 if desired.

With the four walls all framed, it is time to sheath the outside. Since you took so much care in making the studs regularly spaced the sheathing should fly by. You will want to swap out the 16D nails in the nailer for 8D nails at this point. Exterior grade OSB has an inner and outer side. This makes more of a difference when roofing as the outer side is textured to improve traction when walking on it. However, the other feature of the outer side is a painted grid of 16″ and 24″ spaced lines to allow you to hit the studs underneath when nailing. Make sure this side is out and you will save yourself some headaches.
The easiest way to sheath your walls is to sheathe right over the small door and window openings. Once they are nailed in place someone working from the inside can drill holes at the corners, come around to the outside, and using a jigsaw or reciprocating saw connect these holes to open up the windows and doors. Presto chango!
While sheathing, you will need to put nails in every 6-8″ or so on the edges and on the interior studs. Check your local codes. With 24″ stud spacing there will only be one interior stud. The hardest part is to hit the studs when your studs are off of the painted grid on the OSB. You can also have a spotter inside to tell you if you are missing the studs. This is no big deal if you are going to insulate and close up the wall cavities, but if you plan on leaving the interior walls open you will want to pound those nails back out so you don’t cut yourself later down the road. Your spotter can do that while you nail.
Since my walls are about 8′ 5″ tall a single sheet of 4′x8′ OSB will not cover the whole wall. My approach was to start the panel at the sill plate and to run the panel vertically, leaving the last 5 inches or so open. The goal here is to stiffen up the walls with the sheathing so you can put on the roof. If you are so inclined you can have someone following the nailer with strips of OSB to fill these gaps or wait for later. However, they can only do the “flat” walls since on the gable ends the sheathing will need to extend up to the peak of the roof trusses.
See the pics below to get an idea of what the garage will look like with this lower course of OSB on.
Another thing to note is that the South wall on my garage has no windows. When you build within a certain distance of the property line (3 feet) in Minneapolis and elsewhere you cannot have windows or doors in the wall. Additionally, I had to cover the exterior studs with fire-rated exterior drywall rather than OSB on the wall facing my neighbor’s property. The drywall also had to extend all the way to the lower surface of the roof deck. The interior wall on this side also had to be fire-rated drywall in order to prevent a fire in my garage from spreading to the neighbor’s. Check your local code, and read this document for more information.
With the lower 8′ of the garage sheathed, it is time to put on the roof trusses.

With the other three walls framed, you will want to tackle the big overhead door opening. Since most of this wall is empty space, it is easier to build two little walls on each side with the jack studs for the main beam and then lift the overhead door header into place. You can nail the top plate in place across the king studs before lifting the main beam in order to add some rigidity to the walls before hefting the big beam. The sequence of sketches below give an idea of one way to do this.
You will want to include at least two jack studs on the ends (as pictured) in order to support the large span and mass of the header beam. You can either bond nail the two 2×12’s that make up the header beam on the ground and lift them both or you can lift one in place, end nail it to the king studs, hold it in place and lift the other one up and bond nail and end nail it as well. My opinion is that nailing the header together first while heavier is easier if you can muscle it. You will want at least four people for this job. Two to lift the header from the ground, and two on ladders at each end to hold and nail the header in place. You should also toe nail the header to the jack studs for security while you finish the wall.
The final step in framing the header beam is to cut and place cripple studs between the top of the header beam and the top plate. End nail them to the top plate and toe nail them into the header beam.
Once all four walls are up, take your 2×4 bracing across the top plates off. Then measure and cut another set of 2×4’s that will nail on top of the top plate to form a double top plate. At the ends, be sure to cut the 2×4’s so that the topmost top plate will overlap the lower plate and connect the two walls together. While nailing on the double top plate, measure across the opposite corners of your four wall at the top. If the measurements are off, then your walls are not completely square. Get someone to help wrestle the walls and corners so that the measurements are close and the walls square before nailing on the top plate.
With the top plate on and the walls square, nail on corner braces across the top plates again. Double check that the walls are square by measuring across the garage corner to corner as in the sketch. Once you start sheathing it will be difficult to square up the building so take your time here.

Now that the basics of framing are understood, take a look at the sample diagrams for my framing. I have labeled all the four walls with their directions which correspond to the north given in my site plan. You should be able to generate a similar plan for framing up your walls. The letters on the sides indicate the wall that meets up at that end (N, E, S, W) and help match the walls with the correct direction
Once your starting wall is assembled on the ground (I started with the East wall below) you will want to move it out of the way and begin assembling one of your walls that is at 90 degrees to the starting wall. I next built the North wall in order to get the window opening out of the way. Build that wall in the same fashion as discussed in the framing basics step. You should save the wall with the large overhead door opening for last so plan accordingly.
Once two walls are built you will need to get a group together and lift the first wall onto the anchor bolts. Before you put the wall on there, get out the rolls of sill seal foam and roll it out on the slab/block and punch the anchor bolts through it. Run this foam around the periphery of your wall and then place the first wall over the anchor bolts. Hold it in place and thread some of the washers and nuts on the bolts. While someone holds the first wall, bring the second wall into place on the slab/block and put it over the corresponding anchor bolts.
With both walls swaying in the wind, nail them together at the corners, being sure to match up the edges as shown in the corner diagram. These nails will not hold up the wall well so you will need to get on a ladder and add a corner brace across the two top plates. See the sketch below, where there is a 2×4 nailed across the two wall top plates and another 2×4 nailed to an upright stud to brace the wall against the slab. Also visible is the course of block running around my slab. With the 8″ high block, the three top plates and the 8′ studs the “ceiling’ in my garage is about 9′. If you do not plan on or require a course of block, then you might want to consider using studs longer than 8′ to give you more headroom.
With two walls up, repeat the process on a third wall. You should do the wall with the large overhead door opening last since the header beam will be very heavy and thus more dangerous to install. This wall will be covered in the next step.
One last thing is that you must post your permit at the jobsite. You can put it in the window on your existing house until there is a structure to nail it to on the new building but it needs to be visible.

Before you wade into that huge pile of lumber, make sure you have the inanimate tools needed. Below are photos of a typical construction tool belt designed to hold tools and nails while you work. Depending on the job at hand you will want different tools and nails/screws in the pockets. I have laid out my typical load for framing and sheathing as well as for roofing. Use these photos as a guide for what kind of hand tools you will need to build your garage successfully and with minimum pain and suffering.

That said, the best way to minimize your pain and suffering is to have the right power tools for the job. One key tool is a pneumatic framing nailer that can sink 16D and 8D size nails in dimensional lumber such as 2×4’s. This tool requires an air compressor with decent capacity as well as special nails but will save you a lot of pain. If you don’t have a friend to borrow a nailer from, then you can rent them for a reasonable daily fee. I would suggest buying an air compressor if you don’t have one since they come in handy for a lot of tasks. Pretty much any compressor that they sell at Home Depot will be big enough to run a nail gun, but look to get one in the 5 gallon or greater size with 3-4cfm at 100psi capacity and a 1.5-2hp motor. That should serve you well for most future tasks as well. Below is a semi-complete list of the power tools and specialty gear that will make your project go smoothly.

• Air compressor (3-4 cfm at 100psi)
• Framing nailer (3.5″ nail driving capacity)
• Circular saw
• Jigsaw or reciprocating saw
• Power drill (corded or cordless)
• Hammer tacker
• 4′ level
• Pair of 6′ step ladders
• One extension ladder (or little-giant type pivoting ladder) capable of reaching 16′

Unless you plan on renting more than one nailer you will need tools and jobs for your friends and family to use. A good method is to have a team of people laying out and marking the dimensional lumber for framing while another person moves along behind them with the nailer to put it all together. Have another person cutting lumber to length based on instructions from the layout team, someone fetching lumber and beers, someone shaking their head in disapproval, etc. In this way you can efficiently use 4-6 people at once. You will need tool belts and hand tools for the layout team and the person cutting, so they can measure and mark and put in temporary nails as needed. The power nailer guy will need a way to hold extra nails and a hammer to sink stubborn nails. You get the picture. A big bucket or wheelbarrow makes a good way to hold all of these hand tools and supplies during the chaos of the build so make sure everyone knows where to put things when they are done or you will be chasing speed squares half the day.

Below are some pictures with typical tool needs for framing and roofing. In general they have the same tools, but there are some differences. The less you carry the better, because lugging bundles of shingles up a rickety ladder isn’t made any easier by carrying 2 pounds of 16D nails. The key tool that is never available is a pencil, so I have pictured two. In reality the first task to beginning work should be to sprinkle pencils in every conceivable place so that you can find one when you need one and someone has walked off with yours.
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Be sure and talk the plan (pictured below) over with whoever is setting up the site so that the garage gets poured in the right spot. They know their business, so ask for their advice. In my case, there was a utility pole that was interfering with the planned driveway somewhat. My plan originally called for a 2′ set back from the property line, but based on the recommendation of the concrete guys, we pushed it out to 3′ in order to clear the utility pole with some cushion. They moved their lines and no sweat, but once the forms are in place moving the placement gets more difficult, and once the concrete is in, then forget it.

The key steps to getting the foundation in are to lay out the lines for the foundation relative to the property lines, and to set up the site for the pour. To get the site ready the hole needs to be dug, the soil compacted, backfilled with suitable class-5 gravel, the forms erected in accordance with the lines, and reinforcement placed in the hole. The photo below shows my site just before concrete pour. You can see the grid of reinforcing metal rebar, the class-5 gravel and the forms.

Before you can pour in the concrete, you will need to have the site inspected by the city. They need to check and make sure you aren’t doing anything stupid, are following code, and have placed the structure correctly based on the drawings signed off on by the city during the permit process and in agreement with property survey markers. This inspection will be arranged by the concrete subcontractor and everything should go smoothly if you have communicated with them well. If you are on your own, you just need to put in the call to the inspector and arrange a time. When you get your permit with the city they will give you a checklist for the inspector to sign as well as a phone number for your assigned inspector. Inspectors are friendly and helpful in general so don’t hesitate to call and ask them questions. If they can answer a question on the phone it saves them a trip out to your job site.

With the forms inspected, the concrete can go in. One key thing to talk with the concrete guys about is the anchor bolts that will go into the foundation. The building code require anchors to be embedded in the concrete so that the bottom sill plate of the framing can be bolted to the foundation. There are specific rules about the placement of these bolts. Every six feet, within 12″ of any cut in the sill plate, etc. Your concrete guys should know the rules. Make sure they know and clearly make where you are putting in your access door(s) and overhead door(s) so they can place the anchors correctly. In my case I had to have a single course of block around the foundation so that also required communication so that the openings would fit my doors.

After a day or so the concrete guys will come and take down to forms and clean up any spilled concrete. Be sure to communicate any concerns you have about the job if any at this time because this is the time that they will be expecting to get paid. Sometimes you will pay half up front and half upon completion. Once they get the second half of the money it can be hard to get them to come around and correct any problems so speak up before you write that check.

The next inspection you will need is the framing, so after a few days (~4) to let the concrete cure you can start building. Right about that time, you should expect a bunch of rain. Actually the rain will probably start as soon as the truck driver who delivered your lumber drives away.