You're already under construction, so my viewing this thread and my comments come late -and I hate to throw cold water on this- but have you taken into consideration what the property tax jump is going to do to you for this? You may not even HAVE property taxes down there, or have a much better situation in this regard down there in LA than we do up here, but....it's something to think about. I tore down my old garage and built a new one two years ago...and got no permits and told no one. So far, so good.