Bought first house need garage upgrade, cost?

[adamcc91]

Hello everyone, my fiance and I recently purchased our first house, and we are extremely excited. We both love the house, but the 3 car (I'd consider it 2.5 car) garage is a little tight for my liking.

A little about us....We are both 23 years old, known each other our whole lives. My fiance is a RN at our local hospital and I am an outside salesman at Napa auto parts. We live in rural Wisconsin.

Anyways, I've included some pictures of my garage. I wanted to show how the roof is set up, I don't think it would be horrible, but I honestly have no clue.

I'd like to add a 90 degree addition to my garage to make it a 4 car garage. I was wondering if anyone had any input/idea as to how much it might cost. I've included some VERY rough dimensions for it.

We currently have 11'3" ceilings, I would like to have 12'6" minimum in the addition because I'd like to have a hoist in it at some point.

Anyway, Thoughts? Comments? Cost estimates?

 

[Dick in Wisconsin]

I'm 80% done with a 1,000sf, detached garage/race shop (23'9" x 42 ... I think). 10' ceiling. Four stalls. Single 16' door, 2-8' doors. Half the garage has sissor trusses to accommodate a lift. Water and sewer plumbed to house, will have infloor radiant heat with a boiler. Little toilet room and large sink in main area. Being wired to plug the house/shop into the 20kw generator in the motorhome. Poured lots of concrete (think) to have adequate parking for the motorhome, enclosed race trailer, and Suburban.

I'm over $100/sq ft. Where in Wisconsin are you? Have you check building set back requirements from the street?

 

[adamcc91]

We live in Pacific Wisconsin (between Portage and Pardeeville) I cannot find the setback line through the zoning website. Do you have any idea about the average distance? We are in a subdivision, so it isn't a main street or anything like that.

 

[CombatNinja]

Unless you have a really wide lot, I doubt you can fit a 20' deep garage bay at a 90 degree angle there. Just looking at the pictures, the easiest way to gain garage space would be to go deeper with that single, making it a tandem setup. That looks like new construction, why didn't you address this when the house was being built?

 

[funflyer]

I'm 80% done with a 1,000sf,

I'm over $100/sq ft. Where in Wisconsin are you?

100K for a garage? cost of building materials in Wisconsin must be through the roof

 

[adamcc91]

I just purchased this house, I did not build it otherwise I would have done many things differently. I can't really go deeper because the septic or well is right behind it.

 

[JOHN 86GT]

Most subdivisions have a set back (how many feet building has to be from the road and how many feet from the lot line )

This is different for every neighborhood . It can be 50 , 75 or more feet.

How big is the lot and can you have out buildings ?

 

[Elginz]

Cost, $300,000. ------- just kidding it may only be half of that. ----------Just kidding again, but not by too much to do all of that. Near as I can figure a plain Jane garage is over $60 a square foot.

 

[Dick in Wisconsin]

We live in Pacific Wisconsin (between Portage and Pardeeville) I cannot find the setback line through the zoning website. Do you have any idea about the average distance? We are in a subdivision, so it isn't a main street or anything like that.

Are you making this up? I didn't think there were ANY subdivisions between Portage and Pardeeville! There are likely two governing situations on setback.

First would any subdivision restrictions. Often when a subdivision is created, the developer files what are called CCR's (covenants, codes, and restrictions). This document will spell out what you can't do; including but not limited to set backs and side yard requirements. That is the first place you should look. In the material you got from the title company when you bought the house should be a copy of the CCR's. If you can't find it, its possible your subdivision doesn't have any CCR's. Call the title company which provided the title insurance, ask them if there are any CCR's against your property. They can look that up very quickly. You should have a copy. Sometimes the CCR's will restrictions against guys like us limiting the number of unlicensed vehciles we keep on the property, etc. But being out in the middle of nowhere like you are, I suspect the CCR's will probably be pretty benign.

Second, is the municipal zoning requirements. You mention septic tank, that probably puts you in a township. But the township might have abdicated control over zoning to the county. (I'm guessing without looking on the map that you're in Columbia county ... possibly Dane or Sauk.) I would call the town office. I tried finding this stuff reading my township's zoning stuff on-line and couldn't. I finally called the township and one of the FT people in the office handles zoning and permitting, asked my address, confirmed my type of zoning, and gave me the information.

As someone else said, the front yard setback might be 30 or 40 or 50 feet. Having been in the real estate and mortgage biz since 1976, I can almost guarantee that the front of your house is as close to the road or street as possible (reduces the length ... read "cost") of the driveway. Hence if you still can put something that protrudes beyond the front of your house, consider yourself lucky.

Keep us posted. Feel free to PM me if you have questions. We can even talk on the phone. We'll be traveling through that area on Friday as we take the Heilig-Meyers Ford up to La Crosse for the car show.

100K for a garage? cost of building materials in Wisconsin must be through the roof

Lots of "extras". Steep pitched roof, scissor trusses, lots of thick strong concrete outside for the 52,000# motorhome, 8' high garage doors, 6" walls, in floor radiant heat, plumbing for a toilet, sink, and RV dump station, new 380amp electric service with outlet for generator and transfer switch.

Cost, $300,000. ------- just kidding it may only be half of that. ----------Just kidding again, but not by too much to do all of that. Near as I can figure a plain Jane garage is over $60 a square foot.

I think $60 for a Plain Jane is pretty accurate. I was really surprised as I added everything up even for just the basic stuff.

 

[bczygan]

To give you an answer, we need to know the layout of your house on the lot and the setbacks for your zoning from the zoning book. Exact size and location of the septic and any easements for utilities would also help.

Bill

 

[JOHN 86GT]

K talk on the phone. We'll be traveling through that area on Friday as we take the Heilig-Meyers Ford up to La Crosse for the car show.



.

How is that car show ? How big ? Was planning on going to world of wheels in chicago this weekend . That would be 1 1/2 hours longer for me but I would not have to cross "the border "

Oops had weeks mixed up .
Just found info , only 70 cars ?

 

[adamcc91]

Are you making this up? I didn't think there were ANY subdivisions between Portage and Pardeeville!

Haha there are several subdivisions between Portage and Pardeeville. I'm just south of swan lake, if you're familiar with the area.

I am in columbia county, I just read through our "community covenants" They mentioned I cannot construct a building taller than 35', but I can't find anything about setbacks. Maybe I'll have to make some calls tomorrow.

I've included another picture...sorry it doesn't show the road very well. I couldn't figure out how to get a picture of it without showing the name of the road....not like it really matters anyway.

I feel like I'm set back further from the road than my neighbor is, I thought about building an outbuilding also, but I think I would feel more comfortable if I could have one attached to the house.

Also, I would love to post my blueprints, however the previous owners took the plans with them because they wanted to rebuild this house somewhere else, so I suppose I'll have to figure out how to get a copy of those somehow....I have a lot of work ahead of me

 

[dubber]

Congrats on the new place. Nice accomplishment for your age for sure. Still envious of the size of that garage

 

[adamcc91]

Congrats on the new place. Nice accomplishment for your age for sure. Still envious of the size of that garage

Thank you very much! We've worked hard for what we have. We officially get married one month from today! She says her student loans take priority over the garage expansion, we'll see about that!

When we first bought the house (2 months and 2 days ago) I thought I'd have plenty of room, then we parked my truck and her car in it and there just isn't enough space. I'm still waiting to hear back from the subdivision people to see what they think of my plans :S

I was hoping to build it for around $30-40/sqft I'm not sure if thats realistic or not though.

 

[Milzo]

Haha there are several subdivisions between Portage and Pardeeville. I'm just south of swan lake, if you're familiar with the area.

I am in columbia county, I just read through our "community covenants" They mentioned I cannot construct a building taller than 35', but I can't find anything about setbacks. Maybe I'll have to make some calls tomorrow.

I've included another picture...sorry it doesn't show the road very well. I couldn't figure out how to get a picture of it without showing the name of the road....not like it really matters anyway.

I feel like I'm set back further from the road than my neighbor is, I thought about building an outbuilding also, but I think I would feel more comfortable if I could have one attached to the house.

Also, I would love to post my blueprints, however the previous owners took the plans with them because they wanted to rebuild this house somewhere else, so I suppose I'll have to figure out how to get a copy of those somehow....I have a lot of work ahead of me

Looks like your home isn't very old so you have a pretty solid chance that the local zoning or building department would still have a copy of your topographical map which will spell out the minimum front side and rear setbacks. Here in ohio each municipality has a GIS website with those TOPO maps online. Our home is also in a subdivision but we have a side entry 3 car garage. 2 Years ago I added a 1.5 car garage attached to our house at the end of our driveway. I did most of the work myself and it cost us about $20k.

 

[bmes1982]

I quoted out a 1600 sq. ft. garage addition and just the materials came out to about $20/sq. ft. That included concrete, framing materials, siding, doors, windows, etc. It did not include any of the wiring or inside finishing touches.

I'd guess that once all is said and done I'll be around the $30-40/sq. ft. for materials. I'll build most of it myself so the labor will be very minimal for me on the project.

 

[adamcc91]

I'd have no problem doing most of the labor my self. I wouldn't consider myself an architect by any means, but I'm confident I could do much of the wiring/ drywalling myself. I've never tackled taping, but I'll try anything once!

Mizlo, You have a stunning house! I love the archway and what I would assume to be a double story foyer, we tried desperately to find a house like that but simply could not afford/find one in our area.

Anyway, I thought I'd add a couple pictures of our garage. I know it doesn't show much, but it is definitely a work in progress. Please excuse the fact that everything will be in the garage will end up saying Napa on it.



Dont tell me how to live my life!

 

[adamcc91]

Congrats on the new place. Nice accomplishment for your age for sure. Still envious of the size of that garage

Well thank you very much, I've spent about the last two hours of my life reading through threads on your garages. Very impressive, it is extremely inspirational to see what you've taken your garages from and what you've transformed them into.

One thing I REALLY wish my garage had was (an extra 1,000 sq/ft) But seriously, I floor drain! it would be extremely helpful in the winter when I have snow melting off the truck.

Also I want a wood stove in the garage for heat. I know my ideas keep growing...

 

[Cummins01]

I built an addition 24x28 (so a little oversize 2-car) with 12' ceilings for about $15.00/sq ft. I did almost all of the work myself with the exception of garage doors and gutters. That's concrete, framing, roofing, siding, fire-wall up against the house. I will still have more into it with wiring, lights, sheetrock, paint etc.... but at least it is usable at this point.

 

[adamcc91]

I did another update on the garage, its a small tool cart, but it will do for now.

 

[dubber]

Dont tell me how to live my life!

LMAO!

Well thank you very much, I've spent about the last two hours of my life reading through threads on your garages. Very impressive, it is extremely inspirational to see what you've taken your garages from and what you've transformed them into.

Thanks man, really appreciate it. I've certainly been there, endlessly reading the amazing threads that can be found on this site. For me this site and the ideas that people have shared most definitely sparked something inside me.