New ~40'x50' Gambrel garage

[SgtHawkUSMC]

I just moved to Virginia a few months ago and the 20x24 that came with the house isn't going to cut it. The house was built in 1730, so I'm keeping the new garage relatively simple aesthetically.
I have a few outfits that are putting bids together for me, but I got the first one already. I choked... I haven't had anything built in about 20 years since a 24x36 that I had and I know prices have gone up considerably, but this guy was smoking the funny stuff ********* or trying to hit the lottery with my build.
Here are my specs and I'm curious to know what some of you have to say about what I should expect to have to pay to have it built.

1. 40'x50' Gambrel with 1/2 of the upstairs for storage. So 1/2 will be open to the roof. 12' ceiling height.
2. Unfinished inside with only the 200 amp service box installed. No breakers or wiring from there on.
3. Poured foundation. No frost walls are necessary. I don't want block.
4. Either vinyl or wood clapboard siding.
5. Metal roof.
6. A couple of windows, side door and three garage doors 10'x10' maybe.

This is the basic idea of what I'd like to see, but just not quite as fancy maybe. No curved roof etc.

 

[Augus7us]

I don't know what you'd pay, but I like it.

Was the year your house was built a typo? I didn't think they built many houses in 1765!

 

[SgtHawkUSMC]

I don't know what you'd pay, but I like it.

Was the year your house was built a typo? I didn't think they built many houses in 1765!

Thanks. No, not a typo. She was built in 1730.

 

[TylerRNEMT]

Beautiful Home!!! There is something about the character of a house built before 1900 let alone before 1800!!

As far as cost goes on the new outbuilding.....I'm in the same boat. Completely SHOCKED at the cost of constructing these nowadays. I wouldn't be surprised if the cost of what you have shown would be upwards of 100-120k in the Midwest once you add in ground prep, concrete, and labor. And that is for a much simpler construction design than what's pictured.

-Tyler

 

[matt_i]

2000sq-ft, $50/sqft is probably low for turnkey, and that's $100k.

I'd guess $125k to have it built since most builders seem to be busy right now.

I can't speak for your locality but they may require a basic set of lights and outlets. There is an IRC requirement for an exterior light per each entry-door which could also be enforced. I would plan to do any other exterior lighting as well while building it, could be a vast mistake to have to start tearing out finished work to mount boxes, etc.

 

[Augus7us]

Thanks. No, not a typo. She was built in 1765.

Wow! Your house is older than our country!

I love history and I can't imagine the things your house has seen in over 250 years of existence.

I think the shop you have listed above will do that property justice. I like the curves and rounded headers over the doors. Hopefully you can get it built without breaking the bank!

Good luck

-Clint

 

[Toomanytools?]

I think you could be looking at $200K easy.

 

[sberry]

Great idea, put the doors in the eve side. But, use 2 doors, make them wider. 40/50 is a decent size.

 

[SgtHawkUSMC]

Beautiful Home!!! There is something about the character of a house built before 1900 let alone before 1800!!

As far as cost goes on the new outbuilding.....I'm in the same boat. Completely SHOCKED at the cost of constructing these nowadays. I wouldn't be surprised if the cost of what you have shown would be upwards of 100-120k in the Midwest once you add in ground prep, concrete, and labor. And that is for a much simpler construction design than what's pictured.

-Tyler

2000sq-ft, $50/sqft is probably low for turnkey, and that's $100k.

I'd guess $125k to have it built since most builders seem to be busy right now.

I can't speak for your locality but they may require a basic set of lights and outlets. There is an IRC requirement for an exterior light per each entry-door which could also be enforced. I would plan to do any other exterior lighting as well while building it, could be a vast mistake to have to start tearing out finished work to mount boxes, etc.

Wow! Your house is older than our country!

I love history and I can't imagine the things your house has seen in over 250 years of existence.

I think the shop you have listed above will do that property justice. I like the curves and rounded headers over the doors. Hopefully you can get it built without breaking the bank!

Good luck

-Clint

I think you could be looking at $200K easy.

Great idea, put the doors in the eve side. But, use 2 doors, make them wider. 40/50 is a decent size.

Wow..., just wow! First, thanks for the comments on the house. The fact that it was here when our country was born is why we bought it. We love American history.
So my first quote was for $160k! I was thinking $50k... Ouch. In light of that, I think I'm going to change my plans a bit. I'm probably going to have the foundation poured and build most of the garage myself. The only thing I'd rather not do is the roof. I've done a few over the years and I just don't like doing them.
I was planning on doing all the work inside anyway. Walls are easy to build and I can just use trusses then have a roofer come in. At least I'm in a relatively warm climate now so snow and cold won't be a concern for me. Thanks for all the comments.
Stand by!

 

[mikec35]

Thanks. No, not a typo. She was built in 1765.

Very cool, I'd like to see more pics!

 

[Radix2]

$50K... you funny man.


how close to the house will this be?

 

[firebirdparts]

that's a beautiful place. 40 x 50 gambrel is a B.A.G! Keep us posted!

 

[SgtHawkUSMC]

Very cool, I'd like to see more pics!

Thanks a lot Mike. Here's a few. We're on 10 acres with most of it being woods. Just the way I like it for hunting and playing...
I just met with another builder this morning. Muuuucccchhhh better. Very professional and the numbers he was talking about were much more in line with what I was thinking. No quote per se yet, but basic estimate etc was closer to 1/2 what the other guy said. We'll still have to see what happens.






















This last pic is of the "Moore House" in Yorktown. It's where the British formally surrendered. It was built at approximately the same time and we think there is a good chance it was the same builder.





Radix2,
$50k is still a lot of money. I think people have lost sight of that. Everyone wants to work for $100/hr. I don't think most peoples salaries will be able to sustain that very long... Remember, I'm looking for an unfinished shell. Not the Taj Mahal.
The garage, depending on set backs, will be ~10-15' off the left side of the house at an angle. I'm planning on attaching it with a breezeway at some point.

 

[mikec35]

Your home is beautiful, the perfect thing to spend your hard earned money on! I looked at a 100 year old farm house and would have loved to have purchased it but was turned off by how small the stair case was and the low ceilings. I knew right off the bat I couldn't get half my bedroom furniture upstairs and ceiling fans were out of the question! I hated history when I was in high school but the older I get the more fascinated I am when I see stuff like your house. Good for you.

 

[SgtHawkUSMC]

Your home is beautiful, the perfect thing to spend your hard earned money on! I looked at a 100 year old farm house and would have loved to have purchased it but was turned off by how small the stair case was and the low ceilings. I knew right off the bat I couldn't get half my bedroom furniture upstairs and ceiling fans were out of the question! I hated history when I was in high school but the older I get the more fascinated I am when I see stuff like your house. Good for you.

Low ceilings and narrow stair cases are out! Unless it's a hidden staircase, ;-) I've seen my share also. There are quite a few considerations when it comes to buying historical homes. We have 10' ceilings and the stairs work out great. I'm with you. I wouldn't have bought it otherwise.

 

[SgtHawkUSMC]

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted. Been busy... Unfortunately not on the garage.
I'm now just getting back to it. I've had the electric company out already to start the plans for the underground 220 line. Now I'm trying to hire someone to pour my foundation so I can get this started. One of the first things one of them ask was whether or not I had plans drawn up. What does everyone do for that? Find a local architect or find something on line? I wasn't planning on it because I thought I could just say "pour me a 40x50 foundation/slab with 8" walls." I'm mostly building this myself. I'm leaning towards trusses versus framing the roof myself though.
I have the area where I'm building it cleared, but it's on a small hill side and has about a 4' difference in elevation over 40' so I'll need to have some fill brought in.

 

[rusty1]

...beautiful house and garage planned;...tell me about your avartar please;..love those early Chevy II's...

 

[matt_i]

I drew plans in CAD, you could do scaled plans even with graph paper.

Very valuable, imo as eventually there will be questions about what's going on and the design drawings are the standard you refer to. There are a lot of little details to work out even with a standard rectangle

 

[67CarGuy]

They'll probably want to know about any rebar placement, what strength concrete, any stem walls, do you intend to run plumbing or conduit in the slab.... likely things you've already thought of, but a set of drawings (even on graph paper, as matt suggested) can help to eliminate any disputes / raise issues early.

Looks like a beautiful home on a great piece of land! Let us know when the garage-warming is!

 

[SgtHawkUSMC]

...beautiful house and garage planned;...tell me about your avartar please;..love those early Chevy II's...

I drew plans in CAD, you could do scaled plans even with graph paper.

Very valuable, imo as eventually there will be questions about what's going on and the design drawings are the standard you refer to. There are a lot of little details to work out even with a standard rectangle

They'll probably want to know about any rebar placement, what strength concrete, any stem walls, do you intend to run plumbing or conduit in the slab.... likely things you've already thought of, but a set of drawings (even on graph paper, as matt suggested) can help to eliminate any disputes / raise issues early.

Looks like a beautiful home on a great piece of land! Let us know when the garage-warming is!

Thanks guys. Ok, so nothing fancy like having an architect draw it up. I didn't think I'd need that. I have my son who is an Mech Eng student at U of Mich drawing something up for me on a program. It sounds like that will more than suffice.
rusty1, The avatar is a pic of my Dad racing at New England Dragway back in the late 60s. That car was my playground growing up in the backyard for many years. It's a 62-64 Nova. In the pic it has a big Pontiac in it, but shortly after he put a 426 Hemi in with Hilborn fuel injection.

 

[ddurrett896]

I'm in SE VA and just built 1,000sqft. Did almost all of it with friends.

Material alone was $40,000. If I did vinyl instead of brick it would drop to like $35,000 - but add the metal roof and your back to $40,000ish.

You're looking at like $75,000 in for just the material.

 

[BB Sig]

Create-Floor-Plan-Using-MS-Excel/

I have been using MS Excel. A little clunky but it works.

 

[SgtHawkUSMC]

I'm in SE VA and just built 1,000sqft. Did almost all of it with friends.

Material alone was $40,000. If I did vinyl instead of brick it would drop to like $35,000 - but add the metal roof and your back to $40,000ish.

You're looking at like $75,000 in for just the material.

Create-Floor-Plan-Using-MS-Excel/

I have been using MS Excel. A little clunky but it works.

I'm not far from Williamsburg. Thanks for the estimate. Did that include the foundation?
Right now I'm using Sweethome 3d for the layout. It's good for visualizing it at least.

 

[ddurrett896]

I'm not far from Williamsburg. Thanks for the estimate. Did that include the foundation?

I'm in VB. Yea - 20 yards in the footer and another 20 yards for the slab and block fill.

Got a few pics in here of the footers and slab.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=436764

 

[kbs2244]

When ever I see a sloped site needing fill I think “go the other way”
Do not fill, dig out for a lower level.
At 4 feet you are half way there.
The dug out dirt is on site fill where needed

You are in hilly country
Talk to a concrete guy that has done “walk out” basements and knows what Spancrete is.
He will know what excavator to use.

A place like this deserves a good, well thought out, building.

 

[Tarnished]

looking forward to seeing this happen. Great old house!

 

[SgtHawkUSMC]

When ever I see a sloped site needing fill I think “go the other way”
Do not fill, dig out for a lower level.
At 4 feet you are half way there.
The dug out dirt is on site fill where needed

You are in hilly country
Talk to a concrete guy that has done “walk out” basements and knows what Spancrete is.
He will know what excavator to use.

A place like this deserves a good, well thought out, building.

looking forward to seeing this happen. Great old house!

Thanks. That Spancrete is pretty slick. I'd love to do that. My site isn't hilly enough to justify it though. As much as "it's never enough", I can't see adding the lower level when I'll already have ~3,000 sqft total.
It's only really one back corner that needs some fill. I have someone coming over this week to check things out.

I started playing with Chief Architect. Quite a learning curve, but it will be perfect for what I want to design.

I'm in VB. Yea - 20 yards in the footer and another 20 yards for the slab and block fill.

Got a few pics in here of the footers and slab.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=436764

That was quite a build. Nice job. I like some of the graffiti. ;-)

 

[ksgar]

I built a 44 x 44' 2 story detached garage over the past couple of years. The lumber company I bought the lumber from had design services that they offered that created basic framing plans and a materials list for walls, joists, rafters, roof and siding. They charged $500 for that service and credited 1/2 of that charge against the materials which I bought from them. Our ground sloped alot, so the concrete costs alone were over 40k.

Good luck with your project and I love your house!

 

[SgtHawkUSMC]

I built a 44 x 44' 2 story detached garage over the past couple of years. The lumber company I bought the lumber from had design services that they offered that created basic framing plans and a materials list for walls, joists, rafters, roof and siding. They charged $500 for that service and credited 1/2 of that charge against the materials which I bought from them. Our ground sloped alot, so the concrete costs alone were over 40k.

Good luck with your project and I love your house!

Thanks for checking in. Love the Cobra! That must have been some serious concrete work. I'm hoping mine will be much less. I should find out pretty soon.
I think Chief Architect is going to be plenty for my plans. It's a pretty powerful program. It's very detailed and spits out some amazing looking plans and renderings as well as materials list. You can enter the cost of individual 2x4s etc and it will estimate the cost as well. I can input my lot topography etc also and it will give a pretty accurate picture.