Sticker Shock 30x40 New Build

[sberry]

You might look for a different kind of contractor. One who appreciates owner parcipitation, who wouldn't mind them acting as general/builder, needs some help. One doesn't want to mark up parts, willing to take pay when milestones are met with satisfaction, can do most of it without "subs" and the hassle of that schedule problem, can do it in progressive order. Some semi retired types that do more limited work, don't have 6 jobs at once with a bunch of kids they are pushing.
Guys that make up for a little age with coordination.

 

[sberry]

Someone who ain't scared to do something twice to get it right, who doesn't get bothered by changes and not in a hurry to cover it up before someone sees it, who knows how to deal with inspectors.

 

[BRider]

Appreciate all the comments and feedback. It's been quite a while since we've built anything like this so I wanted to gauge whether these were realistic bids and it sounds like they certainly are.

I'm not opposed to spending even $125k for the garage so long as I'm getting what I want and pay for.

The first bid was from a builder we've known for a long time, did some small projects etc. with him. I think we'll move forward with him.

 

[sberry]

His price wasn't finished.

 

[matt_i]

~$100/sqft for a garage

It should be pretty special for that much.

 

[WisJim]

I'm in Western Wis an hour East of St Paul, MN. Been talking to contractors or trying to since last summer and finally got an estimate from a recommended builder for 24 by 40 with 9' ceiling and attic room trusses, pole barn steel roof and siding. Estimate at $35,000 for enclosed building on insulated slab. I'll do insulation and electrical. Building size is limited by city codes and zoning. A previous estimate including insulation was around $65000.

 

[PNWguy]

I always am amused by those posts, too.

The prices are only relevant if the guy from small town nowherseville that built for $12 or $18 or $23 a square foot a few years ago, will pack up, go to the OP's location, bring along his brother in law or friends, and build the garage that the OP wants, not what they built, for that price, today, and do it in a licensed, insured, dependable timeframe.

I agree with pretty much everything you're saying, except that construction is cheaper in a small town.

I live in a small town, and while many things cost less here, construction is super expensive at the moment. I've been trying to get something built for the last few years, and the prices quoted by many of the subs are higher than SF Bay Area prices (I have friends in the trades in the Bay).

My paint bid was $4/sq foot of wall. My electric bid was $30,000 for a job that included no more than $5,000 in materials, and it was all new construction. I finally fired everybody and decided to do it myself.

 

[finn]

Well there is a surcharge for the big city snobbery. Once you prove you don’t have it then the surcharge is waved

We have several “Chicago neighbors” as all the locals refer to them and 3 out of the four are snobs and the 4th family while nice and pleasant to deal with are clueless about “how this farm thing works”

I grew up in the area and still had the surcharge.

The other part is that rural areas with short building seasons are more expensive to build in than one might expect, for a number of reasons.

 

[slackdaddy1]

All sounds well and good,, and yes people want "Snap-On" quality,, but they only want to pay "Harbor freight" prices.

I am a licensed contractor, but I only rehab quick flips for banks for living. For myself I build "Works of Art" not sure if you have seen the pics of my house, shop, Russian Fireplace I have posted.
People see them and say "You should build these for living, instead of caulk and paint flips"
Nope, people will not pay for good work, period, they will not pay.
They will hire the cheapest, unlicensed hack, then complain he did a hack job,,,,,

Someone who ain't scared to do something twice to get it right, who doesn't get bothered by changes and not in a hurry to cover it up before someone sees it, who knows how to deal with inspectors.

 

[ezover]

We're over by Empire/Maple City area

nice area, was just there about a month ago, not sure if it was my imagination or not, but dam the air felt and smelled so much cleaner coming off the lake.

 

[slackdaddy1]

Why work when those who are are paying 3/4 of your bills,,,

Oregon is a world to itself in contracting and pricing. We have a lot of demand for building, but no trades available here for subs, have a lot of poverty, yet all the contractors complain that they can't get anyone to work for them, so they end up doing it all themselves, at a slow pace and high cost, and end up paying their good help relatively well. I did most everything on my own house and shop here over the past couple years for that reason.

I think weed and meth has a lot to do with it. There was a job open here a few months ago that I knew the manager, fairly high pay, desirable work conditions. 37 applicants, 36 didn't pass the piss test and the one that did wouldn't return the calls trying to schedule them to show up. I'm surprised there were that many that applied, most don't have the motivation to even apply, but work odd jobs instead. I see posts all the time on facebook from people begging for small jobs to do for quick cash. They usually want to be paid $20 to $35 per hour for shoveling snow, cleaning houses, yard work. When people reply with places that are hiring and paying $15 to $23, they always have an excuse. These are the same people who post periodically wanting a handout or someone to give them cans and bottles to redeem, to pay for gas, or kids food, or rent.

 

[sberry]

I barely have a drivers license. But I do this well for a couple reasons but mainly is I cant afford to have someone wonder WTF. It aint worth the grief over a little time. I havnt had a call back on an inspection in 30 yrs, maybe more. I try to watch what I do and who I do it for.

 

[gottawanna1]

I feel your pain, we have had a lot up by Tomahawk in Northern, WI for 5 years or so, life got in the way so we were looking to build a 40x80x16 building with living quarters this year, but the prices of materials has gone through the roof, and IF you can get anyone to call you back, the labor bids are just getting "thrown out there'' with the market being so strong, and I am a person who understands quality is not cheap. We have made the decision to hold off..

 

[imjustdave]

I was hoping to add was radiant flooring, bathroom, dust collection system and a lean-to (depending on setback restrictions).

One of the contractors said that some of their sub prices are the highest he's ever seen. Roofers are charging 5 times what they did 5-7 years ago ($300/sq instead of $65-$85).

We have association restrictions so it has to be stick built and match the house so we're limited with our options there.

Has to be stick built ..... or the look has to match the area when seen from the outside? No expert but I think options can be found to make it look nice on the outside still VS metal geto lowes shed look... which is what most HOA want to avoid.

 

[finn]

Oregon is a world to itself in contracting and pricing. We have a lot of demand for building, but no trades available here for subs, have a lot of poverty, yet all the contractors complain that they can't get anyone to work for them, so they end up doing it all themselves, at a slow pace and high cost, and end up paying their good help relatively well. I did most everything on my own house and shop here over the past couple years for that reason.

I think weed and meth has a lot to do with it. There was a job open here a few months ago that I knew the manager, fairly high pay, desirable work conditions. 37 applicants, 36 didn't pass the piss test and the one that did wouldn't return the calls trying to schedule them to show up. I'm surprised there were that many that applied, most don't have the motivation to even apply, but work odd jobs instead. I see posts all the time on facebook from people begging for small jobs to do for quick cash. They usually want to be paid $20 to $35 per hour for shoveling snow, cleaning houses, yard work. When people reply with places that are hiring and paying $15 to $23, they always have an excuse. These are the same people who post periodically wanting a handout or someone to give them cans and bottles to redeem, to pay for gas, or kids food, or rent.

Hate to break it to you but $25/hr is below the going rate for shoveling snow.

It’s not 1957 anymore.

 

[chipjumper]

Hate to break it to you but $25/hr is below the going rate for shoveling snow.



It’s not 1957 anymore.

Wow we got $50/hr cash money to plow and shovel in 1998. $100/hr if you had your own truck. Definitely worked your **** off.

 

[SWR_Jonathan]

Super nice!

 

[SWR_Jonathan]

I did all the work myself,, I have OVER 70K in materials and misc labor help in my 22' x 32' garage shop.

Lets try this again... Super nice!

 

[GA_Brown]

Glad I built when I did about a year and half ago. About $45-$46 a square foot, used a contractor that specializes in building garages. It is a 30 x 40 x 9, 8/12 pitch roof with a 11 x 36 storage loft, brick front on the 30 foot side, Hardie plank siding painted to match house, double garage door & entry door on 30 foot side, double door on left side, 10 foot garage door in rear and two windows.

That included electrical 200 amp panel, which we had to upgrade the house panel to 400 amp. Added additional outlets inside, upgraded to LED lighting along with spot lights on each corner along with additional outlets outside.

The contractor did seem to have reliable subs they worked with,it was about a 3 month build time frame.

I wish the OP good luck, seems your location is working against you.

 

[Hooked]

Roofers are charging 5 times what they did 5-7 years ago ($300/sq instead of $65-$85).

YIKES!!! Back when I did roofing during the summers we charged a whopping $5/sq and thought we were making a killing.

 

[tfb]

I believe modern roof designs, with lots of steep pitches and dormers and valleys has been a big factor in the price of roof work. Higher sq. ft. for those jobs has raised the bar and carried over to all roof work.

 

[SgtHawkUSMC]

Just got a foundation quote this morning. I got the "We're busy and don't want to do it quote" I think. They quoted a 40'x40' $31,500. Uh, no thanks.

 

[sberry]

I be glad to drive down there and do it for that.

 

[SgtHawkUSMC]

I be glad to drive down there and do it for that.

Lol. I think any cement guy would be happy too. He must have thought he was talking about my Camaro. $19.69 /sqft

 

[sberry]

If you don't put up buildinjgs regular like it takes some more time it takes a certain instinct. My neighbor is dam near an engineer, he is impulsively compulsive and I was gonna make a pour and he looked at it and another one I had and said,, we can put in half the cement. Contrary to some belief it don't always got to be poured continuous. Pour half the building and move across to the other half.
Take the walls apart and make the ends in some cases and don't always need a pumper but 3 men for a week vs a ram rod with 4 men and a lot of equipment, it also lends it to do some tailoring. Sometimes the scale and availability matter.
Doesn't always work when you want to do it right, but nothing makes for a quality job like some planning in regards to the weather etc that smaller custom crew may not be a lot cheaper but may include other consultation that don't occur or care to a common concrete guy. A good one will suggest value added features that are economical, wait out really bad weather even time of day etc to prep and truly prepare for pours. I made alll the mistakes,,, ha and most to not really looking all the way forward and my guys are retiring but should be going in to the foundation placement. 40x60 steel building could use 20 to 30 yards if someone wants to check, maybe 5 grand in material plus floor. Another 5 grand or so for that. With the new insulated forms could pour some in lifts, Ideal is to pour and manage a load at once. Nothing on small work seems to work out, simple instructions like a load in the morning and a load in the after noon means 2 trucks 15 minutes a part.

 

[sberry]

Fewer higher skill men taking 2x as long can pay attn to resteel vs per sq ft mobile home building. I did a little work for one of the guys ramming a cement business till he run out of road but didn't spend any time supervising, I swear they couldn't pour the same thing twice without simple details correct. Small contractors never know, I know a couple figure its easier to fix than to get it right.
Its good to fix fukkups but continuously get the spacing wrong on a couple garage doors. Getting elevations in the pours for potential drainage is something hard to fix.
Really getting door placement for ergonomics gets missed all the time. I just did some work where it was obvious any of the utilities were an after thought. How fast can I cover the walls was the first objective, absolutely refuse to cut a sheet for the obvious, make constant changes after the thing is built.

 

[brownbagg]

i built my 24x30 ten feet, 15 years ago, under $5000 including slab

 

[firebirdparts]

I just wonder who in the world would be moving to the UP?

 

[jkeyser14]

Just got a foundation quote this morning. I got the "We're busy and don't want to do it quote" I think. They quoted a 40'x40' $31,500. Uh, no thanks.

Yikes. I just had a 24'x40'x10' ICF (8" foam blocks) foundation quoted at $17k a week ago.

 

[aggie113]

Just got a foundation quote this morning. I got the "We're busy and don't want to do it quote" I think. They quoted a 40'x40' $31,500. Uh, no thanks.

Yeah, I had a few "Pay for my new boat" quotes along the way.

 

[bczygan]

Wrong time to build.

Wait for the depths of the next economic downturn.

Bill

 

[n20junkie]

My 30x50 stick build with formed/poured foundation, 6” floor and attic is easily in the 100k range as a completed building.

The stuff just adds up. I had minimal contractors as well.

 

[bczygan]

Lol. I think any cement guy would be happy too. He must have thought he was talking about my Camaro. $19.69 /sqft

We used to get 4" for $1.25/SF and 6" for $2.50. Been a while.

Bill

 

[slackdaddy1]

Thanks
it was a labor of love

Lets try this again... Super nice!

 

[slackdaddy1]

Did they have a "Free Concrete day" at the plant?
24'x30'x 4" is 9 yds, add 3 yards for turn down, you are at 13 yards with no room for error. you are over 2 grand in concrete sitting in the truck (Mid Atlantic area).
What type of doors? windows? roof?
I really want to know the details on this build, not being an *** at all, genuinely curious.

i built my 24x30 ten feet, 15 years ago, under $5000 including slab

 

[jollygreengiant]

Wrong time to build.

Wait for the depths of the next economic downturn.

Bill

So about 2 months from now?

I seriously wonder what this pandemic panic will do to local building.

 

[karfever]

So I guess it really depends on where you are in life. I recently retired at 67 year old. I had been saving for a shop/man cave for years. I too has significant sticker shock, but finally resigned myself to the fact that at my age I had better get it done and enjoy it versus saying 'I wish I would of'
A couple of weeks ago I signed a contract for a stick built 50x32 with a 10X40 lean to in the rear, along with concrete, driveway extension, electrical, insulation, and three 10X10 overhead doors. It came in just over 100K.
My wife said I would be crazy not to do this as I have talked about it for years.

The closing comment is that you only live once, make it count.

(Build thread to follow once ground is broken)

 

[jetnow1]

The pandemic will kill construction very quickly, but it will be a while for prices to come down much. I built my garage 24 by 30, stick built, 9 foot ceiling with second floor from a 12/12 pitch, 3 1/2 foot deep footings, 4 inch slab, fully insulated, 100 amp elec, epoxied floor, vinyl siding, 5/8 drywall in garage, 18,000 btu mini split. Subbed the concrete and its prep work, did everything else myself. Concrete guy was 8k, total was about 30K The only other paid labor was a couple of day labor to help with the insulation and when we installed the rafters, could not handle 18 foot rafters one man. About $42 per square foot but that also includes 2500 in costs to get a survey done and another 2000 to upgrade electric from 100 amp to 200 amp service. I also went a little overboard when I did the electric, 2 circuits feeding a duplex outlet each every 4 feet plus 220 on 3 walls plus a dedicated outlet outside, plus 13 outlets in the ceiling, plus another 9 outlets in the attic space. Built it in 2018, was 65 at the time. My hired help
with the rafters and insulation was 66.
ch

 

[NewEdgePerf]

I experienced the same sticker shock in the U.P. for my 40 x 70. I ended up switching to an open truss steel building from Worldwide Steel Buildings. The basic building was delivered to my site for just over $30K. I was responsible for the dirt, concrete, doors and windows, and assembly, but all told it was about $20K less than a similar stick built building.

Tom

How is Worldwide to work with?


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Jackfre]

I just wonder who in the world would be moving to the UP?

That is damned nice country about 7 mo a yr. My SIL's family have had a place up around Sleeping Bear Dunes, Glen Arbor since about 1910. All that beautiful fresh water. They do have mosquito birds so you have to carry an ice pick