Has anyone ever bought/sold and MOVED a garage before?

JohnnieMo · Dec 9, 2014

I am looking to replace my existing 24x22 garage with a new 26x37. I am presented with the dilemma with what to do with the old garage.

It is:
24' deep, 22' wide, 8' ceiling
Heated (forced air)
Insulated and drywalled throughout
Double Door (16'x7')
3 windows
Vinyl Siding
2x4 construction
Built in the 1980's.

It seems a shame to destroy such a thing when new garages here in Calgary are so expensive to construct (especially the price of labour).

I contacted a local building mover company and they quoted $5000 to take the garage and put it anywhere in the Calgary area.

So what is my garage worth?

And even more importantly, where would I advertise to find a buyer? This is such an odd thing to sell, I have no idea how to even reach people who might be buying. The best option would be to try and find someone looking to build a new garage, and then sell them mine instead. The garage probably has 50 more years in it, and all it needs is shingles every 15 to 20 years.

I can get more pictures if people request them.

Playwme · Dec 9, 2014

$5000 seems like a lot for a used garage that size. Better off finding someone who will come and disassemble it and take it away to reconstruct. I do a couple a year, but our construction methods for those are a lot easier to pull apart and reassemble than the North American style. Generally the garage is free for my time to remove and clean up the slab. Sometimes I'll pay $500 if it's a real good one and the owner is helping me pull it down.

lilredex · Dec 9, 2014

Think you will be lucky just to give it away. Around here there would be few takers. It would be just mashed and put in a box. Seen it go that way a couple of times lately.

JohnnieMo · Dec 9, 2014

The mover did say they would buy it off me for $500 (I think), so its clearly worth something. That may be my best option.

I think I'll try just putting a sign on it and see if it generates interest. There are some homes in my area in need of a garage, so maybe I get lucky....

readhead · Dec 9, 2014

Around here it is usually free just to get rid of it.

rsanter · Dec 9, 2014

si I take it keeping it and adding to it or putting the new garage somehwere else and having two is not an option?
what about salvaging the garage door, man door and windows?

otherwise it seems to me that the $500 offer is fair. you could always ask $1000 and see if anyone bites

bob

6768rogues · Dec 9, 2014

A friend had a building that size to move about 20 years ago. He was told by the transportation department that to take it down the road he needed insurance, a public works crew to move signs if needed, an electrical crew for wires and a telephone crew for phone wires. He got a buddy with a dump truck and trailer and they loaded the building in the middle of the night and headed down the road. The cops caught him. They damaged a couple of road signs that were in the way and he had to pay for them and some fines. Overall it was a lot cheaper that doing it legally. If they had hit power wires, it would have gotten expensive.

Stuart in MN · Dec 9, 2014

When I built my garage, I had to get rid of the old 12 x 24 single car garage. I found a place in town that picked up old garages and resold them. Basically I gave it away, but it saved me the time, effort and expense of tearing it down, and it was able to be reused by someone else.

They simply jacked it up, backed a flatbed truck inside, lowered it on the truck, and drove it away.

LifeLongWNYer · Dec 9, 2014

I moved one. It was a single car garage, about the normal size. A buddy had a 6-wheel truck with a vertically lifting bed, like the roofers use. We backed the truck in the garage, laid some 2x12's across the bed and lag bolted them to the studs.

Early one Sunday morning we raised the truck bed, slid a couple of 8x8's between the bottom of the bed frame and the truck frame and drove away. One guy rode on the roof peak to lift the low hanging wires, and the single traffic light in our path.

It looked pretty bad when we happened to pass a sheriff heading in the opposite directing on the state highway, but he just kept on going and ignored us, although he had to almost pull completely off the road so we could pass. He later said that he only let us go because he was afraid of all the paperwork he would have to fill out, and also what to do with the garage if he stopped us.

All went well, and we had quite a party when we finished the move.

.

HoosierMark · Dec 9, 2014

I moved a house with an attached two car garage a few years ago. We took the roof off. Dropped the trusses to the ground and then panelized the parts into 8 or 10 foot sections that a few guys could handle. Transported all the pieces and reassembled it. Not really a big deal. We just added an extra 2 x 4 to the joints and nailed them together for simplicity. We used an 18 foot car trailer to move the pieces. We stood the trusses upside down on the trailer and braced them. They were 24 feet long. With the height the trusses could hang over the tow vehicle (pickup) and not stick out the back a great distance. It just takes some planning.

JohnnieMo · Dec 10, 2014

I think what I'm going to do is see what I can salvage from the existing garage and then determine how much money that will save me in the new build (i.e. doors, openers, siding, studs etc.). Then I'll try to sell it for that price. If I can't.... I'll use it to build the new one.

It is more work, but destroying something is always easier than building something new.

larry_g · Dec 10, 2014

If some one offered me $500 for that and they would remove it, I'd be on here fishing for a 'you ****' . But before it moves make sure that the housing authority will permit you to build what you want. Friend demolished a garage and the city would not give a permit for a new one.

lg
no neat sig line

Voi · Dec 10, 2014

http://rapidcity.craigslist.org/for/4790212715.html

Add on my local CL. Thought of this thread.

JohnnieMo · Dec 10, 2014

Voi said:
http://rapidcity.craigslist.org/for/4790212715.html

Add on my local CL. Thought of this thread.

$45,000 for that?!?!

That thing is far older and in worse shape than mine. However it is bigger and easier to access.

Boyd · Dec 10, 2014

Would it not be cheaper for you to salvage everything you can from the old garage and use it to construct the new one? I would think most of the framing/siding/doors/windows, and insulation could be re-used.

JohnnieMo · Dec 10, 2014

Boyd said:
Would it not be cheaper for you to salvage everything you can from the old garage and use it to construct the new one? I would think most of the framing/siding/doors/windows, and insulation could be re-used.

Yes that is very much an option. I've analyzed it quite a bit further in the thread in my signature....

I think I could salvage:
- garage door, opener
- siding
- wall studs
- sheathing

Plus I could use the old trusses to build a lot of other things.

Call it recycling, or re-using. I just don't want to pay MORE money to dump perfectly good wood into the landfill.

Has anyone ever bought/sold and MOVED a garage before?

JohnnieMo

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Playwme

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lilredex

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JohnnieMo

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readhead

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rsanter

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6768rogues

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Stuart in MN

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LifeLongWNYer

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HoosierMark

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JohnnieMo

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larry_g

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Voi

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JohnnieMo

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Boyd

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JohnnieMo

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