Average building costs?

[supreme_style21]

Hey guys - I've been reading this forum for a few years now, just haven't made any posts. The ideas and structures you guys have is just absolutely amazing and inspiring.
I'm 22 and I just made the plunge (hopefully a smart one) and bought my first home. It was built in 1947 and was just completely gutted and remodeled in the past year. 1600 sq ft and a lousy one car detached garage. Its on the edge of town on a corner lot and I bought the empty lot next to it, so I'd have some room to work with in the future. The one stall garage is on the back of the lot by the alley with entrance from the street. What I'd like to do is build an attached 2 story 34 x 24-ish sized attached garage out into the empty lot. I'd like the second story to extend out from the 2nd floor of the house for additional bedrooms/living space, as the current layout of the home isn't too spacious. I don't wish to do too much to the existing garage... I don't feel it'd be worth the time and money.

Now I know this is a horrible question with so many variables that is tough to answer, but would anyone dare to very roughly guesstimate an average cost for such a build? I wouldn't ever expect an exact figure, but anything in some type of ballpark would suffice. I'm just curious mainly on the materials portion of it. I have friends and relatives that are licenced in electrical and construction areas, so I am not concerned with the labor so much.

As far as materials, I'd like a finished, insulated, heated garage... I can add the 'extras' at a later time if need be. The upstairs I would like finished, flowing into the second story of the existing home.. which would require, obviously, some modifications to the existing structure. I don't require 'premium' materials.... I don't need granite floors and gold-lined walls. It simply isn't going to be like some of the multi-million dollar garages I've seen here! Just the average suburbia addition. I haven't gone to the lumber yards much to see what materials would cost. I've looked at some 'prefab' structures that run around 8k rough-in's/unfinished and I've contemplated integrating them into what I want as a base start, but I don't know if thats a wise way to go either. I'd love it if anyone would dare throw me some very very rough estimates and/or ideas so I can determine whether or not it is worth pursuing on my budget.

 

[SKINNER]

Wow, you're talking a major undertaking - 2 story, attached to house...

I've recently finished a 30x36, 13' vaulted ceiling and am sitting around 25K. That's doing everything but the concrete and exterior brick myself

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Look very closely at crossing the property line with the building. Depending on local restrictions they may not let you do this, or build a non residence on the vacant lot. You may need to have an attorney do a deed of combination to roll the two lots into one parcel. Work closely with your building inspection and planning/zoning people to make sure you can do this without any problems

Charles

 

[PAToyota]

What you want is a "reverse subdivision" - instead of making multiple properties out of one you want to make one out of multiple properties.

Any surveyor should be able to prepare the documents that you need.

 

[supreme_style21]

So it seems to be more of a legal issue than it does a construction issue? I will most certainly be crossing property lines, but it will be right back onto my own property. I haven't checked with city codes and regulations yet either. I guess I wanted to have a plan in mind prior to going to the council and seeing if it was plasible or not.
I was hoping to spend a max of 40k for the addition for a total investment of 100k in the property.

 

[PAToyota]

Believe me, the legal issues are almost always more trouble than the construction issues! Even if you do own both the properties it would likely save trouble down the road to get them "joined" properly.

 

[supreme_style21]

Ah I was kind of afraid of that. Well I won't put too much effort into that idea then. Perhaps I'll build a nice stand-alone garage in the future.

 

[twostory]

Ah I was kind of afraid of that. Well I won't put too much effort into that idea then. Perhaps I'll build a nice stand-alone garage in the future.

As for the legal issue. You would just need to combine your two lots into one lot. This is done all the time in my county in Georgia. Discuss the issue with you "planning and development" dept, they can quickly tell you what to do.

As for the cost, that is very difficult to figure out. I am building a 26x44 two story garage. The foundation work cost much more than I figured. I have $2k in fill dirt alone. I am estimating it will be around $40k for the rough shell of a building. It is 2,200 square feet of space. Since you want insulated finished space, that will cost more. I am around $18/square foot.

You can save some real money by putting vertical posts in the middle of big spans. My first floor garage has no posts. The wooden I beams and LVL beam cost $3,500. This was very expensive, but I did not want any posts in the garage. If you put posts, then you can just use 2x10 or 2x12 (depend on the span). Also your foundation work will be much cheaper than mine, if you can just pour a slab with thickened edges. My lot was not flat, so I have footers and a 41 inch tall stem wall.

Click on my username, to get the link to my garage build page.

 

[supreme_style21]

As for the legal issue. You would just need to combine your two lots into one lot. This is done all the time in my county in Georgia. Discuss the issue with you "planning and development" dept, they can quickly tell you what to do.

As for the cost, that is very difficult to figure out. I am building a 26x44 two story garage. The foundation work cost much more than I figured. I have $2k in fill dirt alone. I am estimating it will be around $40k for the rough shell of a building. It is 2,200 square feet of space. Since you want insulated finished space, that will cost more. I am around $18/square foot.

You can save some real money by putting vertical posts in the middle of big spans. My first floor garage has no posts. The wooden I beams and LVL beam cost $3,500. This was very expensive, but I did not want any posts in the garage. If you put posts, then you can just use 2x10 or 2x12 (depend on the span). Also your foundation work will be much cheaper than mine, if you can just pour a slab with thickened edges. My lot was not flat, so I have footers and a 41 inch tall stem wall.

Click on my username, to get the link to my garage build page.

As usual here, impressive structure. Interested to see the finished deal.
I don't think I want any vertical supports in the structure... I have a feeling they would just be in my way in the future. (Budget will always rule though!) I may be able to forego insulating and finishing part of it. I looked at a garage today that had a nice wide 3 car stall, sheetrocked, but not insulated, and an attached one stall that was insulated and heated with LP. Very nice place and lots of ideas. The only reason I wanted a fully insulated garage was for workspace in the winter... and in all honesty, I don't need 3 stalls to work on a car.
But again, the only way I can shove something that size is to utilize the second lot. Unattached from the house, I should have less problems.

 

[red vette mike]

Hey guys - I've been reading this forum for a few years now, just haven't made any posts. The ideas and structures you guys have is just absolutely amazing and inspiring.
I'm 22 and I just made the plunge (hopefully a smart one) and bought my first home. It was built in 1947 and was just completely gutted and remodeled in the past year. 1600 sq ft and a lousy one car detached garage. Its on the edge of town on a corner lot and I bought the empty lot next to it, so I'd have some room to work with in the future. The one stall garage is on the back of the lot by the alley with entrance from the street. What I'd like to do is build an attached 2 story 34 x 24-ish sized attached garage out into the empty lot. I'd like the second story to extend out from the 2nd floor of the house for additional bedrooms/living space, as the current layout of the home isn't too spacious. I don't wish to do too much to the existing garage... I don't feel it'd be worth the time and money.

Now I know this is a horrible question with so many variables that is tough to answer, but would anyone dare to very roughly guesstimate an average cost for such a build? I wouldn't ever expect an exact figure, but anything in some type of ballpark would suffice. I'm just curious mainly on the materials portion of it. I have friends and relatives that are licenced in electrical and construction areas, so I am not concerned with the labor so much.

As far as materials, I'd like a finished, insulated, heated garage... I can add the 'extras' at a later time if need be. The upstairs I would like finished, flowing into the second story of the existing home.. which would require, obviously, some modifications to the existing structure. I don't require 'premium' materials.... I don't need granite floors and gold-lined walls. It simply isn't going to be like some of the multi-million dollar garages I've seen here! Just the average suburbia addition. I haven't gone to the lumber yards much to see what materials would cost. I've looked at some 'prefab' structures that run around 8k rough-in's/unfinished and I've contemplated integrating them into what I want as a base start, but I don't know if thats a wise way to go either. I'd love it if anyone would dare throw me some very very rough estimates and/or ideas so I can determine whether or not it is worth pursuing on my budget.

I am at about $35 per foot on my garage additon which has 1770'. That is for a building with a 12'ceiling height. The building includes a 6" slab (for a lift), R13 in the walls and R30 in the ceiling, wood (luan) ceiling and walls, 24 4' good fixtures, nice windows and door, brick exterior to match my house, heat and a/c. Cost more than I thought but materials cost a lot -roof truss system was $6100 but allows me to have a 53x14 attic storage area. I had to have help on the slab ($1.40 per foot labor but about $5000 for the concrete), framing ($3.50 per foot labor), roofing ($28 per square-I think). I have done most of the rest myself. I bought almost all of the materials from 84 Lumber. They gave me a builders rate and that saved me about 15-25% on many items. I have not added up the total material costs yet but it was between $5-$10k (I am guessing) without the concrete or the materilas in the roof truss system.. Good luck. This is the best site for someone thinking of building a garage.

 

[supreme_style21]

Thanks for the numbers.. gives me a sort of direction as to what I want and what I need to cut. These things cost much much more than I had ever anticipated!

 

[Itzkwik]

These things cost much much more than I had ever anticipated!

Truer words were never spoken!