First Time Home Buyer - Garage Idea

[cyclonestate1028]

Hi all,

First time home buyer, second time poster (after my intro just a moment ago), looking to purchase a prospective home in the greater Saint Louis, MO area! I've attached an amateur photo using Paint that visually shows what we want to do. I was curious to see if anyone had experience doing something similar, and if anyone had any ballpark of an estimate on what it might cost?

A little background - The home we are looking to purchase has a detached, over-sized (21 foot door) 2-car garage. It is not far from the house, and we would like to add another stall between the garage and the home to fill the existing gap there, make it a 3-car garage, and have it attached it to the house. I would think the right side of the existing garage could be demo'd to attach the third stall on the right.

I'd also be curious to know if it would be expensive to swap the doors, so that the third stall is furthest from the home, and the two-car door is closest.

Fun project. Thanks everyone!

 

[yeldogt]

If it's a nice house in a decent location -- proceed with caution. Tacking stuff on can be ..well -- tacky.

Most people don't say forever .... don't spend money and reduce value

 

[kd3pc]

It would be much cheaper to buy a home that met your needs, than to build and swap as you suggest. It will be more expensive, especially, if you have to engineer, permit and contract for the new structure to match/fit your space. Swapping doors can be done, but will be an added cost.

Without more information, it would be difficult to estimate. What is your idea of expensive? Ballpark to make a new structure match an existing garage and house is going to be anywhere from $25 per sq ft and up. That is dried in, and some degree of foundation and concrete floor. Electric, insulation, HVAC, floor coatings, dirt work and so on are added cost on top of that.

 

[Kevkx125]

Any thing is possible, how much can you spend?

 

[jetnow1]

What way does the garage ridge run? If it runs at a 90 degree angle to the door then the
wall you want to remove is load bearing, if it runs the other way you must have a massive
header, probably steel to carry that load.
Have you considered adding the new space as attached to the house, then connecting the two garage spaces with a breezway? Much more cost effective.

 

[Marctrees]

It would be much cheaper to buy a home that met your needs, than to build and swap as you suggest. It will be more expensive, especially, if you have to engineer, permit and contract for the new structure to match/fit your space. Swapping doors can be done, but will be an added cost.

Without more information, it would be difficult to estimate. What is your idea of expensive? Ballpark to make a new structure match an existing garage and house is going to be anywhere from $25 per sq ft and up. That is dried in, and some degree of foundation and concrete floor. Electric, insulation, HVAC, floor coatings, dirt work and so on are added cost on top of that.

Respectfully, IMHO that $25 figure is much lower than should be realistically planned for.

Marc

 

[pmiranda]

Need a lot more info... the rooflines, pictures of the sides of the house and garage near each other, location of all utilities in the affected area, allowed impervious cover for the lot, any deed restrictions or hoa rules, city or county rules.

If it's your first home it probably won't be your last so you do need to consider resale value. You probably won't add any as far as most realtors and buyers are concerned unless the "connection" includes an extra bathroom, mudroom, or other HVAC space.
You can reduce value if it's done in a way that doesn't look good to most buyers.

Nothing is impossible, just maybe more cost than you want. Are you wanting to divide the space for different (ie dusty/clean) uses?

 

[ZRX61]

Respectfully, IMHO that $25 figure is much lower than should be realistically planned for.

Marc

Previous owner of my old house put a 600sq ft extension on the back of a 20x20. He was just below $60/ft... & that was at least 25 years ago.
Mind you, he installed a 1ft thick slab.

 

[pmiranda]

Slab alone for my build was $20/sqft.

 

[Marctrees]

I realize the "$25+" was not completed, but after underestimating on a new house in the past I'm pretty gun shy.

Marc

 

[pmiranda]

Also, I'm guessing OP is in St Louis, so probably needs footings deeper than 24" for frost. Tying into an existing structure is always a bit tricky compared to a new build, but at least it's only a remodel as far as the local authorities are concerned, not adding a new structure.
Which reminds me, I suspect if you can keep the connection as just providing a roof over a walkway things get simpler.

 

[MattRMagnum]

Swapping the doors will be the most affordable, least-expensive part of the project. I'm pretty willing to guarantee that.

If you're serious about the house, I would see if they would accept a tentative offer, pending home inspection, and tell them you want to have an architect look at something as part of the inspection. You might be out a couple grand in earnest money, but it would help make sure you don't lose the house. Then talk to an architect to see if they'll come out and put together a rough estimate. You'd probably need that anyway as a precursor to having it built, so part of it is money you'd be paying anyway.

 

[MushCreek]

First, ALWAYS check with your local building/zoning department to find out if they will let you build, what's involved, and the permit process. Only your local AHJ (authority Having Jurisdiction) can answer those questions. I can tell you what's involved with your plan here in SC, but it has nothing to do with your location. If you're found in violation, they can fine you, make you bring it up to their rules, or even make you tear it down.

 

[Jking24]

My 40x60 has cost me right around 26$ sqft but that is basically materials only and the few trades i subbed out were not priced at retail. If your paying retail i would expect to be in the 40$+range depending on your location

 

[pbon]

It is probably more expensive per SF to integrate the new structure between the house and garage than to build new. Also it does not appear the OP will be DIYing much of the work like you guys who end up with finished garages for $25 SF. I’d guess the cost at closer to the $100 SF end of the range, but it’s only a guess since I don’t know what construction costs down there and have not seen a picture.

 

[CraigStu]

I wouldn't bother swapping the doors. I'd make the new garage for your wife to park in since it will be closest to the house. That leaves the entire old garage for you for a work shop and/or parking. Also I would just create an opening between the two. When we added a bay on our previous house that wall had studs on 16 inch centers. We removed two studs which gave a walk through a little under 48 inches. Worked fine for me.

 

[iamrfixit]

Before it could even be considered, you need to know how the existing garage was built. Outbuilding structures are not always built with a full foundation and footings below frost depth.

Garages or sheds are often built on a simple monolithic slab. Slab construction can work fine on a simple structure, it all moves as one, sort of floats on top of the ground. When you start attaching buildings together, or even building an addition onto the garage, then footings are required. You can't have your structures attached together but moving independent.

 

[CTyankee]

I'm all for making a connection to the house, just not by expanding the existing garage. Worked on a new home that also had the identical setup of your "after" picture. Looked good on paper, but the result was the front lawn becoming all blacktop, access to the 3rd door required literally driving right along the front of the house to get in and out. Not sure about MO, but where this house is located it made snow removal a PITA too. JMO.

 

[Dh3256]

First thing I would do is check with the municipality to determine whether the taxes are higher for an attached or detached garage. Many places I have lived have different tax rates for detached buildings, usually lower if detached but sometimes not.

If you still want to build an attached building, then would make the building wider to connect to the back side of the house rather than add the walk way. This will give you more available space for not a lot more cost.

Cost per square foot may not be the best indicator of cost - it's costs a lot more per square foot to build a smaller building, due to fixed base costs. Incremental cost to increase size is minimal, to a point.

For a point of reference, I built a 2 car garage that shares a wall with my house in a similar cost of living area. It's wood frame construction with fiber cement siding and a low slope EPDM roof. DIY cost was around $9,000 or $23.83 per square foot, complete and finished. I hired out the excavation, foundation, and concrete, but did the walls and roof myself.

Another option to consider is the "garage in a day" companies. They do a good job at an economical price IF you can fit into their process and model. You could build a freestanding second garage using them and then add your connecting hallway. If I had done a two car garage with the garage in a day company the cost would have been about the same and it would have been done in a week.

 

[jbwilkins]

It's an addition, so anyone quoting a number based on a free standing garage is not going to be in the ballpark.....Additions can run into all sorts of issues and typically cost more because something unseen comes up..........Also what you're doing is 'small' so you're going to pay a premium to get the work done, if you're not providing the labor yourself.....

I did something kind of similar back in 2016 but it was a 750 sf garage attached to the house with a 10' breezeway, I spent ~$73 a foot in Nashville (Code considered it free standing, HOA considered it attached so both were happy).....

I sub'd it all out because I didn't have time to manage it myself due to work travel.....

It's also had to be brick on the outside to match the house, that alone added ~$20k to the cost.... I did have to have power ran to the structure and extended a 10' wide driveway about 50'.....

 

[pmiranda]

Another option to consider is the "garage in a day" companies. They do a good job at an economical price IF you can fit into their process and model. You could build a freestanding second garage using them and then add your connecting hallway.

This might be a winning idea... You'd just need to clear the area and either put a lightweight structure on a floating slab, or put in a pole building with a floating slab inside. Rebar in the slab holds it together and it'll move up and down with frost or shrink/swell without impacting the structure.

Not as nice as a fully integrated structure, but fast, cheap, and easy, and for resale you can remove it and put up a gazebo in about a week.

Counterpoint: I have learned that if you can plan to be in a house for a long time, you should make all the improvement YOU want the way YOU want them so YOU get all the value. It really ***** to put in a big effort to get a house ready to sell and then see the new owners rip it out because it's not their style.

 

[iowa4x4dieselman]

I like craigs idea on leaving the wall there, Wish I could've done that on my new house build. It will help keep the dust and debris from "working" on the daily drivers. Also, talking to people that have the single car door closest to the house like it better, as your not opening the big door all the time to leave. All personal preference i guess. Also if you plan on adding, you might look into offsetting the garage of existing to add dimension to the gable end. it will look better than one long peak on a 3 car garage. This is what I did on our house. Planning to add gable pediments to add to the 2 larger peaks as well.