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Garage mod quote sanity check

aquarius

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Jan 10, 2021
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Hey all,

Just got a quote in to raise my 24x24 garage ceiling by 3 feet, new ceiling drywall/paint, new garage doors with high rise tracks/side openers, and modify existing electrical to account for new ceiling height. Quote came in at $25K

Does this seem reasonable? TIAA
 

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jbwilkins

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While it seems reasonable based on today's costs, it may just be a starting point.

While it looks to be simple until they start doing demolition you don't know what they are going to run into.
 

astroracer

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Totally. That is a lot of work. You didn't say anything about residing but I am sure that is in the quote as well. This is a ton more work then building new. Taking everything apart will take almost as long as putting it back together.
What are your current ceiling heights? They look pretty tall right now if that pic is of your shop. You only need about 12' to get a full lift out of most hobby hoists so 3' more seems pretty excessive. Sorry for all of the questions, just trying get a grasp of the situation. :)
If you don't mind me asking, why lift the entire ceiling? If you are doing this for a hoist boxing out a section of the ceiling over the hoist to get more height is a very viable option to a total tear up. That's what I did for my hoist and it cost me about a $1000. Modified three trusses and boxed in the hoist area. Something to think about.
Mark
 
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aquarius

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Current ceiling height is 10'9...looking to get to around 14' for a 2 post lift on the left side and a 4 post on the right side. I could probably get away with a 4 post on the right with the existing ceiling, but definitely need to raise the left side for a 2 post.

What do you mean residing? They're not raising the roof, literally just raising the ceiling.

Would the box out option apply given that this isn't a trussed roof?
 

firebirdparts

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Sounds reasonable enough to me.

You could certainly ask them to raise less of it and see what they say. It's not a complicated structure.
 

CombatNinja

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Ouch. I would look to DIY the single bay with the planned 2-post if you have time, some basic skills and some help. You could probably be into that for less than $1000 in materials.

The garage doors and electrical would of course be on top of that. Can you get the guy who hit you at $25K to just give you a quote on doing the one side so you can do an apples to apples comparison? What is wrong with your existing garage doors? They look ok and the tracks themselves can be modified to hug the ceiling and new jackshaft openers fitted. I imagine you could get the whole one side done for about $2500 if you DIY the framing, drywall, tape, mud and paint yourself and hire out the garage door track mod/opener install and the electrical work.
The only reason I am suggesting this is that $25K gets you a long, long way toward a separate, dedicated, detached shop that can be built to suit rather than retrofitted at every turn. A couple of thousand seems like money well spent to facilitate use of your space and a reasonable amount of money to dedicate to your hobby. Tens of thousands becomes harder to justify.
 

Ron_J

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Current ceiling height is 10'9...looking to get to around 14' for a 2 post lift on the left side and a 4 post on the right side. I could probably get away with a 4 post on the right with the existing ceiling, but definitely need to raise the left side for a 2 post.

What do you mean residing? They're not raising the roof, literally just raising the ceiling.

Would the box out option apply given that this isn't a trussed roof?

I must be missing something. How are they going to raise the ceiling without raising the roof? Is the current ceiling not hanging on the trusses?
 

CombatNinja

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By moving up the bottom chord/rafters/whatever the ceiling is hanging on. He could go whole hog and convert that to a ridge beam, never touch the exterior roof and end up with 20' peak inside height if he wanted to spend the money.
 

tyyost

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Could you build another bay attached with the lift and tall ceilings? Raising the roof on the whole deal is a huge project,
 

Worsedog

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I must be missing something. How are they going to raise the ceiling without raising the roof? Is the current ceiling not hanging on the trusses?

Pictures 3-5 show the space the ceiling is being raised into.

There are no trusses, that's a conventional rafter roof.
 

XS29L9B

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To the left of the house, I would build a 2 car detached garage, or attach with a breezeway.

What you describe would not add value. My suggestion does.
 

Worsedog

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As to the quote, I'm not familiar with construction costs in NH. It would be a little high I think for me, but Florida is often a different world.

Aside from the actually dollars spent, factor in your skills, time availability and length of time to complete the project and see how that fits into your life. I find that I can eventually get most things done, but do I want to have it now or when I finally finish it?
 

loganb

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If it was my garage, I would look at boxing out the necessary bay for the lift and leaving the rest as is. You already have 10'+ ceilings so lots of headroom, and adding 3' more is wasted space except at the lift where you need it. That wasted space is going to cost more to heat and cool, in addition to being expensive to acquire. Getting to 12 or 13' above the 2 post shouldn't be that expensive and will only impact 6 or 8 rafters. Move the joist/rafter ties up, likely some electric connections and then rock/mud/prime/paint and install lights.

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Worsedog

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To the left of the house, I would build a 2 car detached garage, or attach with a breezeway.

What you describe would not add value. My suggestion does.

Based on the quote for his project, I doubt he'd build a 24x24x14 for $25K. As far as value, accessory building often **** for resale value to many people.

Only he can decide which plan adds the most value for him. Circumstances can of course always change, but I don't put so much stock in planning for resale value for a home unless a move is planned or imminent.
 

APEowner

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That seems like it's in the ball park to me but construction costs vary considerably around the country and with the specific job scope. The only real way to tell is to get multiple quotes for a specific, written scope of work.
 

astroracer

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Current ceiling height is 10'9...looking to get to around 14' for a 2 post lift on the left side and a 4 post on the right side. I could probably get away with a 4 post on the right with the existing ceiling, but definitely need to raise the left side for a 2 post.

What do you mean residing? They're not raising the roof, literally just raising the ceiling.

Would the box out option apply given that this isn't a trussed roof?

Like I said, 12' is usually plenty for a 2 post, 13' would be good.
I also was under the assumption the whole roof was going up but I understand now, just the ceiling. And that is where just doing a box out over the 2 post will be so much easier and cheaper. And yes, the rafter's can be modified to build your box out. You only need a 8' x 12' box to fit most car roofs up there. The whole car will not go that high. :)
And, like was stated, retracking and powering your current doors is an option. Use the current track and modify it to run the door up at an angle to clear the vehicle, that is what I will be doing with mine, the door doesn't even need to come off to do it.
Just some stuff to think about. :)
Mark
 
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unslow1

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Based on the quote for his project, I doubt he'd build a 24x24x14 for $25K. As far as value, accessory building often **** for resale value to many people.

Only he can decide which plan adds the most value for him. Circumstances can of course always change, but I don't put so much stock in planning for resale value for a home unless a move is planned or imminent.

I don't have a second garage on my current place because of this. It really killed resale on our previous two places.

We did a boxed area above a friend of mine's lift. It wasn't hard and the cost wasn't much but that was a couple of decades ago.
 

matt_i

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It adds value but also will add property taxes forevermore to add new square footage.

I think its totally reasonable, it's a huge pain to modify existing structures.
 

unslow1

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It adds value but also will add property taxes forevermore to add new square footage.

I think its totally reasonable, it's a huge pain to modify existing structures.

It doesn't always add value there was an entire multi-page thread on this about a month ago. Unfortunately I have first hand experience with this going currently on the third time as I try to sell.
 
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aquarius

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I'm no help on the reconstruction, but it looks like you have a nice Fairlane there.

Yessir - work in progress but should be on the road again this summer. Maybe quicker if I get this ceiling work/lift installed!
 

Worsedog

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It doesn't always add value there was an entire multi-page thread on this about a month ago. Unfortunately I have first hand experience with this going currently on the third time as I try to sell.

The voice of experience on a multiple scale.

While it worked in my favor, my house is a prime example of this. It was a tiny house with a 30x40 detached garage. It was on the market for months at $49K. I offered $45 and with only $1K deposit the seller was willing to wait the 90+ days it took to secure the financing. This was better than 20 years ago, but still holds true.
 

imjustdave

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let's start over.
what is part of this 25k? bid?

I as well was thinking your were raising the roof 3 feet. aka wall height increase of 3.


but it seems youare modifying only the inside. you seem to have rafters, which if you do would allow you to remove the ceiling, but

What is keeping the walls from pushing out?
Why new doors?
How are they going to finish the inside?
are they going to have bottom chords built to install and support the rafters and give you space for insulation?
is this permitted?
engineering?

25k seems high at first.

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imjustdave

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ok reread what you have....

if they are just moving the bottom chord up 3 feet...

25k is full retail on this in my opinion.

I see no reason why you can't reuse most of your current bottom chords lumber.
if it is just the lights up there then electric is minor.
doors, sheetrock, insulation is cheap stuff usually.

hard to give you a number without knowing how the wall to rafter intersections are going to work, those details to me are the biggest q Every thing else is just basic building steps.


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MileHighRover

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$25k is the quote I got two years ago for doing the same in my shop, except it was only half the ceiling. Mine was conventional rafters so they were going to install a ridge beam. I had an engineer take a look and do up the plans. After the construction guy came out and looked everything over and said $25k, I said "thanks for coming out. Sorry to have wasted your time."
 

Showkey

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Lots of bad or misleading info in this thread:
Ridge board has not structural member. It locates the rafters for convenience. Trusses leave the ridge board out.
Ridge beam is a structural component is post and beam structure.
Collar ties have little value.
Ceiling joists ( bottom chords) stop the building wall spread as the rafters are loaded. In garage with no ceiling the joist (chords) can be 24-48” on centers.

An engineer can design a raised ceiling (joist bottom chords) moved up for a fraction of the cost of the alternatives. Especially if it’s done in one bay.

As for extra garage space is a sales deterrent........in some most areas and price points, 3 car attached is the bare minimum and 3 car attached with 2-3 garage detached is the norm. Vary from the norm is a real sale deterrent.
 

firebirdparts

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Lots of bad or misleading info in this thread:

Always an issue here; terminology, misunderstandings, and frankly ignorance. Obviously we have a fresh "raise the ceiling" thread every single week, and there are only 5 options. To wit:
- Raised rafter ties
- purlins over the lift
- ridge beam construction
- wall stiffening
- scissor trusses

Having a lift makes you very, very happy and we ought to be ready to encourage folks the best we can.
 
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3onthetree

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25K seems high, you must of just ballparked in words what you want done, and the contractor obliged the same by just ballparking you a figure. The best route is to actually have a structural engineer create construction drawings that he can bid. Higher than expected then keep bidding to others, resort to some DIY, or reduce the scope of work.

There could be a little difficulty in that the ceiling joists continue over the family/laundry whatever it is room in back, and the main roof rafters look to continue down to a beam that splits that 3rd storage stall that is tacked on in front.

If I were to go to the trouble of just raising some of the ceiling that 99% of future buyers won't even notice, I'd also be adding a 3rd stall overhead door like it was originally intended and maybe depending on layout even account for a habitable room above that is accessed from the 2nd floor house, then I might have a chance of recouping my money.
 

Vintage Veloce

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I gotta say, I'm always mystified when I see these giant attics. Seems like SO much wasted space.
If you do this, consider paying some more to make some section of the attic truly accessible for storage, assuming the rafters can handle the weight.
 

50pascals

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We just had a guy in our town do this.

He rented a large telehandler forklift, picked up the entire roof and floor assembly intact, set it on the ground, extended the walls up a couple feet, put the roof back on, flashed / touched up the existing roofing. It was done in two days.

I thought it was quite genius.
 

50pascals

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I gotta say, I'm always mystified when I see these giant attics. Seems like SO much wasted space.
If you do this, consider paying some more to make some section of the attic truly accessible for storage, assuming the rafters can handle the weight.

That space is typically for a future "bonus room." TV room, man cave, spare bedroom.

It's cheaper to build it up front than to add it on later.
 

Is this thing on

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You and a few buddies over a week end could, demo the drywall ceiling, and move the ceiling framing up. With not much more than a nail gun and a miter saw. reusing the framing there, not needing new 2x10/12s
Then have a drywall guy skin your relocated framing.( as that is a p.i.t.a. At that height.) You paint it. Then you rehang your lights.
Have a garage door company out to change the tracks, and an sparky to rewire your lights.
25k seems very HIGH for N.H. As I am willing to bet the contractor will be reusing the ceiling framing, just moving it up. Reusing your lights. You don't need new garage doors, just the tracks moved and openers changed.
I can't tell if the heating duct in your photo's is connected to equipment that have to move or not. but. Even if the contractor did it all, it seems high.
 

ddurrett896

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We just had a guy in our town do this.

He rented a large telehandler forklift, picked up the entire roof and floor assembly intact, set it on the ground, extended the walls up a couple feet, put the roof back on, flashed / touched up the existing roofing. It was done in two days.

I thought it was quite genius.

Reminds me of this guy - you're getting a lift anyway!

Are you able to extend that side gable out? I'd delete those two single garage doors and put a giant header in that opening, extend that side gable out 20-30' and use scissor trusses.
 
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