Pricing a new garage

[Jasonsamara]

First of all I’m a new member although I have been a lurker off and on for years. A little back story - I’m an avid Corvette collector who has run out of room in my current garage. After I purchased my last corvette in 2014 I had to move my Camaro to a storage garage and pay $40 a month. I don’t have access but it’s a very secure site and I have checked on it each year. The plan has always been to save up and build a garage at my house and I have saved for 5 years and thought I was ready but now I’m not sure if I’m off or my contractor is off.

My budget target was $60-65k for at least a 30x40 stick built finished garage. 12 ft ceiling, 1 16 ft door, ductless heating system and dry walled.

The bad

I live on a hill and am 6ft out of grade from side to side instead of front to back. So I would need a poured concrete retaining wall that would angle off my current driveway and go around my house on the side my garage would be built.

Also I would be required to brick part of the front due to HOA.

My current heat system would be relocated (heat pump)



The good

It would be attached to my existing house and I would hope this would lower the cost.

I live in West Virginia and I would hope being in my area my costs would be cheaper.


So my contractor who I have used on my bath, kitchen and major foundation repair took a look. He’s also my neighbor so that complicates it a tad.

Anyway he quoted 28x40 at $83k, about $74 a square foot and I feel this is more than a tad high. So he was working on a quote on the other side when the virus stopped the world and he couldn’t get the roof line right and we stopped.

One day last week he came over and we talked like we always do about life and he mentioned he lost a contract on a large house build. Before he left he asked about the garage again and I told him I would want 30x40 and he seemed interested and told me to give him a few weeks. The next morning I texted him never mind because 1200x74 is way more than I want to spend. I heard nothing from him until I talked to him today. He asked me about it and to confirm that I wanted to kill the idea. Then he said he had already sent out for bids on materials and sub contractors anyway. So he told me no pressure but he would still throw a bid together. He wants me to lower the square footage to meet my budget but I just think $74 a sq ft is to much. I can pay him in cash but that doesn’t seem to make a difference.

What do you experts think? What a first post huh?

 

[Donzi camino]

i think his price is right in line. I just completed a finished garage with drywall, full bath, hvac, epoxy floor, hardi siding and did a good portion myself. The sq. ft price was right at $70 so i have to believe he is being fair.

 

[Jasonsamara]

I appreciate the feedback. I have waited and saved for so long and it’s a HUGE commitment and I just wanted to get different perspectives. Thanks!

 

[469 runner]

I'm having a 42 X 36 done. It is coming in around $75.00 a square foot. No foundation issues, but I am having it bricked all four sides. I was surprised at the price too. I had been waiting on this garage for several years. I had several bids and most were higher. A lot of builders I contacted were not interested at all. I think there is plenty of work for them now.

 

[60acres]

Not sure what part of WV you are in, but I’m in the northern part and have recently received many quotes for a 40x40 stick build. All quotes were between 90-100k. Built on a slope, 14 foot walls, 6” concrete, 3 10x10 doors, hardi siding and no electrical or interior work. Contractors have plenty of work here too as nothing seems to affect this university town.

 

[matt_i]

I actually think attaching to your house complicates it.

- must carefully match elevations of floors to get steps (or no steps) correct.
- must carefully cut into existing siding, etc.
- must carefully rebuild siding, new flashing has to be placed underneath
- any materials which are "matching" like the brick have to be sourced and hopefully seamless although that's a roll of the dice rather than a certainty.
- you do get the benefit of potentially being able to run electrical service and enet right thru the house with interior-grade wiring. But we are talking a ~$1000-1500 job to trench and underground conduit to a subpanel.

My opinion is when there is no "matching" other than the shingle-type, then life for a builder gets a lot faster and easier. The parts of my build where I had to "detail" the transition into the existing building were slow, requiring time and finesse, not a "go gettem" attitude.

 

[Jasonsamara]

If you are in Morgantown then I’m an hour west of you outside of Cumberland MD.

 

[Jasonsamara]

I understand what your saying here. My existing home is 100% brick. The electric would be run from my house electric but I would like to upgrade to 400 amps. My parents dug up a brick patio and I have access to a large quantity of aged bricks that match my existing brick house.

It would be a great use of a part of my yard that is unusable currently.

I might need to move to my upper yard but I will lose 4 trees including a 100 year old white oak, I’m not a tree hugger but I would like to keep it.

 

[Showkey]

My internet guess $100-120k ( that’s only if your patient and cautious) .........foundation, grade issues, ductless, 400 amp electrical, HOA requirements are really going to add up quick.

 

[Jking24]

Material cost have doubled in the last five years i am in the finishing stages of a 40x60 15' ceiling with not quite a bad as yours but similar grade issues. I did not do a retaining wall around the building. I did one next to the slab in front about a third of the building has 3' of backfill against it. Took one side down and bright the other up a little to lessen the cut. I have done virtually all work myself from the grading to the shingles the only thing i actually subbed out was the gutters abs im north of 60k cash so that price sounds in line

 

[Jasonsamara]

It's $100psft plus lot prep charges.
Many people don't know a shed from a finished garage.
Figure this amount and be glad if it doesn't come to this.
If my estimate is 20k high, good for you, buy something nice.
If others here are 20k low, then what?

Pessimists are often happily surprised.
Optimists simply get their expectations met punctuated with disappointment.

You haven't mentioned if cutting the trees or building the garage has been approved by the hoa.
You Might be on a wild goose chase ending with no permission and no exemption.

Why 400a? Is it even available to you?
That's commercial here with a $90 per month premium.
I truly don't know a soul, welder or not who really needs 400a in their home shop storage garage.

When I say HOA it’s not as bad as what some HOA’s are. Meaning I have to be so many feet off the property line, need to have brick on the front and that’s it. I can cut down all the trees if I want.

It sounds like the price seems legit or at least close. Now to deal with “should you build in this economy”

 

[Lassen Forge]

I'll join the consensus - $70-75 a foot is about right. Especially since you have other issues (grading, etc.) and you're tying in to the house...

Pull a small loan or save a bit to come up with the difference, make sure you have ALL your plans, expectations, and features up front... and make sure you're there to be the thorn on their side if they start doing "funny stuff" (we had issues with a contractor once...) and keep them on track.

Of course, I don't have to tell you to get the blessing of your county planning department or building inspector or whoever... nothing like finding out that an inspector won't approve work... and THAT will also jack your costs up. Double check everything before you go.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

In most parts of the country- $75 to $100sq/ft is IN the ballpark.

Connecting it to the house- most likely a tax nightmare! I would strongly suggest not attaching. It doesn't change your initial outlay, but it will certainly change your tax bill- not to mention your insurance policy!

 

[Jasonsamara]

I enjoyed your post. You make some very good points. I did save all the money from working and did not inherit it. 5 years ago I was quoted 48x32 in the upper yard for $58k. I had just paid my house off and refused to remortgage it. It would have been better looking back because prices went crazy!

I would like to add 2 more cars in the long term and be able to still have room and that’s why 30x40 would be great. The guy I rent off of would rather me not store my car at his garage but I cause him no problems and pay him quarterly. I’ve tried to just buy that garage because he doesn’t use it but he won’t sell.

Your right, no matter how you look at it the price never is really justified to store and work on cars. I have to be careful with the Vettes because they are highly desirable C1, C2 and C5z and I can’t just store them anywhere.

Lots of good feedback from you guys, Thanks!

 

[Jagmandave]

I'm in a similar fix, I thought I could build a very simple 24X32 addition to the back of my house and budgeted $35-40K, no plumbing, no heat or A/C, with a 14 ft ridge beam, just high enough to get a 12 ft 2 post lift in there......bid so far has come in closer to $70K and that includes me doing the electrical, insulation and paint!

So, not going to happen.....

 

[thoyer]

Hi Jason,

Been a member here for a while as well as over on the CF. I'm in the final stages of building my garage - tired of renting space for my Corvettes also........ Mine was limited by township ordinances to less then 1000 sq ft so we came up with a footprint just shy of that. I still had to get a variance though - which took some time. I basically ended up with roughly 26 x 38 with 12' ceilings so I can install a two post lift.

The price you are looking at is inline with what I paid her in south east PA, right around $70 per sq ft. My builder provided the following:

All site work, foundation (36" down plus footers) 4' stem wall, 2x6 framing, roof and siding. Plus all inspections. The floor is a 5" slab with rebar on 15" square grid. I installed radiant floor heat tubing prior to the concrete pour.

I did the following:
Electrical, insulation and sheetrock. I also sub contracted out the floor finishing (polyuera sp?). I also had a mini split installed for additional winter heat plus summer AC.

Finding a contractor to even return my calls was difficult. When I finally settled on a contractor I thought his quote was high and we discussed ways to keep it down. He worked with me an I was very pleased with the final result. I will say that watching the amount of work that went into the building opened my eyes. Once I saw what was involved I understood why the cost was what it was.

My initial budget was readjusted along the way and I ended up about 10k over mostly due to the upgraded floor finish and having a mini split installed. Both of which were not in the initial budget - the radiant floor heat was though.

It took me over two years to get the building where it is today. From getting the plans drawn up (architect is a friend), getting the variances and permits, finding a contractor and my finish work (which is still in process). By the end of May I should be totally done and can start on a 66 restoration I have waiting in the wings.

Good luck

Tom

PS: I sold my Top Flight 58 Corvette to build the garage. But it was worth it as now all of my cars are at the house now. Pics are a couple months old.

 

[Jasonsamara]

Thanks buddy, I’m familiar with you over at CF so you know the exact predicament I’m in. I appreciate you providing me information.

 

[Bigblockyeti]

Does seem steep to me, but I'm only building a 16'x22' shed and doing it myself, including being out of grade 17" diagonally at the worst. I'm also in an HOA so trim, roof pitch, windows and siding all have to match. It's not a finished garage so (for now) it won't have insulation, HVAC, plumbing or wiring. I am putting some conduit in the floor if I want to use it for a shop in the future and run power to a few machines without having heavy cords run everywhere. It'll have 12' walls on a 4" slab, stick framed 8/12 gable roof and Hardi board siding. I should be all in for just under $5K before adding a 16'x8' mezzanine later on. I can see that anyone even having much experience doing this kind of thing is still going to have to make a little money but I would want a full break down of how $74/sqft. was calculated.

 

[60acres]

Jason, you are correct, I am in Morgantown. I have had many, many contractors over for quotes but believe it or not, they aren’t hard up for work at all. I had one quote as high as 160k for a 40x40 with an excavated basement also. Good luck with whatever you build but I’m guessing you’ll be in the 70-90$ sq ft range.

 

[CombatNinja]

Homebuilt minimal shed vs professionally added on finished garage.

I second that. You are coming in around $14/sq ft for a DIY shed and you are questioning that a builder wants $74 per for this?

As far as constructive advice for the OP, do look into having a detached shop built, it might save you a bunch of money if he does not have to fuss about with the existing building and worry with pinning slabs together, etc. If the site has the room, at least explore the option. It is not like adding that giant garage onto the house is going to anything for the value anyway. Oversized attached or detached shop, neither will add much at all. Have you also considered what size is the minimum to met your needs? You might be able to get the job down 15% if you build a bit smaller.

 

[HPRifleman]

Over the winter I got estimates on a 24' x 43' addition to my existing attached garage. Stick built, brick, heated, all electrical, epoxy floor, drywall, etc. Basically turnkey.

Estimates ranged from $120,000 to $140,000. That's $115 to $135 per sq. ft. Your estimates look pretty good from where I'm standing.

Obviously our locations are different and probably lots of other things as well. But some of the costs that are thrown around on this forum for a garage amaze me.