Regrets......quite a few. One was not biting the bullet a number of years back and building bigger. The cost of building never goes down. When I built a 28'x36' years back, I had $13,000 in it. I am now adding on a 28'x36'x10' walls, and so far I have $27,000 in it, and not done yet. I have cedar siding to go, garage doors to go, labor to go, and that is nothing on the inside. No insulation, no drywall, no electric. BUT......I am coming in close to my budget that I figured, and I am $20,000 less than the contractors I spoke with before.
Other regrets.....no water, no bathroom. I would love to have a bathroom in the garage, and may still do so on down the road, but right now, it's not in the budget where I want to build one. Originally I also built a divided garage with a foundation wall between. Big mistake. After a few years, I tore the wall out to make more room in the garage. In doing so, it left the two floors at a different level by about flush to 3/8 of an inch. Just enough to screw things up as far as a floor is concerned.
Another regret....when I originally built the garage, I had no intentions of life changes. Today I can't get down on the floor to work due to shot knees, and only one good arm. when I built the garage, I could scoot under a car with no problem, so I scrimped on the budget and went with 8' walls with standard flat ceiling trusses. This time, I went with 10' walls with Scissor trusses. The reason for that was to maintain a structure that fits in the neighborhood without looking out of place. That, and if I went taller, I would have to file for a variance, which would take an extra 30 days timeframe. In looking at the garage today, it is proportioned to the house and landscaping, and any taller would look out of place. And if it looked out of place, it could possibly take away from the value of the property. With the 10' walls and Scissor trusses, I can still get a 2 post lift in and work on a vehicle. I may not be able to get my truck all the way up to get under it by standing, but I can still sit on a stool and change the oil, or I can rotate the tires on my truck. Momma's Olds, or her Solara should have no problem going high enough for me to get under.
Other than that....doing everything all at once would have been ideal. And like I said above.....doing a lot of things afterwards either never gets done, or it is just a pain in the *** to do. If I had bit the bullet before, I would have saved thousands of dollars on the addition, plus it wouldn't look so much like an addition. And remember, what you pay today, will be way cheaper than what you pay, for the same thing next year. Not only by hundreds, but maybe by thousands.
So sit back, make out a wish list as to what is wanted, and go for the gusto. Bigger is always better, and make things as big as what is affordable. Don't cut corners. If you think you can get by with 1000 square feet for your garage as a minimum, if allowed, go 1500 square feet or larger. that little bit of extra makes a world of difference. Shop around and see what a plumber cost and look into a bathroom, or at least a slop sink for washing up. I wished many a time that I had a large sink just to wash my hands in before tackling another task in the garage, but the way it is, I have to walk up to the house garage to wash up, or into the house to wash up.
And then you have all of the little things to consider when building. Not only the size, but things like enough electric, cable for TV, wireless or wired internet, airlines, storage, drywall vs. OSB......just things like that. And it's a lot of the little things that can be a real pain to do if it is an afterthought to do it. Just running a wire for an extra outlet, can be either an hour job, or a complete days job.
So think things out beforehand, and make a list of what you want. It's always easier to do things first when everything is tore up, than it is to come back and do things later.
