several questions

[shane3fan]

Hi,


Sorry in advance for what Im sure are some redundant questions. I have spent some time looking at some of the awesome garages/shops in the journals and was blown away by some of the work.

I am a service advisor/assistant service manager at a Mercedes Benz dealership and I have been in the car business for 20 years now. I spent time as a car washer, a lube tech, a trainee, a master technician, a Corvette specialist and finally in my current position. As you can imagine, I have tons of tools--I attached a pic of one of my toolboxes--I have another one that is solid blue that is the same size, but without the hutch and top lockers.


Im just entering into the planning phases of my garage. I know I want a decent sized garage/shop but I dont think I can afford what I want without borrowing the money-which I dont want to do.

I had someone give me a quote of $53,000 to build it like I wanted including electricity and lights. I cant swing that much without a loan. I have a budget of more along the lines of $20,000

My wishlist includes;

45x30 ish on a concrete slab that is about 10 feet longer to allow for a lean-to for extra storage or for washing vehicles etc. 12 foot ceilings with some rafter storage area in part of the garage. I cant have overhead storage through the whols shop because I want to add a lift later on--cant be done right now because of costs.

2 10x16 rollup garage doors, 6 windows, 2 man doors and a small 6x8 rollup door.

I wanted two sides of it to be brick to match the house ( house pic below ) but I think that is out of my budget as well. It will go to the right of the house in the picture. Parking slab between the two garages---30' wide end of the garage viewable from the street would have two windows ( well, I have 3 acres of yard in front of the house--you wont see it in detail from the street ) The double garage doors will face the house--the street facing side and the side facing the house would ideally be bricked later. The lean to, and one man door would be on the other 30' side. The small rollup door, 4 windows and a man door would be on the "back" 45' section.


Questions ;

I was considering metal building construction versus a stick built garage---any clue on price comparison on those two options? When I say metal, I mean like a commercial steel frame building, not a Carolina Carports building. I would still like to add brick to it at a later date to get it to match the house.

I would like a drain in one of the bays, but Ive heard there are lots more hoops to jump through to get plumbing approved. Its not a necessity--but is it a big issue to get that done?

Adding the lift--I guess I should just talk to the foundation people and see what needs to be done to support the lift mounts. I will do some more reading on this as well in regards to concrete depth needed for anchoring an above ground lift ( Rotary )

Im concerned that a metal building is going to be miserable during the summer and winter without insulation.

This garage is going to be used mainly for car and tool storage, I have an attached "2 car" garage already, it only holds 1 1/2 cars due to the brick staircase leading into the house inside the garage. I will keep one tool box in the attached garage with my "home owner" tools. All of the automobile tools will go in the detached garage.

I have a small camper and a small boat that would stay in the lean to covered area. I have a 1988 Monte Carlo SS that is currently stored in my shop at my other house. I have to get it out because I have that house rented out and the renter wants to use the shop. I also have a 1989 S-10 with 65,000 miles, a 2001 Chevy 1500HD crew cab, a 2004 Grand Prix GTP, a 1980 Honda Twinstar motorcycle with 5,000 miles on it and my wife's Uplander that all need a home. Right now they are all sitting outside except the camper and the bike--they are in my attached garage.

Anyway, sorry for the novel--hope to be able to share some pictures in the near future as I break ground on a shop of some sort-lol. I will also be building a small wood working shop, and a tool/mower shed soon.

 

[Gary S]

$53k doesn't sound bad for what you want. If you build it yourself, you could cut that about in half if you shop wisely for your materials.
You have about 3 choices here.
1. Pay the man to build it and pay his price.
2. Build it yourself and save a significant amount of your money.
3. Cut your "wants" to your "needs" and see if you can afford that.

 

[shane3fan]

Yeah, I didnt mean to imply that it wasnt worth the 53k--just not what I was expecting. I had never had a project like that quoted.

I need to get a quote on just the foundation and the roof trusses. I think I can do the rest of the construction myself.

 

[wnstwolf]

Welcome to the madness. At $20k budget you came to the wrong place these guys have so much cool info to share that will be your fit up budget once built!

Honestly with concrete and something that will look nice next to your beautiful home prepare to do a lot of the work yourself if $20k is even going to be close.

I have stick framed metal sided 60x40 and material alone was 18k without concrete. Figure between 7-9/sq-ft on lumber costs depending on how you go (this is ball park for stick built) Concrete is about $120 yd or more delivered and then you have to have it installed this is a tough one to do on your own. at 6" thickness that is about 25 yards or so for the slab plus amount for footers.

Getting the main electrical panel in place is the big inspection item. Once that is in the distribution wiring is straight forward and can be a DIY item if you are comfortable and have a few pointers. Put in a few temp lights and outlets to get started and the rest can come over time.

On the metal being uncomfortable except for the noise when it rains a whole house fan set up in the eves make the place somewhat tolerable in the summer and while this winter has been real mild I have some box fans on low pushing the heated air our of my loft into lower areas and even on the 30 degreed days the place was ok. I am insulating as I go but when sun hits the metal my upper area gets real tosty. Box fans on lw at lesat make it see like I have heat

 

[shane3fan]

well--I can rule out 'standing seam' roofing to match the house. Will not come close to fitting the budget--I was quoted 15k for the roof with the standing seam. I will probably have to go with standard metal roofing and hope it is close enough to look ok.

Im having someone come out to look at the site to quote me some concrete work.

I can possibly go to $30k for the build--and I just hope to get the 'shell' done. If I can get the floor in place, the walls, roof, windows and doors in place I can do the interior items later a little at a time.

 

[tlmartin84]

You sound like me, Champagne taste on a beer budget, lol. I'm in the same boat as you 20k is max I am willing to spend at this point.

I am going to go Pole Barn style, eliminates the expensive foundation. That way I can get a roof over my projects and pay for it as I go along.

I am shooting for a 24x52, rather than 30x40. Reason being trusses are about Half the cost of the 30 footers. I am sectioning off 14' for a dedicated paint/blast/wash booth that will have a 10 x 10 door. Then placing the main 16' x 10' door on the gable end, this eliminates an expensive header and gives you a 24x38 bay for whatever. Metal Siding, metal roofing. Studding up walls around the exterior to add batt insulation. blown in ceiling insulation.........Just my ideas

 

[shane3fan]

You sound like me, Champagne taste on a beer budget, lol. I'm in the same boat as you 20k is max I am willing to spend at this point.

I am going to go Pole Barn style, eliminates the expensive foundation. That way I can get a roof over my projects and pay for it as I go along.

I am shooting for a 24x52, rather than 30x40. Reason being trusses are about Half the cost of the 30 footers. I am sectioning off 14' for a dedicated paint/blast/wash booth that will have a 10 x 10 door. Then placing the main 16' x 10' door on the gable end, this eliminates an expensive header and gives you a 24x38 bay for whatever. Metal Siding, metal roofing. Studding up walls around the exterior to add batt insulation. blown in ceiling insulation.........Just my ideas

haha--yeah, Im looking to get some Miller High Life---the champagne of beers.

 

[shane3fan]

concrete guy will be at the house tonight to discuss and schedule the foundation. Ball should be rolling soon. Ive convinced the wife to expand the budget to $40k if needed.

I still wont be able to finish the shop for that price--but I can get the building in place and get a roof on it.

 

[Zeke]

There is a fellow near your town named Jake Raby (not to worry, his name is all over the Net) and he builds flat four and six Porsche engines. His website is http://www.aircooledtechnology.com/
He has built a few buildings over the last 8 years to house his business. Might be a good source for info.

 

[Falcon67]

Muller doesn't have a location in GA, but for comparison you can buy a 30x50x12 "small barn" standard "basic" building for $8200. You should be able to DIY a stick build in your size for well under 40K, but it'll be a big job. The more DIY, the more you save. Based on the appraisal I just got on our 24x40, I shaved about 50% off the expected cost of the building.

 

[shane3fan]

the main things Im not looking forward to are raising the trusses and installing the roof boards and metal sheets. Nervous about being up that high on a 10/12 pitch.

 

[z385488]

I am in Columbus, Ga. and I have about 16.5k in my build not counting the electrical. I did alot of this myself but I also had a carpenter/framer help at 100.00 a day. I had to pay to have trees removed site leveled and the concrete finished. I also paid a fella to put the metal siding on. Lot of tricky cuts. I would have messed up alot of metal.

 

[Steevo]

You might be able to get the slab done, and get it framed and externally finished (weather-tight) for your starting fund of $20k. If yu can take over from there and finish interior plumbing, electrical, insulation, etc. etc., you can save half of what a finished building would cost AND you can make changes along the way without a "change order" making the contractor go ballistic on you.

As for this:

Hi,


2 10x16 rollup garage doors, 6 windows, 2 man doors and a small 6x8 rollup door.

That's a lot of holes in the walls, and each of them is a place that you can't have a cabinet, or a tool box, a machine or a workbench, etc.

My new shop is smaller than you are planning (24x40) and I put one 10x12 door and a man door on the front, and a 6x8 overhead door on one side of my shop and am already considering taking the 6x8 out and closing the hole for more contiguous wall space.

Also, make sure that no door is closer than 48" to any perpendicular wall, so that you can place shelving or pallet rack on the wall without blocking the door. DAMHIK!

Just be glad you are south of the deep freeze zones, so you don't need expen$ive foundations before you even pour the slab.

 

[toolchaser]

I did my 30 x 60 for $20k, but that was 10+ years ago. I subbed the concrete work out. Good advice all around from the other members, Steevo is spot on about wall space, Skylights are an alternative for letting in light. If you do dry your shop in and then progressively finish the interior, I will warn you to avoid putting much inside until its done. Insulating after you moved in a CNC Mill, a Lathe, another Mill etc. *****, Don't ask me how I know...