Steel or Stick Built??

[westgateblvd]

Hi. I have a two stall garage right now that is over 80 years old. Some walls are straight, while others are not. This garage has a wooden plank floor in it. I have lost more wrenches, nuts and blots in there.. There is also a 8 x 12' root cellar in it under the floor. This garage is 20' Wide x 19' Deep. I need a new garage. I would like to build a 26 x 30' 3 stall. I guess one of my questions would be.. Would a steel building be a better choice??, or a stick built one. Another question is just what is the price per sq ft does it cost for a garage to be built?? I would need a slab, and the other garage removed. I would do the work myself, but my Wife said I am just getting to old to do it all by myself. Thanks

 

[readhead]

Coming from a metal building builder you are probably better off with wood. Around here steel passes wood for economy at about 1200 square feet.

Three good framers should have the walls and roof up in a day. You might consider cutting the roof instead of trusses which would give you a full size second floor and not require any equipment to put up the trusses.

 

[westgateblvd]

So in Minnesota.. What is the going rate for a wooden garage by the sq ft??

 

[Cyberbear]

Simply call out a few contractors and get some estimates for the new project. There are good and bad points concerning the wood verses steel issue. Personally I favor wood construction because it does not allow water to condense and drip or run down the walls or wet the interior. Wood is naturally warmer and has insulation qualities metal does not.
Wood is a natural sound dampener and your neighbors may appreciate the difference when working out in the shop. There are many reasons to not consider cost only.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Stick built hands down for me, I can do that myself a heck of alot easier.

 

[txvwnut]

I looked at both options when building my garage. When I got my quotes there wasn't too much difference between the stick built and a the steel building I went with except for the masonry work. The stick built didn't have that in the quote and I'm required to have it for city code and the slab wasn't rated for my frame machine. If you are wanting to do it yourself and don't mind tightening a thousand or so bolts look at a free standing metal arch type building(Quonset hut) from vendors like Future Steel, Steel Master(where I got mine), American Steelspan. I would hit Future first cause they actually make the buildings for the afore mentioned vendors and a few more. After your slab work is done you and a few helping hands can have it erected and done in a couple days. It took me three days to have the basic structure up and tight with finished walls and roof and you can't get that with a stick built setup. I did everything myself with the help of freinds and family when needed and spent close to thirty grand from the first clump of dirt that got turned to shutting the door.

 

[38Chevy454]

X2 seems the crossover point is around the 1200 sq ft. But since you are talking about doing some work yourself, stick built is way easier for the interior finishing work and using easy to obtain std materials.

so consider having a contractor do the demolition of old garage, concrete work, and basic wood construction with roof and exterior done. In other words a completed but empty shell. Then you can save a lot by doing the rest yourself. basically the route I did and it worked out well for me, got it done in good time by contractor and then I finished it as time allowed.

 

[westgateblvd]

I guess a stick built it is. I found a lumber yard that is selling a kit for $6031.00. Of coarse it has some cutting, but you get everything else. Right down to the shingles. I will check with a few to get a good estimate. I will only want a shell. The kit I saw has a single 16' door. I already have four wheel dollies. I can put the 37 in the dollies and push it over to the shop area.

Another thing about the garage I have now. It has a root cellar under the floor. Would you keep it??, or fill it in?? My Dad built it over 80 years ago. It is about 8' deep x 12' x 8'. It is made out of rail road ties.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I'd probably get rid of it. I'd hate to spend the money for the new build only to have it sit onthose ties which will rot out eventually, creating issues.

 

[westgateblvd]

I guess the only way I could keep it would be to redo it out of cinder blocks..

Also. The main road sits higher than the garage now. I will have to trench the front under the apron for some sort of drain tile. I just have a dirt driveway, and when the snow melts it runs into the garage.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I guess the only way I could keep it would be to redo it out of cinder blocks..

Also. The main road sits higher than the garage now. I will have to trench the front under the apron for some sort of drain tile. I just have a dirt driveway, and when the snow melts it runs into the garage.

If you're going to get water in the place, you need to raise the area for the agrage higher than the road. That was half the reason I raised the floor with a new pour in my garage. During heavy rains, it would right down the road and into my garage.

 

[westgateblvd]

I ran a line from the road to what would be level on the garage. I would have to come up 5' in order to just get to level. Not going to happen.

 

[38Chevy454]

So besides the recommendation to fill in the area under the new concreted pad, you need to do some dirt work so it slopes off to the side away from the garage as it runs down the driveway, Also be good to put a V-ditch in front of grage so any water that does get there will not go into garage. You need to do all the dirt work and then build the new garage once the drainage issues are fixed.

 

[westgateblvd]

I was thinking of sloping the apron like is done on gutters. I have a gravel driveway. Not all that much water flows into the garage. Only in the winter after it all starts to melt. All of the heavy water flows away from the garage. As far as the slab goes. I would only have to raise the slab a few inches. If there was a asphalt driveway. I could get closer with the snow blower.