Have you built a garage?

**Tony71502** · 02-06-2012, 12:51 PM

While still house hunting, the notion of building a garage seems more and more appealing.

Has anyone built a garage on their property? How much did you pay and how big is it? I can get contractor friends to help me do 90% of the labor and construction, so it would mainly be the cost of materials, permits, electrical/plumbing subcontracting, etc.

**celeste** · 02-06-2012, 02:36 PM

There are so many factors that go into that equation. Here are some things that you should think about before you take the plunge into building. The size of the garage obviously matters and so does the finished celing height....but that is the easy part. Once you decide that you get into things like.....how thick of a slab are you pouring (car lifts require a six inch pour), are you using block, 2x4, or 2x6 walls. You can choose smooth block, colored block or even split faced block. If you opt away from block, siding comes in so many colors and styles that prices will vary....do you want it to match your house? Can you even get that style anymore? Moving up, you have to decide on trusses, you can choose a basic truss with little storage or they can be custom built for maximum storage height inside when finished. Roofing material comes next, 3 tab shingles are the cheapest or you could go 50 year dimensional. Another option would be to go with a steel roof and in that case you could get away with buying less trusses because they can be set on purlins with the trusses on 4' centers rather than 16" centers. So rather thinking you are saving by not buying steel, you actually save because you buy less trusses and don't have to sheet the roof with plywood and the steel will outlast you. After the shell is up, you have to decide on amount of garage doors, man doors, and windows. Heating, water, drainage and electrical also come into play. You might be able to easily sub off of the house for electric or you may have to run a new service to the garage. You need to decide on amount of outlets, switches, lights, are you using 220 for a welder anywhere, compressor. Electric needs to be planned based on what the garage will be used for and that will drastically change the bill in that department. You will also need to tap into the sewage and it may be further away than you think and excavation is not cheap. You will have to find another source to drain the gutters and floor drains because most townships will not allow you to dump that into their sewage system. These are some factor that need to be considered if you were to just follow everything by the book. Of course you can take shortcuts and not get permits but that is totally your call and you may or may not be comfortable with that. On the other hand, you could be just asking for some cold storage and a roof over the cars heads. Whatever it is, post it up and I will help with what I can and I am sure everyone else will too.

**Dan B.** · 02-06-2012, 03:46 PM

http://www.steelcitystangs.com/forum...ad.php?t=23841

**Tony71502** · 02-06-2012, 03:48 PM

Essentially, this is being considered for a house that has an existing two car garage attached to the house already. It was an addition and is going to require some repairs(I'd rather replace it with something more suiting me) as the roof was not done right to begin with. They left the existing wall and siding up in between the attick space of the house and roof and attached a short beam to the outside of the house to support the roof of the garage. The roof beam at the top of the garage does not seem properly supported/sized and is obviously bowed down probably from snow loading in the past, meanwhile the rest of the house has a perfectly flat peak on the roof.

My plan was to tear off that garage addition, considering the house will be perfectly fine wihtout it there... it still has insulation and siding between them, granted it would need a few things to plug up some cold air spots until the new garage is done. Then expand/build a new garage about 10 more feet towards the street, and about 10 more feet towards the backyard. Turning the 2 stall into a 2x2.5 stall. I'd also like to increase the height of the roof to accomadate a lift. Surely there are many things to consider as this is merely in the pipe dream stage and I have not decided to buy the house yet. I would prefer siding to match the house... but the siding on the house will probably be replaced by something more appealing to me. The existing garage has electricity but that would need upgraded to 220. I have a few friends that are electrical contractors and they can handle that, of course at a discounted price. Plumbing probably needs run to the garage, however drainage is existing, but needing rerouted a bit. The only man door on the garage will be connecting the house and garage. There would be two garage doors on the front. Maybe a window on the back and side not facing the house. Haven't decided if I want neighbors peeking at my toys. It is in a neighborhood.

Not sure what the best construction of the walls would be to help with thermal insulation. It would have to be good considering the house will be attached. I was more into structural steel design in school, not so much home building. :)

**gmslayer** · 02-06-2012, 05:46 PM

I just completed my garage. Its a 30 x 50 with 12' ceilings, 7/12 roof pitch allowing an upstairs for storage. I poured a 6" concrete floor, 8" block foundation (10 courses high) 4 courses of block above my floor, 10 x 16 garage door, premium dimentional shingles, vinyl sided, 220 lines and all electrical (200 amp)+ lighting for around $25K...I completed everything myself except for the finishing of the concrete floor. Permits were $550.00.

**Silverhatch** · 02-06-2012, 07:19 PM

Originally Posted by gmslayer

8" block foundation (10 courses high) 4 courses of block above my floor,

I'm confused, are the walls block all the way to the roof, or 4 courses off of the footer and 6 courses above grade? Is the rest stick framed? There are companies that will assemble a pole building with roof, then one could pour a floor and stand up non load bearing walls in between the outside posts for reasonable $$.

**gmslayer** · 02-06-2012, 07:41 PM

The block starts on top of the footer and is 4 courses above the concrete floor ,then the rest is stick built 2 x 6 walls, its like 9+ feet to the inside ceiling from the top of the block wall.

**Stangman701** · 02-06-2012, 07:51 PM

Originally Posted by gmslayer

The block starts on top of the footer and is 4 courses above the concrete floor ,then the rest is stick built 2 x 6 walls, its like 9+ feet to the inside ceiling from the top of the block wall.

The garage at my new house is built sort of like that as well. Just curious, what are the benefits of building it that way vs. just having it stick built from the concrete up? I'm looking to put in a man door and enlarge the garage door and that's going to make it a real pain.

**somethingclever** · 02-07-2012, 02:02 AM

Originally Posted by gmslayer

I just completed my garage. Its a 30 x 50 with 12' ceilings, 7/12 roof pitch allowing an upstairs for storage. I poured a 6" concrete floor, 8" block foundation (10 courses high) 4 courses of block above my floor, 10 x 16 garage door, premium dimentional shingles, vinyl sided, 220 lines and all electrical (200 amp)+ lighting for around $25K...I completed everything myself except for the finishing of the concrete floor. Permits were $550.00.

I think you did well for $25k...

**gmslayer** · 02-07-2012, 06:33 PM

Originally Posted by somethingclever

I think you did well for $25k...

It pays to have "connections"!

**Tony71502** · 02-06-2012, 11:28 PM

Last house I looked at... before the one I am considering... had block basements. They were caving in because whoever built it did not reinforce it. The 4th house I looked at yesterday had a caved in wall on the back of the garage.

Unless reinfroced/supported.... a block wall that is not above ground is prone to collapsing.

**no1sirbutler** · 02-06-2012, 11:49 PM

Originally Posted by Tony71502

Last house I looked at... before the one I am considering... had block basements. They were caving in because whoever built it did not reinforce it. The 4th house I looked at yesterday had a caved in wall on the back of the garage.

Unless reinfroced/supported.... a block wall that is not above ground is prone to collapsing.

How old were these houses? It's common for older houses to not have a footer. My first garage was built without a footer(on the property when my parents bought it). We tore the roof off and wa able to push a 20'L x 10'H wall over by hand.

**John4cam** · 02-07-2012, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by Tony71502

Last house I looked at... before the one I am considering... had block basements. They were caving in because whoever built it did not reinforce it. The 4th house I looked at yesterday had a caved in wall on the back of the garage.

Unless reinfroced/supported.... a block wall that is not above ground is prone to collapsing.

I disagree with this somewhat. What makes a wall push is inproper drainage on the push side of the wall. Not that rebar/grout doesnt make it stronger....ive just seen too many solid walls push because of freeze/thaw.

If you need any help with any of the masonry let me know, I do plenty of sidework in the warmer months.