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.
1991 Jewel Green Ford Mustang LX ~ 5.0L / 5-Speed
2011 Torch Red Ford Ranger ~ 2.3L / 5-Speed
1971 White Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu w/ Blue Stripes ~ 8.2L(502) / 4-Speed
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.
Last edited by celeste; 02-06-2012 at 02:59 PM.
http://www.fquick.com/celeste
1989 Mustang GT 663 RWHP
MM&FF May 2010 Cover/Feature Car AND 5.0 Magazine Oct. 2011 Feature Car
1991 Strawberry Notch
2003 Cobra White with Parchment inserts (1 of 170)
1992 Calypso LX
2008 Roush Blackjack #30 of 100
MM&FF Article
http://www.musclemustangfastfords.co..._gt/index.html
5.0 Article
http://www.mustang50magazine.com/fea...ble/index.html
1985 Ranger--2WD, basic bolt-ons and tires, 11.92 @ 111mph.Originally Posted by John4cam
1986 Ranger--2WD, 5.0/T5/8.8.
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. :)
1991 Jewel Green Ford Mustang LX ~ 5.0L / 5-Speed
2011 Torch Red Ford Ranger ~ 2.3L / 5-Speed
1971 White Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu w/ Blue Stripes ~ 8.2L(502) / 4-Speed
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'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 $$.
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.
Last edited by gmslayer; 02-06-2012 at 07:46 PM.
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.
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Real name = Ray
Its nice to be able to hose everything down and not worry about getting the drywall wet...
Rent a gas powered saw with a concrete blade, using water as a dust down, cut through the block from the top to as low as possible. The last little bit will be a pain, but the saw will cut it like butter.
My garage is built this way. Built this way so I could hose it down and not get anything important wet. Plus the block will last way longer in the ground than stick built would. I live on a hill and part of my garage has dirt up the block to keep the landscaping some what normal.
XXX RWHP
XXX RWTQ
But only if I let Kenne scream at ya. LOL
In that instance you have to have the block layed above grade. Never seen one any other way.
The last two garages we did were split face block. One was natural gray because the rest of the buildings were and the other was sandstone split face because my parents house is stone. We then did coined corners on the block and did the headers above the garage door and windows with stone. The block costs more initially but will outlast anything. Also once the block is up, you are done with the walls inside and out, no drywall or siding, you can use perlite in the block for insulation or have it foam injected. Depending on code, you may have to grout some cores and then put your j hooks in to attach the sill plate and you are ready for trusses. In addition to those benefits, the whole garage can be hosed down and you can mount anything on the walls without having to worry about finding a stud. Attached is my parents house, it is the only pic that I have. If you look closely you will see the headers done in stone. I will get some more later of the other garage.
http://www.fquick.com/celeste
1989 Mustang GT 663 RWHP
MM&FF May 2010 Cover/Feature Car AND 5.0 Magazine Oct. 2011 Feature Car
1991 Strawberry Notch
2003 Cobra White with Parchment inserts (1 of 170)
1992 Calypso LX
2008 Roush Blackjack #30 of 100
MM&FF Article
http://www.musclemustangfastfords.co..._gt/index.html
5.0 Article
http://www.mustang50magazine.com/fea...ble/index.html
You've never seen block under ground? Ever seen a block basement?
XXX RWHP
XXX RWTQ
But only if I let Kenne scream at ya. LOL
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.
1991 Jewel Green Ford Mustang LX ~ 5.0L / 5-Speed
2011 Torch Red Ford Ranger ~ 2.3L / 5-Speed
1971 White Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu w/ Blue Stripes ~ 8.2L(502) / 4-Speed
what he is talkng about is the block has to come up past the dirt(grade)...then stick it.
Rob
1 Monte SS. White.
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12/1/12
There are more but that's all that was logged!!!
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.
Last edited by no1sirbutler; 02-06-2012 at 11:51 PM.
XXX RWHP
XXX RWTQ
But only if I let Kenne scream at ya. LOL
I misunderstood. I have seen stick built with dirt pushed up against....prone for mold and rot.
XXX RWHP
XXX RWTQ
But only if I let Kenne scream at ya. LOL
I think you did well for $25k...
-JOHN
Carburetors and SAE wrenches.................
Buy Made in the USA - It Matters.
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.
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