Cost for free standing 2 car garage
 

I was wondering if any of you home builders in California can give an idea what to expect in terms of cost to build a free standing 2 car garage. I have been looking at buying a neW home and we found one that my wife and I really like except they only built it with a two car garage. The price of the home is kinda at the limit of comfort zone so the add on would have to be at a later time. I thought about a metal prefab but would much rather have it match the house which as cement style siding. Is it a big Pita for permits also?

where ya at in So Cal? LA or San Diego? Approx in the low $30's

I'm in Nor Cal and if I were to build a detached garage for someone I would charge in the ball park $60 per s.f. assuming the lot was flat, grading and clearing at a minimum, and no retaining walls to build. Permits shouldn't be an issue but the percentage of structural coverage allowed on a residential lot will have its limits so it might be wise to speak with someone at your local building department before committing. The cement siding you are refering to is called Hardi Plank.

Thanks. Riverside/San Bern County area

Thanks Gaetano :thumbsup: So assuming a 500 sq ft also sounds like around $30K as mentioned above. The lot is a 1/2 acre and the house is around 3000 sq ft so I think that might be fine as the home next door is 5600 sq ft single story on the same size lot. However that is good to know and I would suspect it would be more as the land kind of slopes towards the rear of where the garage would end. I know it is hard to tell from this picture but I would assume a lot could be made up with concrete or would you back fill with dirt?
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x.../getmedia1.jpg

You really need to see if outbuildings are allowed in your subdivision. I would also go bigger than 500 sq ft and plan on 10' ceiling so you can have a hoist.

I wonder if the seller would be willing to build the building you want and have it added into the selling price -- therefore you could finance it all at the same time -- or add the cost to the selling price and give you the cash back at closing?

With finance rates what they are today.... 100K add is like $450 a month. If you have to save that much after buying a new house - it's going to maybe take you awhile!?

Just trying to think outside the box... with sellers being on the short end right now you may be able to work something out.

That would have to be one desperate seller and then you wouldn't get even close to dollar for dollar for it in the appraisal. You would need to negotitate a deal far enough under market for the adjustment. Cash back at closing would be limited to 3% on a conventional loan and it would need to be applied to your actual closing costs. Basically you use it or lose it as the lender won't allow a check.

Whatever happened to the good old days!

LOL


Good info Todd.

You mean the days where I golfed everyday and made twice the money. :lol:

You mean the roaring 90's? :lol:

I would prefer a raised wall rather than fill. Fill might look a bit funny as you cant just fill directle under the structure.....you we need to spread it out wider, this all being done with a truck to haul in material and a back ho to spread and compact with a wheel would be more expensive than a raised wall.

Boy, was I off on the costs of a shop in California. :faint: At some point in the future my wife would like to move, and it's tougher to find a place with a shop already vs a place with the room and ability to build. Wasn't looking at a Charley size place :lol: just maybe 1500-2000 sf tops. However, I thought I could get the above in a regular wood structure for $40K to $50K. :willy:

I would never be able to afford $90K+ for a shop, so if we ever get in a position to move I better find a place with a shop already built. :lol:

Tom, one more thing I want to add that will save you money.....you dont need to hire an architect to draw up plans. Architects will charge between $3-$5 per s.f to draw up plans. Find yourself a draftsman and negotiate a s.f. price for no more than $2/sf. Once the drawing is complete see if the building dept. will work with you on engineering. The building dept. will have plan checkers that may offer to help out. This will save you approx. another $1/sf which is what an engineer will cost you. This is a box you are building so it doesn't take much to engineer a box. I have been doing this long enough that I could engineer it but I dont carry the degree nor the stamp.

As far as plans go, you will need 3 sets with an extra elevation page that typically goes to the design review dept. All building departments are different and will specify what minimum size plans to submit. Design review will want to know what your new structure will look like and as long as it isn't an eye sore you should be good.

Thanks for reply's. This site is more than just a car site with great people that take the time to point out the pitfalls :thumbsup:

I like the idea about 10'ceilings and going a little bigger. All good ideas that give me some direction. I agree with Jody about finding a place with a shop. I have seen some that are a good price but normally with a dumpy old house...no thanks on that. I assumed I would have to have an Architect but if we can reach a deal on the house I will into the draftsman. In talking with the agent I think the sellers are firm and high on the price so we will see.

Thanks Again
:lateral:

Go to the building department and see if another building is allowed before you get too far down the road.

Thanks Charley. I will check that out.

Judging by the fenceless back yards I think the design committee is going to give you a hard time. If you do go through with this try and incorporate some trees and shrubs in the design to show an effort in obstructing view from neighbors. It's a long shot but you never know. Hope things work out for you.

Like others have said, go bigger if possible. We built a 1000sqft shop/3 stall garage a couple years ago and now wish it was 3 times as big.

Good luck with your planning and permitting! Sounds like it could be quite the process in CA.

I'm glad to live in a small town with minimal zoning/permitting requirements. $25 to the city for a permit, a napkin sketch and go! Of course it has some drawbacks. One of my employees recenlty figured out his neighbor built a garage 7' on his property. The neighbor has been dragging his feet on taking an offer to buy the strip of land it's on. I told my guy that he has two options to get his attention. 1. Build a divide wall 7' in and start storing stuff there or 2. Borrow our chainsaw and skid loader, show up at 6am and make him real nervous! :unibrow:

$60/sq ft....wow...

I'm in the process of purchasing a foreclosed home just around the corner from my current house. Its an older ranch home that needs work but is on 2.25 acres.

I've started looking into steel building etc....getting way ahead of myself since I dont even own the house yet :)...plus the house needs work too.....

The 40x60x16 steel building I've looked into hover around the $20-25k range depending on the number of doors, insulation etc etc...then add another $10-15k for concrete, then the electrical, plumbing etc....doing as much as I can myself and leveraging friends with construction skills etc, I figure I'm going to be in around $50-60k.....

Now thats a steel building without trying to match the look to the house, or having anything real fancy inside..ie. its a shop, not a car museum....

So at $60 per sq foot... that would run me $144k ?

Thats the price you pay for quality and having someone else do it all for you.

So whats included in the price of the 40x60x16 metal building?

Freight costs to deliver to your property? Construction of building?

That $20-25k is the building materials delivered..... No construction labor. Most of the buildings can be assembled by at DIY guy with basic skills and time. Or you can pay to have it assembled

You can find them under $20k but like anything there are differences in design and quality and what you want for "bells and whistles"

The metal building is a totally different animal than a stick built building that is nicely finnished etc.... So it is an "apples to oranges" comparison.... Plus the DIY vs hire all the labor makes a big difference too...I just didn't realize that going rate was that high in CA

Unless your doing the slab yourself 2400 sf will cost you between $8-$10/sf.

So say $20K for slab, $25K for building delivered and then you have building costs with the addition of renting a Gradall or Sky Trak with say a 28' reach because a 16' would be the next size down in a loadall and you have 16' walls. In order to set 16' coloumns you'll need longer than 16' lift height which would be something like a model 5028 for say 4 weeks to set coloumns, horizontals, beams, trusses. Send the Sky Trac back, surround building with scaffolding and start siding. Siding complete, bring Sky Trac back and load roof. Not familiar with structure so I couldn't tell you how long you would need Sky Trac. Could be one day, could be a week. Then you have to rent scissor lift for any work in the building thats up high such as electrical and insullation, vent for plumbing....
I'm thinking 70K without seeing any drawings.

We built a 40x100x12 steel building/farm shop for a customer last year. It was $114,000 all in. Steel building package delivered, insulation, bottom 8' of interior lined with steel, labor, equipment, concrete, electrical, plumbing, overhead doors...

My own stick built 1000 sqft detached garage built to match our house was in the $46/sqft range with a good amount of outside cocnrete. We poured the footings and did the plumbing ourselves. The rest was hired done.

It's not CA so a little off topic but maybe gives guys in the upper midwest an idea of cost if they read this thread.

Just my comment, when you build go with a minimum 12ft ceiling. This will give you the headroom to install a lift at a later date.

yep. :thumbsup:

Not to far off considering you did some of the work yourself. Just out of curiosity, how long does it take you midwest boys to put up 1000 sf?

Build your own! I did!


:lol:




http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...erdudes002.jpg

This will show up at your house!






http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...zZoomBoom5.jpg





Make sure you rent one of these!





http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...zZoomBoom6.jpg





And one of these!





http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...m45high011.jpg





So you can take cool pics like this!





http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...m45high014.jpg

Nice going Greg!! Love those pic's :thumbsup:

i'd so jump in your pool..... lol

It was early winter 2008 when my carpenter started on our garage so there were a few weather days that broke up the work. I'd guess total it took them 6 days. 3 days had it framed, sheeted, shingles down, and siding on. The other 3 days was insulation, overhead doors, lining interior, and misc work to wrap it up.

Here's a couple pics of it. There was 3900sqft of exterior flat work included in my number that was poured in the spring.

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/IMG_4781.jpg
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/IMG_4763.jpg

Here's a couple recent interior shots.
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/IMG_5432.jpg
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/IMG_5420.jpg

In hindsight I wish I went with a taller side wall and vaulted ceiling. (and double the size) When we first planned the garage we didn't have major car projects in our heads. It was more for storage...

Sorry -- Didn't mean to jack the thread (again).... but wanted to show the OP that it is possible to build this kind of stuff yourself if you're so inclined. It wasn't my intent to build mine - but after watching the crew that was hired to put up my metal building I fired them. I got on the phone and called one of my buddies (also retired) and told him to put his big boy pants on 'cause we have a building to build!

Mine is 38'X50' with 14' sidewalls and a custom 6/12 pitch roof... and is clear span.

I have since taken off the inappropriate metal roof and sheeted it and roofed it to match the house. And during the remodel we're planning on the house I may have them sheet the side and hardy plank it (also to match the house)... but the dark green siding works "fine" and hides it in the trees so you really don'e see much of it. Those pics were taken during construction - and that was 7 years ago... the landscaping was all designed to make the building "go away".

On top of taller sidewalls --- I would also recommend putting in electrically operated SKYLIGHTS with Screens! I use them all the time in the summer to let the heat OUT... and if I'm running a car -- or welding (a lot) I open them and let the stink out.




At the time -- the building costs were doubled because of the 3 skylights -- adding the 6/12 pitch roof and using standing seam roofing - going with bigger garage doors (cost did NOT include the actual garage doors) -- one is 12 X 14 and one is 10 X 12 - and I did the extended eve so it looks like a house not a metal building and DRUM ROLL...... that all doubled the cost from 10 grand to 20!!! Thats for a 38 X 50 clear span. Here's a pic of the SPACE inside. This was prior to finish work but you get the picture.



http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...ulation003.jpg

Very Nice :thumbsup:

We built a 25x25 at our old house...now we did all the labor so it saved a decent amount of money......but if you have an 84 lumber near you they sell garage "kits" other companies offer as well...but comes with architecture approved plans and directions if you need them. they offer various sizes, styles, options, etc. We spec'd ours out, and materials alone were in the $4-5K range, then we had to do the foundation work, it sucked and will never do it again. Had to go 48" down to the frost line and build up from there :censored: . When all said and done i think we had a little over 6-7K in it for completed building and electrical...so only thing left was insulation sheetrock. For under 10K you can have a pretty nice garage.

:ttiwop:

hahah i know, but this was 5-6yrs ago and fresh out of college, first house, just married....so we weren't the most technology savy people back then and would take the memory card to say a CVS or something (the kiosk there) and print our pictures and delete the cards so we had room to take more......i will see if i can find something maybe in my photobucket account.

These are the best i have, but the garage wasn't complete at the time. Still had to put the windows/siding up

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1.../VWpics003.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1.../VWpics005.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1.../VWpics004.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...carpics045.jpg