How much and who can build a garage?

[banshee]

How much does it cost to build a nice garage?

Like the 2-car ones that are built along with a new house (that is, not like a cheap shed/shack). Nice roof, insulated walls, foundation, running water, electricity, concrete pad, driveway, etc. 2 car garage with one big wide door.

Any recs?
Probably anyone or any company that builds houses can do it, I guess. But I just want a garage built in my yard, no need for a house. Not sure if a house builder would be interested in such a small project.

[twitchyzero]

most garages don't come with water tap..though i'm sure it'll be handy for doing projects and would be a small cost relative to building a new garage.

[GabAlmighty]

40k

[616racing]

What area, my friend is a builder, he would do a garage.

[TOS'd]

Originally Posted by GabAlmighty

40k

I rather get an IS-F.

[MindBomber]

Without knowing any specifics, $60-100k.

It's not a small project, but it is a simple one, most builders would be willing to take it on.

[Presto]

Originally Posted by MindBomber

Without knowing any specifics, $60-100k.

DIY time!

[MindBomber]

Originally Posted by Presto

DIY time!

Any DIY project for an inexperienced homeowner beyond basic cosmetics

"I swear honey, everything was going so well! I don't know what I did wrong!"

[Great68]

My cousin just built himself a shop in the backyard. On one half it's a drive in garage with metal work & welding area, on the other half it's a full woodworking shop (He's a master joiner by trade). In-floor radiant heat, compressor room with air outlets plumbed everywhere in the shop. 240V power outlets for all his woodwork & welding gear. He did almost all of the work himself (save for the excavating and using pre-fab trusses), and he's pushing 30k on the whole thing.

I helped him out with a bunch of it. It's actually not terribly difficult if you do your research.

[belaud]

I would assume your cousin had prior experience in building such a fabulous garage, I can barely build lego houses, let alone a fully packaged garage.

[banshee]

Thanks for the info so far.

Slightly disheartening to know that it'll likely be north of 30K.

I have dreams of it having compressed air, pressure washer, shop vac, etc.

A shop area for light metalwork and woodwork.

Lots of inexpensive cabinetry for organized storage and neat appearance.

Not radiant heat but insulated and electricity for a space heater.

Low-rise scissors hoist maybe. Sunken into the floor so that mildly-slammed vehicles won't have a clearance issue.

Lots of windows and maybe skylights for natural lighting.

Maybe those Costco or Sears garage floor tiles.

Internet access, laptop, 42-in LCD on the wall.

Security system, cameras, strong doors, window/skylight bars.

*** Note: some of the items are dreams

[godwin]

I won't recommend pit / sunken floor hoist.. they are pain in the ass, you need pumps etc in case it gets flooded, not to mention you need to cut the slab, dig and reinforce etc. Get a Rotary / Bendpak normal post hoist, put in the bolts when you are laying down the slab. Tiles suck, use epoxy is so much easier to apply and up keep especially since it is a new slab.

The most expensive item will be wiring, since it involves BCHydro.

Compressor etc etc are cheap these days. A couple thousand will get you all setup with your compressor, pressure washer etc. To maximize space you can put a compressor outside of the garage, get a belt drive compressor.. just don't use it in the middle of the night.

If you live in Vancouver, you can offset the price by making it into a lane house and rent it out.

Layout your idea on Sketchup / A123, then go from there. Since a lot of the components like roof truss etc now can be pre fabbed, it is not too hard nor expensive.. you just need to think ahead ie put in the bolts when laying down the slab etc.

[Highp3rformance]

To bad we cant sell the lane houses it probably cost 400k to sell

[Nightwalker]

I wouldn't be unhappy with a piece of property in the sticks w/ a big garage that has some living space. No house.

[Matlock]

Originally Posted by godwin

The most expensive item will be wiring, since it involves BCHydro.

Why? He would only need BC Hydro if he's changing his service over and it goes through his garage. Otherwise he could just run some of NMDU from his house to the detached garage and it's done.

[godwin]

If you want to be able to rend as a Laneway house you would need to contact BCHydro https://www.bchydro.com/youraccount/...onnections.jsp

Originally Posted by Matlock

Why? He would only need BC Hydro if he's changing his service over and it goes through his garage. Otherwise he could just run some of NMDU from his house to the detached garage and it's done.

[Matlock]

Ok, sorry. I didn't know he wanted it to be a lane way house as he never stated it.

[Great68]

Originally Posted by belaud

I would assume your cousin had prior experience in building such a fabulous garage, I can barely build lego houses, let alone a fully packaged garage.

Nope, it was his first time building a garage, but he is a woodworker by trade. He did a lot of research, how to's, building codes etc etc.

[banshee]

Originally Posted by godwin

I won't recommend pit / sunken floor hoist.. they are pain in the ass, you need pumps etc in case it gets flooded, not to mention you need to cut the slab, dig and reinforce etc. Get a Rotary / Bendpak normal post hoist, put in the bolts when you are laying down the slab. .

Being a normal garage, it won't have 12 ft high ceilings. And the post hoists seem to take up a fair bit of room.

I was thinking of a low-rising scissors jack that could be sunken into the concrete slab. Just an example:

Atlas TD6MR Portable Scissor Lift

That unit has a minimum height of over 5 inches and could cause lowered cars trouble.

Another:
Mid Rise Auto Lift Scissor Lift

But I don't know enough about concrete work to know if sinking in a scissors jack is a good idea or not.

Re: electrical. I won't be renting this out as a laneway house. So I was going to simply run a line from my house, maybe in a conduit, along with the Internet connection. How much declaring and inspection and permitting do I have to do with regard to electrical?

I'm not sure how I'm going to pull off getting running water to the garage either.

[Gridlock]

Originally Posted by banshee

Re: electrical. I won't be renting this out as a laneway house. So I was going to simply run a line from my house, maybe in a conduit, along with the Internet connection. How much declaring and inspection and permitting do I have to do with regard to electrical?

If you are serious, the first thing you need to do is either have plans drawn, or more likely for a basic, independent structure is buy pre-drawn plans(that's like those books you see of house plans)

Your builder isn't going to just draw up your plans for you. There are structural load issues, what the trusses need to look like etc.

You'll need a building permit(obvious). They come and check at several intervals in the build.
You submit the plan for the electrical and they come and check at several intervals(rough in and finish). Basically, sell off the electrical to a qualified electrician and let them run with it.

[Everymans]

My biggest concern of building a garage is where to build it. In this city there is a large lack of space, and this density makes every type of construction difficult. My grandpa back in Saskatchewan built a garage for his motorhome on his brothers farm for like 8000$. but he already had a cement pad, Simple wooden frame, sidings and roofing. He finished it within a summer. If he did it hear he'd probably need to rent a lot or expand his own, then do some terraforming depending on where he is (You have to build your pad on flat ground. Where can you find flat ground except in richmond). Then doing all the construction, even if you're DIY will take a lot of time if it's in town. I've been thinking it over and I believe a car co-op in this city would be great for the community. A place where any average joe can go and rent a lift and tools and work on their cars themselves. Kind of like community bikes, but with cars. There's lots of warehouse spots that could be easily converted. Someone just needs to drop some money on all the equipment and rent, and the lift and tool rentals would pay for the employees wages.

[Manic!]

Parents built a 3 car garage with electric heat and a washroom for $58000.

[MindBomber]

It's very important to keep in mind, geographic region plays a significant role in overall cost.

My company charged $0.85/ft in the Fraser Valley, $1.25/ft in North Vancouver, and $1.50/ft in West Vancouver for the identical service to cover the additional difficulty associated with working in those areas (neighbors, et cetera). Concrete is significantly more expensive the further west you go, since the gravel needs to be trucked from Chilliwack. Those are just two examples, but as a general rule the higher the property values and population density in an area, the more expensive building will be.

[lgman]

Originally Posted by twitchyzero

...with water tap..though i'm sure it'll be handy for doing projects....

[08civicsi_coupe]

pmd