One of the most rewarding home improvements I made to my
home was to build a garage addition. For years I contemplated building a garage
addition while I scraped the ice and snow from my cars and waited for them to
warm up during the winter months. About 5 years ago I finally made the decision
to build a garage onto my house.
The first big decision I had to make after
deciding to build the garage addition was to determine how large to make it.
I wanted a
large enough garage to fit two cars comfortably and that would be of proper
proportion with the rest of the house. I also wanted space to include a work
bench and to allow room for the lawnmowers or snow blowers. I decided on
building a garage addition that was 26
foot wide, by 24 foot deep. Since my house was 36 feet in width, this
gave me a garage addition that was about 2/5ths of the entire home frontage.
I also needed to make sure that the roof pitch and the
elevation of the garage addition would be consistent with the rest of the home.
After taking these issues into account, I created some
drawings of the garage addition including: the foundation size, the location of the
garage doors, the maintenance door and windows, and the height profile of the
roof. From these drawings I was able to discuss with a number of general
contractors my garage and home plans.
After selecting my general
contractor, I generated some additional drawings that provided all of the
framing details necessary to pull a building permit for the garage addition.
Because of the specific contour of my property, my garage
addition
plans also included a bonus room that would reside above the garage. Thus, I
needed to include additional drawings of the bonus room, e.g. interior walls,
doors, windows, closet, and entrance way and stairwell to/from the main house.
After excavation and installation of the garage addition foundation, the
framing crew had the garage addition frame up in about a week. Three weeks later I had a
completely enclosed garage, with all the outside doors and windows installed and
the shingles installed on the roof.
From this point forward, I took over the electrical and
insulation work, after filing for these specific permits.
Once the insulation was installed and approved, I called in
the drywall contractor to install the drywall, and to tape and mud. I also had
them apply a coat of primer and one coat of builders grade paint. It is well
worth the money to have them do this.
I then finished the electric, installed the stair railing,
interior doors and baseboard trim and the garage addition was nearly ready to move in.
The finishing touch was the installation of two garage door
openers and a final application of paint in the bonus room.
My total cost associated with building a garage addition was about $30,000. I
had been quoted as high as $50,000, however with a little negotiation and sweat
equity I was able to get a lot of garage for a reasonable price.
A few years have gone by since I finishing the building of
my garage
addition and every winter when I see people standing by their cars in the
driveways scraping, I am reminded of one of the best decisions I ever made.
For more information on building a
garage addition see the
Garage Addition Bid Sheet from HomeAdditionPlus.com.
The Garage Addition Bid Sheet includes an extensive questionnaire (Request for
Quote) that a homeowner can provide to prospective general contractors and
subcontractors for bidding the garage addition. In addition, the
Garage
Addition Bid sheet also includes estimated costs and time intervals
for constructing a garage addition as well as a list of key home material
manufacturers. Finally, the
Garage
Addition Bid sheet includes an extensive
set of helpful tips and advice on making sure the garage addition is built
properly and on time and budget.
How to Finance your Home Remodeling Project -
can help provide funds for your new home improvement project if financing is
required.
Additional
Garage Addition and Home Building Resources
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Fill out our 3-5 minute quick and easy form, and receive a free price quote
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contractors. This process is free and there is no obligation to continue once
you receive your garage addition price estimate.
