Anyone in construction or building/built a large garage?

HRpartsNstuff

Member
Joined
May 27, 2001
I am looking at having the shell put up for a 45 x 64 x 14 building, and then finish off the inside myself to keep costs down. I could probably do it all if I had the time, and would probably get it all done if I had the money :)

It is frustrating to get the quotes back in here, and see the costs pile up to take care of insulation, heat system, wiring, concrete, interior walls/sheeting, lights, doors, etc. Below is a rough breakdown on costs for each part I could easily separate out. This is for an open span, 3:12 pitch open ceiling (cathedral style) steel trusses on 16' centers, then 2x8's 24" OC, and 25 yr steel siding/roof (Chief / Magnum Wood-Steel building) ( http://www.agri.chiefind.com/Products/wood.htm doesn't show a lot, but there it is):
Actually try: http://www.agri.chiefind.com/lit.asp?dir=literature/Buildings and click on MAGNUM.

$36,000 Building kit + erecting costs (shell only)
$ 2,430 Tax on building
$ 1,000 Permits (guessing)
$ 6,000 Site prep (excavating), fill material, driveway
$10,500 Concrete with ground insulation / vapor barrier 5"+ thick spots
$ 3,000 Doors (12x12, 12x10) (install myself)
$ 3,500 Radiant floor heating system (materials) (install myself before concrete)
==========
$62,430 Total to get cold storage basic necessities done before winter.

Then....

$ 1,000 (4) windows with shudders (install myself)
$ 3,000 Wiring / lights (install myself)
$ 800 (2) exhaust fans (install myself)
$ 4,600 Insulation (install myself)
$ 4,500 Interior panels (2,011 lineal ft. @ 3’ wide walls/ceil) (install myself)
$ 2,500 Oil furnace/boiler with tank
$ 1,000 Seamless gutters / downspouts (guess)
$ 5,000 Inside 2nd floor / walls - materials (install myself) 32 x 45 area
Subtotal extras to finish = $22,400
==========
$84,830 grand total

That just seems insane, especially when I tell others what it will cost. I had a couple quotes even higher, and it's outrageous to have them do it all for me. Looking at the ads (that don't include 1/3 the things you need) make it look like you can get one for under 20k. Lot's of fine print of what's not included in the cheap prices :( I found I can knock a few grand off on interior work with different panels etc, but not a big deal. The $$ will dissapear somewhere else.

Tried to look at a simple pole barn all wood setup, but then I lose the 2nd floor possibility, have poles in the ground instead of steel columns on concrete piers (kinda wet area is concern rotting out poles), and can't insulate it as much, making the ever growing heating bills even higher every year. And after all that, I could only save about 10-14k, making it not a good idea compared to above setup with 50% more useable area & better setup.

Any thoughts/ideas/input???

Renting/leasing a building elsewhere is not feasible for a few reasons.

I could fix up 24x24 garage I have now to work out of, but seems a waste of $$ in the long term plans. It needs a lot too, no electric, bad floor, no insulation, bad door, etc. Keeps the rain off, that's about it. Not what I want or need, but possible stepping stone. Of course, all costs are increasing with steel prices, labor prices, and hurricane gouging on lumber etc., so waiting just costs more & more.

If I back off on building size, it makes it almost not worth doing cause a lot of costs are still there, and makes it more $$ & harder to add on later. Hate to go thru all this twice.

How about a new age "barn raising"? Bring your Buick & a screw gun & scaffolding :) We supply the beer (after hours), steaks, and race gas :)
With what they charge to put it up, I could afford it!
 
Well, look at what you are getting...

A completely finished building, driveway, heating system, gutters.... for $30 a ft on just the bottom floor. If you count the second floor, you are getting it for less then 20!

I have been pricing a big building to put on my property too... a 40 by 80 or 100.... about 4000 sq ft depending on what deals I can find at the time... My whole project is going to run about 50k or so, but it will be unfinished inside.


Shop around, you should be able to shave about 10k off that building depending on what snow load your county/state/city requires...


Good luck!

Vic
 
I built a 28' x 55' x 15' metal garage myslef 2 years ago with the help of a buddy for about $10k. Half of that cost was for the concrete alone. I know steel prices have gone up about double since then thought. I did all of the metal work and electrical myself. No plumbing and no AC/Heat...justa water cooler/swamp cooler for the summer...not cold enough here for heater except a little portable one.
There's some before/after pics here on my site:
http://hometown.aol.com/onebadwskier/garage.html

Do as much of the work yourself and that will save you lots of money, unless you need to get permits and have inspectors sign off, then sometime is a little tougher to do because in order to build it to code specs, you almost have to be a certified/professional welder befroe they will let you do it yourself...or at least around here its that way.
 
I've got a 30x40x15tall garage that had a total cost of $24,000. I had a friend do the insulation and another friend and I did all the drywall. Saved about $3200 just doing that myself. Insulation is so good that for the last 3 years, I have not needed a heater...even when it snows. I do have one but never hooked it up.
 
Hey Paul, give Bruce a call, he is finishing up on a steel building right now. He has looked at all of them and ended up with a great deal. Just a thought.

Mark
 
Just completed a 54x48 clearspan garage, post construction. Used scissor trusses 50' long. 11' high at the eves, 14' in the center. 12x14 insulated o/h door in end, 8x8 ins. o/h door in side. 5" 4500 psi insulated concrete floor. Steel on outside and roof. 3/4" plywood inside perimeter to 8', then steel to ceiling. Steel on ceiling. 12" fiberglass in ceiling, 6" fiberglass in walls. $45K turnkey in the NE. I did the heat and electrical myself for about $4K in materials, not counting labor. Site work not included but was $6k and had to do alot of work (leveled a small hill and brought in 3' of gravel plus built a new 200' crushed stone driveway.
 
93Code86GN said:
Just completed a 54x48 clearspan garage, post construction. Used scissor trusses 50' long. 11' high at the eves, 14' in the center. 12x14 insulated o/h door in end, 8x8 ins. o/h door in side. 5" 4500 psi insulated concrete floor. Steel on outside and roof. 3/4" plywood inside perimeter to 8', then steel to ceiling. Steel on ceiling. 12" fiberglass in ceiling, 6" fiberglass in walls. $45K turnkey in the NE. I did the heat and electrical myself for about $4K in materials, not counting labor. Site work not included but was $6k and had to do alot of work (leveled a small hill and brought in 3' of gravel plus built a new 200' crushed stone driveway.

Does "turn-key" mean you had someone do all the work inside/out up to heat & electric? Or did YOU install inside items (plywood & insulation)?
Was it a business that offers kits, or did you buy a kit & have a contractor build it? I have found some stuff is only available in certain areas. 12" in the ceiling is AWESOME! I'm jealous & haven't started yet :) Hard to fit in 2x8 purlin space & no truss design.

Either way, that is a pretty good deal. I am looking at approx 11% more sq ft, and would have approx 55k in all that based on lowest quote so far. Everything is jamming in our area, so our prices may be inflated a bit.

I do have someone showing me a Perka building fri am, and comparing it to the chief bld to see what's what. He says the perka is a heavier duty version, but online they look about the same. The 30 yr siding seems to be the norm, and better than the 25 yr siding in the big quote above. The perka bld quote seems about 8k more than the 36k bld shell quote I have. Sure don't see 8k of upgraded material/strength there.

Got one other guy from www.lesterbuildings.com giving me a quote. He came in high on early quote, but had all kinds of stuff in there that isn't there now. Super nice buildings it seems, and he thinks he will be under the $12.50/sq ft I am at now for bld shell (36k for 2880 sq ft) in all wood. Not an open span, which works for what I am doing. Putting in 2nd floor would have poles in there for support anyways, and the ones by the big garage doors won't be in the way either. Will see fri what he comes up with. Looking at some leasing options & financing options too, got to nail that down as well.

THANKS for all the help/ideas/input all! Keep it coming too!!
 
HRpartsNstuff said:
<snip>
I do have someone showing me a Perka building fri am,
<snip>
Got one other guy from www.lesterbuildings.com giving me a quote. <snip>


The Perka bld looks OK or just as good as the Chief one to me. It was just sitting there in parts, & didn't get to see the siding. Th emain girders had heavier single angle iron top & bottom, compared to chief with 2 back to back smaller channels top & bottom. Also, chief was a taller version, with continuous round bar bent up/down between each 2' center, REALLY tying it together. The perka had sm angles between there tying it together, but not as good IMO. Also, if snow weight was right on top, I think the chief one would hold a lot more weight before busting the peak apart, looking at the attaching joints. Just don't see the 8k diff.

The Lester bld guy called, and he can't get within 15k of the chief price, with comparable setup in all wood. Seems as bad as steel prices have gone up, wood has been worse. He said to look for hidden costs that are not listed, and can't believe they can do it for that price. I am checking, but believe it has all the same stuff included (freight, tax, unloading, kit, assy, etc). Will see. Sucks to wait till Thanksgiving to have it put up, since it starts snowing around here then. We get a little break till Christmas, then it hits hard. Guess it's up to the bank/financing at this point. Thanks for the help & hope someone else benefits from all this too :)
 
Turnkey in my case=everything built and completed but the heat and electric.
Local Contractor built it. I should add that it was completed 11 months ago and the contract was signed 16 months ago which obviously accounts for some of the savings considering how materials have recently spiked. Good Luck.
 
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