I want a garage damn it

How many of you struggle while looking for a home because you want a decent size garage in good shape? I'm being kind of picky because I don't want a big house, preferably under 1k sq ft, but I need a 2 car garage. I say 2/3 of the places I see I turn away from because the garage is either tiny or falling apart. Even the places that are newly renovated the garages might as well be torn down for firewood. I was so excited to see a place today that had a 30x30 garage with insulation, 220, etc. but it sold yesterday. If I bought a place real cheap I could build one but thats basically throwing money away.

 

It might help to know where you are...

 

Tough find. We lucked out when we bought ours years ago. 1,050 sq ft house with 750 sq ft detached garage, built in 1954. Its perfect for us, small easy to maintain place with nice work space. Good luck!

 

Well for you it's a karma reward thing. For an angry SOB like me, it never goes that way...

 

How is it "throwing money away"? Do you not plan to live there long?

 

I lucked out too. I bought my place with a 5 yr old, unattached, 2 story garage with the upstairs being a finished room the previous owner used a his gun room and a gas, forced-air furnace hooked up to city gas supply. I would be totally lost without my garage. I honestly can't imagine my life without a garage.

 

I’m in the same boat, we just bought a house with a 3 car garage and it’s just not big enough. I plan on building a 6 car garage out back but like was previously said it is like throwing money away. You can build a $40,000 detached garage with lifts and it’ll only add $10,000 of value to the house from what I understand. I’m ok with that because I don’t plan on moving for at least 20-30 years.

 

you working on military tanks? Airplanes?

 

yeah I mean unless you plan on doing it sans observing any building code(s) and permits... how is it throwing money away?

A 30x20 slab with footers would run you about $3500ish
A 30x20x10 metal building with 2 garage doors, 2 windows, and 1 side door is $8500 installed
That leaves electrical which can be done later.

 

I was so picky on "needing" at minimum 2 car detached garage when we were house shopping. When I found this house I fell in love with the land and location that I relaxed my need for a big shop, and decided I could build one. 8 years later I still haven't built that shop (not anytime in the near future either), and the single car attached garage is stuffed to the brim lol.

Around here shops and big outbuildings add practically pennies on the dollar to a purchase price. So I'm a bit hesitant to sink $50k min into building a shop, but house prices have gone WAY up in the area, and we plan on staying for at least another 20 years so it will work out. I've got a couple run down outbuildings and sheds that house most of the junk, but would just like a big shop with a lift to work on cars, and build stuff in.

 

No, I have this problem where I just accumulate toys and vehicles lol. I have a 78 Fairmont I’m doing a turbo Ls swap to, 89 f150 mud truck with a built 347 and nitrous, 66 thunderbird with a built 390 also nitrous, 99 f350 with a built 7.3, 98 Honda CR-V daily driver, 89 Bmw e30 with a supercharged m52 swap, then the 4 bikes.

The garage I’m building next summer will end up being block, having 220, hot water, a used oil heater (that runs on used oil), 2 2-post lifts (one for a long term project one for maintenance), a bike lift that’s recessed into the ground so you can drive over it, possibly an alignment rack if I can find a good deal on one and if not a spot I can put one in the future.

 

Square footage is square footage. Whether its a shop or a mother in law apt. Also depends on your local building codes.
If you spent $40,000 on a fully livable space it absolutely adds value to the property so long as its in a "good location".
Metal buildings are pretty inexpensive. Base construction costs are usually about $50/sq ft. unless you have the ability to do it yourself.

 

I have a friend thats really into porsches. He lives about a block from the ocean. It was impractical for him to keep his hobbies at home let alone building something that would comply with the 1 horse towns requirements... so he bought a hangar at a local airport. Huge sq footage, power, and sewer. Keeps his fleet there and swaps em out when he feels like it. Also its secure.

 

I actually contacted the township about building the garage prior to purchasing the house since I wasn’t going to buy a house I couldn’t build a big garage at. They pretty much told me as long as it’s 15 feet off the property line I can do what I want. The big thing for me is having heat in the winter and the ability to put a few window a/c units in in the summer time. I want to be comfortable while I’m tinkering.

Ps sorry to hijack the post. When I was looking at houses I just figured I was not going to find a garage that would fit all of my crap and would have to build one anyway. Don’t let the garage be a deal breaker just budget to build one to your liking and check with the township prior to making an offer on the house.

 

Look for Shomes. Shop homes.

 

LOL! It is definitely not just you. I want to move out of our current house but can not find anything that fits what I am looking for. It has created a massive dislike for home builders though. Even in 3 car garages they only have a couple wall plugs, garage door openers and lights on a shared 20 amp circuit and no 240v. But I guess most people don't work on stuff in their garage any more...

 

I’ll sell ya my garage.

40x64 shop, 12’ walls, spray foam, bathroom and finished walls. Oh, and 200 amp service.

Buy it for my asking price and I’ll throw a 3200 sq ft house in for free. [emoji16]


The house has a 3 car garage too

 

I understand the need for post lifts, but do you plan on doing alignments often enough to justify the cost and the space that will take?

 

I built my e30 to run in auto cross and eventually plan on doing hpde and getting into racing as I get older and fatter. There aren’t any alignment shops in the area that will align a vehicle with completely adjustable (ie not factory at all) suspension and not charge you an arm and a leg. The last alignment was $350 for my bmw by a speciality shop and still wasn’t right. The fairmont will have an aftermarket k-member with tubular adjustable control arms as well as adjustable trailing arms and it would be nice to set it up on a rack also and check it periodically as I wheelstand the car. I can get a used rack for around 5k so I think it’ll be worth it. Plus I could store a vehicle on it when it’s not being used.

 

When we designed and built our home 24 years ago, I added a motorcycle garage (5/8ths of standard) to an already wide 2-car. There are multiple 120v outlets on each of the three walls plus two over each bay in the ceiling. 220v on each of the walls. It's deep enough for a workbench against the wall on both bays and plenty of room for rolling stacker tool chest and a 220v compressor.
Now it's on the market and it has been interesting to explain the motorcycle garage...