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Wow prices have gone up!

My tri-level 2,200 sqft house, with AC, and 30, 000 sqft yard only cost me $28,000, in Illinois ….. 40 years ago!

Just kidding, this is my reality check!

I have priced an outbuilding of about 2/3rds that size at $12,500 w/o AC in silicon valley … but we have some special earthquake codes.
 
Milo: "Let's not beat the crap out of the guy now, shall we?" Sorry! Are you a Moderator on this Site?

He asked a Question and He's geting Answers. Simple as that. Now back to the Post at hand.

I got out some of my "Quantity Surveying Software" and hit a couple of Sites I've used in the past.

If you do a lot/most of the work yourelf with a Gable Roof, Regular Siding, Doors and Windows, and considering it will be used as a Workshop it should run in the area of $7,200.00 or $30.00/Sq. Ft.

That does NOT include Site Preparation, Any Sewage Work, Plumbing to the site, Electrical to the site, or a Driveway.

If you have it done by a Contractor it would most likely be in the area of ….. LOW: $40.00/Sq. Ft. or $9,600.00. More realistically ….. AVERAGE: $55.00/Sq.Ft. or $13,200.00

Both figures could be altered a fair bit, depending on your Local & State Requirements.

I'll stop now.

Good Luck on Your Garage!!!
 
Go to one of the big box stores (here they are: home depot or lowes). See what they have in a prefab shed kit. Here in Saint Louis anything over 200 square feet requires a full foundation, hence my garage expansion was a 12×16 barn type shed attached to the garage. I later removed the common wall.
 
I have built my workshop a few years ago, it was 19' x 10', and I built an extension this year (you can't have enough room!), it was 11' x 10'. But I f you say that $2000 is enough, then multiply it by 2. Then you might be closer!
 
I built my new shop about 3 years ago. I did all the work myself except for the excavation, which was about $1000. It cost $36/sq ft. Its not quit finished inside, but that should get you close. You can see it in my workshop section. Even at half that cost you're double your price.
 
I built a 30' X 33' garage 4 years ago and it cost around $24,000. That included $11,000 for concrete work, $10,000 for building materials & labor and $3,000 for sewer and water. The garage has a 10/12 pitch with a bathroom and a loft. I find that it is not enough room.
 
No, no moderator. Just seems I've seen a decrease in patience with newbs as of late.

Just my two cents. You are free to ignore me.
 
I refinished a 20×30 room in my house about a year ago. I did all the work myself, including electrical. The floor was in good shape and simply refinished, not replaced. The knee wall/ceiling joists were good as well, so they were not replaced, although I did sister a few of them. It cost me roughly 3,800 for materials and a dumpster. Just for reference sake, contractor estimates were 12,300 on the low end and 17,000 on the high end. Also, electrical wiring/sub panels/breakers alone could eat up half your budget.

In hind sight, if I were to have done one thing differently, I would have hired a plasterer. I did OK, but a professional plasterer would have taken the room from good to great.
 
Are you set on a concrete floor? Check your local building code. I am planning a build, and in this area you do not need footings on a building under 650 sq ft. You are allowed to build it on 6×6 PT "mud sills" resting on grade. This is how I plan to build mine and will end up with an insulated wooden floor, framed with 2×10, resting on the 6×6's.
 
Come on guys, he's building it for himself, he's not hiring you to do it.

I live in Los Angeles where EVERYTHING is is expensive … if you pour the concrete yourself, you can do it for $2500 I'm sure (you always want to have more on hand than you expect it to cost you anyway).

I built an 8×16 shed, raised floor (its on cinder-block so I didn't have to get permits, and isn't counted into my property taxes), storage shed … I built it for right at $1000. I did ALL the labor myself … labor is what kills ya, not the materials.
 
1000 to 2000 will get you that 4" concrete floor which includes all the prep work that goes into it prior to the truck showing up at your doorstep. FYI… there is a reason for footers. They keep the walls from eventually migrating into the ground. Without them, the weight of the walls and roof will crush the concrete the walls are sitting on and you might as well have just used gravel which is what the concrete will turn into under them.

And then there's electrical. Have you priced that stuff lately? You'll spend that much on electrical alone, not to mention having the service run to it.

If you are just getting into construction and you think 2G will do it, I wouldn't suggest doing estimates for people just yet. But good luck with that. Perhaps your work will end up on that Holmes on Homes show someday.
 
I'm gonna chime in with possible but only if you do all the work yourself and spend a lot of time at auctions and craigslist, while you're at is go bigger as well. Consider doing concrete block for the foundation walls rather then cement and you can save a lot of cement by only having to pour a thinner floor, my old garage was built all cement including footer and they cheaped out on the thickness, my floor split right down the middle, the neighbor's of the same construction company was spreading apart and taking the walls. Concrete block turns up cheap enough and frequently on craigslist.
Studs, ply, shingles and siding try the local auctions. I've seen 200sq ft of american made siding sell for 50.00 a box and shingles go for half price. Boxes of nails pop up on craigslist as well. Understand though that at best you will get the building for that 2k and only the building and it will take a lot of work. You will still need to save for electrical, insulation, and possibly even plywood for the walls, I'd do ply vs sheetrock due to the tools, wood, and activities that bang into the walls of a shop. Cost cutter could be wood on the lower half with sheetrock from 4' to the ceiling. Other thing is not minding odd sizes which mean getting things lined up ahead of time. I paid 20.00 for a brand new in the wrapping exterior insulated door. Thankfully it was the exact size I needed but at 80×28 would be useless excepting you built the doorframe for it knowing you had bay doors to move bigger objects in and out of. Windows can be the same way, abandon modern conventional sizes and dirt cheap name brand double and triple pane windows pop up at Grossmans for 25-35.00, same with skylights which I would put in any shop I built.

If you want fast, easy and people helping you could blow your budget on beer and lunch so good luck and good hunting.
 
In my area (SW Oklahoma) you can get estimates from the concrete company and estimates from lumber yards. Take them the plans and see what the materials will cost. Copper has gone through the roof so expect to pay high prices for the wiring when you get to that. Pour a monolithic floor/footing. I would never build a building of any kind without a footing, even in Alabama. I have seen it done here and it is never the best. I know they do it all the time in the Houston area so you might get by with that in your area. You know the local codes and practices. The rest of us can only comment on what things cost in our area and the common building practices that are used. Good luck. I will tell you that I had a 30' x 40' turn key building put up in 2000. It is an insulated metal building with a concrete floor. No electricty or water. It has a footing and concrete floor. 3 overhead doors and one man door. Iit cost me $12,000. In 2010 I had a 20' x 30' addition added to the end of the original building. No insulation in it and no electricty. It does have 1-10×10 overhead door and 1 man door. It was $13,000.
 
Milo: "No, no moderator. Just seems I've seen a decrease in patience with newbs as of late."

READ his Avatar area…... 1,634 Days and 12,871 Posts is not exactly a "newbs".

Yes. Ignoring you would be the smartest option.

"I still think it can be done. Our building cost is not as high as other places."

Well! There you go. Let us know how it turned out.

(Removed On Edit)
 
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