When you decide to extend the functionality of your home by adding a garage, you’ll want to begin by calculating the costs. Several factors can make big impacts on your budget.

Permits

Your first step is to contact the local authorities and inform them of your home addition plan.

You will need a permit to proceed.  If we are working with you, then we will handle the permitting process, something that can be very difficult and confusing for a homeowner to do.

Get Quotes

You can get quotes from several contractors in your town. This will give you a good estimate of garage cost. Most contractors in an area will charge similar rates. In most places, a basic single-car garage can be added at around $10,000, and a similar double-car garage at around $18,000. Prices vary in different areas of New England and Massachusetts, we focus specifically in North Central Massachusetts and Gardner in particular.

Area

A major influence on the cost is the size of the garage (this usually goes without saying). If you want the garage to be used as a storage area as well, you can build a larger garage. Also, consider the size of your vehicles, and any plans you may have of buying more vehicles. This will influence your decision on whether to build a single-car garage or a double-car garage.  MCM Contractors can build you a single car or double car garage, your choice.

Attached or Detached

One decision to make right at the start is whether you want an attached garage or a detached one. An attached garage is convenient if you only plan to use the garage to park your vehicles when you are home. If you want the garage to be a large space where you can also include a recreational room, or a workshop, you can consider building a detached garage. An attached garage is cheaper because it involves less work, and includes a ready-made wall from your home. To build a detached garage, you have to start from scratch and build the entire structure. Also, you need a larger area available if you want a detached garage.  Land can be an important factor in choosing which garage you want to build, you need to ensure that you have the proper footage along the side of the garage so that your permits will be approved.  You don’t really want to go through an exemption process, as that could delay the project greatly.

Levels

Many garages have an upper level or attic, where you can store old household items that you rarely use, but aren’t ready to dispose of yet. If you want this kind of structure, it might cost you a bit more.

Garage Door

You can select the garage door that best suits your budget and taste. There are several types of garage doors available, ranging from the functional to the fancy. A steel door will provide high-quality protection, and is easy on the budget. But it will not be as attractive as a sculpted wooden door, which will cost more. Adding windows to your garage door also adds to the cost.  Adding windows is very common for homes that have a value of greater than $250,000.

Additional Accessories

The cost of the garage will also depend on the type of siding you choose, such as brick, wood or vinyl. Also, other features such as heating and air-conditioning, cabinet installation, skylights and stairs to the attic will all add to the cost.

When you are looking to add a garage to your home, please consider using MCM Contractors to assist you with this project.

Tags: Garage, Garage Addition, Garages

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 at 9:08 pm and is filed under Additions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.