Extending your garage is always a great idea if you have the space. The extension can be used as your office, man cave, storage, or even for your new rides. But how much will we spend for this project? It depends on several factors, actually.
Read also: HOW TO BUILD A GARAGE APARTMENT CHEAP STEP BY STEP
What Affects the Final Cost of the Extension
Before we dive deeper on the cost, you need to be aware and ready on what aspects affect the final number. They include the following:
1. Construction Complexity
There are cases where homeowners want to extend the garage, yet it will be offset of the current existing house, or worse, on a slope land. This kind of project can be a little complicated.
The fact is that most contractors aren’t engineer. Meanwhile for a more complicated project, you will need to hire an engineer to make sure the construction is built right.
A structural engineer will be able to direct the project well, but you will spend around $150 for each hour he spends in the project. In one project, the budget for a structural engineer fee can cost your around $800 for the minimum and around $3,000 for larger projects.
This can cover around 20% of the entire project budget, but it is actually worth the spending. Not only your garage will be constructed perfectly, it will look really nice as well, a total investment for the next years.
2. Materials Used
Of course, the materials you choose for the entire garage structure will affect the total spending on this project. Better material is always more expensive.
- The material for siding will cost you around $0.80 at the minimum and $50 at the maximum per square meter, depending on your choice. This price range includes several material options, from the cheapest, like aluminum, brick, hardie board, and natural stones.
- Flooring material commonly includes options like laminate, vinyl, engineered wood, oak, and natural tile. The price for the material ranges from $0.15 to $25 per square meter.
- Materials for roofing commonly include options like asphalt shingles, wood shingles, shakes, metal, and slate. Slate is the most expensive one with price range is around $4 to $15 per square meter. Asphalt shingles is the cheapest with price range is around $1 to $15 per square meter.
- The frame is commonly constructed with lumber or steel. Steel frame costs you around $1.50 including the labor expense per square meter. Lumber is cheaper. Including the labor fee, lumber frame will cost you around $350 for each 1,000 board feet
You may want to consider using the same materials as the existing garage you have right now. This will create consistent look. In addition to it, the price range is highly affected by the material availability as well.
3. Extension Purpose
What is the purpose of your garage extension? Your choice will determine the entire cost you will spend. For example, an extra space of storage will cost you the minimum budget.
However for an office or even ADU, it will cost you a lot. Why? Because you need to address and work on several supporting factors like door, flooring, insulation, electrical, air conditioning, heating, and plumbing.
4. Condition of the Site
Sometimes, we need to deal with a more challenging site. Slope land will need different treatment and building the foundation alone can be tough. This can cost more. However, if the land is pretty nice and level, you don’t have to worry much.
5. Property Lines
Property lines define the setback of your building. You can’t build beyond the line so it can be a little complicated too. Change on the property line by the government may require you to alter the entire garage structure, and this can cost much.
6. Permit and Labor Cost
The permit commonly cost around 1.7% of your extension project cost. You need to pay for this permit in order to complete the project. As for the labor cost, the range can be different and varying on each country. The best estimation can be delivered by the local contractor.
The Exact Cost of Garage Extension
Now we know the entire factors that will affect the project budget. It’s time to get real. Let’s have a clear picture, and it means real numbers, of the possible cost of the garage extension.
Basically, we will need a more precise plan. Fortunately, according to several professional sources like Thumbtack, HomeGuide, and HomeAdvisor, the cost can be estimated in general.
- According to Thumbtack, a garage extension project can cost around $4,500 to $80,000 in average.
The standard extension, which means adding around 26×40 feet expansion, will cost around $38,000. Meanwhile, the upscale one will cost you around $80,000, which means adding 40×80 feet expansion.
- According to HomeGuide, garage extension project costs around $23,900 generally.
The cost for each square foot will be around $49. A small extension will cost you around $10,800, which is still in the range Thumbtack recommends. A large extension, however, will cost you at least $42,700 and it can be more for even a more complicated project.
- HomeAdvisor also gives pretty nice project estimation cost. Based on their experience, garage extension project cost ranges from $16,749 at the least, and $38,930 at most. Of course, it depends a lot on the project complication.
According to them, garage extension project will cost your around $40 up to $70 depending on the factors mentioned above in average. This price is per square feet.
Small extension commonly costs at least $10,500 and $27,000 at most. This price range still has reasonable gaps with the previous two estimations.
Meanwhile for large extension, we will spend around $57,000 at the least, and it can be even more expensive if you have even more complicated project.
Beside those estimations, adding a couple of feet only will cost you merely around $2,000 at the minimum to $12,000 at the maximum, depending on the complication of the project.
So yes, garage extension can be expensive, but it depends on a lot of factors too. While the cost can be estimated, it is also guaranteed that great garage extension will elevate your house value. Plan wisely and enjoy the perks.
