Approximate cost for having a garage built?

elDeeJay

When we move in to our new house, one of the first things we will have done is the existing garage pulled down (DIY job) and a new-one rebuilt. It will only be a single garage and to save £££ we will buy all the materials needed ourselves.
I'm looking for a rough estimate of how much I would expect to pay for someone to build this brick garage (the door will be bought and fitted separately) and there is already a hard-standing where the existing garage is now.

Any rough ideas? I know it will only be a guess, and yes, we will get several quotes. I'm just looking for a ball-park figure from where I can base my preliminary budgeting. As I say, its assembly only everything else will be done by me

Thanks

chatty123

a few months ago we had an apex roofed lidget garage erected. these are the prefabricated concrete ones with the pebble dash. it cost us £1600 for a 24ft 3in by 10ft 6in. the wagon delivered it and the guys arrived an hour later and put it up which was all inclusive in the price. worth a thought if you are on a budget.

inkie

When we moved into our house brand new 14 yrs ago - shortly after we got a builder in to put us a garage up - matching bricks to the house - which were expensive cheshire reds. To dig out, lay the floor (including digging an inspection pit for hubby) - total cost £6000 all in. We were pleased with that as it is 12' x 20'.

Debt_Free_Chick

elDeeJay wrote:

When we move in to our new house, one of the first things we will have done is the existing garage pulled down (DIY job) and a new-one rebuilt. It will only be a single garage and to save £££ we will buy all the materials needed ourselves.

This is not necessarily money-saving - it depends on how the builder prices the job. I'm having an extension built and the materials are recharged to me at cost. That includes the discount that the builder gets at Build Centre, Plumb Centre, Magnet, Travis Perkins, Alsford Timber etc etc. So I couldn't buy the materials at the same price as my builder does. In addition to the materials, I pay a day rate for his labour.

I suggest you get quotes on the basis of the following

(a) estimate of no of days work
(b) labour/builder's day rate for work

And then get a separate estimate for materials on top. This way, you can better compare the quotes. The materials will cost what they cost, but you can compare what different builders are charging for their labour, only and this is a far better comparison. You know what you'll be paying for the builder's skill & time, rather than have it hidden away in a quote for the whole job. Some builders charge a lower labour rate, but recharge materials at full price i.e. they don't pass on their discount. This is not always obvious, unless they split the labour and materials out.

And get like-for-like quotes e.g. make sure they all ignore clearing the site. I assume you will completely clear the site, in which case you'll need a skip or two. But before you do that ... read on ....

The existing hardstanding may not be suitable. The building regs for a garage may have changed since the existing hardstanding was built. Make sure the builder understands the regs and can advise on this.

If you need to dig up the hardstanding and build a new one, you might want to retain some of the old bricks & rubble to form the base of the new one. No point in paying the builder to buy hardcore if you've already paid to have the old stuff taken away in a skip

Don't forget the add-ons e.g. power. I assume you will want lighting and a power supply to the garage? Are you going to ask the builder to get a sparky-subbie or will you find one? If you get a separate subbie, you'll need to project-manage yourself which can be a right PITA, if you're not used to it.

Finally ... see if your local council has a "trusted trader scheme" like this one

Cheers

lilybugs

A friend of mine bought a house and needed a garage to house a classic car. They got a quote for £20k, which blew them away. Apparently it was so expensive because of the foundations.

They then found somewhere that they could purchase concrete pannels and build it out of that. It didn't need a foundation so it saved them loads and once painted it looked ok too, even next to their victorian semi.