Anyone know what it might run me to build a 25x20ish detached garage with a bedroom + bathroom above it? In BCS if that matters.

Full kitchen and laundry too ?

Or just a bed and bathroom only ?

Let's say bed/bath and then how much would very simple kitchen add?

A lot depends on the materials you want use. But even then it shouldn't cost more they 30-40k. Not the best time right now to build as material costs and labor are ridiculous. If you wait til next year it would be probably 10k less to do.

I'd guess materials probably cost close to $30 if it's finished.

Without knowing more specifics on finish out, utility runs/connects and with current lumber pricing i would guesstimate 100-125k if you are wanting kitchen and laundry as well.

$30k. That's comical. $100k. Solid. Basically a small house you are building.

I have an existing three car garage (built in 2006ish) with an unfinished apartment above. We are about to take the plunge on finishing it out and our quote is $92k, which is quite a bit more than I was expecting. Plumbing, gas, electrical, etc. are already run to the apartment. Not a full kitchen, just counter, sink, under counter fridge. Full bathroom. LVT flooring. We are doing two sets of built in twin bunk beds and a queen Murphy bed which is driving cost. I met with our GC after I got the quote and he also cited crazy material costs. I used this GC for a whole house remodel in 2012 (different house) and he is not crazy high, generally speaking. We are in East Texas.

I also toyed with the idea of GC-ing myself. I know enough to be dangerous. Found this thread from 2015 very interesting and might be of interest for you to skim through - similar project scope ...

https://texags.com/forums/61/topics/2647493/1#discussion

$106 a foot he said. Wow.

That seems high... What kind of finishes aside from the LVT?

Is the GC busy right now?

Matsui said:

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$30k. That's comical. $100k. Solid. Basically a small house you are building.

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$200/sq ft for a garage apartment? That seems comical also.

I looked into this quite a bit.

So there are plans you can buy online that usually run $300-$1000 depending on whether they allow some customization.

But if you have a design drawn up and civil engineer is needed to sign off on slab blah blah, that alone adds $5000. I called a bunch of architects and it's an economy of scale. A small 500 sq ft design is not much less than 1000sq or even 2000 sq ft home.

The slab in the city probably runs $8-$11/ft for such a "small" job.

So you could be in for $10,000 if you are lucky and that's a design plan and slab. If anything I would argue the smaller the build, the more it would be per ft.


Anyone know which contract bidding website is popular in texas with residential contractors? I think plans can be uploaded and you can start to get bids from people.

I just can't fathom building anything with the current lumber prices right now. Hell I am too cheap to build out my attic flooring b/c of prices and that's only going to cost a couple hundred.

The reason the #/sq ft always looks so bad in these situations is that you have 500 ft of garage space and 500 ft of living. You have to account for both.

For the whole structure, you have slab, framing, and roof. For the garage, you add electrical, drywall, possibly plumbing for a shop sink. For the living, you add a bathroom, flooring, plumbing, hvac.

The other problem is that the living space has a bathroom (expensive) and a small kitchenette (expensive), and there is not enough living & bedroom space to bring the per foot cost down.

The structure is probably $50 / sq ft. For the living, you add another $75 / sq ft or so. So dried in is $50k and finish out is another $35k. These numbers even feel low.

After just buying lumber and trim for a DIY kitchen remodel, I wouldn't even touch a large construction project right now. Everything is about double the price it was this time last year and no one's hurting for work so expect your material cost and labor to be premium.

I think the last few people were talking about the $97k bid to finish out an existing space above a garage that already has utility connections. I know I was.

As far as lumber prices, I've heard about multifamily projects where the framing contractor has $2MM additional costs because of lumber prices. Some things are getting pushed out and I've also heard about framing contractors walking away from jobs if the GC can't work with them.

I totally agree that 97k to finish out is very high. Once again $/sq ft is tough as the number of feet goes down. For a 700 ft space, you have to absorb the bath and kitchenette cost into fewer feet. That house also has some built-ins. However, I would GC it myself for much less. You really only have electrical, plumbing, hvac, drywall, trim, flooring, and paint.

I know materials are up, but I was my own GC and built a house (2 years ago) for under $100/foot. I did a lot of work myself, so that helped. It also is above average on finish out including a metal roof. I was framing when lumber was higher than normal, but not this high.

I did go through line by line with my GC - the cost he showed was around $72k; the $92k includes his fee. He is busy right now. Like I said, I am tempted to GC myself but am nervous about something going wrong and the project taking way longer than I would like. On the other hand, I have GC'd a kitchen remodel (not gut - just paint, countertops, backsplash, flooring, appliances, etc.). And I worked closely with the GC who has quoted my garage apartment job on my previous whole house gut (I was on site every day with very few exceptions). How much do you think you need to know to GC yourself? Other than knowing good people to do the work and what order it needs to happen in?

Back to the finish out question above, GC was working off pics like this for built in beds, kitchenette, etc. Also including pic of plan from the space planner. The only wall that will go up is the wall between the bathroom and the living space; all other walls are already framed in (some modification will need to take place to accommodate the built in beds).

https://ibb.co/B2TfyWg
https://ibb.co/2kMdtyk
https://ibb.co/m6Fx4Jk
https://ibb.co/XpWttNf
https://ibb.co/s2yKgvd

That's a bunch of custom cabinetry... I would guess that's what is driving up the pricing. ~27% markup isn't unheard of for a GC.

It strikes me as kind of a weird layout, but I don't know what your planned use case is. It's kind of impressive that you've got a garage apartment that sleeps 8 without using couches and a ton of storage/closet space. I'm curious what you intend to use the space for.

Primary use will be gameroom/hangout/sleepover space for our four kids. We have a fair amount of family and friends visit from out of town and will use it for guest accommodations as well. Bathroom is a bit odd but is driven by location of plumbing. I wanted all the beds built in to maximize floorspace.

The sort of odd closets that jut into the room is space between existing dormer windows - already framed that way, sloped roof. Main house and garage are Spanish style (main house built in the 1930s) and have tile roof. Heavy.

I appreciate the feedback on the GC % - he charged me 10% in 2012, so it was quite a leap. That said, he has done a great job building his business and is in demand. Everyone I know who has used him - including me - has a good relationship with him at the end of the project. Definitely worth some $$ to me.

That is a lot of cabinets. That is a really cool plan. I only see one thing I would change. I would try to find a way to have a door to the shower. That way if 8 people are sleeping there you still have access to the vanity when someone is showering.

I have a large family, and I am so glad our architect separated the vanity from the tub/toilet. It helps a lot when we are getting ready to go somewhere or getting ready for bed.

Can you share a good contact number?

These threads are always funny to me. This is the exact reason we work very hard to pre-qualify our clients. We were asked recently to do a job similar to this an the guy had a budget of $30K. It is so unrealistic it is half funny and half insulting. That job is 6 figures all day long if you hire a GC, which you should for your own sake.

Do you ever take jobs or bid on them using a central database?

shalackin said:

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These threads are always funny to me. This is the exact reason we work very hard to pre-qualify our clients. We were asked recently to do a job similar to this an the guy had a budget of $30K. It is so unrealistic it is half funny and half insulting. That job is 6 figures all day long if you hire a GC, which you should for your own sake.

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But then I've also gotten crap from contractors for asking for a rough order of magnitude number for a project I'm considering because I'm "wasting their time"...

We will give people ballparks. For example, on a build like this, we will ask for a budget. If someone refuses to give one, and asks for a ballpark, we will give them a range. The goal is to see if the relationship is a good fit or not before anyone's time is wasted, on both sides. If you want chuck in a truck prices, there is no reason to continue discussing the project with a true company. It isn't personal, and certainly shouldn't be insulting.

This isn't a game of poker. Find a contractor/company you trust, and work with them to fit your budget with your needs. If you told me your budget was 125K on this project, I will tell you exactly what we can do for 125K. And if there is more, we will tell you what it will cost to get those extras. Our margins don't change because you told us your budget up front. Everyone seems to think if they say their budget, the contractor will then use that information to maximize their profits and minimize what you get. That isn't how well established GC's work. Do your research, find a good one with good reviews. Ask for references if you need to. And let them take care of you.

Fair points. But...you make it sound like there is some rigid and well-defined cost structure in place for job A, job B, job C.

We had 4 contractors bid on our kitchen, with basic plans in hand. They went from $25k to $95k, all for the same job. Each one of them told us varying things JUST for cabinets: $20K at the top end, to $5k at the low-end.

So there is a lot of variation and GC can establish whatever they want their margins to be. It's a business. If I was busy as hell, I'd ask for AS MUCH money as possible for my time. $125k for one GC may not go nearly as far with another.

True, all companies are different. Unless you are a business type setting, IMO getting more than 3 bids is wasting peoples time. In my experience, people that do that are just looking for the cheapest price. We pass on those type as much as possible. Nothing wrong with bidding things out though. It is a difficult position on both sides, so I get it. The client wants the best deal. The contractor wants the work. We offer a lot of people a cost plus version of things when it gets difficult. We tell them what our construction management fee is, and then give them a budget to follow. If they go over it, they pay more. If they stay under, they save. So there are pros and cons to that model.

The problem is that many consumers are not knowledgeable about what things should cost. Because of that, it's not really fair for contractors to require the customer to give the number first. I don't come into a project with a pile of money that I'm trying to get rid of. So yes, I'm going to refuse to give you a maximum amount of money that I'm willing to spend. I'm wiling to pay a fair price, but many contractors are going to find a way to get at least as much money as I say I'm willing to spend out of a project (not saying that you do that).

I've literally had a contractor say "how much do you have to spend" when I gave him a specific statement of work with square footages and walked him through exactly what I wanted him to do. And this was someone that was recommended to me and had done good work before.

Wanting a new garage for $30k isn't an insult and it isn't funny,... the person just doesn't know because there's not really anywhere that you can go to get reliable numbers. The attitude that people are just supposed to know how much a project is supposed to cost or that they're just supposed to present you with a revenue goal to hit lest they be judged is kind of ****ty. I'm not sure how you justify that reaction to any person who darkens your doorstep wanting to give you money...

It's not a game of poker, but it is business. There is no shortage of contractors that would never tell a customer that their budget is too high for what they want and just put that extra money in their pocket and sleep like a baby afterwards. There are plenty that will sign a job for too little money and then either demand more, or walk away from the job. You can avoid this by finding a reputable one, but where is that list and what do you do when all of them are stacked 10 projects deep?

Every situation is different. But most people would be shocked at how much wasted time we spend on wild goose chases. The reality is that time costs money. Unfortunately, we are one of the most time abused industries that i have every been in. We don't charge for estimates, but we expect clients to atleast be enough informed to know they can't have a luxury garage and apartment for $30K.

We still treat every client and potential client the same, it just gets old wasting time. And it gets expensive. So some of this is venting. Some of this is hopefully giving people a bit of insight on understanding what they are doing.

aggiefan2002 said:

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Anyone know what it might run me to build a 25x20ish detached garage with a bedroom + bathroom above it? In BCS if that matters.

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Lumber prices are dropping (very slightly) but expect to budget about $8-12,000 just in material to get it dried in.

Do your best guess and double it.


Sqft cost without plans is near impossible.

A bmw and a kia weigh about the same. One of those cost significantly more per pound tham the other.