Posted: 3/11/2010 8:13:01 PM EDT
| I'm looking at buying my first house. One house that we are interested in has a carport that is built into the house. If we decide to buy this house, I would like to convert the carport into a garage. The carport is for 2 cars and is on the corner of the house. It has a back wall and a side wall. I would need to add a side wall, a small 5-6 foot wall and either 1 or 2 garage doors. Anybody have a rough guesstimate for cost? Would it be "better" to get a contractor or would it be easy enough for a DIY project? |
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The main thing I would be concerned with is the slab, more specifically if it has adequate footings around the perimeter to support load bearing walls. Also, are the posts buried in the ground, or attached to the slab with anchors? Now if you just want to close it in, that's relatively simple. Wall it up and side to match existing structure. A couple grand at most.
The last time I contracted a separate, turn key garage with vinyl siding (minus interior finish), it was roughly $20,000. That was 7 years ago, so prices have surely increased since then. A carport would run $12,000-$15,000 turn key. |
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Is there a good reason, is it even possible at this point, to make the walls load bearing. The structure already exists. Close it in. Make it nice and water tight. DIY, for sure - there isn't even a roof to worry about.
I'd say red heads, stud walls and sheathing, siding and insulation with drywall on the inside. Frame the doorway. Add a fixed pane window, or two - natural sunlight is always nice to have. |
Here is a picture of it if it helps any. It looks like it was built as part of the house. The roof over it is part of the roof over the house.
If I go the DIY route, I would at least need to pay for somebody to do the garage door installation and get an electrician, correct? How would I connect a new wall to the existing wall properly? I've done alot of random home improvement projects, but not something of this scale. I will have the help of my father-in-law and uncle-in-law who have experience in this stuff. However, I'm a perfectionist and they aren't. 
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That's a fairly big DIY project. I am a capable builder and I would hire professional help (assistance) with that one. Otherwise, it would take too long. Since the house looks to be T-111 siding, you can easily continue the T-111 around the garage to match the house. Simple stick frame walls would do it. The most difficult part of that project is making the framework for garage door tracks. It needs to be quite strong for wind loads here in Florida. Less strong elsewhere, but still fairly "tough" for thunderstorm wind loads. Remember, the garage door places all it's load on the surrounding framework. I'm going to guess you could pull it off (with 2 nice garage doors) for about 5000 bucks or less, if you are careful. |
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Let's try this again.
Whether it is better to DIY or "buy" is entirely dependant upon what you know, what you have and what you want to do. If your family members don't knnow how to do this work, if you don't know how to do this work, if you don't have most of the tools, if you don't care to or want to learn how to, then you probably are better off hiring this work done. To tie into the existing structure, you remove the existing siding to expose the studs. Then you tie the new stud walls into the existing studs. Use Red heads to tie the new walls into the slab. Nail or lag bolt to the bottoms of the floor joists to tie the new walls in at the top. |
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Let's try this again. Whether it is better to DIY or "buy" is entirely dependant upon what you know, what you have and what you want to do. If your family members don't knnow how to do this work, if you don't know how to do this work, if you don't have most of the tools, if you don't care to or want to learn how to, then you probably are better off hiring this work done. To tie into the existing structure, you remove the existing siding to expose the studs. Then you tie the new stud walls into the existing studs. Use Red heads to tie the new walls into the slab. Nail or lag bolt to the bottoms of the floor joists to tie the new walls in at the top. Mike pretty much sums it up. Only I wouldn't worry about removing the existing siding to attach the new wall. Remove the trim boards (as necessary) and just use 16d nails through the end stud into the corner stud of the existing house. The thing I'd be concerned about is the carport slab is lower than the house slab––by about 3.5". It's also roughly level with the surrounding grade level. Unless you raise the slab perimeter, remove soil, or use all treated framing/siding, you're going to have rot/moisture issues, and potentially water coming under the bottom plate of the wall. It's for this reason that most codes require a nominal 8" clearance from the bottom of the wall to grade. Most likely you don't have a moisture barrier (polyethylene sheeting) under the carport, either, so expect moisture to migrate through the slab. Definitely contract out the grage door installation, and make sure you frame the rough openings for the doors correctly/the right size. You'll also likely have to obtain a building permit for this work. |
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Quoted: Thanks for the info. So I take it the first step would be to talk to the city about what the code requirements are for actually building the thing? Yes. They'll give you a list of requirements that they need to issue you a permit. Typically this consists of a site plan, existing floor plans, drainage plans, proposed setbacks and percentage of lot coverage. Some cities ask for existing elevation drawings. You or a designer will have to produce a set of drawings, approved by an engineer, to the county so that they may review them before issuing a permit. ETA: from your photos it looks as if you won't need to expand the footprint at all, just close in the carport. The process when adding a new structure can be an arduous one, vs. what you're doing, which should be relatively easy to get permitted. |
| On the one side, you could start with a course of cinderblock to keep the wood away from the ground. Drill some holes and epoxy some rebar into the slab to tie the block to the slab. Fill the blocks with cement to encapsulate the rebar. Add a sill plate to the top of the cinder block and build the stud walls up from there. Of course, this does not apply to the side that has the garage door openings, only the one side. |
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Most likely you don't have a moisture barrier (polyethylene sheeting) under the carport, either, so expect moisture to migrate through the slab. Would sealing the concrete floor help? It may help for a while, but you'll have to reapply the sealer every so often. Of course, you're in TX, are you not? You may not have any problems depending on your local climate. |
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Most likely you don't have a moisture barrier (polyethylene sheeting) under the carport, either, so expect moisture to migrate through the slab. Would sealing the concrete floor help? It may help for a while, but you'll have to reapply the sealer every so often. Of course, you're in TX, are you not? You may not have any problems depending on your local climate. Yes DFW area. |
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Are you going to leave the windows opening into the garage? I wouldn't especially for resale it would be weird to have rooms with windows into a garage. Have the contractor bid residing the exterior and re-sheet rocking the interior to delete the windows.
Grove |