I want to build a two car garage for as little as possible.

I want to use this to work on engines and cars and what not. I've always asked to buy cars, buy engines, restore things like motorcycles ect... and since I'm still on my parents land, they're excuse has always been you don't have a place to work on it. Every single time.

So, I want to rid of this excuse by building a two car garage to work on all the things I've always wanted to.

I'd be fine with a 1 and a half car garage, half for my tools and one part for the car, but I'd still prefer a two, so I could possibly cram 2 cars and my tools in there.

I have a space for it, and I have a general knowledge of how to do it. What I want to know is how I can do this as cheaply as humanly possible.

I know I can just build this the traditional way, wood and nails and a concrete ground, but I've also been thinking about a couple of other things.

One thing I've been thinking of is one of those huge plastic garden sheds, but 2 of those put together and then reinforced. This would probably cost about the same, but it would be much easier, and it would be much easier on the eyes, I presume.

Any other ideas? I would be bang on about the whole wood and concrete, but the concrete is holding me back. I don't want to dig, and I don't want to buy and mix and lay all the concrete.

Any other ideas? I would be bang on about the whole wood and concrete, but the concrete is holding me back. I don't want to dig, and I don't want to buy and mix and lay all the concrete.

LOL!

You don't buy bags of concrete when you're laying a foundation of that size, you hire a cement truck to come in and pour it. It would break you wallet and your back if you tried to mix all that concrete.

Why didn't you just build a shed to begin with instead of that faggotty little house?

plywood and 2'by'4's

lol. lay concrete?

your slab crumbles as soon as you strip the formwork off it cause you didn't get the mix right...

You need to get a truck out for starters. The slab will cost $3000 to $5000, for a double garage.

Pour the slab, then buy an aluminum double garage.

http://www.handi-port.com/garages/main%20double%20garage%20cropped.jpg

Do the prep work yourself (set out, excavation and levelling) , and the formwork if you know how to save some money.

Is your cheapest option.

Why didn't you just build a shed to begin with instead of that faggotty little house?

Because I wasn't thinking.

lol. lay concrete?

your slab crumbles as soon as you strip the formwork off it cause you didn't get the mix right...

You need to get a truck out for starters. The slab will cost $3000 to $5000, for a double garage.

Pour the slab, then buy an aluminum double garage.

http://www.handi-port.com/garages/main%20double%20garage%20cropped.jpg

Do the prep work yourself (set out, excavation and levelling) , and the formwork if you know how to save some money.

Is your cheapest option.

How much would the concrete + aluminum shit run for a single car garage?

Where are you located?

somewhere between 6-12 thousand depending on the factors.

If you do as much of the work yourself as possible you can do it for 5 or 6 thousand.

So I've got this new idea.

I build it just like I built my house, just bigger, and instead of a wood floor, I make it completely metal, strong enough to hold a car.

How thick should the sheet metal be in order to be able to hold a car for long periods of time?

ehh that's not a very good idea. You'd have to space your floor joists like 6" on center to hold a car. Plus, when you talk about that kind of weight, it's PLATE steel, not sheet steel. Something on the order of 1/4" at LEAST, maybe even 1/2" or 3/4" of steel plate.

Buuuuut.... why bother with a floor at all? Make it dirt. Or gravel. And put a really big PVC greenhouse over it as your frame. You can anchor the PVC into concrete "footings" (perhaps the size of a 2 or 3 gallon bucket) so it wont' blow away if it's windy.

Here's what a PVC greenhouse looks like:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h22/Digit_007/Greenhouses002.jpg

you won't need it to be see-through, so you can use something else that's waterproof.

Now, I see that your location is in west Minneapolis. It happens to be cold as balls in Minnesota this time of year, as you know. The problem with the greenhouse idea is that it will not be warm. And a space heater has a chance of melting your plastic covering material, if you're not careful.

But I think this is the way to go. PVC is cheap as fuck, strong as hell, and if you anchor it in concrete, it won't go anywhere (probably).

So I've got this new idea.

I build it just like I built my house, just bigger, and instead of a wood floor, I make it completely metal, strong enough to hold a car.

How thick should the sheet metal be in order to be able to hold a car for long periods of time?

did you not read what i wrote.

using steel plates will cost a fortune.

slab and a steel double garage is the cheapest option.

You dont want to be working under a plastic greenhouse, in the dirt. Not to mention the environmental impact of oil and fuel leaks, etc.

edit.

Lumbers going to be pricey and for a garage sized structure, it's going to have to be structually sound.

Build it for free with pallets for structure and old tires for shingles? Not sure what you'd do for the slab, if you really want to spend nothing you might be able to get some free flag stones somewhere...

You dont want to be working under a plastic greenhouse, in the dirt. Not to mention the environmental impact of oil and fuel leaks, etc.

Hmm good point.

How about you dig down about a foot or so, put down a plastic sheet, then put down some sort of absorbent material, then filled it back up with gravel?

Two things are going to break your wallet with the traditional garage approach, the concrete slab and the structure itself. My approach solves both problems, but remember, you're trading off convenience for money. yeah, it'll suck to work in a greenhouse on top of gravel, but it WILL be as cheap as possible.

edit:

http://www.idealtruevalue.com/servlet/the-38775/Detail

That's probably going to be to big to excavate by hand. Excavators are pricey to.

Whats the soil like in MN, or wherever it is you live?

Before you do any work, you'll want to get a building permit. The cost highly depends on your area.

Doing the dirtwork for the slab is going to require equipment. Preferably a skidsteer and laser level. You could rent that stuff and have the dirt compacted and level in a couple days.

Pouring out a slab of that size, it's a 3 man job to put the mud down, and a 2 man job to finish the mud. A garage slab is going to take around a full truck of cement. Don't even fuck with sack crete there. Sacks of cement are meant to be mixed in small batches for post holes, masonry jobs, patching stuff up, that kind of thing.

Framing walls is rather easy. You'll want help standing them though. 2x4 wall studs are generally placed on 16" centers. A 13' long wall is going to take at least 14 studs, not counting the boards for the top/bottom plates. You could do the walls with plywood and treat it with oil. This would save you from having to do OSB shear panelling, housewrap, and siding.

As for the roof, a lean-to style roof would be the easiest to build. It doesn't require engineered trusses, much help, or heavy equipment.

If you want to go with the kit building route, I'd say you can probably do it for under $20,000. The kit will save you from some mistakes. Figure around $4000-$7000 less if you go with a dirt floor.

That's probably going to be to big to excavate by hand. Excavators are pricey to.

Whats the soil like in MN, or wherever it is you live?

Not it you only dig 12-18" deep.

Not it you only dig 12-18" deep.

In MN, you have to dig at least 48" down because of the bitter cold.

@Mr. Smith Depends where in MN. I live on a plot of land filled with clay. Grass can barely grow because of how much there is.

In MN, you have to dig at least 48" down because of the bitter cold.

@Mr. Smith Depends where in MN. I live on a plot of land filled with clay. Grass can barely grow because of how much there is.

Perfect, digging should be quite easy with no roots to hack through, and even though clay is dense it'll still be fairly easy compared to roots and rocks like here in MA.

Any reason you don't want to build for free with pallets and tires?

In MN, you have to dig at least 48" down because of the bitter cold.

@Mr. Smith Depends where in MN. I live on a plot of land filled with clay. Grass can barely grow because of how much there is.

I'm not saying dig down below the frost line. I'm just saying put down a thin layer of gravel with oil absorbant under it to better support the car you're working on. I somehow doubt you have $15,000 to drop on a garage. i don't think a "traditional" structure is going to happen on a super-low budget. Other than the fact that a greenhouse-type structure will be more expensive to heat, there isn't much against it. I just can't see any way to get a cheap concrete slab.

Unless....you could get a lot of cinder blocks for free/cheap....hmmm.....

You could use cinder blocks as "tiles" instead of pouring a real concrete slab. that would give you a good surface to work on.

What's your budget?

before we throw any more ideas up there.

By far the cheapest Garage is going to be the portable garages.You know the ones with a material covering.Simply put " Portable Garage" in google search.I don't know if you have to have a floor but if not,simply put down a heavy duty tarp.To keep the moisture away.:)

Tim

By far the cheapest Garage is going to be the portable garages.You know the ones with a material covering.Simply put " Portable Garage" in google search.I don't know if you have to have a floor but if not,simply put down a heavy duty tarp.To keep the moisture away.:)

Tim

This is a pretty good idea.

Thanks.

You won't enjoy working in a portable garage for any period of time..

You won't enjoy working in a portable garage for any period of time..

It's more of a summer garage. I'd only use it in the winter for storing my car. I'd do my primary work when it's warm, unless it's absolutely necessary.

Another idea for your Garage is to build a 2x4 & 4x4 basic framework.And then to close it in you could use inexpensive corrugated fiberglass panels.I see this setup a lot on house & mobile home canopy's.

Tim

It's more of a summer garage. I'd only use it in the winter for storing my car. I'd do my primary work when it's warm, unless it's absolutely necessary.

that changes things a bit.

give us some more specs, and a budget

I don't quite follow what you mean by specs

Budget is ~1000 USD.

How skilled are you with tools, what tools do you have access to, what vehicles do you have access to. Are you willing to suck dick for crack? Do you know how to build a conventional garage, do you know about zoning laws and construction permits? Are you adequetely prepared for a bit of hard labour?

and 1k won't get you shit in the conventional sense. Hell it'll barely cover a portable garage and a suitable floor.

Go on craigslist, get a second hand carport, then go get some free pavers for the floor. Sheet it in all around for walls.

Pavers would be a good option for flooring

Yeah, and you can get them free, or close to it. you wont need all that many for a garage

Get in touch with local concrete trucking companies. If they have a truck full they often need a place to dump the load if it isn't used otherwise it hardens in the truck. This is how my dad and I paved his driveway. You just give them your number, they call on short notice if they need to drop off a load. It's hit and miss but maybe you can get enough to make a few smaller slabs or something similar.

RDP