Ballpark $$$ to build workshop.

[Dave Lehnert]

Sunday talk ideas.

Thinking about my retirement few years away.

I have my workshop in what was once my fathers auto body shop he operated till the 1970's. It is located on the same property as the house. First idea was to do a major remodel to what is now a 24x30 (I think) block building. My property is located in a "fork in the road" so the bodyshop/ workshop is located off one road, the house off anther road. Again all on the same property.

New idea- Rent out exiting building for boat /car storage (Extra retirement income) and build a new Woodshop. renters would have access without bothering us
at the house. I am located in a business area, not residential.

QUESTION- If you had a workshop built, what did it cost? Don't want to get a builder involved till I can get some idea what the cost may be.
I know location, type of building and so on will affect that figure. Just like an idea what to expect. Looking at 24x24 or 24x30. $15k or $115K. No
idea what to expect. What should my budget be to even think about building?

[Zachary Hoyt]

I'm thinking it's going to cost me about $12-14k to build a 16x32 workshop on skids and put in a subpanel, wiring, a wood stove and a metal chimney, insulation etc. That's with me doing all the work and buying most of the lumber from an Amish sawmill for 65 cents a board foot. I also got two largish windows and an entry door with a window for a total of about $300, which saved a bit. Right now materials are way up, but no one knows if they will go higher, or come back down, or become unavailable, or if the earth will suddenly disappear, or what to expect.

[Marcel Estay]

You're looking at roughly $50/sqft for the whole package, concrete, building, insulation, electrical, HVAC, etc.

[Carl Beckett]

This is going to be all over the map depending on where you live. When I built my last shop in Massachusetts - a 20x24, I had two quotes: One was $52k and the second was $54k (in 2008). That seemed quite high to me for such a modest size.

Another quote was $20k to just 'prepare the site' which involved modest leveling and tearing down a 10x20 shed that was already there.

I built it myself, including my own foundation forms (4' below grade) and pouring the slab for under $15k.

I lived in Ohio for years and still have a lot of family there so calibrating to the New England - for a 24x30 I think you could get it done for $30-$35k outside of Cincinnati area.

[Charlie Velasquez]

Small 12x16x9 on skids, pea gravel sub base, insulated (r-19 floor, r-25 walls, r-35 ceiling) 1/2" ply walls inside (2x4 construction), 3/4" advantech floor on 2x6 joists, ceiling tile suspended ceiling, vinyl siding to match house, 100 amp sub, 12 ultra thin LED recessed can lights yeilding 65 lumens per square foot. 7'x8' door and one 4' door.
5000 watt electric heater, no cooling .

All labor done by me, except shingling the roof.
$4200 for materials, $500 for the shingling.
2019-2020 prices

[Jim Becker]

My current project, based on the decision I likely will be making in the next few days for a 24'x36'x10' shop building will have a "base" cost for the building and floor in the neighborhood of about $27K. Electric, HVAC and interior finishes will come after that. I'm pretty sure I'll be at about $35K will finished. This is for a wood post-frame structure constructed by others with me doing the ground prep, HVAC and interior finishes as well as the electrical beyond the initial service setup. A metal (car port type) post frame was going to come in at a similar "base" cost; the building is slightly less but the concrete is a bit more. Stick frame, which I did not get an official quote but did get ball-parks, would have had a "base" cost in the neighborhood of $35-40K easy in this area.

Keep in mind that costs are different geographically, too.

[Leigh Betsch]

I’m afraid to add everything up. But I’ll just say I built my shop without a budget and I got all the features that I wanted. I’ve been dreaming of my dream shop for the last 50 years, since I was 14 years old working in a shed with a dirt floor. Are you are asking how cheap can you build a shop? I can’t help you much with that. But if you are asking how much can you spend, I can help with that. Let’s just say that if you saved $2000 a year for 50 years you might not have enough.

[Alex Zeller]

I would call a couple contractors in your area and tell them what you want. Try to have answers to most questions they will ask. From there they should be able to give you a ball park price per square foot range over the phone. Figure it'll be on the low side but it should get you close. A local contractor will be more likely to know the details about your area. They will also know things like what sort of foundation would work in your area. Personally I would guess around $30k.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

It's been over 10 years ago that I built my shop. I had a contractor build a 24'x30' with 10 feet walls, 30-year shingles empty shell with 3 thermo-paned windows. insulated steel walk-in door, and a 10' insulated overhead garage door for $16K. I finished it. I bought and installed 200-amp service, insulation, 1/2" plywood on the walls and 1/2" sheetrock on the ceilings (I'd do plywood today). I finished it and my wife had a 75,000 BTU Lennox NG hanging furnace installed. I don't have a clue how much my finishing work cost. I was still working on salary plus O/T and had all the O/T I wanted to work.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Right now $60/sqft will probably not get you a decent shop built. Materials costs are just too high, you'd be close to $75/sqft here with unfinished interior and a mono slab floor/foundation. The details can make an enormous difference on cost though so don't take $/sqft numbers too literally. If you want an accurate price, I strongly suggest getting a list of "wants", then finding the local builder you like and get a quote from him. Prices vary tremendously per local, for completely legit reasons. A good local builder can explain your local building quirks and give you the right answer. Leigh is right, you can spend as much as you want, a good builder will help develop the best plan for you.

[Jim Becker]

Ken, what you have would be more than double at the present time due to the materials price escalation over the past two years. There's a guy up in Vermont who just builds "garages", for the most part, and he's been detailing these price escalations for the designs he builds in his videos. "Head shaking" sad for sure! This did have a big influence on what I'm choosing for my own shop at this point.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I have discarded my trusted methods of calculating building and construction costs and gone back to pricing every part every day. I am also starting to not provide materials at all.

In 2010 I built our 22' 6" x 40' slab garage, deep footings, 2x6 9 foot walls and a loft room. It has two toilets and two sinks. 40 amp, 240v main with 1 240v branch circuit and 5 120v branch circuits. It is insulated and sheet-rocked with 5/8, Hardi plank siding, shingle roof, 10w x 8h garage door, nice insulated windows and walk doors, gas heat. Materials and help with the excavation, concrete, and cellulose insulation cost $42,000. The utilities were already present. I provided all of the labor. Today I suspect the materials alone would be twice that or more.

[Perry Holbrook]

My new shop was built by a contractor. Materials were bought last fall when OSB came down to $18. It's stick built, on a slab, sheet rock, 4 large windows, roll up 8 ft door, heavily wired, etc. Nice 20 x35 space that could be used for many purposes, rather than a more dedicated structure. I'll add HVAC before summer. No plumbing other than an outside hydrant.

I'm just now starting on an open carport 24x30, slab. post, trusses, small closet, high end pvc siding in gables, decorative gable brackets, etc. OSB is over $40.

All I can say is I would be budgeting $65 to $70 per sq ft if it were me.

The idea of asking a contractor makes sense in theory, however I would say that all the contractors I spoke with in building the new house, shop, carport just laughed at me when I asked general questions on price. They wanted plans and specs first. I wound up doing a cost plus contract with the contractors. I felt like it gave me at least some control of cost.

[Jim Becker]

Perry, as an aside, for HVAC, I just found that Costco is carrying the Mr Cool DIY in 18K and 24K sizing for really attractive prices...no brainer for sure.

[Charles Coolidge]

Perry, as an aside, for HVAC, I just found that Costco is carrying the Mr Cool DIY in 18K and 24K sizing for really attractive prices...no brainer for sure.

Is that so? Finally a reason to become a Costco member.