How Do I Calculate How Much a Garage Addition Will Cost …

Calculate a rough estimate yourself before talking to contractors.

Accurately estimating costs is essential to a successful garage addition. Overestimate costs and you tie up valuable resources. Underestimate and you risk not being able to complete the job. Construction cost has two components: materials and labor. Lumber, wires, pipes, shingles, doors, windows and fixtures make up materials cost. Labor cost is the cost of the workers paid to make the addition. Even if you hire a contractor to build the addition, knowing how to calculate costs allows you to make informed decisions.

Have an architect or draftsman draw plans for your addition. The plans are a graphic representation of the addition and should include the amount and type of materials required for the addition.

Calculate the area of the foundation. Use an online concrete estimator to determine the amount of concrete needed. Contact a concrete supplier for a per-yard price. Multiply the per-yard price by the yards needed to determine the total concrete price.

Take the plans to a home improvement retailer or lumber yard and price each type of lumber required. Multiply the per-piece price by the total amount required to determine lumber cost.

Calculate the number of linear feet of wire and pipe required and multiply each total by the per-foot or per-piece price. Count switches, outlets, plumbing and electrical fixtures and add their cost to the total.

Divide the roof area by 100 to determine the number of "squares" of shingles needed. Three bundles of shingles make up a square, so multiply the total number of squares by three to find the number of bundles needed. Multiply the cost per bundle by the number of bundles and add the sum to your total.

Divide the exterior surface by 100 to determine the number of squares of siding needed. Multiply the price per square by the number of squares and add the siding sum to your material total.

Add up your material totals to find the total materials cost.

Contact framing, electrical, plumbing, roofing, siding and concrete contractors. Give them the square footage of your addition and request a per-square-foot price for labor only. Add the quotes to find your total labor cost.

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