Adding 3rd Stall Garage

[ISUFan22]

We're looking into adding a 3rd stall to our existing 2 car garage - to help resale. I've contacted Premier Construction and Kaufman (have worked with Kaufman in the past). Would like to get bids from 1-2 others.

Look forward to suggestions for contracts in the DM metro that do this kind of work - thx!

 

[Wesley]

Is this stall for a horse or a cow?

Forget that comment, the question is does a third stall add more value than it costs to add????

 

[SoapyCy]

do you have enough side yard setback to build a 3rd stall?

make sure the 3rd stall is worth the construction cost. We want a house with a 3rd stall but realize the kitchen or other storage space is too small, making the 3rd stall worthless due to other negative factors in the house.

 

[mj4cy]

Which way is your roof framing? If it's going to be framing into the existing garage wall, make sure someone takes a look at the existing footing since you'll be adding a lot of weight.

 

[JP4CY]

Is it possible to make the 3rd stall double deep? There are a couple houses in our neighborhood that have that, and the main living room or kitchen is behind the regular garage so a double deep 3rd lines up with that pretty well.
I would love to have that option and I'm sure many other people would too if they are hobbyists, own a boat, motorcycle, etc.

 

[clone4life82]

Interesting... When my parents went to sell their house a couple years back they were told by numerous realtors that adding a third stall would cost nearly twice as much for them to get put onto their house than the value that it would add for resale. Maybe yours would be cheaper to do but I'd be leary of you getting all of the value out of the cost of the add.

 

[ISUFan22]

So all great questions, etc. We've already worked thru most of them and at the appropriate time (aka, when I have time) I can share details of why this makes sense financially. We've worked thru the setback items too, or at least we know how much room we have to work with.

MTown - your thought is perfect on house vs garage size, our main level is just shy of 2000 sq ft and the basement is the same, with about 1600 sq ft of it finished. So, we're a rather large house to only have a 2 stall garage - hence the biggest reason to do this.

Basically, we finally spoke to someone that doesn't have their head in their *** - and provided some excellent metrics. For the last 2 years, there have been zero houses of our size that have sold in our area, with just a 2 stall garage. None. But there are plenty of our size that have sold with a 3rd stall, easily for what we are asking and more.

Do we know for sure we are adding it? No. But we must look into it as it looks to be a smarter decision than a dramatic price drop.

So we can discuss the do it vs don't do it later, just need some good references at this time.

 

[erikbj]

that's a big house for only a 2 stall. i'm looking at building a new home later this year and have discussed a 4 stall.

 

[JP4CY]

that's a big house for only a 2 stall. i'm looking at building a new home later this year and have discussed a 4 stall.

Now that's what I'm talkin bout! As I mentioned some people have the 3 + 1 double deep in my neighborhood, a guy across the street has a double door double deep. Not sure What configuration I would like more.

 

[cyclonesurveyor]

this also depends on location. i had no problem selling my house with 1 car attached garage (could only fit a small car) and 1 stall unattached garage in a 1930's era neighborhood. nicest house on the street only had a 1 car unattached garage with a carport (hidden from the street)

but currently, all of the lots that we are laying out for new subdivisions are for 3+ car garages.

 

[MNclone]

There is a house in my neighborhood with a 10 car garage. It has two levels and is double deep. It is pretty sweet.

 

[dmclone]

Our neighbor had their house for sale. Their house is about 1,900 SQFT, 2 car garage, and they wanted $250,000. No one bit and he thinks it's because of the garage but in reality it's because he's asking about $20k too much and has poor styling choices. So now he'll add a 30K garage and ask 280K and still no one will buy it.

 

[Dandy]

that's a big house for only a 2 stall. i'm looking at building a new home later this year and have discussed a 4 stall.

'Merica.

 

[Dandy]

There is a house in my neighborhood with a 10 car garage. It has two levels and is double deep. It is pretty sweet.

'MERICA.

 

[BoxsterCy]

Not a do or don't do, just a design opinion based on experience:

Lots of garages get sized by architectural "standards" which are really architectural "minimums". Most layouts, including my architect neighbor’s garage, get too stingy on width especially the distance between the driver’s side and the side wall. Side distance on my garage allows me to fully open the driver’s side door even with stuff stored /hung on the side wall. Neighbor’s similar garage requires him to open his door and shimmy out like he is in a tight spaced parking ramp.

 

[Dandy]

I love how us Americans are obsessed with the need for real estate to be huge. 10 stall garage?! 10,000 sq ft homes?!

 

[NickTheGreat]

One thing about Iowa I've noticed in the past 10 years is everyone here likes their toys. In Saint Paul you had a 2 stall out along the alley and that was it. Here people have RV's,4 wheelers, a car for every kid, a car they are working on, etc. It really, really baffled me when I moved here.

We noticed that there are a lot of 1.5 car garages out there pretending to be 2 car garages. Maybe if you have two Honda Civics, and leave your garbage cans outside :twitcy:

So our 3 car garage will probably only ever hold 2 cars, and a bunch of "stuff."

 

[AdamJGray]

One thing about Iowa I've noticed in the past 10 years is everyone here likes their toys. In Saint Paul you had a 2 stall out along the alley and that was it. Here people have RV's,4 wheelers, a car for every kid, a car they are working on, etc. It really, really baffled me when I moved here.

You have that as well up in MN. Just not in St. Paul, a city.

I mean, how many people in MN own a boat? Snowmobile? 4 wheeler? I bet it's a higher number than in Iowa.

 

[BoxsterCy]

There is a house in my neighborhood with a 10 car garage. It has two levels and is double deep. It is pretty sweet.

:swoon:

 

[SoapyCy]

You have that as well up in MN. Just not in St. Paul, a city. I mean, how many people in MN own a boat? Snowmobile? 4 wheeler? I bet it's a higher number than in Iowa.

Yeah, the difference is people keep their boats at the cabin, not in their backyard, or they have it stored for the winter. Not saying one or the other is better, just different expectations.