Looking to Expand Your Garage, or Build a New One?
There’s nothing more satisfying than standing in a spacious garage and seeing the limitless possibilities. With sufficient space, you can truly make the most out of your home garage. But unfortunately, a lot of garages just don’t offer adequate space to grow or to even have fun.
This means you need to expand your garage. It can be an expensive undertaking. But just how much does garage expansion cost? Specifically, how much does garage expansion cost in Canada?
There are lot of factors to look at, from construction materials to the complexity of the construction itself. You have to think about property lines, how much value will be added to your home, and if you even have space to make an extension.
Let’s take a look at the details and see what kind of estimate you can look at for garage expansion costs.
How Much Does It Cost to Build a Garage in Canada?
Building a garage varies dramatically depending on where you live in Canada. For example, according to Reno Assistance.ca, the average price for a single car garage, only 12’ x 20’ is between $39,000 and $46,000 in Montreal, with the exact same thing going for $47,000 to $57,000 in Toronto. If you live in the big city, expect your costs to be through the roof.
In Calgary most double car garages cost somewhere between $25,000 on the low end and $40,000 on the high end. Most homeowners in 2021 are paying around $35,000 to get a garage built. The final budget will depend largely on the cost of supplies, labour and finishings. The price will also fluctuate based on a detached or attached garage. An attached garage will typically be less, but insurance is less for a detached garage, and your options are significantly higher. The most common n2-car garage in Calgary is 20′ by 20′ or 400 square feet.
This is how much it costs to build a garage, not to extend one you already have. But considering the amount of work that goes into an expansion, you can be looking at similar prices. On average country-wide, you’ll be looking at anywhere between $22,000 and 50,000, or even more.
Keep in mind just how much work goes into extending a garage. You’re not simply moving a single wall. You have to move a wall, add two additional walls, add concrete to the floor, tear off the roof and match the trusses with the larger garage. And a lot of this depends on local codes.
Some local code demand that you have a new foundation poured. This means you can’t just add a bit of concrete. You basically need to build a brand-new garage. You’ll also need to have everything up to the current codes because it is considered a major renovation. Sometimes you need to excavate, there could need to be new electrical added, perhaps drainage. Then you need to think about the siding. It is a very complicated process.
How Much Does It Cost to Expand a Garage in Canada?
To expand your attached garage, you’re looking at a rough average of $35,000. That is a rough estimate and might not even come close to the price you pay depending on where you live and what your exact situation is. Let’s break down the individual costs that each homeowner needs to consider when thinking about expanding a garage in Canada.
Excavation: You are almost guaranteed to require some sort of excavation and preparation for the site. This could run you up to $5500.
Foundation: Oftentimes, you’ll need a completely new foundation for the bigger garage. This means the old foundation may need to be removed and a new one installed, and this will run you at least $3800.
Flooring: With a new foundation comes new flooring. Sometimes, this can cost even more than the foundation itself. Expect to pay somewhere around $4000 to have a new floor installed in your garage.
Insulation: Once your garage is built, it will need to be insulated. This is definitely one of the cheaper expenses, but an expense nonetheless. To have adequate insulation in your garage to make it bearable during the hot and cold seasons, it will cost you around $3000.
Garage Door: Your old garage door is no longer going to work with the bigger garage. This means a new garage door, and these babies can be expensive. At the low end, you can expect to pay $3000 for a standard garage door. If you want something a bit fancier, expect to pay more money.
Walls: Adding more space in your garage means the walls are going to get longer. It also means one wall needs to be demolished. Between taking out a single wall, extending two walls, and then adding a completely new third wall, it’s going to run you over $4000.
Roof: You will need serious work done to your roof. You can’t just put more shingles on an empty space. You need to install new trusses and supports, and this will run you roughly $2000. It’s not too much because you should be able to use what’s already there, but it’s still going to cost you.
Power: Your new garage isn’t going to be much use without utilities. Depending on which walls need to be removed and extended, you’re probably going to need new wires installed for utilities. You may also want to consider upgrading the utilities to have bigger outlets for more complicated machinery. This is going to get expensive.
Along with power, you may want to install air conditioning. You may also need to change the plumbing underneath the garage. Expect to pay around $3000 for all the utilities to get installed.
Driveway: If you extend your garage and make it bigger, your driveway is going to look uneven. You’ll need to extend your driveway so that it matches your new garage. This means landscaping, probably some new concrete poured for the driveway itself, and maybe even a bit of work to the sidewalk to extend the opening on the street. Expect to pay between $2500 and $3500 for improvements to your driveway.
Siding: Siding is the last thing to worry about. Once everything else is done, you need to add siding to your new walls. Everything needs to match. Expect to pay around $2000 to fix up the siding. The good news is that siding is pretty easy. You can probably take care of this part yourself.