Cost to Build a Home Addition with Basement Garage

Summary: Building a home addition with a garage underneath is a great way to save money on a basement garage.

Carl,

I have thought about building my own home addition here in NH.

I'm confident that I could build it all myself minus the concrete foundation.

I would like a rough guesstimate on the cost to build a 26' X 20' home addition with a garage underneath.

Thanks for any help,

George

Hi George,

If you have a sloping lot, building a garage under your home addition is a great way to save on building costs as you are going to have a basement anyway (or at least a large crawl space).

If you don't have a sloping lot, I would not put the garage underneath the home addition. Besides the cost of a concrete or masonry basement being greater than for a wood framed garage above grade, the logistics of planning for the garage entrance and for proper water drainage on flat land could be more difficult and more expensive as well. Also, be sure to read my Caution footnote at the bottom of the page.

Run the construction estimating software found under # 5 on my "Getting Started" page for a 520 sq ft house (26X20) for your zip code in NH.

Courtesy of CADSmith Studio

Go all the way through the cost estimating process for building the whole house addition.

When you come to the question, "Is there a basement?" enter 520 in the box for "unfinished basement".

When you get to the question "Is there a garage?" leave the boxes empty.

When you have completed the cost estimate you will have not only the cost of materials (and labor if you decide to sub it out) for the addition, the calculator will have included the cost for a 520 sq ft unfinished basement.

You should save enough money leaving out the concrete for the garage door to pay for the garage door.

You can pick and choose other items on the cost breakdown that apply to your project.

Keep in mind this is a "rough" estimate. Also keep in mind that cost per sq. ft. is higher for small homes (i.e. additions).

Good luck,

Carl Heldmann

Caution: If you do put the garage under the addition, be sure you comply with local (as well as national) building codes as regards to fire proofing. You will have to at least have "fire stops" between the ceiling joists (floor joists of the addition above) and plan on drywall the ceiling.