Framing a garage what is best? DIY or contract it out?

[mrmikey]

When i bought this place a couple years ago that was one of my priorities, a garage. Was all full of pi$$and vinegar to get started so I was pricing material from a few suppliers.
Ended up it was a lot cheaper to get a contractor to completely finish the shell including slab, siding, doors etc and me to do the inside (lights, wall covering etc).
It probably made a difference that he had only been around for a couple of years so no doubt he was trying to make a name for himself but it worked out. Excellant job, good quality materials and was done on time.
In your case I think it would be wise to sub it out, plan on doing the interior work yourself as you won't be under any time constraints, my 2 cents worth....Mike

 

[Egon]

Check with your Doctor. Then go out for Bids and watch. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

As already mentioned material payment is quite important so let that your main focus.

 

[ITHINKICAN]

Post pictures either way. Good luck!

 

[LD1]

I think eddie has pretty well nailed it spot on.

It doesnt matter how handy you are, or how good at building things you are, you will never be as fast or as efficent as someone who is in the business and does it day in and day out.

Framing it yourself will absolutly save you money. How much you save depends on the bids you get. But at the expense of your time, and possibly not being done to your satisfaction.

Framers can be pretty competitive. It (depending on reigon) may not cost as much as you think. Because while they do charge a good bit for their labor, they are getting a much better deal on materials, and will have less wasted materials because they know exactally what they are doing.

Plus, as others have mentioned, you have to take your health into consideration. Are you physically capable of doing the work?

If you are, and feel you can tackle it, and if it will save you enough to make it worthwhile, there comes a great sense of pride and satisfaction in doing it yourself.

Personally, I aint picky. I know my work aint perfect. But I'd rather have something I did from scratch that has some "character" vs a perfect building that I just watched be build.

Here is a shot of my framing:thumbsup: Probabally one of the pics eddie was refering to about biting his tongue

And heres a link to my thread. (I know there are a ton of others that people have done) http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/192429-my-uniquely-built-30x50-pole.html

 

[bironacad]

Framing it yourself will absolutly save you money. How much you save depends on the bids you get. But at the expense of your time, and possibly not being done to your satisfaction.

Framers can be pretty competitive. It (depending on reigon) may not cost as much as you think.

If you are, and feel you can tackle it, and if it will save you enough to make it worthwhile, there comes a great sense of pride and satisfaction in doing it yourself.

Personally, I aint picky. I know my work aint perfect. But I'd rather have something I did from scratch that has some "character" vs a perfect building that I just watched be build.

Thanks for the posts! I had two contractors show up and give quotes, $4000 then $2500. this was just for the labour (Canadian spelling lol).

I figured a weeks work tops and both contractors said it would take 3 to 5 days. When I was doing contracting a $400 a day profit was my optimum target (HVAC). 3.5 x 400= $1400 add 3.5 x150 for the labourer $525 + $1400= $1925. My material estimate was $3500 with a 10% trade discount thrown in. Long and short I thought the $2500 was a good price. The contractor suggested that I bite the bullet and do the complete roof with metal. When I priced it out $6,500(materials tax in)- less the $2000 I would have paid for shingles and sheathing I decided I couldn't afford both, lol. So metal roof (I am a licensed tin knocker) and me and the my cousin ( we are both going on diets as we have the monickers of BFFs (big fact f**ks) his wife's humor, my wife added another F and we will start in late March to mid April unless I come into some money, lol, or can be convince otherwise, lol.

 

[slowzuki]

How big? Coloured steel is 1$ per sq ft here in the middle of no where. Galvanized is 0.85$/ft2. I just installed 1000 ft2 with 2 people helping, took 2.5 hours +1 hour for a flashing detail.

 

[bironacad]

How big? Coloured steel is 1$ per sq ft here in the middle of no where. Galvanized is 0.85$/ft2. I just installed 1000 ft2 with 2 people helping, took 2.5 hours +1 hour for a flashing detail.

The roof size is roughly 3600 square feet, my price included 100' of ridge roof vent, drip edge/ starter strip, screws, three heat resistant silicone tall cones and a roofing type of typar which is a little more tear resistant. The price was also taxes in. Havelock metal is very competitive in our area. The metal itself was a hair under $1 a square foot for coloured 29 gauge?

Steel and Metal roofing, siding, trim and flashing fabrication located in Ontario, Canada

 

[bironacad]

Here is an update. First thanks for the shared experience. I had the concrete, framing and drywall done by local contractors and the results were far better then expected. The costs were far outweighed by the speed and professional finishing that was done. I paid for materials and just paid for the labour the final cost for the labour was: $850 (concrete finishing), $3000 (framing) and $2500 (drywall up and finished for paint) which works out to $6,250. I have learned something from this that if I can it is worth spending the money, go figure. I still need to finish the metal siding but I can do this without rushing as I have the summer for the job. Thanks for the input guys. As a side not I am going to get them to drywall the shop/garage next year so that I have a clean space for the hobbies