How much will it cost to enclose your carport so it will be a garage?

Back in the 60's and 70's, builders in the south often saved money building carports on houses instead of garages.

Garages provide security and privacy, so if you currently have a carport and want to make it into a garage its not too hard or too expensive to do. In fact, a carport can be enclosed to make a garage very easily and much less expensively than building a separate shed.

Before you run to the Home Depot to buy the materials, there are a few things that you need to consider first.

First, you should find out how many walls you will need to build to enclose your carport. Some carports only need to have one wall built to enclose them, others need 2 walls.

If the back and one side of your carport is open, then you will have to build two walls instead of one and your costs to do the project will be basically doubled.

What's great about enclosing a carport is that you don't have to mess with a new foundation or a new roof. These two items are the most expensive parts of a house.

After you have determined how many walls need to be built to enclose your garage, you need to develop an estimate of what it will cost to complete your project.

Its easy to estimate the cost of your project. First you create a list of the materials that you will need to do the project and then bring your list to lumber yard to have them give you the prices for the materials you need. If you tell them what you are doing, they may even help you make the material list.

Here are some items that you will need to convert your carport into a garage:

2 x 4s - for studs in walls
Pressure treated 2 x 4s - for bottom of wall (bottom plate)
Garage door complete with track and opener
CDX plywood or chip board-for sheathing (to enclose garage)
CDX plywood, pegboard etc - for inside of wall
insulation
Vinyl siding or brick veneer

After you get the prices for the materials you just need to make sure you include taxes on the materials in your area so you won't be surprised and go over your budget.

Now you need to calculate how much time (labor) it will take to enclose your carport. The number of hours needed will depend on how complicated your project is. You can reasonably expect the project to take 3-4 days for 2-3 men.
A good framing carpenter should easily be able to frame and sheath your project in this time. You can use $30-35 per hour for each man hour that is worked.

Call a garage door installation company and get a price to provide and install the garage door. Installing a garage door is a little tricky if you aren't mechanically inclined and haven't done it before. You will be glad you hired a pro to do this part of your project and you would not have saved that much money anyway because they get wholesale pricing on the doors and you won't.

Your total project cost depends on what kind of exterior you have on your house and what your desire is to match the exterior. If you have brick on the exterior of your home and you want your new walls to be brick, your project will cost more money. Its totally up to you.

The total project cost depends greatly on what kind of exterior you have on your house and what your desire is to match it. If you have brick on the exterior of your home and you want your new walls to be brick, your project will cost more money. Its totally up to you.

If you have a a contractor do the work turnkey for you, expect to pay from $3000 to $8,000 depending on what area of the country you are in and the construction of your house.

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