Just got a quote for a new driveway, approach to the front door and garage pad (20x30). $19,000
I thought it’d be around $25K so I’m getting a deal.
2 Likes
How many sq ft total are you talking?
1 Like
Ohhh, I get to draw a picture and do some trig. He didn’t give me that number - some areas are going to be thicker.
I calculate about 1,000 sq ft
The driveway will also be higher than the current one by about 8"
Ah, plus a footer for the garage. Depending on how deep that’s poured you’re talking something like 10-12 or so yards of concrete for that, plus rebar, so that’s adding to the cost. And I suspect sidewalks are more expensive, because they are narrower - same amount of work building the forms, but less concrete gets poured.
Good ballpark to know, I suspect I’ll be closer to the $25k range when I get there.
That sounds like a bargain compared to mine. Everything is more expensive here though.
Concrete pours Thursday for me. Very exciting
1 Like
our home project list is as follows:
-add a wall of cabinets to a kitchen area. lower cabinets will double as a bench.
-refresh the kitchen area (no footprint changes. refresh cabinets, new hard tops, and a couple new appliances. current is 14 yrs old.
-redo the 2.75 bathrooms. never been updated in my 14 yrs in the home
-remove 1 car garage. add 2 car garage w better breezeway/mud room connecting. also finish above said garage with in-law apartment living area.
-redo the driveway to match the new garage width
-5k
-17.5k
-37.5k (12.5k per)
-40k
-25k
125k total. Why not just move?
I have no idea how I got bigger font, but I like it.
'====================================
we like our location. Not moving. Could be a month of temp lodging?
All figures track with expectation except the garage w living space. you are probably way too low at $40K. (But good heavens I would be thrilled if you are right.)
I bet you could do a basic two car for $40k. Adding an apartment, my gut says double that easy. Could easily go over $100k if you go higher end on fixtures.
I am hoping my garage is < $30K. That includes H2O, electric and heat to it 
Wow, that sounds pretty affordable. Are you insulating it and doing drywall? And mud/tape/paint?
You’re in a pretty cold climate, right? So the mini split units are kind of out (without spending big bucks) because they don’t work below 0F or so. Are you looking at a gas heater?
I need to look at building a budget for a new 14x35 covered porch, if you can do a garage for $30k then maybe a porch won’t be as bad as I’m thinking.
Middle VA - so not WI freezing - it broaches F degrees in the teens, but not a lot
But yes - Insulation, drywall the works (I may do this myself if it isn’t in the $30K estimate above)
My plan is to do a brewery in here.
I did a Mr Cool DIY mini split. The efficiency falls off around 20F and the machine will shut down completely at 5F, so on super cold nights I use cheap space heaters to keep it above freezing. But for most of the year it works well and is efficient (22 SEER I think), and you can now get them cheap at Costco. And you can install it yourself in less than a day.
I went with the 1.5 ton for a 575 sq ft garage - 2x4 walls so 3.5" of fiberglass, plus 13" in the attic, and just 2.5" R-8 on the door. Honestly, it’s overkill and I should have just gotten the 1 ton (12k BTU) unit. On a 95F day, I managed to get my garage from 82F to 72F in one hour. A smaller unit would do better with keeping humidity lower.
My kitchen doesn’t have a backsplash, and now that I’ve been living without a backsplash I’ve realized that backsplashes aren’t just for decoration.
I was originally thinking boring subway tile but somebody on Home Town used thinly sliced brick and I’m intrigued.
I’m also too lazy to really look into getting a backsplash.
You can buy the pre-sliced brick, it’s real brick and looks great. Not too expensive for just a backsplash. Install would either cost a fair amount or you’d be at it for a while.
I did a 9’x15’ wall once and that took me about 40 hours to install and point.
1 Like
Wouldn’t brick for a backsplash me an absolute mess? How.do.you even clean that?
1 Like
The food splatter just becomes part of the aesthetic.
This. Or you could seal it, right? It would make it shinier but maybe that’s ok.
@Mathman Can you post a faux brick pic?