Cheapest Way to Build a Garage

Garages are a good addition to any home as they offer room for storage outside of the house and a place to park your car, off the street and out of the elements. In essence, garages are simply stand-alone rooms that can be secured. While some garages can be as expensive as a full room addition, they can also be very cheap and easy construction projects, as all that really needs to be built is the frame, siding and roofing structures, without the need for the expense of insulation or electricity.

Pre-planning exactly what materials you will need for the construction itself, along with measuring the area where you will build the garage, is the first step in building a garage on the cheap. Nothing will cost you more money then getting halfway through the project and having something that wasn't planned for occur in the construction process, which will cost you even more money to start over or fix the problem. Map out exactly what you are going to build—if you can draw a blueprint, do it—and list the materials. Then you can bargain-shop for cheap wood, screws, siding, windows and whatever else you may need.

The most expensive part of many constructions is the labor that must be hired to actually do the work. Since you will be building the garage yourself to save some of this money, look to not hire anyone at all by recruiting friends and family to help you during the construction process. However, make sure these people have some knowledge of how to use tools and actually will be an asset to the building of the garage, rather then just hanging around and distracting you or building the garage incorrectly. Most friends and family will work hard for you as long as they are well fed after the day's work.

Cutting deals with places that sell construction materials will also help you to build a cheap garage. Buying everything from a small lumberyard or hardware store and letting them know that you are using their services exclusively may help you get a cheaper deal on everything. Simply explain what you are doing to the manager and see if you can get a discount from them. Other big, corporate hardware and tool stores will probably have more materials and deals built in to the rates they have on materials but are less likely to cut you personal deals. With this knowledge, find the best deal for your construction purposes.