How Much Does a Garage Remodel Cost? [2024 Data]
Normal range: $7,000 - $30,000
The typical garage remodel costs $18,000 on average, or between $7,000 and $30,000 depending on the size of the garage and the extent of the remodel.
Because of the significant differences in the types of projects a garage remodel can consist of, expect to pay anywhere from $7,000 and $30,000, with the average garage remodel cost sitting around $18,000. A garage remodel is a perfect way to make one of the most unused spaces in the home into a little getaway. Because this is essentially a new room of your choosing, you can turn the garage into whatever you like, but how you use the new space will dictate your total remodel cost. In this guide, we’ll explain how much your garage remodel is likely to cost and what influences the total.
- Average
- $18,000
- Low end
- $3,000
- high end
- $65,000
What Factors Influence the Cost of a Garage Remodel?
While the type of remodel you’re doing is the most significant factor of the garage remodel process, it’s not the only thing you’ll need to consider to get an accurate estimate.
Size
While most garages fit two cars, one-car garages are still popular, and even three- and four-car garages are seeing rises in popularity. Since room for more cars means more materials and labor are required to complete the remodel, your price will naturally increase with the garage size.
The average square footage of garage types are as follows:
| Garage Size | Average Square Footage |
|---|---|
| One-car | 240 sq. ft. |
| Two-car | 440 sq. ft. |
| Three-car | 680 sq. ft. |
| Four-car | 880 sq. ft. |
For simple remodels, such as recoating the floor, painting walls, and putting up shelving yourself, expect to pay around $2 to $5 per square foot to DIY the project. These garage remodel projects ultimately maintain the garage for its primary purpose, which is storage space.
Major remodeling projects, such as a garage conversion into a living space, can get upwards of $86 per square foot. This is because you need to put up walls, insulate the garage ceiling, get the correct building permits, hire a general contractor, and much more.
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Permits
If required, expect to pay around $1,400 on average for building conversion permits.
Permits are only going to matter if you’re completely changing the purpose of the garage. These are known as conversion permits. Whether they’re required or not comes down to your state, county, or city, as well as the scope or intent of your garage remodel.
A garage remodeling contractor near you should be able to get the permit cost for you and pull them when it’s time to start the work.
Labor
Labor plays a significant role in the final cost of the garage remodel and will usually account for 50% of the total, or around $9,000, on average. The more time and people that need to be on-site, the more you’re going to pay. General contractors will sometimes charge a flat rate based on the project, which will be added to the cost of labor for subcontractors.
Electrical
Luckily, garages are often already hooked up to electrical and don’t need too much related work. But if you need new light switches, overhead lighting, or outlets, you can use the below estimates to figure out what your electrical costs will be:
$100 per new outlet
$100 per new light fixture, plus the fixture price
$150 per new light switch
$3–$5 per square foot for new wiring, if necessary
Plumbing
Plumbing will only matter if you’re converting your garage into a guest home, utility room, or kitchen, or if you’re adding a sink or appliance that requires water. Depending on the scope of the project, expect to pay around $1,550.
This is higher than you’d see in your living area because garages are rarely equipped with piping, so new pipes will need to run from your existing plumbing system into the space. As such, the proximity of the new fixtures to your living area can make a big difference in the price.
Interior Walls
While you typically already have three of the four walls in place in a garage, you still need to hang drywall and close off the space where the garage was. If you’re converting the area into a bedroom or guest home, you’re also going to need to frame out new walls and hang drywall for bathrooms and closets. This will likely run you around $2,000.
Painting will cost between $2 and $3 per square foot, in most cases.
Exterior Wall
For the area where the garage door was, you have many material choices. You can go for brick or siding that accents the exterior of the home, or you can utilize stucco for the finishing touch and get creative with the texture of the home.
Common materials to choose from include:
| Common Materials | Cost Per Square Foot |
|---|---|
| Wood boards | $7 to $14 |
| Wood shingles | $6 to $14 |
| Vinyl | $1.50 to $15 |
| Metal | $8 to $15 |
| Brick | $9 to $25 |
| Stone | $8 to $25 |
| Stucco | $6 to $9 |
| Concrete | $5 to $9 |
Insulation
If you intend to use the garage as living space or a workshop, insulation is required to keep it comfortable and safe. The average cost of insulation is around $2 per square foot. Depending on the type of insulation you need in your area, you could pay anywhere between $1 and $4 per square foot.
Garage Door Removal
Whether you’re replacing your garage door or removing it entirely, the old garage door has to go somewhere else. If the remodel crew doesn’t include garage door removal, then expect to pay around $75 on average. You can also up-cycle the old garage door by cutting the metal and repurposing it for flower beds or end tables.
Repairs
If your garage floor or wall needs repairs, you’re going to want to tackle those first before you even get started on the rest of the remodel. Ignoring these damages can lead to ruined progress down the road. Repairs can cost anywhere from $150 to $2,000, depending on the number and extent of repairs needed.
Even if you’re leaving your garage’s utility as-is, you might need to repair a broken garage door opener if the garage door won’t close properly.
Garage Remodel Cost by Location
While the cost of living affects the project’s final price, the type of project you want to complete is ultimately the most significant factor. So this means that while your neighbor may have paid $40,000 to turn their garage into a guest home, you might be only looking at $2,000 for new cabinets and an insulated workshop area.
Common prices for remodeling a garage, regardless of the project, in these states are as follows:
| State | Cost |
|---|---|
| Florida | $11,700 |
| Texas | $8,800 |
| California | $37,400 |
| New York | $10,800 |
| Massachusetts | $11,200 |
| Colorado | $10,800 |
| Illinois | $8,400 |
| Minnesota | $7,600 |
How Much Does a Garage Remodel Cost by Type?
This is your space to make from the ground up. So you can go as extravagant or as simple as you’d like. The type of remodel you intend to carry out will have the biggest effect on your total. We’ll include some average costs for different common conversions and remodels to help guide you toward an accurate estimate.
Simple Remodel
A simple remodel for cabinets, painting, and recoating of the floor is around $3,500 on average. The average cost to install a new garage door is about $1,200.
A simple remodel would consist of keeping the current layout and functions of the space intact and just freshening up the area to make it more appealing and welcoming. You still have a place to park your car, but you can redo floors, paint the walls, and add new cabinets and garage organization projects. You could even opt to install a new garage door to match your aesthetic inside the garage.
Home Gym
The average cost to convert your garage to a home gym is around $800, but the price can vary between $200 and $6,000, depending on how decked out you want your workout space to be.
Soundproofing will help eliminate noise from escaping into the home as well as into the neighborhood. Expect to pay around $300 per wall for soundproofing and adhesive material.
Rubber mats keep the floor safe from cracking and help dampen the weights’ noise when they hit the floor. They’ll also give you enough traction so that you’re not slipping and falling all over the place. Rubber mats to cover 400 square feet will run you around $300 on average.
If you want to keep your space cool in the summer and warm in the winter, adding a simple ductless system and insulation will cost around $5,000.
Workshop
For a simple workshop, expect to pay around $2,000, depending on how much storage you need.
Whether it’s woodworking, soapmaking, or a sweet home brewing setup, having a workshop for storage and room to work will likely solve your space problems. You’re probably going to need a workbench area, as well as shelving or cabinets to store equipment as well, which can add to your costs.
Bedroom
Expect to pay around $20,000 on average for a simple bedroom. Primary bedrooms with a bathroom will likely cost you about $45,000 on average.
Garage conversions can add valuable living space, but they do require quite a bit of work. You’re going to need to dispose of the garage door and its components, put up the exterior and interior walls, make spaces for windows, and fit the space with electric, plumbing, heating, and cooling. Depending on your fit and finish, you could pay $50,000 or more.
Family Space
Because you don’t have to put up drywall for closets and plumbing isn’t a worry, you’re likely only going to pay around $15,000 for a family space garage remodel. Maybe you have enough bedrooms, and you’re looking for space for the family to spend time together or invite friends over for a great party. This includes adding a fire escape window, hooking up to the HVAC, sealing the garage door opening, and installing new flooring.
Bathroom
To convert a garage into a bathroom, expect to pay around $20,000 on average. This project can add a ton of value to your home, so while it is expensive, it will very likely be worth it from an ROI and utility perspective.
Kitchen
Kitchens cost anywhere from $5,000 to $65,000, depending on plumbing, appliances, and countertop space, making a kitchen conversion one of the most expensive garage remodel options.
But if you’re looking to become a master chef that has anything and everything imaginable when it comes to cooking, the remodel might be worthwhile, especially since a large kitchen should add tons of value to your home.
Office Space
Turning the garage into a home office is relatively easy and costs around $7,500, depending on how simple or luxe you want the office space to feel. You’ve likely sacrificed some other portion of your house to work from home, so either the kitchen, the living room, or a bedroom has become completely unusable because you want to escape work at the end of the day. As such, the cost to convert a garage to office space could be worth it.
Utility Room
If your laundry appliances are already out in the garage, you can look into converting a portion of the garage into a proper utility room for an average of around $500. You can add in shelving for folding and storage and even a utility sink, in which case your garage conversions into a full-blown utility room start at around $3,000, but this will depend on the scale of the project.
Converting a Garage Yourself vs. Hiring a Pro
A DIY garage conversion is not a project for the average homeowner because it involves a lot of physical labor and electrical and plumbing skills. But if you are a particularly handy homeowner with prior experience in contracting work, you can take on certain parts of the renovation project to cut down on costs and call in the pros to handle the more complex aspects, like wiring and plumbing.
If you DIY your garage renovation, you could save as much as 50% in labor fees, or an average of $9,000 for a basic garage conversion project. However, you’d likely hire a pro to build your garage, and a renovation can be just as big as a first-build project. Considering all the work that goes into a garage conversion, hiring a remodeling pro is your best bet to guarantee a smooth construction that wraps up promptly.
Frequently Asked Questions
The first place you start with any garage remodel, regardless of the project, is with repairs. You want a stable foundation to avoid problems from arising down the road. Once any necessary repairs are addressed, you’ll want to move on to layout changes, like installing new walls, running new electric, plumbing, and HVAC to the space, if required, and then finishing work.
On average, you’re looking at an ROI of around 80% for a garage remodel, so it’s very often a worthwhile investment. However, the utility and value your project adds will have a major impact on that number. For example, doing a basic remodel and just maintaining your garage’s current purpose will add minimal value, but converting it to living space might make your home significantly more appealing to some buyers.
It depends on a lot of factors, but generally speaking, added living space is more desirable to most buyers, which means an extra room will be more valuable than a traditional garage. The utility of the new space will determine how much ROI you’ll see. An additional bedroom will generally be more valuable than a living room or family room, and converting your garage to a bedroom with a bathroom will likely add the most value.