Cost to sheetrock/insulate garage (San Jose, Menlo Park: loft, home, water heater)

[smaayeh]

We purchased a small home in Menlo Park and we want to make the garage more usable and safer for the kids. We got a quote from a licensed GC to sheetrock insulate walls/ceilings, texture/paint, electrical lighting (9 LED cans)/3 outlets and create an insulated attic drop down to the existing loft above. He will also close in the loft and build a closet around the HVAC unit so the kids will keep away. Floors will also be epoxy and painted. He is coming in at 11k. Is this high or fair?

He also said he could remove the water heater outside and go tankless for 3k, including moving the lines, etc.

We will leave the garage doors 100% intact so it could still be usable as a garage, but I will change to insulated ones so we can have some quasi-living space in the winter.

Please withhold comments on if is it worth it. I am more looking for opinions on the fairness of the bid.

[ncguy444]

That is probably fair for a general contractor in your neck of the woods. I would play it safe by getting an additional 2 quotes. I did the same thing for a 25' X 55' detached garage and also built an office that I use for one of my businesses in Ohio all by myself between working at 12 hours a day and other responsibilities. I am not a GC, a carpenter or an electrician for that matter and it was relatively easy. It took me about 6 months working on and off and I only had to pay for materials which is maybe 1/5 the cost it would be to have someone do it. Good Luck

[jaypee]

IMO, it's high, especially if there is no plumbing work involved. It's all pretty basic DIY work outside of closeting the furnace. You can save on $ if you can do these simple things yourself:

- paint the walls/ceiling
- epoxy and paint the floor

[Zeya]

I also recommend getting another couple of quotes. I can't speak to the price, but on first blush, it sounds at least in the ballpark to me, because he would be covering some large surfaces.

You're in Menlo Park you said, but if it's like San Jose, if you have certain work done, you have to get permits with the city/county (not sure which). In my neighborhood, probably 90% of such work they haven't bothered to get permits. You can theoretically get tattled on or have a buyer play that against you when you go to sell. For that water tank removal, you're almost certainly going to need a permit. Sheetrock and insulation probably doesn't need any permits, but moving walls does for sure.