Fred Duggan
New Member
Hello -
I appreciate any direction any of you can give me...I'm a recent first-time homeowner, and trying to figure this stuff out on my own is not as easy as I expected. I will try to keep this brief...
I have a detached garage, which is Cinder Block construction with a slab floor. It's about 20ft from my house. It's probably 40+ years old. When we bought this house, the Real Estate Agent gave me the idea that we could convert the garage into a DADU, and make money with it. His estimate of what that could cost was $50,000...but everything I've found out since then makes me believe this is very optimistic. One contractor estimated "low end" of $175,000. That seems crazy high. I could afford $50k, maybe $75k...but even if I could afford $175k, I would never make my money back for it to make a wise investment.
So, my first question is if anyone has any experience doing something like this in the Seattle area? I can do some of the work myself (sheetrock, painting) but all I am looking for is a studio apartment, one bathroom, 0 bedrooms, kitchenette...very simple living space that's about 500 sq ft.
Secondly, if it turns out that the DADU is too expensive for us, I would still like to upgrade the space. I would like to get plumbing installed, with at least a sink and some hot water. There is already some electricity, but maybe some heating. This way I could use it as n art studio year round.
So my questions about this process:
Do I need a permit to plumb my garage for a sink? How much is the permit?
Do I blueprints of the house?
Does it make sense to install just do a sink/drain? If the permit process is the same for a whole bathroom, maybe I should at least rough one in? If it's much cheaper to just do a sink, I would do that.
Anyone have a similar project to compare prices for just the plumbing?
Once the room has a sink (or bathroom), I assume I could then insulate it and hang sheetrock, to make it just one big room? Or is that a new permit?
I think that's all my questions for now...though I am sure I will have more.
(excuse the instagram picture...it's all I had).
Thanks!
I appreciate any direction any of you can give me...I'm a recent first-time homeowner, and trying to figure this stuff out on my own is not as easy as I expected. I will try to keep this brief...
I have a detached garage, which is Cinder Block construction with a slab floor. It's about 20ft from my house. It's probably 40+ years old. When we bought this house, the Real Estate Agent gave me the idea that we could convert the garage into a DADU, and make money with it. His estimate of what that could cost was $50,000...but everything I've found out since then makes me believe this is very optimistic. One contractor estimated "low end" of $175,000. That seems crazy high. I could afford $50k, maybe $75k...but even if I could afford $175k, I would never make my money back for it to make a wise investment.
So, my first question is if anyone has any experience doing something like this in the Seattle area? I can do some of the work myself (sheetrock, painting) but all I am looking for is a studio apartment, one bathroom, 0 bedrooms, kitchenette...very simple living space that's about 500 sq ft.
Secondly, if it turns out that the DADU is too expensive for us, I would still like to upgrade the space. I would like to get plumbing installed, with at least a sink and some hot water. There is already some electricity, but maybe some heating. This way I could use it as n art studio year round.
So my questions about this process:
Do I need a permit to plumb my garage for a sink? How much is the permit?
Do I blueprints of the house?
Does it make sense to install just do a sink/drain? If the permit process is the same for a whole bathroom, maybe I should at least rough one in? If it's much cheaper to just do a sink, I would do that.
Anyone have a similar project to compare prices for just the plumbing?
Once the room has a sink (or bathroom), I assume I could then insulate it and hang sheetrock, to make it just one big room? Or is that a new permit?
I think that's all my questions for now...though I am sure I will have more.
(excuse the instagram picture...it's all I had).
Thanks!