Creative Redesign Makes Garage Addition Affordable in Albany, Oregon

Mark and Betty met with us in September to plan out a new workshop space at their home in Albany. We hired local designer Jack Scovile to design a lean-to style garage behind their home with plenty of room for Mark’s workshop projects. Since they live on a hillside we were originally going to excavate about 6’ to 10’ deep into the hillside to make the workshop at the same level as the existing garage. However, we found that the excavation and concrete costs were too expensive. After consulting with Mark and Betty, we re-designed the project to include significantly less excavation and shorter retaining walls and reduced the project cost 20%.

Excavation started in January after we received permits from Albany. Due to the narrow space between their property and the neighbor’s we decided to use a mini-excavator and a tractor to transport the dirt out to dump trucks in the city street. With excavation complete, we set foundations and retaining walls. Mark decided to add some concrete steps and a concrete patio. We quickly created a written change order and were able to get them started at the same time to maximize our efficiencies and keep his costs low. Framing for the garage addition will begin in about one week. Our schedule predicts a completion date around March 15^th. I will post more updates to follow.

We work very hard to build projects that accomplish your goals within your budget! Please give us a call for a free estimate for your project (and advice on how to keep the costs within your budget).