# Forum Home Renovation Brickwork  Brick garage cost?

## JohnnyD

Hi All
I need to replace my old falling down garage (approx 8 x 4 m).
It is currently very close to the boundary, although I was thinking of bringing it in about 300 mm.
In my council you can replace existing without having to put in any DA.
I was originally thinking of timber and cladding, but also lining it with gyrock to have as a rumpus room.
For ease of construction next to the fence I thought of making that a brick wall (and maybe paint the inside).
I was wondering what the comparative cost might be of building the whole garage out of brick versus timber frames, cladding, insulation, gyprock, paint etc. 
Any ideas or thoughts would be appreciated. 
Cheers!

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## JohnnyD

I forgot to add that there will also be a new concrete floor so I will be able to provide adequate footings, etc.

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## JohnnyD

Another question is single brick ok?

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## Uncle Bob

> Another question is single brick ok?

  Should be, my double garage is.

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## Lizzyodowd

> Another question is single brick ok?

   single brick with attached piers!

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## autogenous

Allow $2000m2

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## phild01

> Allow $2000m2

  $72,000 for a double garage :Shock:

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## autogenous

> $72,000 for a double garage

  Depends what ya doing. $50000 easy

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## phild01

> Depends what ya doing. $50000 easy

  I would have expected that to be at the very top. It's only a slab with single brickwork, and a trussed roof.

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## autogenous

> I would have expected that to be at the very top. It's only a slab with single brickwork, and a trussed roof.

  $1388.88888889 m2 = $50000 / 36 m2  
There are other variables. Is a builder building it?

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## sol381

what kind of garage is 8x4.. cant fir 2 cars in that. 6x 6 is normal. For $72,000 ill fly down to Sydney first class to build it.

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## Moondog55

I could easily fit 2 cars in a a garage 8000 wide and 4000 deep but I have a small car

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## autogenous

Just plans, engineer and council will be $3500 
Surveyor? $

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## autogenous

> I could easily fit 2 cars in a a garage 8000 wide and 4000 deep but I have a small car

  6m x 6m is standard enclosed garage

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## autogenous

The builder takes about 30% gross profit on top. Being small, the project is more intense, so the builders want more.

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## phild01

> The builder takes about 30% gross profit on top. Being small, the project is more intense, so the builders want more.

  Is the 'builder' doing any of the physical work or just organising trades?

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## Bloss

https://hipages.com.au/article/how_m...ck_garage_cost

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## autogenous

> Is the 'builder' doing any of the physical work or just organising trades?

  30% is about the gross profit a builder pulls on small jobs. On some renovations, up to 50% gross profit. 
On project homes, "gross profit" is about 23% to 30%.

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## autogenous

> https://hipages.com.au/article/how_m...ck_garage_cost

  _"Bricklayers generally charge $20 to $40 per hour"_ 
There are cracks in this article already which questions the capacity of HI Pages.  
Minimum wage for a bricklayer on wages is $30 per hour(Thats employed on wages by another brickie) + 9% superannuation + >=7% workers compensation insurance + public liability + plant and equipment + company running costs like accountants, fuel etc. 
The fuel bills are astronomical towing tools around. 
It doesnt bode well for the accuracy of the article supplied especially when plumbers and sparkies charge $90+ per hour 
The reality is with quoting time, no ongoing contracts, $400 ex GST a day is about $57000 net earnings p/a before tax. 
When a lot of secretarys in govt jobs are on $65000 a year plus benefits having continious work, you see why more men stay home and work around the kids. 
To earn $65000 per annum as a bricky, you need to be earning around $95000+ gross revenue in 46 weeks to be on the same pay as a secretary. Just pray it doesnt rain in those 46 weeks and no one forgets to get water or power put on, or the windows havent turned up. Chances are, you are stuffed before you start the job. 
So a bricky needs to earn about $60 per hour just to employ people at the current business costs. The reality is, a bricklayer employing other bricklayers needs about $70 per hour to run a business. 
Little wonder the country struggles to attract talent in the industry. This might be why the industry has poured millions of taxpayer dollars into the trade with little success. All the training of apprentices is in vain when people can't afford to employ them. First year apprentices are billed at $200+ a day alone by hire companies. There goes your $20 per hour HI Pages. 
The trade is a continuum of bankruptcy in some states.

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## autogenous

Ever since the introduction of superannuation where the builders refused to pay super to tradies, the Australian Tax Office has ran a transition where tradies must meet certain business conditions to be deemed true 'subcontractors'. That means they must be self employed proper business. 
While an amnesty was run as part of the transition process around the GST, the ATO has now become active in ensuring tradies meet the compliance of employment law. Many brickies are curently getting a ATO compliance reaming. 
I call them kamakaze brickies. They head towards losing everything in full denial till they have a raging ATO debt. Some become building supervisors to pay off their debts and the builder knows its not good for the face of the industry. 
The skyrocketed business costs have not been met. The government has made a desperate effort to emmigrate brickies to fill the hole they created. Those emmigrated brickies haven't stayed in the job, or the country with many heading back home where contracts on wages are often 12 months and the pay much much higher and cost of living much lower. 
It is the understanding that the increase in cost of business in government compliance not been met. Bricklayers are not treated as a proper business and a reckoning is coming in some states. Many bricklayers in some states are being audited by the ATO as we speak to ensure they are meeting the new compliance in areas like employment. 
My advice is have plans drawn then have an estimator give you a realistic contract sum. My guess for a* standard single brick enclosed* *double garage* of 36 m2 be about $50000+ built by a builder. The double electric door alone is about $4500. The plans, council planning submission and engineers details are another couple of thousand dollars. There you go, you have hit $10000 and not started.

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## autogenous

You could always put a tin shed on the side your house if you wish to devalue your property? If the council will allow it? 
Don;t forget you will probably need a new concrete driveway also, so its not just the concrete floor.

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## joynz

> My advice is have plans drawn then have an estimator give you a realistic contract sum. My guess for a* standard single brick enclosed* *double garage* of 36 m2 be about $50000+ built by a builder. The double electric door alone is about $4500. The plans, council planning submission and engineers details are another couple of thousand dollars. There you go, you have hit $10000 and not started.

  I had an electric roller door installed on my garage for around $2,300 including removing and disposing of the old door and a deeper rubber seal than usual.  The door is  around 4.9 metres wide.  That’s in Vic - and I didn’t choose the cheapest. 
Later this year brickie are going to have to be licenced to do work over a certain dollar value.  That will really shake up the industry.

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## autogenous

> I had an electric roller door installed on my garage for around $2,300 including removing and disposing of the old door and a deeper rubber seal than usual. The door is around 4.9 metres wide. That’s in Vic - and I didn’t choose the cheapest. 
> Later this year brickie are going to have to be licenced to do work over a certain dollar value. That will really shake up the industry.

  Roller doors can be cheaper than panel lift doors. Because a garage door consumes so much front elevation these days, it can make or break the look of a house. 
I doubt that will apply in WA. The cowboy state. 
The whole construction industry should be nationalised. No reason why i shouldn't be able to go work in Vic. 
Its such a simple solution now, sit the practice exam online until you get it right. Then go in and sit a witnessed exam. You then must have a professional indeminty insurance policy to operate.  
My postman is a fully qualified bricklayer and possibly one of the best in the state.  He is a postman because being a postman pays better.

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## Bigboboz

> _"Bricklayers generally charge $20 to $40 per hour"_

  The brick laying section pretty much ignores the hourly cost for the cost estimate.  The real basis was the per brick which they gave as $2,300-$2,400 per 1000 bricks which is in line whith what a builder told me about 3 years ago of about $2-2.5 a brick.  Possible costs have gone up since then but looking at the trend of construction approvals, it'll come down again. 
How many bricks does a brickie lay in an hour? At $90 an hour, he would need to do ~38 bricks an hour. Is that a lot? Feels like a lot. $2.4 a brick may be too low or $90 an hour too much...

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