Hi all, Just wanted to chime in on this thread. I am starting my 3rd self-built home project. (Yes, I need to have my head examined) I run a remodeling company so it's not completely insane. Previous comments about kitchens and baths being core expenses are right on the money--- so to speak. They are expensive. Building one in an apartment and then a new one in your finished house is really shooting yourself in the foot. Try this instead. Build with the foot print of a 3 car garage, say 38 x 25, but only utilize the space a two car garage would generally take up as garage space--- 25x25. Use the 25x10 part to put your permanent stair, a foyer and your permanent kitchen in. Now you can think of the space over the garage as a second story of your finished home. You can get 2-3 bed rooms and a bonus out of the space with a hall bath. Unless you really need an apartment this approach can save a bunch of cash. Someone was asking about standing seam metal roofing. If you use the commercial folks you see on TV expect to be asked to pay $65 a square foot. I had one come out and give me a quote just to check it out. It was a real manipulative "hard sell" with all these "bonuses" and "programs" available "if you sign today." Be very careful. No matter how you slice it it's a rip. Either HD or Lowes will special order metal roofing for you. Its's not hard to install. (Be careful, wear sneakers and don't bend down on your knees, it is really slick.) If this is your forever house, install 40 year architectural asphalt. It looks nice and will likely outlive me. Good Luck and Be careful out there! Bruce

If I have a choice I would never have a bedroom above a garage, without anymore info can’t comment on your situation. As for price we would not hazard a guess on this forum , you need to get some estimates in your area.

Sorry, I don't have actual picture because that space is currently two rooms with a wall in the middle, and we are going to remove the wall and make it a bigger room of about 23x18. Everything is on a design stage. The wall for french door and mudroom door is a dry wall now. I used Lowe's virtual room designer and don't know how to label and add exterior feature. I will try to explain it better. The black block in the center against wall A represents TV. The door next to the TV goes to mudroom. The french door goes to backyard. So there is a wall outside perpendicular to wall A between french door and mudroom door, which is one wall of mudroom. Hope it helps.

My 2 cents... I would not do it with an attached garage... You are just going to be overbuilding the garage and wasting money when you build the house. In other words, the cost of building an attached garage with a house will be significantly less than the cost of building a garage and later attaching a house to it. Aside from the cladding, you also have mechanical and electrical systems that you are going to plan and install with the ADU and that are largely going to have to be redone. The rentals that you get over the next seven years probably will not even cover the marginal cost. ---- This is a little different if you are doing a detached or semi-detached garage. However, you are still going to be overbuilding the garage to make this an efficient idea. You are going to have to plan where your plumbing will enter the house when completed. If you are on a septic system you should plan and/or install the entire system now, etc. Having a livable space on site while you construct a home can help with expenses, but having a ADU that you are renting to alleviate some of the cost is probably not as effective. Good luck.