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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think we can have ‘utility room’ in garage

64 replies

Newmumin23 · 23/08/2024 11:44

We’re about to convert our garage to give us more living space downstairs , we also thought we would add in a utility room.
The current plan is to 3rd the garage which would contain larger living space, into utility room and then small area at front left for storage and garage door.

I’m thinking to make the living space larger we could just make 2 rooms which would be larger living space with door into ‘utility/garage’ so essentially the utility units would be in the garage area. It would be done properly so proper flooring, walls boarded out etc so it was a room, it would just have a garage door on the front.

Am I missing anything? Husband thinks resale people might be put off having utility in the garage area, but we’re probably going to be here another 5+ years and the extra living space would be more beneficial to us, utility space is really a bonus.

Is my idea silly? Has anyone done anything similar?

OP posts:

Abitofalark · 24/08/2024 18:29

ToplessWordle · 23/08/2024 13:52

My friend has her washing machine in the garage (there is no space for it in the kitchen or bathroom). Every time there is a cold snap, her washing machine stops working for the duration. She spends a lot of time and money in the launderette!

Some retailers won't install washing machines in a garage. (Unless a proper conversion, I mean.)

Tagyoureit · 24/08/2024 18:34

I've never seen the benefit of a garage in the house, it seems like such a waste of space especially if the property has a driveway. I'd love a utility room!

ToplessWordle · 24/08/2024 19:13

@Flossflower she lives in the SE of England

SatinHeart · 24/08/2024 19:25

Aquamarine1029 · 23/08/2024 14:04

I absolutely would not keep the garage door. If you're making it into a proper room, do it properly. You can put it big windows or sliding glass doors/French doors in its place.

This is my thinking too. It's a bit pointless having a full up-and-over door on a space that's no longer big enough to store anything that wouldn't fit through a normal door.

Makingchocolatecake · 24/08/2024 19:32

ButtSurgery · 23/08/2024 11:55

As a current prospective house buyer, the loss of the garage would be far more of an issue and I wouldn't be interested in your house at all.... I love a utility, but a garage is more important for us.

Also badly done self-conversions (like my neighbours) with inappropriate insulation including in the roof make the place freezing cold and unusable in winter.

The neighbour's house sale has fallen through three times in the past few years because the buyers survey exposes the problems, including the lack of fire proofing (the garage is adjacent to other garages and has open joists!) and insufficient windows (ie none). They refuse to spend money to bring it up to standard and seem to be hoping to fool someone who only has a valuation survey not a proper one.

Fairly easy for someone to remove utility bits in a garage though

Incognito2024 · 24/08/2024 19:38

AuntieJoyce · 23/08/2024 12:14

I’ve had a vented dryer in my garage for six years that is still going strong now

Me too! This is only my second vented tumble dryer and we’ve lived here over 20 years. Both have been in the garage.

leapinglizard1234 · 25/08/2024 07:06

we did this in our old house , people love utilities and they can always take it out .

SmileLady · 25/08/2024 07:09

It was the first thing we did when we moved to our current house. The garage ran alongside the entrance corridor. So we opened up a door from garage to the hall wall. Then split the garage into two. Left the back area as the utility,loads of storage, washer dryer. The front we got a new roller garage door for and it's storage.

It works really well. Go for it.

Edingril · 25/08/2024 07:18

I wouldn't buy a house with no garage and I don't want to be lugging washing from the house to the garage and back again

KimKardashiansLostEarring · 25/08/2024 07:24

ALovelyCupOfNameChange · 23/08/2024 11:57

Remember it needs to be warm enough for heat pump tumble dryers and fridge / freezers to work optimally

Yes we had a miniscule kitchen with only an under-counter fridge, and a garage 4x the size 🙃🙃 so we had fridge freezer in the garage which broke from the cold one winter, plus got pretty mouldy round the trims etc!

We never ever put the car in the garage and just filled the garage with crap. Now the garage has been turned into the kitchen and utility and I have no idea why we held onto all the crap we had in the garage, not missing it at all! Your plan is good OP.

Bedroomdilemmas113 · 25/08/2024 07:24

Yes and no.

I wouldn’t leave the garage door on as that will affect saleability. It’ll appeal to people
who in the first look want a garage and then disappoint when they realise it doesn’t exist. It will also mean your living space will be windowless as you can’t add side windows the same way that you can replace a garage door with a window to the front.

You also need to be aware that losing the garage without having dedicated parking will massively impact saleability and weigh that against the need for more space and storage now.

We added a utility room to a garage conversion in a previous home and loved it. As others have said, we had a large shed and loft for storage. But it was definitely mentioned (a lot) when we were selling.

KimKardashiansLostEarring · 25/08/2024 07:27

This thread has made me realise absolutely none of my friends have garages! Literally 100%. All houses either never had one, or garage has been converted. The 1 friend who does have a garage is in a rental. So I personally really wouldn’t worry about there being no market for garage-less houses!

Ftctvycdul · 25/08/2024 07:35

Current prospective house buyer here. Have a really good think about the usable space and aesthetics before you do this.

We’re going to look at a house next week and the vendor has converted their garage into a tiny utility (no room for a drier), plus a shower room. The shower room is impractical, plus they’ve put a window in the utility and then have blocked this with shed that is replacing the storage lost in the garage. It looks poorly thought through and if we like the house we’ll be knocking money off as we need it to address these issues.

Sunraysunday · 25/08/2024 07:36

We did this OP, a proper conversion with tanking, insulation etc. made the back 1/4-1/3 into a utility area with tumble, washing machine, coat storage and loads of shelving. We had a stud wall added with double doors to access it, and the remainder we made into a study with a new big window. It was a great space.
if you have room elsewhere for garage storage I would go for the window option to make the most of the room and have all the natural light.
We checked with local estate agents before we did it and they said some future buyers would want a garage and some would want the space so it wouldn’t make much difference. We love the space, it’s made a huge difference. I think we’d have moved without it!

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