Does anyone have their wfh set up in the garage?

[Fatslob]

The garage has insulation on the walls and the garage entry door is well sealed, with an electric heater, but DH is constantly complaining about having to work there.

He wants to convert a dining room into a study for himself. I don’t want to, I like having the space to get away from the children and having a separate room for severing dinner when family and friends come over.

I would not want to work in a garage unless it had been properly converted tbh.

I wouldn’t be keen unless it was converted and had windows. Or I was a mechanic.

Is it the cold he is complaining about or something else?

A colleague works from a converted garage. She said its insulated, but uses a heated blanket everyday. Its a PITA for her to walk back to the main house to get a drink/go to the loo. Especially if its raining.

Is your garage connected to the main house? Could a door be put in to make it accessible from the main house?
Put a thermometer in there and check what the high/low temps actually are.
Its easy to get cold if you are just sitting at a desk. Different if you are doing a labour intensive job.

I wouldn’t be keen.

if you have the space look into those prefab garden office things. A friend has one and it’s great.

Properly converted garage would be ok as you'd have light and heat but working in one that hasn't been would be miserable.

I'd be unhappy in the garage. It might be somewhat insulated, and you think the door's well-sealed (as much as a garage door can be) but it isn't living space and won't be comfortable.

Our garage is detached from the house, has an electric wall heater, windows on three walls, we keep a 2nd fridge and a spare microwave in there and have a kettle so making drinks isn’t a problem.

Is this ling term? If so you either need to properly convert the garage or compromise on use of dining room. Just how often do you host dinners?

I work in garden shed. It’s a block shed with a proper tiled insulated roof and insulated walls. I have an electric heater which is fine. I share the space with lawnmower, boxes of Christmas decorations and my son’s bench press but they are not in shot for any Zoom calls so don’t bother me. I need to come back to house to use loo but it’s no longer a walk than fro my desk to toilet in office. I actually really like it. The extra separation from house means I am disturbed a lot less by the kids and am not interrupted by pop ins or random callers or deliveries ‘because you’re working from home’.

Working from a garage sounds AWFUL to me but I think we might need some more details really.

• do you work or is your Dh the breadwinner?
• does the garage have a window, desk, proper floor (carpet/ wood, not concrete)?
• has he chosen to wfh or is it necessary?
• why are you needing the dining room to get away from the kids- are they at home all day, or do they have SEN?
• could he work from a corner of a bedroom, or could you have an “escape” in the bedroom?

It would need to be at least basically comfortable. Warm, a window, clean with properly flooring, walls etc.

No one with an office job should be working in anything less.

If he is there long term, it needs a window, and to be able to maintain a sensible temperature.

I know lots of people who work from converted garages, but none who literally work where a car (if small enough!) could be parked.

There’s no way it’s reasonable to expect someone to work a desk job in an unconverted garage (obviously if he’s a mechanic crack on). That’s just miserable. At minimum I’d say it needs proper flooring and walls, openable window, decent lighting and some form of heating. Either he needs to go to an office, rent a workspace, convert the garage properly or you need to accept that he works in the dining room - presumably you can still use it as a dining room for dinner guests if he’s not working then?

I did a spell working in our unconverted garage (it's integral) because I was up-cycling and upholstering some items and didn't have a suitable space in the house. I didn't enjoy it - no natural light, constant draught from the door, and as there's no proper heating it was cold. I'd hate to work at a desk in there! The garage is now top of the list for renovation so that it's properly insulated, properly heated and has a window! (Unless you have a 1980s or smaller sized car it won't be any use as a garage!)

Can the kids share a bedroom so he can have the smallest bedroom as his office? Unless the garage has been properly converted then it’s probably miserable out there but I can also see your point about not wanting to lose the use of the dining room.

Surely he doesn't need to convert the dining room, he just puts his laptop down and works, and packs it away at the end of the day. That's exactly what I do several times a week.