Garage conversion

[BeaWheesht]

We're thinking of getting one to give us a bit more room. Is there anything we should think about before committing?

Any downsides we might not have thought about?

We're factoring in the cost of a bug shed for bikes and scooters etc.

Watching with interest as we're planning to do the same.

The main thing as far as I can see is, will you still have off-road parking? If so then you're probably not losing much by converting it. Some potential purchasers will be put off, but I would have thought many would prefer an extra room.

It's worth thinking about how you'll make the front of the house look good. I've seen conversions where the builder's done a bad job of matching the existing bricks and it's a bit of a mess.

How much sense it makes also depends on how it will link in with the rest of the house and what you plan to do with it. I've round some houses where the garage conversion was a bit of a nothing room and not easily accessible from the rest of the house.

Yeah we will still have room for 3 cars on the drive.

It will have a door directly opposite the living room door so will be accessible.

Yes, we do have a bit of an issue with them matching the stones I'm glad you've reminded me of that.

Something you might want to check is that if you put too many facilities in (kitchenette or shower room) you may get it counted as a second council-tax property and its own bill. I think this may depend if it's a separate building not attached to the house (ours is).

It's going to be a playroom / second lounge and is attached to the house , underneath a bedroom.

Think about insulation. My integral garage was single brickwork ( no cavity) had to add insulation on the inside of the external wall. It is still the coolest room in the house. Also some garage rooms are long and can get darker away from the front window. Avoid a central light fitting and put in those small ceiling lights spaced throughout the length and width. I am glad ours was done as it is a better use of space.

elfycat that does only apply to separate dwellings where you could potentially rent it out or sell it, I used to work in Council Tax.

We had our garage converted but as there was a door from the garage into the back garden at the rear of the garage we retained a "store room" at the back, so we ended up with somewhere to stash stuff, plus we put a shed in the garden for all the kids outdoor toys.

We also didn't just brick up the bottom of where the garage door used to be and put a window in. We matched size wise to the window on the other side of the front door which is 1.7m wide, so they made an opening for the window of that size. It looks much less like a garage conversion that way. Even the building regs guy commented on that.

Ours is a playroom with a sofa in it, I banked a whole wall with Ikea Pax wardrobes so we can store coats, tv, wii, games, toys and the hoover in there.

As it seems like it is all part of the house it should be double skinned wall wise, ie you have breezeblock/concrete block in the garage so just make sure it is insulated well.

Think about power sockets then install a couple more, you won't regret it!