Will we actually use a detached garage conversion?

[SweetheartNeckline]

We have a detached garage 20ft x 9ft ish with horrible rotting wooden doors and window frames (actual glass is partly missing too so boarded up.) The cost to replace the windows and doors with basic uPVC would be c £1800. The garage is for storage only due to an extension to the front of the house but still has a garage door which is also on its last legs.

While pricing up to have "like for like" replacements we decided to price up converting to an office and large storage room (say two areas of 10 x 9ft each). All in the quote is c £8000 with heating, electrics etc.

Now, DH (who has started working from home 5 or 6 days per month) says we should go for it. I think the quote is good value and we'll be here for 10 or so years, so my only worry is whether we'll actually use it. It's about 8ft from the back door and would have French doors onto the patio so kind of a garden room feel.

Anyone with a similar set up? I just worry he'll stay where the kettle is!

Put a kettle in there!

I dream of a garden room with a desk, a small sofa, a radio, kettle and cosy rugs.
I’d make it really lovely.
If I had the option I’d do a full annex with small bathroom, bed and small kitchen.

I have a detached garage converted into an office and I use it every day. I think its important that its warm and welcoming, we have an electric radiator in there and because its so well insulated it keeps it at a constant 18 degrees, which is warmer than my house for most of the day. It has plenty of light and is a comfortable and calm place to work. If it wasn’t, then I would find a thousand excuses to not go out there and work! Its a bit miserable crossing over and back when its raining or really cold but I have a kettle and a jug of water out there which is good for half the day, its just remembering to refill it. I would think very carefully about security, we bought a new security light to cover it, plus paid for extra security measures on the windows and doors. I keep my laptop and monitors in there so I dont have to take stuff backwards and forwards, and as it is detached I worried about not hearing burglars. I love the fact I have a commute, even though its only about ten steps, it really helps my productivity when I am not confronted by all the housework, endless marketing calls or taking in parcels for the neighbours!

As long as it is heated, it would be fab! I wfh quite a bit, and think it is crucial to have a separate space to go to, to be "at" work, as it were.

I also think £8K sounds a bit of a bargain.
Would it be a possibility to have a covered passageway or something to get to it from the house though ?
If I worked there, I'd be wanting to have a toilet fitted, and a little mile fridge and a sink big enough to fill a kettle from.

I dream of this!

You could Airbnb it or use it when your children are older - or even for visitors or grandparents.

Ideally include a loo and a tiny kitchen. Ideal for working from home.

Hmm - I do take on board the suggestions of a tiny kitchen and a loo, however that changes the laws we would have to comply with, would need planning consent, be a lot more expensive and not really needed for us as a family. Our house is only worth c. £200k as we are in a cheapish area. We plan to be here 10+ years.

A kettle and mini fridge however could be arranged! DH will not be having any clients or collegues visit him at home.

TheWanderingUterus your set up sounds exactly what we are planning - it was so helpful to hear it works for you. I hate going over to the garage in the rain now, but it's to use the tumble drier and is currently dark and cold and a bit spidery! I can see 10 steps in the rain is vastly preferable to a 2 mile walk to the office that DH has at the moment.

We are moving soon and will be coverting much of a double garage into a room for me to work (and others to relax in as well).

We did consider toilet etc but this would also have added a lot to our costs which are similar to yours. I am looking forward to it although a little apprehensive as it is hard to tell what it will be like. I’ll let you know how ours goes

If it suits your circumstances and you intend to stay in the house then go for it. But I think it will be cold. And wouldn't want it for myself. But I suppose with more people working from home it could be a feature when selling.

Go for it!

Have you considered the potential benefits of turning it into a kind of studio flat? I know it's more expensive, but if you live in an area where there are many tourists or business guests, an Airbnb let could quickly cover the additional costs (though it would be a lot of work too!). It would also provide you with accommodation for older kids/older parents should you need it!

We have an actual garden room which is about 20 metres from the house and it still gets used every day by our teenagers. It cost a lot more than £8k and it was still worth every penny!

I’m sitting in mine right now and I can assure you it isnt cold, Vivienne. I have three large windows and a glass door and one of these on the wall:

www.amazon.co.uk/Retention-Efficient-Thermostat-Automatic-protection/dp/B01D4UPQQU/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=futura+eco&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1517400539&sr=8-8

It has a variety of timers and settings, mine is set to maintain 18 degrees between 7am and 9pm. It costs £5 a week to run - we have a smart meter so I know exactly how much. The office itself has more insulation than my house, and I am only heating this space and not the whole house when I get cold.

Its worth consulting the planning regulations for your area anyway, we found that if we were changing the appearance of a detached garage then we had to put up a fence in front. The removal of the garage door counted as a change in appearance so we had to factor that fence into the costs. We also paid for planning permission (£300) so that when we wanted to change it into a bedroom/bathroom in the future it would meet planning regulations. Planning officer came out three times over the course of the build, gave us some advice and happily signed it off. We did have to put in extra supports and insulation etc that we wouldnt have had to do if it was just a straight forward conversion, but it would have been much more difficult to retrofit these in five years or so.

If you do decide to convert it, make sure it's really, really well-insulated, as otherwise it would be a fortune to keep it warm and workable-in - as it is stand-alone, it will otherwise lose heat at a far faster rate than rooms indoors.

But it sounds great - go for it!

There are so many kinds of insulation you can use now - it shouldn't be a problem to find one that will keep it toasty!

Fabulous. It's not actually visible from the road, Wandering, so think we can remove the door without issue. Building regs sign up included in the cost as we will move house eventually and it'd be nice to have it as an asset not a liability!

DH wears shorts from March to November so very warm blooded but we may as well do it properly while we're doing it.

Thank you all again

if you include a loo and kitchen then it is likely to be liable for council tax so think very carefully about that one.

We won't be studio-flatting it - within a mile of here you can rent a 3 bed terraced house for £400 pcm so definitely not a market for that! Useful for others reading the thread to bear in mind re council tax though.

My Dh had a converted garage office in our last house, it worked really well for him, no kitchen but a coffee machine and decent heater.

I am currently sitting in my garden office about 10 feet away from the back of my house. I work from here full time and LOVE it.

It's on a concrete base, double glazed, has full electrics. No kettle, but I need to get up and move about anyway (desk-based work).

Regarding heating - it's a bit like a caravan. Quick to cool down, but quick to warm up. I have a convection heater which I admit gobbles the electricity, but I offset that expense against not having to commute.

I don't think I'd justify it for just a few days a month though.

10 years ago we paid £6000 for the concrete base, the actual building, the electrics, the furniture and to patio the garden at the same time (not much garden left!). Did need planning permission as I live in conservation area, but no building regs, since no plumbing and not to be used as residence/sleeping in.

We have a double Garage/upstairs annexe room with a shower room, toilet and kitchen. The DC love it, 20 year old DS (at Uni) comes home and has sleepover/parties in it all the time. It's great we don't hear a thing. 12 year old DD is desperate to be old enough to have her sleepovers in it (I think 14 is about the right age). But she and her friends spend all their time over there when they come for sleepovers, they just come back into the actual house to sleep.

It sounds like it could be even more useful for you for your DH to have as an office and maybe DC sleepovers as well.

I've searched for people's experiences of detached garage conversions loads of times with no luck - browsing tonight for bathroom help and find someone planning almost exactly the same conversion as us!?

Really good to read that people think it's a good move. We would be looking to include a shower room so we could accomodate parents / visitors.

Sweetheartneckline - do you mind me asking where you're based and what kind of contractor gave you your quote? Was it a specialist company or a builder?

Our office sounds very similar - detached 8ft from house and with French doors and it's gorgeous. Also kitted out like an office so much nicer than working in the house. We find the distance from the house makes us much more productive. Go for it!

P.s. forgot to say the best thing we did with ours was to splurge on super high-quality insulation. It really does keep the cost of heating down and the rooms gorgeously warm. It's warmer than our house now!