Integral garage dilemma

[garageconvodilemma]

So I have an integral garage which I converted on a shoe string years ago into half utility half garage with a fake garage door.

I'm unexpectedly going to be staying in this house longer than I planned now due to divorce - 3 kids - and the housing market in my area being ridiculous

I'd like to convert the space properly. It's a 1970s house so I would say isn't as wide as modern garages (approx width about 2300mm and length 4500mm

I'm stuck what to do...

Option. 1) form doorway from porch into space that way 3 kids and pets can all come into the space instead of tramping through my lounge. So the space would be a (very large) boot room and utility - think fancy built in cupboards the works (as budget allows)

Option 2) put a WC in there as well - BUT no waste on that side of the house at all. Would been a Saniflo and macerator (which I'm just not bare on 💩) or trenching through the house (we only have one bathroom currently)

Option 3) am I trying to do to much by making it a utility / boot room / AND study? (I WFH a lot)

Will post a layout shortly

There is already a door at the top end of the garage - marked in green

What is your budget? With 3 DC and one bathroom, is there any way to get a shower in there as well as a loo?

I got a reasonable-sized home office with en-suite shower room/WC and a utility room big enough for a washing machine, tumble dryer and a lot of storage space out of the garage in my 1950s house.

Budget I would get £10-15k for the builders works (excluding fit out) as most of garage is already converted and a lot can be reused it has light heat power and plastered - one wall will need to have plasterboard come off and insulated and the floor will need to be dug out and redone (currently just tile on top of concrete garage slab)

The house isn't huge and I think a shower would be disruptive in there - I don't tbh know it would used

Do you find the room is a bit Jack of

all trades being so multipurpose?

I quite like idea of study at the bottom end (where a window will go in the garage door space) and then utility and boot room type in the half nearest to the door at the other end which opens into a kitchen/diner

Or I could flip the study to the top end and have utility stuff at the bottom since the current vent for the tumble dryer goes out the fake garage door currently and the water waste from the sink connects in down there too

You could take some space out next to the porch for a heated/ventilated cupboard for coats, boots and shoes, then make the remaining space a desk in front of the window with cupboards for study, with the door through to utility.

@Melroses

I thought about that but I think then the utility is a room within a room and a bit iffy on regulations

I see. Your idea of a one room jack of all trades seems the best bet then, and could easily be altered in the future.

It is definitely worth running some heating pipes through your coat cupboard.

You could always put a screen between the desk and the utility area.

Could you add the rest of the floor plan?

What's next to the garage? Is there side access or is the garage wall the boundary?

If you're digging up the floor, adding some extra drainage might not be much more effort

@Melroses

Ah yes good idea! There is a radiator in there already which would need moving and I can use the pipes

It's the to have/have not the WC which I can't get past a bit

But I suppose when I do eventually come to sell at least the space has a window and is up to regs and if someone wants to put a WC in with a Saniflo then they can do it

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/boaxel-laundry-combination-white-s89386485/

This is my favourite Ikea laundry room storage system - you have to click on it to look at the picture of it in situ.

@Franklet

The garage wall is a party wall with next door - their garage

The porch side of the house is the one with the side path down to the garden and where the soil stack is

If I had the budget I'd completely change the layout downstairs and do an extension but I've got to pay extra husband £££

We did this a few years ago. It is absolutely brilliant. Loads of space for coat storage, boots, kit bags (we have a shelf for shoes and a shelf for bags each); all the laundry stuff, freezers and space for a high desk/work area at the window end. I can't send photos because it is a complete tip, but would definitely recommend.

@Franklet

The Red Cross top left is the soil stack. It's a hell of a run to connect into it I would say from the garage?
I'd have to trench through the kitchen/dining and I didn't want to have to replace the kitchen to be honest - hoping to get a few more years out of those

Whatever you do, get it signed off properly with any appropriate building regulations approval.

I know someone who has just pulled out of a purchase because of missing approvals and also, in that case, dreadful work quality. You hopefully won't have the latter, but make sure you have the right paperwork in place should you come to sell as not having it might put potential buyers off.

@KeyKnowledge

Thanks! Good to know!

You don't find it odd working in the utility? But at least it's handy to make coffees though 😂

@Feelingstrange2

Yes definitely- I've approached a couple of well known companies locally that only do garage conversions. That's one of the main drivers for doing the works really is to get it up to regs for when I do sell as I know when I did it on a shoe string budget (did most of it myself) that it isn't (did the best I could with Google videos and no money!) but to be fair it's lasted me 15 years and I think I only spent about £1500 on it at the time max to tile it plasterboard and skim fake garage door etc heat light power cheap utility furniture and it now functions as a utility come toy storage/craft space but I'm ready for something more grown up

^Do you find the room is a bit Jack of

all trades being so multipurpose?

I quite like idea of study at the bottom end (where a window will go in the garage door space) and then utility and boot room type in the half nearest to the door at the other end which opens into a kitchen/diner^

No, I had a second door put in. So the original door from the kitchen leads into the utility room. Then there's a door from my living room into the home office and a door from there into the en-suite. It has the advantage that the home office could be potentially be used as a bedroom with an ensuite shower room.

To be honest I didn't like working on a high stool (worktop height) but DH loved it. :-) It's a nice oak worktop, and bookshelves on the wall above. Looks nice. Big utility rooms are a rarity round here (W London) and so lots of friends have utility envy. 😂

@KeyKnowledge

The garage is probably 60% of the size of the lounge so it's pretty sizeable so definitely envy inducing if I can get it right 🤞🏻

I'd been looking to move until I realised nothing works for my budget - and that includes lack of utility in most 3/4 bed homes - I'm so used to having one it would be a huge wrench to move somewhere without it especially with all the washing I seem to get through - with it currently being utility, shoe and coat storage, craft space and toy storage it's the most used room in the house 😂

Depending on whether parking is readily available in your area, you may need planning permission for this and may not get it

Just wanted to add we have just had a garage conversion in to part storage and part home office (dividing wall, wiring, floor, insulation window, electrics etc) and it come in at under 8k (local company) - We are in a cheap area of the country but you should be able to get something decent for your budget

I think I’d have a boot room/utility with a macerator loo (League of Gentlemen type rules for not passing solids) off the porch, then a study completely separate at the top end.

I'd close off the door into the lounge and make a new door into the converted garage. I'd make it a massive entrance hallway with tonnes of storage, a work from home space and the utility area. Then your lounge is a proper lounge instead of being a hallway too. The house will feel loads bigger.