Knocking through integral garage wall to enlarge kitchen diner in new build

[Otter1986]

Has anyone ever pulled the all down between an integral garage and the main house? Did you run into any issues that you didn't think of? Was it a much more onerous job than you thought?

Context: We are looking at a new build house (built 2017). Overall, it's absolutely perfect in terms of location (near school, park, high street etc) and it's a great size for us. We live in an area of lots of small (900 square foot) two up and two down type victorian terraces so larger houses are few and far between.

The issue is that the kitchen diner leaves quite a lot to be desired - it's quite a restricted space. So, we want to knock the wall down between the existing kitchen and the garage to create an L shaped space - red circle is the wall we want to take out. We'd keep about 4 feet at the front to create a bike hangar but the rest would house a new u-shaped kitchen and the existing space would be a larger dining and seating space.

But we can't find much advice or experiences of this online, so is it just impossible? Builders we have spoken to say 'it depends (not helpful). We won't offer on it, if we can't do the work, so hoping to get some sort of insight by the weekend so we can make up our mind on this one.

Thanks

I have known new build developmens have a planning restriction on the conversion of garages in this way, since parking is generally niggardly. Worth checking

Yes I did it but it wasn’t a new build. Have a lovely space now.
Do consider that the floor levels may be different between the garage and the other room. We didn’t and it was extra cost to rectify.
Also, the usual issues of insulation, power, heat etc will be looked at by your builder but you may want to start thinking about it.
Good luck

Good catch - I hadn't thought of that. That might be why the house has been on the market for 2 months (which is extremely rare for the local area). One to look into, thanks

Can you get a structural engineer around to see what support you will need. Looks like a load bearing wall. Will give you an idea of cost too.

Could you not extend into the garden although it would be more expensive I would imagine?

We are pretty sure that it is a load bearing wall but the agent won't offer us any more viewings without an offer on the table. Which we don't want to do to just pull it because something obvious about new builds was missed. We have a call with an engineer ahead of the weekend to ask some questions but he has said he won't know if it can be done until he sees it. Its a bit of a chicken and egg situation!

We'd prefer to extend into the garage or it's really just a massive cupboard / waste of space. Also, the garden isn't very large so we'd prefer to save that

Ahh thats annoying. Are there any similar houses on the estate that have done it? Maybe try looking on zoopla or council for any planning permission documents?

Yes!

It is possible to put a utility area into the garage without actually converting it. Would this free up some space?

It will depend if the wall is load bearing, where the soil pipes etc from above are located, if the floors are the same level and many other things. The cost can vary massively.

How many viewings have you had so far? Do they want to sell the house!

Thanks for everyone's responses! A catch all reply...

There are only 5 houses in the row and 2 are built differently from the get go as they don't have room for a car to pass through. The 2 that are built the same as this haven't converted the garage.

There is a boiler but no soil pipes in the garage. Even if there were, those could be boxed in. The boiler could be moved too - we aren't worried about that.

We managed to get the plans from the local council; it's load bearing but a steel could go in, so we aren't especially worried about that.

We plan to convert a bathroom into a utility / loo so putting that in the garage isn't something we'd consider.

The reality is that the kitchen diner is just too small. I know people live with smaller but at the price we want to be able to do more than squeeze in. Without adjusting that, the house doesn't work for us.

We are starting to think we'll keep looking as it's a big purchase to make and then find weactually can't do what we wanted.

Thanks all

I've converted our integral garage, had to leave more wall than I'd planned as electricity meter was on it and it would have been very expensive to move it.
From your diagram, if you keep the garage door and make your bike shed won't the new space be very dark? Id consider installing windows and losing garage entirely.

I wouldn't do it entirely, I'd make sure to leave a store at the front for bikes etc. I'd never buy a house with no garage.

The light would come in from the existing window and doors. It would be very similar to the layout we have in our rental so we think that it would be fine. The bike shed / camping gear storage is an imperative for our family, otherwise a room in the house would just become a cupboard for that stuff. We are wondering if we could use the ground floor loo for bikes though - we were going to use it for coats and shoes but could probably just pop those on hooks in the hall. Lots to think about - I am starting to think we might need to just build a house from scratch to get something that we actually like!

What about leaving the kitchen/garage wall insitu but knocking down some of the hall/garage wall

Then you end up with 2 sort of rooms which are free flowing into each other

Im not keen personally on missing walls because ultimately furniture and rads go on walls and you can keep a distinct space but obviously not everyone wants that

Agree with keeping a bit of a storage bit at the front - when people talk about converting a garage to “create space” I always want to ask what’s going to happen to all the stuff currently in the garage. I know garages are crap magnets but bikes, tents, tools, gardening stuff, bbqs etc have to go somewhere.

Absolutely - we have quite a few bikes and scooters that currently live in a downstairs loo. Which is OK, but I'd rather they didn't come inside! So, a bike store at the front is a must

I didnt click that there wouldnt be a window at the front, so knocking through the hall wall doesnt make sense then.

If I read the plans right this is 3 storey property with them kitchen and living room on different floors. That would definitely put me off.

But that isn’t relevant to this thread. She’s asking about something different.

She is but presumably from the perspective that the layout doesnt work, hence the need for reconfiguration.

If it was fine as is for OP she wouldnt be wanting to change it.

As an aside I woujld never buy a house with this layout either.

Thanks for everyone's comments / thoughts.

We've decided not to offer - we think that the cost of the house is too much to compromise on the size of the kitchen. But other options like renovating the entire garage to give us a dining space to we can expand the kitchen area then removes bike storage etc... it just doesn't work for us on the ground level. Such a shame as the upstairs is perfect!

Not a new build, but we bought a house and converted the garage into a g
huge Utility/ Storage/ Loo/ Bin area. But we left the wall and door between that and the kitchen and there is a step down as they are different levels.
We had to insulate, board, wire and plumb, but my DH and mate did all the work to keep costs down. I have loads of storage and a 4.5 metre worktop and it houses an American fridge freezer, washer, small freezer, boiler and all kitchen appliances as well as a sink, so frees up so much space in the kitchen. So pleased we did it.