Garage conversion...

[Dr C]

Hello all. Anyone on here done a garage conversion? Thinking about converting our integrated double garage into a living space, wondered if anyone had any advice/thoughts/experiences/rough cost they could share? The house is only 18 months old so no issues structurally.

The cars are garaged occasionally and I was against the idea at first, but now coming round to it, especially since my insurance company told me my premiums would go down by £16 (sixteen!) per YEAR if the car was garaged every night.

Cheers
Scott

[Horizon]

I know it requires planning permission, as a friend runs a business from home. He wanted to convert his single integrated garage into an office. The council planners made him keep the garage door and 3 feet of garage, enough for a motor bike, which he has a BMW touring bike by chance. The rest of the space was then able to be partitioned off for an office.
So from the front aspect the house hasn't changed.

[sid10]

Hi we did ours about 6 years ago , double garage converted into a play room and extended utility room went the hole hog and built above master bedroom and en suite ! Built a built in cupboard for toys on one side also houses electrical boxes . French doors to front window to rear . Needed planning permission as had done a large conservatory a few years earlier but laws seem to have changed and relaxed quite a lot . The cost was minimal on top of initial cost to build above . Main problems are getting the same bricks , mortar and windows , neighbours on board , as for costs get 3 quotes for full job finished in writing , go with a reputable firm not always the cheapest , get them to sign a contract . 30-55k 1 level , 55-100k 1st floor . Try to incorporate underfloor heating and increase your boiler as most new builds boilers are at the maximum for size of house to start off with .

[Dr C]

Cheers all.

First off, we don't need planning permission. We are not in a conservation area or a listed building and I have checked with the council who have confirmed that the conversion is fully covered under "Permitted Development" rights in Scotland (not sure if this exists in the rest of the UK). All we need to do is get a building warrant.

Sid, that's quite a project! I'm doing the garage conversion only as we've more than enough room upstairs with five bedrooms/three en suite (only four of us...and we definitely WON'T be adding to our numbers!)! I'm hoping to get it all done for max. £12k (my mate's single garage cost £6k to convert and they made a cracking job of it). The house is only 18 months old and they're still building on the development so I don't think I'll have problems getting the material required to match in with the rest of the house. My plan is to replace the door with a wall/window, and raise the floor to the same level as the utility room which leads into the garage from the kitchen. The garage came with skirtings, fully insulated (apart from the door  )) with walls already plasterboarded ready to go, so shouldn't be much to do there.

I've got three companies coming on Friday to measure up and give quotes. Two of them are fully integrated companies who have in-house architects and who do the building warrant, design, and construction work for you. The other is just a builder we know who is going to quote for purely for the building work, but this would mean having to go and source an architect and do the building warrant ourselves. I'm not sure I can be bothered with that!

Good shout re. the boiler. I never thought of that. I'll see what the craic is with that one. I assume under-floor heating heats to the same extent as a radiator would, if not better?

Ours will be used for a play room/computer room, but I'm already thinking about TVs, surround sound, pool tables, beer fridges etc  O:-)! Anyway, I'm sure the wife will pour cold water on those ideas...

Cheers
Scott

[sid10]

Hi Scott how are you getting on ? I can send you some pics of mine if you want some ideas !
  regards
    Steven

[Dr C]

[quote="sid10"]
Hi Scott how are you getting on ? I can send you some pics of mine if you want some ideas !
  regards
    Steven
[/quote]

Cheers Sid...we're still getting quotes in at the moment. Two have come back around £18k which seems a bit steep to me, so going with old fashioned builders rather than all in-one companies and see how I get on.

[Turks]

I'm a QS, and from what you have said is already done, then £18k does sound steep. However, I don't know your spec.

If you still have development going on, then I'm certain there are a few brickies etc. that wouldn't mind a bit of a Saturday job to knock up a small wall in place of the Garage Door. Floor can be raised easily with Kingspan Panels for Insulation and then a screed top or suspended timber depending on how much difference there is. After that it's just your electrics, plumbing (which if just adding a Rad is no problem and absolutely fine with the capacity of your boiler) and then finishing (you can budget or go as mad as you like with finishes).


Turks.

[Dr C]

Cheers Turks. Yeah they're still building on site...never thought about asking for a homer. Had another guy round yesterday who said £12-14k off the top of his head but I'll wait to see what the official quote says...watch this space!