Garage Conversions – Creating More Space in Your Home

Garage Conversions are becoming more popular as a great way of creating more space in your home. More and more people are choosing to utilise their garage space and convert it into a more useable room. We have done garage conversions for people that have converted their garage into an office space, a new bedroom, a gym, a living room, a utility area, a bathroom and one customer who made a fantastic cinema room.

Creating the Space

If you have a garage, the chances are it is used as a storage area rather than a space for your car. In most modern homes the garage space is quite small which is not great for bigger cars and SUV’s. More and more people are considering utilising the mostly unused space and changing this into a room that can be used for a variety of purposes such as another bedroom, a living area, or a utility space or bathroom.

Garage Conversions give your home the extra space that most families need. The great thing about converting your garage into a liveable space is that in the majority of cases it is not an overly complicated process. The main changes are swapping your garage door for a brick/window, choosing appropriate flooring, working out the required electrics into the space and boarding and plastering the walls. The building/footprint of the space is already there so there is not the need for the extensive building work that you would need when creating an extension.

Matching Your Brickwork & Windows

One of the first things that would be done is to match the brickwork and the windows on your home. This enables the front of your home to look like the new garage conversion was always part of your home. Matching your brickwork is commonplace for a lot of construction companies who are either creating an extension to your home or doing a garage conversion so that chances are that a perfect match will be found. With the windows, the majority of homes will have UPVc windows in the property so finding a suitable match will be no problem.

Electrics & Plumbing

Once you have decided what the space is going to be used for, be it a bedroom or living room or utility, the next thing to plan is what electrics, lighting or in the case of a utility or bathroom, what plumbing is required. Discussing electrical points or plumbing points is an important part of planning your new room and the contractor will make sure that the necessary work is undertaken to give you the amenities that you need.

Boarding and Plastering

When the electrical and plumbing first fix has been done, another stage will be to board and plaster the internal walls. Sometimes it is necessary to look at insulating the walls to ensure the new space is warm and as cosy as the rest of your home.

Once the boarding and plastering is completed you can look at the decorating options for your new room. Again depending on the type of room you may want to either paint or wallpaper the walls or even look at tiling for a utility or bathroom. The contractor should be able to give you the right advice on what will work well for your new room.

Choosing you flooring

The choice of flooring can largely depend on what you are using the space for. For a bathroom or utility you are likely to want the space tiled. For living areas or bedrooms you may want carpet, wooden flooring or laminate.

There are times when the height of the sub-floor or the original floor in the garage will need to be raised to match your existing property. This is not uncommon an the majority of contractors will be able to do this without any issues at all.

The flooring can also make a huge difference to the final look and feel of the room. Make sure you take the time to choose the most suitable flooring for your new space.

Internal Finishes

The final touches of a garage conversion would be to match the internal finishes in the new room to your existing property. These final touches would include the skirting boards, the light fittings, the switches and sockets and the internal door from the garage conversion into the home.

Thinking of Getting a Garage Conversion

If you’re considering getting a garage conversion, check out our page on Garage Conversions for inspiration on projects we have done. Alternatively, if you would like a free no obligation quote, feel free to contact us on 0151 545 1400