Garage Conversion Tips

Design

• Anticipating all contingencies can help you avoid converting a garage into a living space that nobody in the house likes. According to GarageConversionSpecialists.com, consider accessing the new room from a main hallway with no step-downs and using the same floor and ceiling height as the rest of the house. Depending on your local building regulations, some of this may be required but even if it isn't, maintaining this kind of continuity helps the new room blend into the house rather than stand out.

Floor Issues

• Garage floors tend to slant slightly downward towards the garage door opening. This works as a draining mechanism to keep water off the concrete floor, but when the garage becomes part of the house, you must fix the slant. One way to accomplish this is to build a sub-floor above the concrete, which can bring the floor level to the rest of the house while leaving a space beneath to run plumbing lines. If you're going to have an area in the new room that requires water and you don't intend to build a sub-floor, you'll have to blast through the concrete, a work intensive, messy proposition. Give a sub-floor hard consideration.

Return on Investment

• Often the economics of garage conversion include completing the work at a cheap enough price that the overall value added to the house is more than the cash outlay for the project. With this end in mind, save on expenses by leaving walls intact and don't move plumbing fixtures or electrical boxes. Consider getting work permits for major conversion work to help protect resale value.

Upgrades

• Many garages have little (or no) insulation in the walls or ceiling, an unappealing prospect for a new living space. While filling in the garage door space and other areas, remember to add insulation. You should also consider connecting the new room to the central heat and air system. Using space heaters and window air conditioning units to heat and cool the space will hurt you when the time comes to sell the house. Approach the garage conversion like it is part of a home you plan to buy and live in, and plan the construction accordingly.