Converting garage to a room

fatboyonadiet

Thinking of changing a garage into a room so it's a more usable space really as we don't use it that much.

I'm trying to get an idea as to what the ballpark cost might be. I'd need to get rid of the garage door and put a window in and then possibly put in a raised floor and maybe some plasterboard up too. The door into the garage is a heavier fire door so would need to change that.

Anything else I haven't thought of? Just wondering how much this is likely to set me back...

TIA

lemontart

I have been looking into this and couple things you have to consider is insulation to habitable room standard and you may need to check with your council with regards to planning permission too.

DTDfanBoy

To get a reasonable answer you'll have to provide some more information. To do it properly building regs will apply.

Don't forget that the fire door is there for a reason, if you remove it you'll be in for a long fight with your insurance company if your house burns down due to a fire started in the garage.

fatboyonadiet

@lemontart, yeah I wanted to be sure to insulate it proper so it's not so cold!

@dtdfanboy, what more info do you need? And do I still need the fire door if I change it to a room, as it'll no longer be a garage??

27col

DTDfanBoy wrote: »

To get a reasonable answer you'll have to provide some more information. To do it properly building regs will apply.

Don't forget that the fire door is there for a reason, if you remove it you'll be in for a long fight with your insurance company if your house burns down due to a fire started in the garage.

If the room has been converted then it will no longer be a garage. So the fire regulations will no longer apply. When I converted a double garage into a flat, I required building regs but not planning permission.

DTDfanBoy

27col wrote: »

If the room has been converted then it will no longer be a garage. So the fire regulations will no longer apply. When I converted a double garage into a flat, I required building regs but not planning permission.

Sure the fire door may not be needed once a completion certificate has been issued. But statements by the OP such as "and maybe some plasterboard up too" gave me an indication that they may not have been considering building regulations at all.

fatboyonadiet current construction and size would be a good starting point, ballpark figure is currently £500-50,000

fatboyonadiet

Do want to do a proper job, but just not sure what that entailed! Didn't think about building regs but will do now! Need to measure it out, but it's a standard garage size (!), but it's just a single layer wall if that makes sense, it's not a normal wall like a room

Steve_xx

fatboyonadiet wrote: »

Do want to do a proper job, but just not sure what that entailed! Didn't think about building regs but will do now! Need to measure it out, but it's a standard garage size (!), but it's just a single layer wall if that makes sense, it's not a normal wall like a room

Yes, garage walls are often single-skinned and unless you add an inner skin that can be suitably insulated, you will find it extremely cold in there in wintertime. It may be possible to construct an inner stud wall and this would probably be cheaper than having to dig down and install concrete footings should the existing footings not be adequate enough to take an additional wall. You would need to seek planning advice from your local authority.

Canucklehead

Good morning: for a garage conversion requirements (as well as other projects) see here.

HTH

Canucklehead

27col

When I did mine I built an 4" inner stud wall which was insulated and then boarded. The floor and ceiling were both heavily insulated as well as the rest of the walls. It is probably the best insulated room in the area. The garage that I did was a double, I imagine that doing this in a single garage, which is not very wide to start with, might well limit it's future use. Although a lot of houses do have quite narrow rooms.

iamcornholio

You are looking at about £5k for a basic conversion of a single garage

Building notice fee to the council will be £300-£400