Creating Office space in Tandem Garage

confused_kid

Hi all,

wanted to ask your opinion on converting part of a tandem garage into an office space for the times I work from home. Just wanted to ask some of you knowledgeable folk some questions/considerations

- Its a single skin brick built garage, I am thinking of taking a third of the garage and creating a partition and boarding up, plastering it all

- Are there any issues with damp/insulating a single skin wall

- there is a pitched roof, so I am thinking of insulating the ceiling above as well as the floor, and then some simple laminate flooring

- heating wise, electric & lighting points already exist within the garage so I am thinking of installing an electrical panel heater for the winter

Does all this seem feasible? Im particularly concerned about what can and can't be done to the single brick built walls.

Thanks for reading!

llandyrnog

Hi, I am currently converting a single brick garage into a bedroom for a client and all work is being inspected by the Local Authority Building Control so to comply with the regulations we are,

On the concrete garage floor laying a visqueen Damp proof membrane on top. On that we are laying 50mm Celotex insulation and on that we are laying 18mm timber floorboards.

To the walls we are leaving a 50mm gap then fixing a 100mmX500mm stud partition with 75mm celotex insulation in between the uprights. Then fixing plasterboard with 25mm of insulation bonded on to it on the partition . The Damp proof membrane on the floor goes under the partition and up the wall about 500mm and is pinned to the back of the partition to act as a cavity tray and keep moisture out.

To the ceiling of the pitched roof area we are fixing 300mm of loft insulation and to the flat roof area we are fixing 100mm of celotex insulation between the joists and a plasterboard with 25mm of insulation bonded on to it to the joists.

Heating can be done by portable electric /gas heaters or you could extend your existing central heating system. By installing as much insulation as is as practically possible you can keep your heating demand down and therefore keep heating costs down in the future. Hope this helps !

julianashcroft

I have just had my Garage extended, so it's like a tandem garage. The rear part will be used as a workshop / utility room. The ceiling has been plasterboarded with insulation above. The single skin block walls have had insulated plasterboard dot and dabbed on to them, skim finish over. There is a door from the old garage to the new. Not putting anything on the new concrete floor other than floor paint. May have a fan heater in there for cold days.

I don't anticipate damp problems, the roof is tiled and the walls rendered and painted. the floor level is well above ground level, as the garden sloped.

confused_kid

llandyrnog - Thanks for the comprehensive response...I'm not planning on using it other than when I work from home (couple of days a week)...but will work out how much space i'll be left with...haven't completed on the house yet but its one of the first lists on the job! thanks

Thanks both for your replies!

ritesh

Perfect timing for this thread. I will be converting three garages into a home office. Again they are only single skin and the roof will be changed to a flat roof (with a slight slant) using the new EPDM material on market.

So this makes interesting reading. Thank you llandyrnog and OP for thread.

PS as the walls are only single skin is there anything to treat the walls to stop damp coming in?

llandyrnog

If your walls are brickwork faced then check the pointing between the bricks. Fill in any holes or cracks with mortar. You could also spray the external brickwork with a silicone based waterproofer such as Thompsons Water Seal. If the walls are rendered then check for any cracks and again apply silicone based waterproofer. If you apply the visqueen Damp proof membrane as explained before, any water driving into the cavity will be kept away from the timber frame

JustLikeThat

You may be inetrested in my situation, but as I am hopeless at DIY etc. I will not be of much help.
Twenty plus years ago I put up a rough division (two thirds along) in my tandem garage after moving to the Norfolk countryside and working from home. I simply put wood across floor and flat ceiling (under flat roof) and up both walls, then attached mdf boards. I just used tape to 'seal' the edges and joins.
I carpeted the concrete floor and painted the brick walls. I extended a small radiator under the back window. I have worked comfortably ever since and use the up-and-over door to access what became the storage shed.
In the early days I worried about cold and damp affecting my computer etc. and covered it with a blanket at night. That soon stopped and everything just stays put Ok. By the way, my reasoning for the make-shift division wqas so it could easily be removed if I did sell the house and buyers wanted a garage.
I do keep a home freezer in this office as otherwise i was told there could be tax to pay if I were to sell the house. I received a home office allowance from work.