Cost of a garage conversion

Katie_96

My partner and I are buying our first house. My partner does a lot of table top gaming and painting figures, and one of the things from any house he bought was somewhere he could do that. It was virtually impossible to find a house that already had a big enough space for that in a decent area that was within budget. What we have found is a 3 bedroom house with a dining room and a garage.

The plan was, in the short term, he games in the dining room and paints in the third bedroom, with a permanent painting station set up and there's sliding built in wardrobes that can be used to store all of his stuff in (there's a lot!).

However, in the medium-long term, we want to convert the garage into a space he can game (permanently having a table set up) and paint. Maybe have his TV in there as well (smart tv, no need for an aerial point).

It's a garage that's attached to next door's garage (but not the house), 60s built and currently has no electric inside. My dad's an electrician, but I'm not sure he'd be up for doing the electrics from scratch - if we had found a house that needed a re-wire, he said he wouldn't do the re-wire (we're about an hour away and he still works full time, plus other things he has on).

If anyone has done a garage conversion in similar circumstances, it would be really helpful to know how much it cost. We're in the north east if that helps. 

GDB2222

£20k at a guess. 

You need to lay on electricity and extend the central heating, put in a floor, replace the door with a suitable structure, insulate it heavily, install plasterboard walls and ceilings. Does it have a damp course?  I’m not sure whether you’ll need planning permission.

When you come to sell the house, will you get that money back? 

Doozergirl

It wouldn't cost £20k.  I mean, it could, but it depends on how much you want to do to it.  Installing electrics, insulating it and putting an electric radiator would be the minimum.  

I'd consider turning the existing window to a door so it's accessible from the garden.  Bricking up the garage door and (maybe) putting in a window. 

If we going all out, I'd open it all to the garden  with bigger doors and windows and brick up the garage door entirely, or have the front of it as a divided off storage space.  

Bit hard to tell what it's capable of from two photos.  

GDB2222

How much do you think for a basic job?

markin

If you could do it all yourself i would stick my finger in the air and say 4/5K, And you could dig the trench for power to save your dad time, Or save money if you do have to hire out that job.

Doozergirl

I think £5k is okay for a basic job, using dad, particularly.  It's infinitely easier than a rewire as he doesn't need to get behind the walls, just under the ground from the house, as markin says.  

£15k would do something lovely.  It's the sort of job that could be easily project managed by a homeowner with a bit of DIY and separate trades as it's outside.  

macman

Given the shared drive and common parts of that garage (for example, the roof appears to cover both garages, so how is maintenance shared?), I'd be checking for any covenants relating to use of the garage and drive. Doesn't one car parked on the drive permanently restrict access for the neighbour's garage?

naf123

What is the ceiling height ? By the time you insulated and boarded it would have lost a good 10+cm