Garage conversion - replacing the door as a first step?

_Sam_

housebuyer143 said:

 Stop worrying about how it looks from the outside and do it in the right order. 

Thank you - found what looks to be the right order on FMB website https://www.fmb.org.uk/find-a-builder/ultimate-guides-to-home-renovation/garage-conversions-the-ultimate-guide.html#time

1. Investigate whether your garage is suitable for conversion. 
2. Check whether planning permission will be required. 
3. Get plans in place for a design. 
4. Apply for planning consent if necessary. 
5. Ask your builder, architect or design and build company to produce detailed design and building regulations drawings. 
6. Be sure to contact your insurance company to arrange cover for the works and the existing structure. 
7. Let Building Control know that work is commencing. 
8. Strip the existing garage back to the structure you are retaining.
9. Make structural alterations, such as knocking through to the house.
10. Damp-proof the floor. 
11. Insulate walls and floor — as well as the roof if the conversion is single storey. 
12. Fit underfloor heating if required. 
13. Pour floor screed.
14. Install windows and doors.
15. First fix electrics, plumbing and joinery.
16. Plasterboarding and plastering.
17. Fit new internal doors, mouldings (skirting etc), final floor covering and lights.
18. Decoration.

What issues are we likely to encounter if we do number 14 in advance of 11 and 13? (Bearing in mind that the window has already been installed when the garage was built.)

I'm also wondering if number 9 would also include replacing the garage door, as building up a wall for a window or a door in the opening seems to fall under "structural alterations"

stuart45

Digging out a foundation, and taking the wall to DPC would be part of the structural alterations.

Section62

_Sam_ said:

What issues are we likely to encounter if we do number 14 in advance of 11 and 13? (Bearing in mind that the window has already been installed when the garage was built.)

The issues would (hopefully) be identified by 3 and (primarily) 5.  They should be sorted by the time you get to 8, so no expensive mistakes are made.

In reality some issues will still crop up as you progress through steps 7 to 18.  Usually (but not always) they can be resolved by the application of extra money and effort.

We can highlight some of the potential issues as we have been doing in this thread, but that is no replacement for doing numbers 3 and 5 - not least because we only have small glimpses of your situation rather than the overview.

Design is a process.  You have to approach it methodically.

The alternative, i.e. doing the 'design' as the build progresses, is fine if you have the experience.  Good experienced builders will know almost instinctively what factors they need to take into account and what problems they are likely to encounter, and head those off before they become expensive mistakes.

If you aren't employing a builder to do the conversion for you as one job then the onus on avoiding problems and mistakes is entirely down to you - and without experience or a plan, and with a limited budget, the level of risk you are taking on is huge.

The BCO will give you some guidance (usually), but they can't act as your project designer, and won't accept any responsibility for mistakes made as a result of you following (or misunderstanding) any guidance they do give.

stuart45

Have you worked out a design for what's going into the utility room, such as cupboards, shelves, sink, appliances etc? You should have plenty of space for a really nice room.
I created a small one in our house when I built an extension, by stealing a bit with a fake chimney, but got enough room for the W/M, dryer, cupboards, butler sink, shelves in quite a small area.

_Sam_

stuart45 said:

Have you worked out a design for what's going into the utility room, such as cupboards, shelves, sink, appliances etc? You should have plenty of space for a really nice room.
I created a small one in our house when I built an extension, by stealing a bit with a fake chimney, but got enough room for the W/M, dryer, cupboards, butler sink, shelves in quite a small area.

The plan at the moment is have one wall covered in built-in cupboards floor to ceiling. The cupboards would then run under and over the window creating a seating area there. Appliances only washing machine and tumble dryer, stacked on top of each other, so that would take one cupboard. The rest of the cupboards will be storage, space to put coats/shoes etc.

This would then leave the rest of the room to be a spacious hallway, maybe a gallery wall on the other side, hopefully a nice welcoming space as all utility/storage stuff will be hidden behind the cupboards wall. We could then also use the room to banish dogs to if necessary, or guests' children even, it could make a nice play area as the window is large and west-facing.

_Sam_

Section62 said:

If you aren't employing a builder to do the conversion for you as one job then the onus on avoiding problems and mistakes is entirely down to you - and without experience or a plan, and with a limited budget, the level of risk you are taking on is huge.

The penalty of being poor! Looking on the bright side it is an integrated garage of proper construction except for that bit of flat roof, lots of things already there including double glazed window. I think if we take our time to do a proper research and with luck employ good tradesmen there is a chance it could work out with not too many mistakes in the end.