How to Convert Garage Into Living Space

How to Convert Garage Into Living Space

When you require more living space in your home, converting a garage into a room can be an attractive option. The cost of remodeling varies based on your location and specific plans.

Do you know how to convert a garage into a living space? Converting a garage into a living room is a big task, including insulating the walls, raising the floor, adding cooling, heating, and ventilation. You can update the doors and windows.

There are many aspects to how to convert a garage into a living space.

Let’s take a look at all the aspects.

Essentials To Convert A Garage Into A Living Room

  • Windows. You can add a couple of window spaces for some regular sunlight and ventilation. In certain regions, it means around six square feet of space.
  • Ceiling. You need to keep at least seven ft. of roof height. Maintaining the height might not be easy if you raise the floor height.
  • Warmth You need to maintain heating at least 70° F. You can extend the current heat ventilation work and introduce an electrical baseboard or add a fan wall heater.

If you are looking for one, we recommend you Steibel Eltron Wall heater. It has an ultra-quiet fan and is a built-in thermostat for maximum comfort.

  • Light. You can add a light switchboard.  Most of the Garages have a light switch plugin installed at least in one place.
  • Outlets. You can install new wall outlets to meet the basic space requirement as per the standard.

How To Convert A Garage Into Living Space And Make It Comfortable

Key Works

Prior to beginning the undertaking, ensure the wall and roof are robust and waterproof, as the greater part of the renovation will occur inside the current garage.

The first thing will be to strip out the main structure. By this, you will get a clear view and know where you can experience unexpected issues and problems. You can find some issues in the walls that are hidden or a patchy foundation can incur some extra cost.

Let’s look at a few considerations:

Protect The Walls

There are most carport dividers and roofs that are not protected. If there is drywall, you must remove it. You should install insulation.

You can use customary fiberglass protection rolls or use foam-based to protect your walls.  Also, you can use a fiberglass batt for the roof.

We recommend the smartSHIELD insulation roll. It provides insulation and beauty to your building.

Increase The Height Of The Floor

Most carports or garages are fabricated in the basement or lower ground level of the house. Your home will look incredible by leveling up the floor and covering over the solid carport floor.

Introduce Floor Covering

Regardless of whether you install sleepers to increase the height of the base, you will need to cover it. You can cover flooring, designed tile, and extravagance vinyl board flooring. These are a portion of the mainstream decisions for carport transformations.

Put A New Drywall

Most garages don’t have proper finishing at the walls. if your carport wall is protected, you can go with the current drywall and wrap it up with a better level of finish.

Infilling The Door

You will need to change the main entrance door of your garage with a divider or a wall and coordinate with the rest of the building, for example, a stonework infill completely toothed and reinforced into the current brickwork.

Cover Some Areas

You can add non-weight bearing dividers close to regions you don’t prefer to see. It can include a water radiator, heater, or hide your used clothes.

How Much Does It Cost You?

As the garage already has a wall, foundation, and roof, using the same structure costs around half of what you would expect when constructing a house from scratch.

The cost mainly depends on what features you would want. It will cost you $20000 to $50000 approximately to convert a two-car garage. If there is a bathroom, you need to add another $15000.

The primary cost is of water supply and electricity.

  • Plumbing will cost you based on things you need to add. The cost depends on the requirement and the things you plan to install.
  • Most carports already have an electrical board installed. It may require a little updating. The main cost of your electrical work is to add breakers as per your power requirement. A typical garage has only one electric board. You can think of adding one more 20-amp circuit for fundamental living.
  • You will likewise have to change over a carport entryway into a solid divider. The garage entrance door does a terrible job in keeping heat during the winters and out in the summers.
  • Different expenses include the warming and cooling of the new living space, protection, floors, dividers, roof, and security.

Ultimately the cost depends on what kind of space you are creating and the quality of finish you want to achieve.

Permits And Laws

Changing space meant for vehicles in a living area invoked some legal and zoning issues.

It was not needed when the area was used for parking vehicles or for storing things.

Most municipality building codes require a range of permits for converting any space, such as erecting or moving walls, running water supply or drainage, adding windows, or installing an electrical system.

These grants rely upon where you stay and the assessed cost of your renovating. You should recognize the number of square feet of living space you are adding to your property. If by any chance you live in a territory with high local tex, you need to consider this since you may have recently expanded your available area.

What type of room can a garage become?

You can completely customize your garage. As long as you obey your building regulation, you can create any living space with your garage.

Garage conversions ideas include:

The only limitation you need to look at when converting a garage into a living space is those set by the local municipality permits and budgetary restrictions.

Conclusion

The garage serves many purposes beyond just space to spare your car from rain and snow. If you need a space and don’t want to undergo a major renovation, converting a garage into a living space is a great option. It can be the perfect way to have more space in your home without increasing the overall footprint.