Garage Conversion?

danny_bhoy

danny_bhoy

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I've got it into my head that I want to convert all or part my garage (single car) into a home office. I'm spending more and more time working at home now and the desk in the corner of the bedroom just isn't cutting it any more.

From what I've read here and there I believe it can be done to a good standard for around £4-5k. Has anyone successful had this done before? I'd love to see the results and it'd be good to get some first hand experience of the process and any pitfalls first hand before getting quotes etc :)

Cheers!
 
One of the home workers at my old place bought a home office posh shed thing for his garden.

Think it was about five grand, looked quite good from what I remember
 
I've done the garden office. You can have up to15 sq meters without planning permission if less than 1 m from your boundary, has to be 2.4m high or less.
Dunster house, came delivered, built, fully double glazed, insulated everywhere was under £6k
 
Byker28i said:
I've done the garden office. You can have up to15 sq meters without planning permission if less than 1 m from your boundary, has to be 2.4m high or less.
Dunster house, came delivered, built, fully double glazed, insulated everywhere was under £6k
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Wish it was an option mate as I like the thought of working in a standalone structure away from the house. Not to be though.
 
For the garage, you may need change of use permission.
 
Is the garage attached, different rules re planning if it is or isn't.
Do a Google.
Matt
 
From my experience of peoples garages I would say there are a lot of people who are breaking planning regulations
 
danny_bhoy said:
Never even considered that. From the mortgage company or elsewhere?
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I don't know mate, sorry.
I only mention it because a neighbour had permission denied when they wanted to do theirs.
She has MND, and they wanted to make it a ground floor bedroom.
They've done it anyway, but with no window and they know they'll have to reinstate it as a garage if they wish to sell.
 
viv1969 said:
I don't know mate, sorry.
I only mention it because a neighbour had permission denied when they wanted to do theirs.
She has MND, and they wanted to make it a ground floor bedroom.
They've done it anyway, but with no window and they know they'll have to reinstate it as a garage if they wish to sell.
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Bloody red tape eh! My grand idea should just involve some sorta partition wall, flooring and some plasterboard (just that easy eh!). I'll still check with the relevant nose-sticker-inners first though :)
 
I did this about 10 years ago. It was about £5-6k then but it depends on what you have to do. I had to increase the insulation to meet a change in building standards from when the house was built in 2000 which meant a bit on finishes and form a new doorway through from the house..

Really worth it though. Much more usable space in a modern house as an office than as a garage.

Only downside is that I had to build a big shed to put all the s**t in that used to be in the garage.
 
Jim_Tod said:
I did this about 10 years ago. It was about £5-6k then but it depends on what you have to do. I had to increase the insulation to meet a change in building standards from when the house was built in 2000 which meant a bit on finishes and form a new doorway through from the house..

Really worth it though. Much more usable space in a modern house as an office than as a garage.

Only downside is that I had to build a big shed to put all the s**t in that used to be in the garage.
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Insulation! Another thing to add to the list of things I'd underestimated :) Got a builder coming out at the weekend for a quote so I know what I'll be looking at.

The plan is to partition off about the first 3/4 of the garage for office space so that the remaining 1/4 can be used for storage (lawn mower, bikes etc). Bonus is that means that the garage door can stay and there'll be no change to the external structure......downside is no natural light in the office space. Always fancied my own secret bunker anyway :)
 
danny_bhoy said:
The plan is to partition off about the first 3/4 of the garage for office space so that the remaining 1/4 can be used for storage (lawn mower, bikes etc). Bonus is that means that the garage door can stay and there'll be no change to the external structure......downside is no natural light in the office space. Always fancied my own secret bunker anyway
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Get him to give you two quotes, one as you've described and the other for forming a new opening into the back of the garage from the side of the gouse with a door for storing the lawnmower and then have the front built up with a window if that's possible.- hope that makes sense but it's a nicer space with daylight and ventilation and if you're going to shell out then it might as well be for the best- imagine finding out it could be much better and add even more value to the house for another £1k or so. If you were coming to buy the house would a window in that room swing it for you or make you bid more?
 
Jim_Tod said:
Get him to give you two quotes, one as you've described and the other for forming a new opening into the back of the garage from the side of the gouse with a door for storing the lawnmower and then have the front built up with a window if that's possible.- hope that makes sense but it's a nicer space with daylight and ventilation and if you're going to shell out then it might as well be for the best- imagine finding out it could be much better and add even more value to the house for another £1k or so. If you were coming to buy the house would a window in that room swing it for you or make you bid more?
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Yeah, looking at it from a position of added value that does make sense. I'll get them to quote for both variations. Cheers Jim!
 
Our next door neighbour converted theirs to a dining room, unofficially, a few years ago, but when they put the house up for sale they had to go through the council to meet building regs, which included having to create an extra parking space, in order to get everything signed off. It seems local councils have different rules & regs, even for similar projects.
 
OldCarlos said:
Our next door neighbour converted theirs to a dining room, unofficially, a few years ago, but when they put the house up for sale they had to go through the council to meet building regs, which included having to create an extra parking space, in order to get everything signed off. It seems local councils have different rules & regs, even for similar projects.
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Yup - working for the government for almost 20 years has taught me little except that for every action there is someone with a clipboard and huge reel of red tape just waiting to interfere. I'll get it checked out and something put in writing before I start with the sledgehammer :)
 
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danny_bhoy said:
That crossed my mind, but if we come to sell up a few years down the line and I've got to, for example, create a new parking space by paving our front lawn or convert the office back to a garage the mrs will rip me a new one o_O
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If you are working from home and you make it official i.e. part of the house used as business premises AFAIK there are tax and house sales implications???

A for light into the garage ~ is the garage part of the house structure or attached to the side (so to speak)? The reason I ask perhaps get the builder to quote for a roof light or light tube :)
 
danny_bhoy said:
Wish it was an option mate as I like the thought of working in a standalone structure away from the house. Not to be though.
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Yeah we did ours as we were refused planning to convert the garage,even though several others in the area had. It was because the neighbours at the rear objected, even though they couldn't see it due to a large conifer hedge, and planning thought the neighbours extension they'd allowed would be compromised.
 
There would seem to be different requirements for different parts of the country. I'm just starting to convert a garage that is built under the main roofline of the house and I just need to follow building regs.
 
Gaz J said:
There would seem to be different requirements for different parts of the country. I'm just starting to convert a garage that is built under the main roofline of the house and I just need to follow building regs.
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Yes and it is not just under which council you live but different areas within the jurisdiction of a single planning authority can have different regs. I believe building reg approval is needed everywhere though.
 
Box Brownie said:
If you are working from home and you make it official i.e. part of the house used as business premises AFAIK there are tax and house sales implications???
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Yes, potentially there are. Would depend on worker status (i.e. Self employed, employee, etc).
 
Yes, I converted our attached garage quite a few years ago, because I wasn't making changes to any external height or width I didn't require permission (I was informed). I mainly did a lot of the work myself with the help of a local bricklayer/electrician/plumber etc. I used the converted room to house my hi-fi system along with a PC. I fitted one radiator and had flush mounting ceiling lights and wall insulation. Where the garage door was I bought a second hand double glazed large window and had the brickie fit that, and then replaced the rear door with a PVC type.

It turned out very well, was used in a daily basis.
 
Insulation can definitely ramp the price up especially if they want Kingspan. Slightly different job but for our attic conversion the insulation alone was about £3k+
 
It's probably worth going through Building Control and classing it as an extra bedroom which will increase the value of your property also, although probably a slight increase in council tax also. You'll need plans drawn up but it's fairly straightforward and it's usually only if there's drainage involved will the council show much concern.
 
gman said:
although probably a slight increase in council tax also
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I understand that a rebanding only takes place after you've sold and moved on- might be an issue for the next people but they've got an extra bedroom and never knew a differenct cost
 
Never knew that, a result for me then as i was expecting an increase after they sign it off!
 
Bands can be upped at any time, if a neighbour decides to question the right department why their banding is the same as yours after you've converted and effectively increased the value of your home.
 
I'm guessing that the garage door height won't be enough to let you put a touring caravan through with the tyres deflated? You could always build a shed inside the garage though, and I'm guessing that wouldn't need permission as it's a temporary arrangement? :thinking: Cheaper than £5k as well.
 
macvisual said:
Yes, I converted our attached garage quite a few years ago, because I wasn't making changes to any external height or width I didn't require permission (I was informed). I mainly did a lot of the work myself with the help of a local bricklayer/electrician/plumber etc. I used the converted room to house my hi-fi system along with a PC. I fitted one radiator and had flush mounting ceiling lights and wall insulation. Where the garage door was I bought a second hand double glazed large window and had the brickie fit that, and then replaced the rear door with a PVC type.

It turned out very well, was used in a daily basis.
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When we were looking at houses a few years ago we looked at this, and this matched our findings. As long as you weren't making it bigger. So you couldn't put a bay window in, as that would technically make the boundary bigger. But you could put a normal wall and window / door in. Can get more expensive, as sometimes there aren't adequate footings under where the garage door is, so you have to dig it up and put foundations in.

Wouldn't have thought you needed building control to come in either unless you were putting a new roof on it or something. But the local planning office is generally really helpful if you just give them a call
 
KitsuneAndy said:
Wouldn't have thought you needed building control to come in either unless you were putting a new roof on it or something. But the local planning office is generally really helpful if you just give them a call
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Again, it depends on your local council.
Many are now making rules up so you have to pay for paperwork/permission to get X,Y,Z signed off & official. ££££££'s are needed you know ;)
 
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