Garage conversion

[malfunction]

I work from home most of the time these days and I'm thinking of getting the garage converted (which is detached from the house but on the same plot) so that I have a physically separate building in which to work - which I think would be better psychologically speaking and would also allow me to reclaim a bedroom in the house.

Wondering if anyone's had this done - seeing as there are a lot of professionally employed geeks on here who might also work from home a lot...

Any thoughts / experiences?

[scaryjim]

Haven't done it myself, but I looked at and thought about buying a house that had already had it done. My parents have just had something similar done too, but since I'm not really speaking to my stepdad I've not seen what they've done yet.

I'm inclined to think that it's a generally good idea, if you can afford to have it done properly. The key thing will be to make sure the power, insulation and heating are all in good order. The other thing to consider is whether losing the garage will adversely effect the resale price of the house (unbelievably, some people would rather have a covered space to hide their car than a srubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishy office - dont understand it myself )

[Stephen C]

Had mine converted, plumbed, wired and even had a window put in.

[malfunction]

Thanks guys.

Zap - do you mind discussing rough costs (via PM or here - up to you)? I'm thinking of doing similar. As it's detached I'll probably leave the front of the garage looking like a garage and put double doors in the back / other windows if needed but I'll also probably try and get all services in there (decent electricity and plumbing). Also did you have any issues with room height (floating floor needing to be installed + a typically lower ceiling in garages)? Ideally I'd want to take the ceiling up closer to (or at - like a loft conversion) the pitched roof (and maybe stick a velux in the back) though I'd guess it would be a fair bit pricier that way.

[Stephen C]

Well this is a few years back but initailly we paid roughly £4,000 for the door to be bricked up and insulated, the plumbing and instillation of a sink plus the washing machine.
The new door into the garage, the ceiling and the lighting we did ourselves, the window was put in at a later date along with new windows for the main house, sadly I can't recall the cost.
The flooring that was already there was very decent, so we just put out lino ontop.

[Jay]

Where will you put the car?

[Saracen]

My advice would be to get expert assistance is this as there are all sorts of potential pitfalls, including whether the foundations are adequate, dampcoursing, permission for alterations to walls, electrics and all sorts. You shouldn't need planning permission but you will have to meet building regs. And, of course, many of these will vary from one project to another, depending on the nature of the existing building .... which also means that costs can vary a lot. I wouldn't expect it to be particularly cheap, though.

[Saracen]

Oh, and the rules and regs changes a year or so ago, so the way Zap did it might not be doable now ... or at least, not legally, and if you don't comply, you risk problems when you sell the house.

See here

You are aware that these days it's a serious offence to even think about this without written permission in triplicate, aren't you?

Oh all right, I made that bit up, but it's getting that way.

[malfunction]

Where will you put the car?

Same place I do now - on the drive (it's never been in the garage)

[malfunction]

I'm not expecting it to be cheap (though I may yet still be surprised) and I did know it had to meet building regs. There's a chance I may not bother with water out there as that may need planning (for the drain at least). Oh and I wasn't planning on doing any of it myself (apart from picking out things and then putting furniture, etc in place) - can't stand DIY and though I used to struggle against the cost (conceptually speaking at least) I've ruined enough evenings and weekends to never want to take on more than a paint brush ever again!

[jimbouk]

Space in the garden for a fancy summer house/log cabin style office as an alternative?

I'm always surprised by the number of garages without cars in. Saves my hundreds on the car insurance...

[malfunction]

Space in the garden for a fancy summer house/log cabin style office as an alternative?

Not really no

I'm always surprised by the number of garages without cars in. Saves my hundreds on the car insurance...

I compared this last time the insurance was up for renewal and it didn't make any real difference with my car (52 plate focus) and location

[floppybootstomp]

Mate of mine in Whitstable converted the garage at the bottom of his garden into a rehearsal/recording studio/office last year.

I ran armoured mains cable and ethernet cable through plastic conduit from the house to the garage, buried under the lawn then fitted ethernet sockets and wired the mains circuits.

The mains was fed from a dedicated circuit breaker in the house to a four channel circuit breaker in the garage.

These feed an external waterproof socket for the garden; ring main; lighting circuit and industrial wall mounted heater. All walls and ceiling were fitted with soundproofing material and plasterboard fitted over that. The original window was filled with breeze blocks.

He had a bedroom only used as an office which is now free and he tells me that using an office detached from the house allows him to work better as he's in a work enviroment rather than at home.

It's also a rather good little studio, he uses a Mac desktop with recording software and has an expensive pair of studio monitor loudspeakers fitted.

Which led me to suggest to him he should consider me fitting an intruder alarm but he hasn't bitten yet.

Good luck with your conversion.

[Fatboy40]

I ran armoured mains cable and ethernet cable through plastic conduit from the house to the garage, buried under the lawn then fitted ethernet sockets and wired the mains circuits.

The mains was fed from a dedicated circuit breaker in the house to a four channel circuit breaker in the garage.

I'm being pedantic I know, but you also provided him with the NICEIC installation certificate ? (tell me to 'eff off if you are indeed a registered sparks).

[Fatboy40]

You shouldn't need planning permission but you will have to meet building regs.

Also to do this legit I think you may need to check if you need to apply to whoever owned the land originaly for a change of purpose for the garage ?.

If you're going to live in your house for many many years yet then it's not a major worry, but if you plan to sell up in the future to move to something bigger / better then a solicitor may pick you up on this ?.

[floppybootstomp]

I'm being pedantic I know, but you also provided him with the NICEIC installation certificate ? (tell me to 'eff off if you are indeed a registered sparks).

Well, you invited it, so eff off

You should see the cost of my public liability insurance.