Stuck between two ideas for a garage

Relentless81 · 18 Feb 2020 at 10:10

Hi,

Sorry this is going to be hard to explain as I have over thought it to the point where my brain has popped so its going to be hard to put it into words however I was wondering what other home owners would do or have done if in a similar situation.

When we moved in the garage was an external flat pack style garage, quite large and falling apart with an asbestos roof, we had it knocked down, the base cut to be used as a base for a shed and now a shed sits there and I've grown grass where the rest of the garage used to be which looked good last year but winter has practically killed it off and now looks a mess.

We want a garage again, we have a driveway to the side of the house but its slim, just enough to get a car down but you would struggle to get out of the car, we considered the garage going here as an extension with a garage front door and single PVC rear door but to be worthwhile we would have to block off access to the garden however we would gain a heated garage/utility room. This option is considerably more expensive than the next but a utility room would have benefits such as moving the boiler and CU into it to free up space else where, house a dryer to rid us of the maidens in the winter etc I've not looked at costs in to much detail yet but would I be right in thinking £70k would be about right with a pitched roof?

The second option a decent flat pack garage in the garden where the old one was, no permission, nice and quick, less disturbance to the young family and a good size. Maybe I can even get electric in there for a dryer?
This would be significantly cheaper and retain access to the garden, there would be no utility room but I could then have a smaller extension in the future to add a downstairs toilet which would add value to the house and I would love to have a downstairs toilet again, this could be done whilst retaining access to the garden, just enough to get the bins in and out etc

I've missed out loads of things here but I'm trying to keep it simple, I thin the main aim really is somewhere for the kids bikes and outdoor things to go because the shed it packed full of stuff its just too small. We will lose a lot of garden but the garden we'll lose I'm going to struggle keeping grass alive there anywhere it looks a right mess

I would appreciate your thoughts or any experience!

Cheers

sovietspybob · 18 Feb 2020 at 13:33

What size of garage are you thinking for option 2? I had a large steel double garage done and dusted for around £13k, it would only take laying a duct from the house when you were doing it to pull whatever cables you want in there to get electric, LAN or whatever.

I think you'd really need to get an idea of house value with option 1 to see if it'd be worth while as it does sound like a lot of work if you're wanting to move the boiler and CU as that'll be messy and need a fair bit of making good where they came from which could be a right pain with a young family. Whereas if you could just plonk a garage in the back garden and it gives you 90% of what you need for a fraction of the cost and no disturbance i think that's the way i'd be going.

swillsy · 18 Feb 2020 at 14:05

Exactly what sovietbob said - it all depends on your house value as 70k would be excessive if you're sitting in a 250k house.

Relentless81 · 18 Feb 2020 at 17:12

sovietspybob said:
What size of garage are you thinking for option 2? I had a large steel double garage done and dusted for around £13k, it would only take laying a duct from the house when you were doing it to pull whatever cables you want in there to get electric, LAN or whatever.

I think you'd really need to get an idea of house value with option 1 to see if it'd be worth while as it does sound like a lot of work if you're wanting to move the boiler and CU as that'll be messy and need a fair bit of making good where they came from which could be a right pain with a young family. Whereas if you could just plonk a garage in the back garden and it gives you 90% of what you need for a fraction of the cost and no disturbance i think that's the way i'd be going.

Yeah that's pretty much what I was thinking, nice one. £13k is more than i thought though but this will be a single garage. Measurements I can't remember, I need to measure up again so I can look at the price lists of a local firm and get a better idea, picture a typical 1960's semi with an external garage the length of the garden and you'll get the idea

£70k was an up in the air figure it might be cheaper, we have been in the house 2 years and paid £275k for it and it was a do up job it was in a right state. The CU would only need swapping over to the other side of the wall and the boiler would be a nice to have but not a major requirement it could be done further on.

I think I'm leaning toward the flat pack at this point, would be nice to firm up the cost of an extension but would have to get drawings done and for the smallish space it'll gain vs cost I'm not sure it's worth it

Good to know electric is relatively straightforward for an outdoor garage

swillsy said:
Exactly what sovietbob said - it all depends on your house value as 70k would be excessive if you're sitting in a 250k house.

I was under the impression it would add value but the more I think about it getting a £70k extension doesn't guarantee that my house would be worth £70k or more

One thing everyone seems to do around the estate I live in is get a downstairs toilet and apparently that's one of the best ways to add value

sovietspybob · 19 Feb 2020 at 09:17

Yeah my garage is large at 6x7m with 3m high eves so a lot bigger than a single. I'd expect under 10k for a single steel garage at say 5x3m roughly so it's not too pokey, just make sure you run a duct when the slab is being layed for the electric cables, i'd personally get water run out there too as you never know, even if you just run the pipe from the garage and leave some coiled up by the house to connect in the future.

Psycho Sonny · 19 Feb 2020 at 17:31

extensions rarely add additional value unless in very sought after areas. you get back what you paid if you do okay.

you are better off just buying a bigger house.

a lot of folk have conservatories up here. no idea why. too cold in winter and just about okay in summer. they add zero value at all. it's like having a shed in the back garden.

Martynt74 · 20 Feb 2020 at 15:24

I'd definitely look into the cost of extension. It'd be a more usable option and depending on cost it could be worth it.

For a single garage of say 3x7 meters You're at ~20sqm and i'd expect that to be around the £40k mark as a rough guide.

Then you could maybe stick a summerhouse type building in the garden which would be nice for the kids to play in summertime.

Relentless81 · 20 Feb 2020 at 16:48

Marvt74 said:
I'd definitely look into the cost of extension. It'd be a more usable option and depending on cost it could be worth it.

For a single garage of say 3x7 meters You're at ~20sqm and i'd expect that to be around the £40k mark as a rough guide.

Then you could maybe stick a summerhouse type building in the garden which would be nice for the kids to play in summertime.

Interesting thanks, I need to measure but I've been too busy freezing my nuts off ripping out the shrubbery in the garden, is there a general rule of thumb re cost per sqm?

The problem we have is we can't borrow against the house because our mortgage is only two years old so we'd have to wait another three years to remortgage for the work or get stung and with two young children and a growing amount of outdoor stuff like bikes, toys etc etc it's getting harder to store it all

The other thing is if I go for an extension, garage/utility room, it won't be ideal for storing the dirty outdoor stuff described above , plus it's more expensive and will block the garden so I think I'm pretty set on a sectional garage where the old one used to be

Martynt74 · 20 Feb 2020 at 16:53

It depends on the area of the country really but i based it on £2000/m2. Some people go as low as £1500 and others up to £3000, it depends on the finish really, but being a garage it's unlikely you'll want perfection!

The advantage of the extension would be that as you have less to store, you can then convert into a functional room. Although suppose it depends on how long you plan on being there.

Have you thought about just a big shed? Something wooden would probably cost around £2k and would likely fit on the base from your garage.

Relentless81 · 21 Feb 2020 at 08:10

Marvt74 said:
It depends on the area of the country really but i based it on £2000/m2. Some people go as low as £1500 and others up to £3000, it depends on the finish really, but being a garage it's unlikely you'll want perfection!

The advantage of the extension would be that as you have less to store, you can then convert into a functional room. Although suppose it depends on how long you plan on being there.

Have you thought about just a big shed? Something wooden would probably cost around £2k and would likely fit on the base from your garage.

Ok thanks, I'll measure up this weekend just out of curiosity.

Half of the base has already been cut away to make way for a small shed and replaced with grass which hasn't done very well over winter, I think I'm going to go sectional. I'm essentially getting what I need which is storage for a significantly lower cost and retaining access to the garden. Plus I can then look at an extension for a downstairs toilet further down the line which is something I really miss from previous houses I can also get a paved area behind the garage installed where its a sun trap and put some furniture there

Thanks for the advice