Can I convert my garage into a carport?

glenimp617

glenimp617

glenimp617

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Hi Everyone,

Little bit of background....

We purchased our house 13 years ago, and negotiated a £10k discount due to an access issue regarding our garage. This wasn't long after we'd moved in, so we were lucky the builders didn't just say tough luck! The problem can't be shown on the photo, but basically in front of our garage is a neighbours driveway and fence. This makes access very difficult.

When you reverse a car into the parking space, in order to clear the fence opposite your car ends up right in the middle of the right side garage wall.

Never been a problem as we always park our cars in front of the house, and the garage is used for storage.

I'd like to start using it if possible, and wondered if I could somehow convert the garage into a carport by opening it up (knocking down the right side wall and removing the door).

Something like this:

y7oGCQs.jpg
 
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Are you thinking of extending the roof to cover the whole gap, and having a support somewhere near the fence? What's the reason to start using it now, and not before?
 
Basher said:
Are you thinking of extending the roof to cover the whole gap, and having a support somewhere near the fence? What's the reason to start using it now, and not before?
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No, I wasn't planning on changing the roof. That fence is my other neighbours so need to be careful if anything's going to be built near his boundary.

The reason I want to use it now is due to covid and work patterns we need another car. Whilst we can get two small cars at the front of the house, ideally we want two big cars. It's also dead space, so a shame not to make use of it.
 
TheOracle said:
No, I wasn't planning on changing the roof. That fence is my other neighbours so need to be careful if anything's going to be built near his boundary.

The reason I want to use it now is due to covid and work patterns we need another car. Whilst we can get two small cars at the front of the house, ideally we want two big cars. It's also dead space, so a shame not to make use of it.
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Where are you thinking the support will go to hold the roof? Or are you thinking of getting some big steels in?
 
Basher said:
Where are you thinking the support will go to hold the roof? Or are you thinking of getting some big steels in?
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Yeah, steels was my plan really. The wall I want to knock down is holding the roof :p

Maybe I'm best emailing a local structural engineer? but do you think my idea could work in theory. It's the only thing we don't like about our house, and it's a shame to move just because of that....but it is causing some frustrations.

If we could just drive the damn car into the parking bay without hassle it would make such a difference.
 
TheOracle said:
Yeah, steels was my plan really. The wall I want to knock down is holding the roof :p

Maybe I'm best emailing a local structural engineer? but do you think my idea could work in theory. It's the only thing we don't like about our house, and it's a shame to move just because of that....but it is causing some frustrations.

If we could just drive the damn car into the parking bay without hassle it would make such a difference.
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Is there a reason that you wouldn't just knock it down completely?
 
I'd have thought to convert it to open sided would require a fair bit of work and a big steel support and pillars, in fact it may even be easier to knock the whole thing down and start again with having to support the roof while the wall is being knocked down and steels put in etc? Or just knock it down and use it as 2 decent size parking spaces.
 
Carports are usually just lean-to's with lightweight roofs, attached (leaning) to another building...plus they need supports on the open side too so wouldn't really help your problem?

Wouldn't be impossible to have no supports on the right side but probably easier starting from scratch rather than converting what unhave now...

e: as above!
 
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Yeah, I have wondered in the past if we should just get rid of the damn thing. There's not much stuff in it, nothing a smallish shed wouldn't sort.

If it is cheaper knocking it all down, rather than opening up it would probably make the most sense. I just wondered about the other side, and the roof at the back as my garage roof intersects with another property.

also, at the back of my garage is breezeblock rather than brick, so that would look a bit naff.

I did think about reducing the depth of the garage from 5.5m down to 2.5m and having a single door at the front (storage room rather than a garage) as that extra 3m is plenty to swing a car round. Kinda like a big brick shed lol
 
Well this is a real long shot, but the property which owns the garage directly behind mine is up for sale. I've emailed asking if they would consider selling the garage. I'll knock mine down, and move their door around lol

Almost certainly be a no, but worth asking.
 
I don't really understand why you would want to do this even after reading the whole thread twice. Everything proposed in this thread will both de-value the property significantly and cost a significant amount of money to implement, particularly as the garage is attached to another property. It's a complete double whammy of cost and almost no one will see it as an improvement.

From the pictures it looks like a standard modern property on an estate, I know you said you don't want to move but if the house doesn't meet your needs then it will be cheaper easier to just move to one that does.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
I don't really understand why you would want to do this even after reading the whole thread twice. Everything proposed in this thread will both de-value the property significantly and cost a significant amount of money to implement, particularly as the garage is attached to another property. It's a complete double whammy of cost and almost no one will see it as an improvement.

From the pictures it looks like a standard modern property on an estate, I know you said you don't want to move but if the house doesn't meet your needs then it will be cheaper easier to just move to one that does.
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Well that is a possibility, but the market is silly crazy at the minute. We have looked and the houses around us with big driveways/garages are just crazy expensive. It's annoying.
 
if you have aspiration for an electric vehicle down the line that could be another reason to find a solution, if the garage+space aren't big enough for you, a potential buyerr may think the same -
perhaps a cheaper solution - - build a dog-leg on garage wall, to widen its entrance, so you can park car securely in it
 
TheOracle said:
Well that is a possibility, but the market is silly crazy at the minute. We have looked and the houses around us with big driveways/garages are just crazy expensive. It's annoying.
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I appreciate that but materially modifying the garage will only compound that when you do eventually come to sell.
 
Do you have a plan for the site?

Before you contact a structural engineer, speak to your local planning office. Modification or demolition may entail needing planning approval first.

Without knowing the details, I'd say knock it down to make a larger drive.
 
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