Little Garage Conversion - 'The dog house'

[GinG]

Morning all,

We currently have an integral garage, well it is now we had a door knocked though into it. The original idea was to use this so when we are out the dog stays in here, however due to no natural light and also once the afternoon sun hits the garage door it turns into an oven which is a big no no for us to keep the dog on its own in here.

The original plan was to just stick up a stud wall, insulate it and put a tiny window in to let a bit of natural light in...this has now changed and I am now getting a man room/pc room which will free up the small bedroom upstairs and make the house a 4 bed again.

Anyway, today is the day work starts!

I am using friends who are in the trade so this will be a 3 - 4 week project at least as things are being done in their spare time, however the jobs which are going to be done:

• Stud Wall - Room will be 2.5m x 3m (will be insulated) - This will leave an approx 2.5m x 2m space to store bikes & garden equipment
• Hang Firedoor - From the new room into the remaining part of garage
• Make the door opening into room higher so there will be enough room to lay a carpet
• Install a window
• Box in / create a cupboard to hide the Combi Boiler
• Insulate and board up the block wall
• Install 4 down lighters and additional sockets

I have already ran some Cat5e cable which is connected up to a gigabyte switch in the loft. Currently the pc room is up in the smallest bedroom (2.5m x 2.5m) and connected via Powerlines so this will give a nice boost in speed.

After a bit of a clear out this is how it looks ready for work to start:






Will post updates as work begins

 

[GinG]

I know its only going to be small, however I also enjoy seeing others so thought I would share!

 

[GinG]

Studwork and plasterboard going up:

 

[GinG]

Todays Progress:







Tomorrow the window goes in.

Electrics being sorted on Wednesday and then need to try and plan when the plastering can be done so I can arrange for the doors, skirting & architraves can be fitted.

 

[GinG]

Maybe it should be more of a 'shed'...useless for anything other than storage.

Who really uses a garage these days anyway? At both this and my last house it was only ever used as a dumping ground!

 

[GinG]

Been wanting to do similar to my internal garage. Divide it up and make a utility room. How did you make the dividing wall fire resistant? Is it special plaster board or something?

We haven't made the wall fireproof, however the walls which are existing are all fire rated plasterboard.

In total the whole project will be costing around £1000 and the room will be plastered, doors hung with architrave and skirting around the room.

Budgeting a further £150ish for carpet and £50 decorated.

 

[GinG]

Really happy with the progress so far:





All ready for electrician to fit 4 downlights and 2 sockets on Wednesday.

Mate will then be coming back to fit a window board, plasterboard and skim the walls. At the same time as this we will be getting the oak doors fitted around the downstairs and the 2 doors in this study.

 

[GinG]

Following this with interest. Needing to do the same thing by dividing the garage in half. Half for utility room and other half remaining as storage.

Are there rules that I should be following if I wanted to just put up the stud wall with a door in (my garage doesn't have any door into my main house)?

I am no expert, however I don't see why you would need anything special here to be honest. It makes perfect sense to make use of a space like this, if you don't have any use other than a dumping place it really will make a great deal of difference to the house.

 

[GinG]

I was thinking that. Would a car fit in there?

Nonetheless, nice little project, this. Look forward to seeing progress.

It would be a very very tight squeeze. I think on the floor plan drawings they had a Fiat500 inside.

If I am honest I do not know anyone who uses their garage to park a car in these days (I know there are people out there who do!) however as I have mentioned this makes perfect use of a space I currently use as a junk dumping ground whilst still maintaining room to store bikes, mower, tools and other bits and pieces.

 

[GinG]

With the excepton of you having a window, this is the exact thing i'm looking to do for our garage. We've had a doorway through, created. Shed is being built next week, so most of the stuff in the garage can go into the shed.

Will be looking to split the garage into two spaces, office/den for me and the front bit as a utility.

Have you done anything by way of sound proofing? Particularly the ceiling? Sound travels really easily from our garage to the room above!

The stud wall will be stuffed with rockwool to insulate. Not done anything to soundproof the roof... However all that is above is bathroom and what will now be the ex. Study so not too bothered. Assume it will be the same as the living room and the rest of house.

 

[GinG]

Electrician in today, currently the spotlights have been fitted along with the wiring for sockets. More pics to follow later:

 

[GinG]

Looks good but how would you (or a boiler service engineer) access the flue on the boiler since it now has a stud wall in front of it?

To be honest I never really thought about this! However I was hoping we left enough room to be able to access most of the boiler. Does anyone know how long the testing rod is?



Electrician yesterday managed to hide the main cables into the cavity and also fit the socket and light switch into the wall.





The door supplier is having some issues making doors currently so having to wait on the firedoor to arrive into stock. Originally orders end of May with a possible delivery date of next Friday...keeping fingers crossed.

 

[GinG]

Did you not have to get building control to check the plans for the conversion or does it not apply because the front of the garage hasn't changed?

As it is an intergrated no planning required, if it was a detached garage then I would have had to apply for the change of use and no planning is required for adding the window.

A little concerned about the flue now for the engineer, I may need to replace the plasterboard with some 12mm plywood/MDF and either screw or add a hinge so it is easier to access. This was a very good point raised as no one else has thought about that!

 

[GinG]

A little pic without all the rubbish in the room which shows how much tidier the wires are looking to the fusebox. We have also mounted the box off the wall now so we can fit some plasterboard behind and make a bit tidier job.

 

[GinG]

shouldnt be too hard or take too long to do tho?? at least it was spotted just now and not a few months or years down the line when it was too late

Absolutely and a great spot, will literally be a 5 min job to sort out.

The wifey really isn't feeling this room mind, she would have much preferred the cash to be spent on the patio or a family holiday!!

 

[GinG]

cracking job you have done there and looks extremely good. looking forward to seeing the finished pics

Thanks mate, can't wait to get the doors on and it plastered and will start feeling like complete room. Just done a quick panoramic pic to try show a bit more depth:



And a before shot of before we began:

 

[GinG]

Yeah, really happy with it now...problem is there is going to be about 2 weeks now until anything can be done. Plasterer and Joiner is coming the same day (brothers) to plaster in here whilst fitting the oak doors in the downstairs and the 2 doors in here.

 

[GinG]

Planning permission is not equal to building regulations. Conversion of a garage into habitable space normally requires building regulations approval.

It's likely you should have submitted a notice prior to works commencing and need to get the works inspected particularly in relation to means of escape, fire proofing, insulation and ventilation.

I'd have a read of the below before progressing any further. At your current stage it's quite easy to make minor alterations if you need to:
https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/25/garage_conversion/2

Thanks for the info, will take a look into it.

 

[GinG]

Planning permission is not equal to building regulations. Conversion of a garage into habitable space normally requires building regulations approval.

It's likely you should have submitted a notice prior to works commencing and need to get the works inspected particularly in relation to means of escape, fire proofing, insulation and ventilation.

I'd have a read of the below before progressing any further. At your current stage it's quite easy to make minor alterations if you need to:
https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/25/garage_conversion/2
https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/convert-your-garage-to-a-living-space/

Had a quick look at this and to be honest everything should be ok, all walls to the dwellng are as before and not been tinkered with, fire door is going on the new doorway into the garage and the led spotlights are fire rated.

New window has been installed using the required lintel and electrics are all installed as per guidelines.

Although I am trying to do this on a bit of a budget we haven't cut corners.

 

[GinG]

When I had a combi boiler installed a few years ago I was told that the flue had to be accessible to be able to be inspected. My boiler is in the old airing cupboard which had a void boxed in at the top which had to be knocked out as the flue goes through it into the attic then out through the roof.

Just needs a floor to ceiling door or an extra little door at top for the flue.

Thanks, think I will get some MDF and make it a removable hatch.