6 Important Points to Consider for an Effective Garage Conversion

If you are wondering how you can have some additional space in your home, garage conversion is an excellent way to go. You can do it yourself or hire a professional garage conversion company. You can convert your garage into a kitchen, bathroom, living room, home office, bedroom, wet room or utility room. Here are some tips on what you should consider.

1. Converting Your Garage

If you wish to convert your garage, it’s recommendable to contact a professional garage conversion company like garage-conversion-company.co.uk so as to get the peace of mind that the job would be done professionally. An improper garage conversion can lessen your home’s value. Moreover, if it doesn’t comply with building regulations or the particulars in your leasehold, you may have to return it to its previous condition.

2. In-fill Garage Door

A traditional garage door meant for an easy access to vehicles can be highly unsuitable for your garage conversion. It’s neither practical in terms of light and insulation, nor aesthetically pleasing. Hence the old garage door will need to be filled in with a new wall to accommodate a new door and perhaps a window. It’s almost sure that the garage’s original foundation will be a shallow slab which cannot support the new wall; so, a deeper foundation should be dug. Adjacent buildings, soil types, resulting drainage conditions and nearby trees should be evaluated so as to estimate the type and depth of foundations would be required, particularly if your house was constructed on a landfill site.

3. Walls below the Ground Level

Based on what foundations are considered necessary for your specific conversion, a higher or lower amount of wall construction should be undertaken. Walls beneath the ground (substructure) should support the construction above (superstructure) and these sub-walls should be created from bricks that are resistant to sulphates present in the soil and ground frost.

4. New External Walls

It’s possible that your garage conversion will need at least one totally new external wall. External walls are of two types:

Solid Wall: This is only a single wall. Because of current thermal insulation requirements, it’s possible that such a wall would be suitable.

Cavity Wall: These are two walls separated by an internal space, often filled with thermal insulation.

5. Ventilation

For good ventilation, an opening window should be installed equaling one-twentieth of the total floor area. Additional ventilation is available in the form of trickle ventilators. New toilets, kitchens, shower rooms, bathrooms and utility rooms should be fitted with an extractor fan.

6. Electrics

Take care to carry out any electrical work according to the British Safety Standards 7671.

So, are you ready for a garage conversion?