Converting a garage into living space

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ZWICK 4 PREZ's avatar

ZWICK 4 PREZ

Senior Member

7,733 posts
Feb 6, 2010 12:07 AM
Has anyone on here done this?
I've decided this will be the next project. It will add 576 sq ft of living space with an extra room and bathroom. I'll build a garage out back and run the drive around the side of the house. I want taller ceilings in the garage anyways so it only makes sense to go this route.

What was the cost of yours and did you contract it out or do it yourself?
Feb 6, 2010 12:07am
T

tuskytuffguy

Senior Member

615 posts
Feb 6, 2010 12:46 AM
Well, being an engineer, one would think you could go the cheaper route and do it yourself. But that would require you to cut into your golf time and get your hands dirty. I mean, it's not like it could cut into golf, since it's winter and we're getting blasted, but doing real-man work is out of the question for you, regardless.
Feb 6, 2010 12:46am
ZWICK 4 PREZ's avatar

ZWICK 4 PREZ

Senior Member

7,733 posts
Feb 6, 2010 7:40 AM
tuskytuffguy wrote: Well, being an engineer, one would think you could go the cheaper route and do it yourself. But that would require you to cut into your golf time and get your hands dirty. I mean, it's not like it could cut into golf, since it's winter and we're getting blasted, but doing real-man work is out of the question for you, regardless.
Anyone who knows me knows I'll do it myself with some friends. Now, anyone who's actually done it and has some suggestions want to add in?
Feb 6, 2010 7:40am
wes_mantooth's avatar

wes_mantooth

Tomfoolery & shenanigans

17,977 posts
Feb 6, 2010 7:43 AM
Never done that, but we did finish an old basement. We went the easy way.....used half inch foam insulation and baseboard heaters.
Feb 6, 2010 7:43am
LJ's avatar

LJ

Senior Member

16,351 posts
Feb 6, 2010 7:45 AM
How big is the current house sq footage wise? Is it a 2 car garage you are looking at converting? Do you currently have an unfinished basement?
Feb 6, 2010 7:45am
Belly35's avatar

Belly35

Elderly Intellectual

9,716 posts
Feb 6, 2010 7:49 AM
Z4P Depending where you live that driveway to the side may not be permitted.
Before doing any thing get written approval from the city.

Yes I have converted a garage 24x24 in to a large family room with fireplace ........
Feb 6, 2010 7:49am
believer's avatar

believer

Senior Member

8,153 posts
Feb 6, 2010 8:00 AM
Belly35 wrote:Yes I have converted a garage 24x24 in to a large family room with fireplace ........
Careful Belly. You could get more Free Huddle timeout for being a man of many talents. ;)
Feb 6, 2010 8:00am
C

Con_Alma

Senior Member

12,198 posts
Feb 6, 2010 8:46 AM
I would think a better route would be to add a room on to the hose that's a little elevated with a crawl space. I wouldn't want to have any living space on slab.
Feb 6, 2010 8:46am
ZWICK 4 PREZ's avatar

ZWICK 4 PREZ

Senior Member

7,733 posts
Feb 6, 2010 9:24 AM
Belly35 wrote: Z4P Depending where you live that driveway to the side may not be permitted.
Before doing any thing get written approval from the city.

Yes I have converted a garage 24x24 in to a large family room with fireplace ........
I was told you could pave all the way to the property line. It's also a 24x24 garage.
Feb 6, 2010 9:24am
ZWICK 4 PREZ's avatar

ZWICK 4 PREZ

Senior Member

7,733 posts
Feb 6, 2010 9:26 AM
LJ wrote: How big is the current house sq footage wise? Is it a 2 car garage you are looking at converting? Do you currently have an unfinished basement?
It's currently 1770 sq ft. It's a 2 car, 24x24 garage. The basement is mostly finished with an additional bedroom and bathroom but still has a storage room that isn't finished.
Feb 6, 2010 9:26am
B

bartsimpson

Senior Member

168 posts
Feb 6, 2010 9:34 AM
ZWICK 4 PREZ wrote:
Belly35 wrote: Z4P Depending where you live that driveway to the side may not be permitted.
Before doing any thing get written approval from the city.

Yes I have converted a garage 24x24 in to a large family room with fireplace ........
I was told you could pave all the way to the property line. It's also a 24x24 garage.
I've never heard any where that you can do that...4-5' is the standard set-back for anything, whether it's driveway, storage shed,etc.
Feb 6, 2010 9:34am
ZWICK 4 PREZ's avatar

ZWICK 4 PREZ

Senior Member

7,733 posts
Feb 6, 2010 9:36 AM
bartsimpson wrote:
ZWICK 4 PREZ wrote:
Belly35 wrote: Z4P Depending where you live that driveway to the side may not be permitted.
Before doing any thing get written approval from the city.

Yes I have converted a garage 24x24 in to a large family room with fireplace ........
I was told you could pave all the way to the property line. It's also a 24x24 garage.
I've never heard any where that you can do that...4-5' is the standard set-back for anything, whether it's driveway, storage shed,etc.
I was told drives were different than buildings and could go right up to the line.
Feb 6, 2010 9:36am
LJ's avatar

LJ

Senior Member

16,351 posts
Feb 6, 2010 9:43 AM
ZWICK 4 PREZ wrote:
LJ wrote: How big is the current house sq footage wise? Is it a 2 car garage you are looking at converting? Do you currently have an unfinished basement?
It's currently 1770 sq ft. It's a 2 car, 24x24 garage. The basement is mostly finished with an additional bedroom and bathroom but still has a storage room that isn't finished.
not worth it resale wise imo.
Feb 6, 2010 9:43am
ZWICK 4 PREZ's avatar

ZWICK 4 PREZ

Senior Member

7,733 posts
Feb 6, 2010 9:46 AM
LJ wrote:
ZWICK 4 PREZ wrote:
LJ wrote: How big is the current house sq footage wise? Is it a 2 car garage you are looking at converting? Do you currently have an unfinished basement?
It's currently 1770 sq ft. It's a 2 car, 24x24 garage. The basement is mostly finished with an additional bedroom and bathroom but still has a storage room that isn't finished.
not worth it resale wise imo.
I dunno.. most houses in the allotment are 2200-2500 sq. ft. Anytime you can add sq. footage to match the houses in the area, it will raise your property value.
Feb 6, 2010 9:46am
LJ's avatar

LJ

Senior Member

16,351 posts
Feb 6, 2010 9:49 AM
ZWICK 4 PREZ wrote:
LJ wrote:
ZWICK 4 PREZ wrote:
LJ wrote: How big is the current house sq footage wise? Is it a 2 car garage you are looking at converting? Do you currently have an unfinished basement?
It's currently 1770 sq ft. It's a 2 car, 24x24 garage. The basement is mostly finished with an additional bedroom and bathroom but still has a storage room that isn't finished.
not worth it resale wise imo.
I dunno.. most houses in the allotment are 2200-2500 sq. ft. Anytime you can add sq. footage to match the houses in the area, it will raise your property value.
Yeah, but they also have attached 2 car garages. If you have a usable living space, taking away the attached garage isn't going to help.
Feb 6, 2010 9:49am
ZWICK 4 PREZ's avatar

ZWICK 4 PREZ

Senior Member

7,733 posts
Feb 6, 2010 9:53 AM
LJ wrote:


Yeah, but they also have attached 2 car garages. If you have a usable living space, taking away the attached garage isn't going to help.
True. It made more sense last night when I was hung up on adding a bigger garage out back and adding more sq. footage.
Feb 6, 2010 9:53am
Trueblue23's avatar

Trueblue23

BASEDgod

7,463 posts
Feb 6, 2010 12:46 PM
How much land do you have in your backyard Z?

I don't know a whole lot about things like this, but you would think the property value may be impacted by reducing the backyard.
Feb 6, 2010 12:46pm
ZWICK 4 PREZ's avatar

ZWICK 4 PREZ

Senior Member

7,733 posts
Feb 6, 2010 12:52 PM
Trueblue23 wrote: How much land do you have in your backyard Z?

I don't know a whole lot about things like this, but you would think the property value may be impacted by reducing the backyard.
not a whole lot (100x250) but certainly room for a good size garage.
Feb 6, 2010 12:52pm
S

Society

Senior Member

1,146 posts
Feb 6, 2010 1:03 PM
ccrunner609 wrote: My one story ranch has a heated garage with textured ceiling and large windows. It was built to be enclosed and used as living space.
This is useful for the discussion at hand.
Feb 6, 2010 1:03pm
DeyDurkie5's avatar

DeyDurkie5

Senior Member

11,324 posts
Feb 6, 2010 3:37 PM
Society wrote:
ccrunner609 wrote: My one story ranch has a heated garage with textured ceiling and large windows. It was built to be enclosed and used as living space.
This is useful for the discussion at hand.
lol
Feb 6, 2010 3:37pm
Scarlet_Buckeye's avatar

Scarlet_Buckeye

Senior Member

5,264 posts
Feb 6, 2010 3:47 PM
My humble opinion for what it's worth. Each and every "garage" turned "extra living space" looked just like that and, to me, that's a cheap look. Plus for resale, most people want an "attached" garage, over a stand-a-lone garage. If you are wanting more square footage, I would prefer an additional onto the existing home.
Feb 6, 2010 3:47pm
C

Con_Alma

Senior Member

12,198 posts
Feb 6, 2010 3:49 PM
That was my opinion also.
Feb 6, 2010 3:49pm
A

antonysharples

Junior Member

13 posts
Feb 9, 2010 12:16 AM
i bought my house with a garage that was turned into a family room. It was what sold us on the house, since it added so much more space compared to what we had been looking at. I also said I would build a garage out back, and 6 years later no garage, and I wish everyday that I had that attached garage back. So just something to think about.

As far as the construction aspect, it doesn't appear to be very difficult what they did, and I have never had any problems with it being on a slab. Just lay down a vapor barrier, use treated 2x's to make a "false floor, then deck it.
Feb 9, 2010 12:16am
J

jmog

Senior Member

6,567 posts
Feb 9, 2010 8:17 AM
tuskytuffguy wrote: Well, being an engineer, one would think you could go the cheaper route and do it yourself. But that would require you to cut into your golf time and get your hands dirty. I mean, it's not like it could cut into golf, since it's winter and we're getting blasted, but doing real-man work is out of the question for you, regardless.
You do know that everytime you attack engineers like this you look completely retarded right?

Nothing you typed there showed any reading comprehension of the original post at all.

I read the first post and completely understood Z4P meant he planned on doing the work himself.
Feb 9, 2010 8:17am
THE4RINGZ's avatar

THE4RINGZ

R.I.P Thread Bomber

16,816 posts
Feb 9, 2010 8:24 AM
So it is basically just some smal framing, insulation and drywall? Doesn't sound too difficult. Are you going to be adding windows to the current structure?
Feb 9, 2010 8:24am