Major Projects Should You Convert Your Garage?

Date Published:

19/09/2009

Before you convert, think carefully about not just how you’ll use the room, but how you’ll make it feel like a proper room, rather than a garage conversion.

How Will You Use The Space?

The room created from a standard garage tends to be long and narrow. To make better use of the space, designer Nigel Lewis of Space and Style Home Design, who has carried out more than 50 garage conversions, advises including a cloakroom at the rear. ‘Some of the best conversions have a ground floor WC at the back, created by introducing a stud wall and an extra doorway from the hall. By doing this, the remaining space will shrink by around 1.1m resulting in much better proportions. With this approach it is also possible to create a small shower room at the back of the garage which can turn the front space into a guest bedroom, study or a room for a dependent relative. This turns the garage into a very practical space,’ he says.

If you decide to include a toilet or a shower room, the issue of drainage will come up. Ideally, you’ll have a conventional gravity drainage system, but if this is impossible, there are other options. ‘This problem can simply be overcome by a pumped macerator (Saniflo is the brand leader though there are others), if there is not easy access to a conventional gravity drainage system. Ventilation will also be an issue, but an extractor fan will remove smells and condensation,’ advises Nigel Lewis.

The location of a door from the new room to the hallway is often critical, due to the position of the staircase. ‘When planning the conversion it is best to consider what the ideal position would be, rather than going with the existing door if there is one,’ says Nigel Lewis.

It’s also worth working out how the position of the door will affect the furnishing of the new room – it’s no use positioning it in an ideal place in the hallway if this will make the new room awkward – so be prepared to compromise to get the best of both worlds.