If you’re interested in adding living space to your home, there are a couple of good reasons to consider converting your garage. For one thing, your garage already has the basics, like a foundation, floor, walls, and a roof. Starting with these structures already in place will considerably cut down the cost of your project compared to the cost of adding a new structure. Of course, it will take more than that to turn your garage into a comfortable living room, den, or bedroom. Take a look at some tips that will help convert your garage into a comfortable living space.
Garage Door
You have a couple of options when it comes to the garage door. Keeping the garage door intact can leave the room feeling less like a complete room of the house and more like a garage with furniture. However, some people like the look of the garage door, especially if you are planning to decorate the room in an urban or industrial style.
Alternatively, you can remove the garage door and build a wall in that space, leaving room for a regular door. This will make the room feel much more like a regular room and not a garage, but it can be expensive.
A compromise is to install French doors or sliding glass doors where the garage door is now. This removes the garage door – and much of the garage feel – but doesn’t require you to build a whole new wall.
Garage Floor
The next big challenge is the floor. An unfinished concrete floor may be fine for your garage, but it’s not a comfortable floor for a room that you want to relax in. If you’re interested in a do-it-yourself flooring option that won’t cost a fortune, you should look into ceramic or vinyl tiles. These can be installed directly over the concrete slab floor, after some preparation.
Flooring options like hardwood or carpeting will cost more and may require professional installation, but they’re possible if you prefer one of these choices. Keep in mind that you’ll need to install a plywood subfloor before adding carpeting or hardwood. This will increase the time and cost of your project, so be sure to take that into account while planning.
Garage Climate Control
It takes more than changing the door or installing attractive flooring to make a room feel comfortable. If you don’t want your converted room to be uncomfortably cold in the winter and hot in the summer, you’ll need to attach the garage to your home’s central heating and air system or bring in portable heating and air units. And either way, you’re going to want the room to maintain a consistent temperature, regardless of the temperature outside.
That means that your garage will need to be insulated. Adding insulation will allow you to have a more climate-controlled room. You can either have a professional add spray or blown insulation in your walls, or, if you’re comfortable working with drywall, you can purchase sheet insulation and cover it with drywall.
Once you’ve handled the garage door, installed flooring, and created a climate-controlled environment, you can begin bringing in the decorations and furniture that will turn the room into the comfortable space that you’ve been looking for. For help with your garage renovation, get a free design consultation and estimate.
