You have been thinking about this for a long time. Out in the garage is 400 square feet of potential man-cave. You have paced off the area for a pool table, chalked out the wet bar and scouted the attic for chairs and a usable card table. The time has come. You have earmarked this year’s bonus for the garage conversion you have day dreamed of so often, for so long.
First Step: Do Your Research
First, there is thorough research to do. You have to really think it through and plan out your conversion well so that it complies with local building codes and seamlessly blends in with the rest of your home. From there, you will need to secure corroboration that your plans comply with building codes for your area. Acquire all the required permits, and be aware that various communities throughout the country have zoning requirements for off-street parking. Some residents became aware of this code only when their garage conversion resulted in a “non-compliance pickle.” You could be left with a court order compelling you to convert your conversion back to a garage. That is a demoralizing plight to avoid.
Going the Do-It-Yourself Route
You can save a lot of money with diy garage conversions. Since the main structure is already in place, projects like this are usually practical for those with limited budgets. If you are not experienced or knowledgeable in the construction field, yet a proficient woodworking hobbyist and well-rounded DIY practitioner, then proceed with practicality. Hire professionals for the construction steps and procedures that you lack sufficient training to tackle. When doing your own contracting, it is essential to know the order that these jobs must follow. Assumptions can be costly. It is obvious that you need an electrician before you hang the drywall, but other “orders of installation” can be counter-intuitive to a novice.
Planning the Actual Conversion
Make early plans of how you will handle things that will require moving or working around. If there is a water heater in the garage, it is a much cheaper to build a closet around it than have it moved to another location like a laundry room. You can hide an electrical box by building a cabinet around it.
Important Leveling Tips: Flooring
By design, for drainage purposes, your garage floor is probably not level, so if you construct a wood frame for the flooring you will need to level it, either by using shims, or by ripping the studs. Also, before you lay down bats of insulation in the flooring, install a heavy polyethylene vapor barrier.
Important Leveling Tips: Walls
Your garage walls are probably not very level (or plumb) either. This is by neglect, not design. Most construction workers do take pride in their craft, except where they figure it does not matter. For garage walls, the concept of “straight” seems acceptable within a much wider range of tolerances compared to the interior walls of a home. As you put up the wall studs, use shims to get everything plumb.
What to do with the Garage Door
One of the biggest esthetic challenges will probably come as you grapple with the alternatives for the exterior wall where the garage door now hangs. It is unlikely that you will be able to fill it in with the same brick or siding that covers the rest of the house. It is physically possible to do this, and it does leave the distinct, powerful visual statement, “I bricked up the door to my garage.” There are solutions. Garage door prices can be pretty expensive, so consult an experienced professional on what options would work best for you.
Gratification with the Results
Completing your project offers a flush of pride, both in accomplishing the work and in the added living space achieved. A husband’s vision of a recreational room designed to accommodate his buddies and their beer becomes subject to spousal input and moderate compromise as construction progresses. The resulting modification is called “the family den,” which features, in place of the pool table, a couch with too many pillows, and a hefty roll top desk that crowded out the “wet bar” idea.
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