Converting a garage.

DH and I need more space for our kids. We have a little house with only one living area and three young rugrats getting into everything. So we are thinking about turning our double garage into a kids playroom. I assume there are lots of people here that have done similar things before.

The biggest problem (other then decluttering) is that the garage is feezing. We are thinking of laying carpet over the cement. Our other options are floating floorboards or vinyl. Any opinions?

Not sure what to do about the garage door - possibly install sliding doors however I think that may require council permission for this, which I would rather avoid. So what else can we do to help keep the cold air out and the warm air in? We don't want anything permanent, as we will be turning this into an IP someday and will want to convert it back into a garage at that point.

Any suggestions would be nice :)
 
We are thinking of laying carpet over the cement. Our other options are floating floorboards or vinyl. Any opinions?
Both carpet and the floating timber floor (which has a foam layer underneath) will be potentially warmer feeling than vinyl on cement.

Not sure what to do about the garage door - possibly install sliding doors however I think that may require council permission for this, which I would rather avoid. So what else can we do to help keep the cold air out and the warm air in?
Leave the garage doors in place. Come inside them a few meters and erect a false wall. Gyprock it on the side that faces inside the newly created room. That way nothing looks different from the street and the wall can be removed later when it is reverted back to a garage.

The space between the garage doors and the new wall can be used as a garden shed.

If you need light, install a skytube. If you line the walls (if not already) then they can stay when it reverts back.

Sould all be fine.
 
Leave the garage doors in place. Come inside them a few meters and erect a false wall. Gyprock it on the side that faces inside the newly created room. That way nothing looks different from the street and the wall can be removed later when it is reverted back to a garage.


I'll second that if you plan to sell later. I looked at many houses that were great except they closed the garage in to make it a rumpus room and would cost a fortune to change it back. Personally I wouldn't buy a house without a garage.

If you do as suggested above, it's only a days work and minimum cost (none?) to turn it back into garage.
 
We have done the same. I have a persian rug on the ground (only coz I've had it forever), a couch (our loungeroom too small for the second couch), some kids chairs and a telly with a few toyboxes. I don't worry about heating to be honest. I just rug them up with coats - that way they can play outside as well as watching the telly inside. They love it.

Hubby loves it in summer - it's hot during the day, but it's the first place to cool down in the evening.
 
We turned our double garage into a family room.

We removed the doors and bricked up the opening to half way, then installed windows above. I reckon you could knock it out in an hour or two if anyone wanted it removed.

Carpet on the floor, and it is the most used room in the house. It was already fully lined and part of the house with an internal door which made the whole exercise easier.
Marg
 
Good idea from Prop. Makes sense if using as IP later on.

If you are trying to convert it properly (and if you were leaving it in this condition for your IP, and maybe erecting carport for carparking), you would have to go through the applicable council permits.

By converting an unhabitable space (Class 10A) to a habitable space (class 1A), you definately need permission to do this if you go by the book (the Qld book anyway).

Issues regarding termite barrier at edge of garage / concrete driveway, foundation depths (generally the concrete depths of garages aren't as thick as habitable areas), insulation, energy efficiency and light are now all included in Qld requirements.

Also, if selling like this, and don't have any approved plans from council, might hold up sale of house...this is a possibility.

But if you are doing it just as a temp measure to free up some space, Props way of going about it is a good way of doing it.

Cheers,

F
 
Easy enough to do and revert back to a garage, like Alan's said. In fact, I just did a final inspection on house where the tenants did this and they had to return it to it's garage state before we'd agree to settle. They simply removed the gyprock wall, the carpet and hey presto back to car accommodation!
 
The false walls sounds like a good idea. We have a panel lift door though, which when opened runs across the roof, so if we did do this option we would definitely not be able to use it at all, unless we maybe got a fake ceiling over that as well.... Or changed the garage door to a roller door.... I do like the idea of have a smaller area at the front which could still be accessed, we could leave it big enough to still put the bike in there....

Fudge - you are right about all the regulation which an above board conversion. We would be right for most of it, it would already meet al the structural requirements. however the biggest concern with dealing with the council (aside from the extra cost) is that the council would knock us back because of 'looks'. They are extremely hung up on that here in canberra, and our house is on very prominent display as the first house in a new estate.

We defitinately want something that can be converted back into a garage, as our house will be alot more saleable and rentable with a double garage over extra living space. Particularly as there really isn't anywhere we can errect a carport. We just park our car in the driveway, but we are not allowed to erect a carport there, again because of 'looks'.

Anyway thanks for the input. :) Might get the handyman out to talk about that fake wall...
 
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Mandy Mac - truthfully, I wouldn't worry about the heat for just the kids :D But when the internal door from the garage gets opened into the house,, it sucks all the warmth right out in minutes.
 
Warm it up

I agree...carpet is definately warmer than concrete (or any other surface for that matter) then add a rug ontop of that for even more warmth. Place furniture up again the drafty spots on the wall...like the back of the couch against the garage door for example :)
 
Leave the garage doors in place. Come inside them a few meters and erect a false wall. Gyprock it on the side that faces inside the newly created room. That way nothing looks different from the street and the wall can be removed later when it is reverted back to a garage.
The space between the garage doors and the new wall can be used as a garden shed.
If you need light, install a skytube. If you line the walls (if not already) then they can stay when it reverts back.

+1 for this, seen exactly this done in a newish 3x2 courtyard home, albeit a single garage. A false wall 1.5m inside the doors creating an external tool shed, the inside wall fronted with built-in robes. Extra air-con vent added for $600, small window punched in the back wall. Eventually a purchaser wanted it reverted to a garage which was easily done. The whole floor was left tiled, so it was aesthetically acceptable for settlement - whether the tiles actually bear the weight of a car is the purchaser's problem!
 
With any garage conversion you need to be careful to follow the council building guidelines - they will have requriements regarding floor level, insulation, drainage, etc which you will need to address as part of your conversion.

Wishing you every success, Ana
 
With any garage conversion you need to be careful to follow the council building guidelines - they will have requriements regarding floor level, insulation, drainage, etc which you will need to address as part of your conversion.

Wishing you every success, Ana

Only if I go through with council approval ;)
Which is what I really want to avoid :D


Have decided to keep it simple (and thus cheap too). We are going to lay carpet, but leave the panel lift door on as is. we will put a stip of rubber across the top of the rollerdoor or seal the air in/out. We will see what the temperature is like before doing anymore, but if need be we will chuck some extra insulation up in the roof above the garage ourselves and hang some heavy drapes aross the back of the garage door. And if it is still cold then we will revisit the idea of a false wall.
 
allure garage becomes available shortly

DH and I need more space for our kids. We have a little house with only one living area and three young rugrats getting into everything. So we are thinking about turning our double garage into a kids playroom. I assume there are lots of people here that have done similar things before.

The biggest problem (other then decluttering) is that the garage is feezing. We are thinking of laying carpet over the cement. Our other options are floating floorboards or vinyl. Any opinions?

Not sure what to do about the garage door - possibly install sliding doors however I think that may require council permission for this, which I would rather avoid. So what else can we do to help keep the cold air out and the warm air in? We don't want anything permanent, as we will be turning this into an IP someday and will want to convert it back into a garage at that point.

Any suggestions would be nice :)

Hi RugRat

allure garage flooring should be looked at it is an off shoot of the very popular allure flooring product sold in harvey norman and is huge in the states. the product is available @ Harvey norman stores. The product can be laid yourself and you can park a car on it if you want with no bleeding of rubber from the tyres on the car.

hope this suggestion helps

D
 
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