Hi. I'm thinking of converting part of my garage into living space and
would like some advice. I'd like to do as much of the work as possible
myself, but I'll probably need to bring experts in for some parts (my
plastering and bricklaying is functional, but not pretty!). Here are
the facts.

Double width garage with two single doors. I want to convert one side.
Area is probably about 20ft x 12ft
Need to remove one garage door, brick up the hole and put a window in.
Create partition wall between two halves of garage, with a new door in
the partition wall giving access to the new smaller garage.
The fusebox is in the room, so wiring should be straightforward.
Need to bring radiator feeds into the room.
Need to board ceiling

What sort of cost am I looking at if did these jobs myself or asked a
builder to do them? E.g. is there a good rule of thumb pricing for
brickwork or partition walls?

What sort of pitfalls should I look out for?

Would I need planning permission for this?

Thanks in advance

Simon wrote:

Would I need planning permission for this?

Normally no, but you need to contact your local council as there may be
specific planning conditions on your development which require you yo
keep the garage as a garage to reduce on street parking.

You need to ensure that anything you do meets building regs.

MBQ


Thanks in advance

In article .com,
writes:
Simon wrote:

Would I need planning permission for this?

Normally no, but you need to contact your local council as there may be
specific planning conditions on your development which require you yo
keep the garage as a garage to reduce on street parking.

I think that's the case in most urban areas nowadays.
There's normally a requirement for some number of off-
street parking places depending on number of bedrooms
and the location, and a garage counts for this purpose.

My neighbour had permission refused to convert their
garage because that wouldn't leave them with enough
off-street parking for the number of bedrooms they have.
(The fact the garage is never used for parking is not
relevant.)

--
Andrew Gabriel

In article .com,
Simon wrote:

Need to remove one garage door, brick up the hole and put a
window in. Create partition wall between two halves of garage,
with a new door in the partition wall giving access to the new
smaller garage.

Will the partition wall between the living space and
the garage need to be fireproof?

--
Tony Williams.

We should be ok on those grounds. We only ever park our cars on the
driveway - we could probably fit about 5 cars on the drive at a push!
Our driveway is set at a sharp angle to our very narrow single track
road, so parking on the road has never been a possibility. The garage
isn't really visible from outside our property.

We are lucky in that the previous owners were the architects who
designed and built the house. There are a few obvious potential areas
for expansion that they recognized when they built the house. There are
a couple of areas of 'loft' space above the garage that could be
converted, so they built reinforced lintels into all the walls where
you might want doorways, there are proper flooring joists in the space
above the garage and the garage walls are double thickness.

Is that a standard requirement? Does it just apply to living space
alongside the garage or above it? I expect there must be many houses
that have a living space above a garage just separated by plasterboard
and chipboard.

Simon wrote:
Is that a standard requirement?

Is *what* a standard requirement?

Does it just apply to living space
alongside the garage or above it? I expect there must be many houses
that have a living space above a garage just separated by plasterboard
and chipboard.

Hi. I'm thinking of converting part of my garage into living space and
would like some advice. I'd like to do as much of the work as possible
myself, but I'll probably need to bring experts in for some parts (my
plastering and bricklaying is functional, but not pretty!). Here are
the facts.

Double width garage with two single doors. I want to convert one side.
Area is probably about 20ft x 12ft
Need to remove one garage door, brick up the hole and put a window in.
Create partition wall between two halves of garage, with a new door in
the partition wall giving access to the new smaller garage.
The fusebox is in the room, so wiring should be straightforward.
Need to bring radiator feeds into the room.
Need to board ceiling

What sort of cost am I looking at if did these jobs myself or asked a
builder to do them? E.g. is there a good rule of thumb pricing for
brickwork or partition walls?

What sort of pitfalls should I look out for?

Before you do anything else go and brush up on the building regulations. The
insulation requirements are very high and becuase garages often have
negligible amounts of it you casn expect to have to insulate the floor,
walls and roof. It would be worth going and talking to your local council's
building control staff because they will expect the work to be done to the
correct standrad.


Would I need planning permission for this?

You might do. The quickest and most certain way is to ask you local planning
depeartmet.

Peter Crosland

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
.. .

(The fact the garage is never used for parking is not
relevant.)

Very very few are!

Sorry, I guess I answered Tony's question with a question. I was hoping
that I could build a stud partition wall between the new living area
and the remaining garage area. From Tony's reply I assume that it may
be necessary to build a fireproof (brick) wall between the two.

A worst case scenario is is was badly built with rubbish in the floor
then a thein ish layer of concrete so you have to replace the floor.
However, sounds like you should be ok. You'll need a brick partition
but you can do this. Use conrete blocks, or if you have plenty of
money, use lightweight blocks. You can get insulated light weight
blocks which together with a layer of celotec and then plasterboard
shoulb meet the required U value. Light weigthblocks are easier to use.
Wall ties every two courses and 2 blocks wide. Do same for garage
opening and put in a window. All DIY stuff except perhaps the outer
leaf of bricks in the garage opening. If this is rendered on the
outside then you can use blocks for the outer leaf also. Extedning rads
piping is easy with pushfit and plastic piping (new rads will require
thermostats).
Applying for planning permission and building permission yourself on
this type of job is relatively easy. Make an appointment to see a
planning officer and get in early (my Building Control Officers are
avaialble 8:30 -10, then they are out doing inspections) to see the
BCO, pick up the forms and apply etc. then DIY or get ina
bricky/builder.