Have you outgrown the available living space in your house? Perhaps you'd like an entertainment room or game room, but your home doesn't work for such things. Perhaps you want a guest room, a kid's room, or a home office so you can take care of family concerns and work at the same time. Simply said, this additional area doesn't work with your current floor layout.
This is the time when you could convert your garage into more living space. One major benefit of a garage conversion is that you may add extra space to your home in an unobtrusive, quick, and affordable manner.
An extensive remodeling project, a garage conversion entails raising the floor, insulating the walls, adding heating, cooling, and ventilation, as well as modernizing the doors and windows. However, this home renovation project will probably be much less expensive than starting from scratch to add on to your house.
Let's examine the advantages of converting your garage. These helpful hints will help you get ready for a garage conversion.
Will Converting Your Garage Add Value to Your Home?
A garage conversion could significantly increase the value of your house, according to MSN Real Estate. In fact, even with a smaller garage, if you live in a neighborhood with plenty of off-street parking, the value of your property may rise by 6 percent or more.
Your home's worth will increase in part based on how well the conversion goes and the kind of rooms you add. The good news is that you can often anticipate recouping 80% of the remodeling costs in the value of your house.
Costs of a Garage Conversion
A garage conversion typically costs about half as much as starting from scratch to develop a room expansion. According to experts, depending on where you live and the kind of rooms you install into your garage, converting your garage will cost anywhere between $200 and $500 per square foot.
Be mindful that adding plumbing, HVAC, and electrical work to a garage conversion can quickly drive up the cost. The plumbing costs are frequently the most obvious.
Be ready for a large amount of new plumbing if you want to convert your garage into a usable place where you can cook, take a shower, and use the restroom.
The majority of garages have some kind of electrical wiring, which reduces electrical costs. However, it probably needs to be upgraded. The cost of adding breakers to meet your power needs will be one significant expense. Most garages just have one circuit for the lights. For bare-bones living arrangements, at least one more 20-amp circuit should be added.
Making your garage door into a solid wall is an additional cost of a garage conversion. Typically, a garage door does a terrible job of keeping heat inside during the winter and outside during the summer.
Among the additional cost considerations are the following:
- Insulation
- Walls
- Floors
- Heating and cooling the new living space
- Ceiling and security
The regulations that used to make it challenging to obtain a garage conversion permit in Salem, Oregon have recently altered. The new regulations have made it easier than ever to implement this well-liked feature.
8 Tips for Preparing for Your Garage Conversion
1) Look into Zoning
Your garage conversion could succeed or fail depending on the law. Due to the surge in popularity of house sharing, garage permits have recently become more challenging to get in some places.
To convert a car into a livable area, you must research the regulations in your neighborhood. If you do not want to share or rent out your renovated garage, it will save you time and be much simpler to obtain the required licenses. To make up for the lost garage parking spaces, you might need to offer enough off-street parking.
2) Be Aware of Permits & Laws
Obtaining a building permit is the only prerequisite for a garage conversion. The cost will vary based on where you live and the scope of your garage remodeling job, and is typically handled by your contractor.
You will need a building permit as well as documentation proving your property is expanding by square feet of residential space. According to Andrew Brown, a real estate advisor from Keller Williams Realty in Massachusetts, if you live in a region with high property taxes, you may have just raised your taxable square footage.
3) Conceal Functional Areas in Your Garage
The garage serves as the hub for many household activities. These include, for instance:
- Laundry room
- Furnace
- Water heater
And these are but a few of the items typically seen in a garage.
Moving these services might be difficult and expensive. A excellent solution is to construct inside walls or closets to conceal them.
4) Create Covered Parking
Do you take special care to maintain the state of your car and are concerned about potential harm from harsh weather? Then you'll want to construct a carport to safeguard your vehicle.
6) Install an Insulated Garage Door
Taking the garage conversion in the opposite direction and leaving the garage door in place is another strategy for hiding it. One benefit of doing this is that you can occasionally open the garage door to let fresh air into the living area. When a game or pool room is added, we frequently observe this. If you choose to do this, you should install an insulated garage door in place of the current one.
7) Create a Driveway Separation
You don't want your driveway to end at a blank wall for both visual and functional reasons. Adjust the driveway so that it ends just short of the garage if you decide to replace your garage door.
Create a planting bed for flowers or shrubs to add some beauty to the area. You'll need to either remove the brick or break up the final few feet of concrete to accomplish this. This tiny gap between the driveway and the garage offers a welcome visual diversion.
8) Enhance Exterior Appeal
If you choose to work with an architect for your garage conversion, they may help you integrate it with the façade of your home. To match the wall that encloses the entrance for the garage door, this could need drastically altering the appearance of the house.
Look to 3Rs Construction & Remodeling in Salem, Oregon for Your Next Home Addition
When planning a home remodel, there are numerous choices to be taken, as we are aware at 3Rs Construction & Remodeling. We will guide you through the process. It's crucial to understand what items are on your "must have" list and what your budget will allow.
3Rs will make your new addition appear as though it was always meant to be a part of your house, from design to finishing touches. We take care in mixing sheetrock textures, paint colors, and appropriate lighting utilizing time-tested methods. Even those unfinished basements, garages, and attics can be transformed into functional living areas.
Give us a call at (503) 363-1059 so that we can begin working on your new home addition right away!
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