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Anyone convert attached garage into living space?
Posted on 2/5/24 at 10:17 pm
Posted on 2/5/24 at 10:17 pm
My garage is fully insulated, except for the door. It does not currently have HVAC.
This week my garage door was damaged and before replacing it, I’m considering framing in the opening.
The garage is not used for vehicles and would be a nice addition to the house.
Any reason to not do this? Can I just have a duct run through the attic to provide HVAC?
This week my garage door was damaged and before replacing it, I’m considering framing in the opening.
The garage is not used for vehicles and would be a nice addition to the house.
Any reason to not do this? Can I just have a duct run through the attic to provide HVAC?
Posted on 2/6/24 at 7:21 am to 23parker
Probably not on running the duct. Look into a mini split, that would probably be an easy space to do it. You'd probably be looking at $3000-$4000 to have one installed. You can do it yourself for less than half that. If you can do a window unit, that will be the easiest and cheapest method, about $500.
Posted on 2/6/24 at 7:26 am to 23parker
quote:you can do anything. Whether it works depends on the size of your garage and the size of the unit you are pulling air from.
Can I just have a duct run through the attic to provide HVAC?
have an hvac guy come take a look
Posted on 2/6/24 at 7:45 am to 23parker
A possible problem area is the quality of the garage floor. Lay a sheet of plastic down for a few days and see if moisture accumulates under it. If it does, have an epoxy sealant put on . In my house there is a plastic barrier in the slab only under the house floor, not so for the attached garage.
Posted on 2/6/24 at 8:44 am to 23parker
KInd of trashy when people do this in my opinion.
Posted on 2/6/24 at 12:00 pm to 23parker
You should also check your local zoning and building regulations before you do so.
In more urbanized areas like Jefferson Parish, for example, you need one legal (20 ft. deep, 10 ft. wide) parking space behind the required front yard setback (20 ft.).
The legal parking space can be a driveway alongside the house, under an attached or detached carport, or in a detached or attached garage under the same roof as the house.
The idea behind this is the average household has two cars, and one will park in the required parking space, and the other will be parked in the 20 ft. long driveway leading to it without blocking a sidewalk.
Enclosing an attached garage likely eliminates that required legal parking space and may not be allowed if you go to obtain a construction permit.
I think it's sort of an ineffective rule, because probably 3/4s of attached garages in Metairie are NOT used to park a car, but used to store bikes, boats, and tons of junk. And folks enclose attached garages all the time, often without the required legal permits.
Just sayin'...
In more urbanized areas like Jefferson Parish, for example, you need one legal (20 ft. deep, 10 ft. wide) parking space behind the required front yard setback (20 ft.).
The legal parking space can be a driveway alongside the house, under an attached or detached carport, or in a detached or attached garage under the same roof as the house.
The idea behind this is the average household has two cars, and one will park in the required parking space, and the other will be parked in the 20 ft. long driveway leading to it without blocking a sidewalk.
Enclosing an attached garage likely eliminates that required legal parking space and may not be allowed if you go to obtain a construction permit.
I think it's sort of an ineffective rule, because probably 3/4s of attached garages in Metairie are NOT used to park a car, but used to store bikes, boats, and tons of junk. And folks enclose attached garages all the time, often without the required legal permits.
Just sayin'...
This post was edited on 2/6/24 at 2:33 pm
Posted on 2/6/24 at 6:12 pm to 23parker
I had this done Summer of 2022.
Had the carport closed in, and had a new carport built out in front because I absolutely did not want to park in the driveway.
With regard to HVAC, my existing space was completely maxed out with the single unit that I have, so a mini-split was installed in the new space. The mini-split works great. Just set it and forget it. No noticeable increase in electricity bill.
I mainly closed in the space as a game room for the kids and have absolutely zero regrets.
Had the carport closed in, and had a new carport built out in front because I absolutely did not want to park in the driveway.
With regard to HVAC, my existing space was completely maxed out with the single unit that I have, so a mini-split was installed in the new space. The mini-split works great. Just set it and forget it. No noticeable increase in electricity bill.
I mainly closed in the space as a game room for the kids and have absolutely zero regrets.
Posted on 2/6/24 at 7:31 pm to 23parker
I’m sure there is it a raised foundation like you have in your house. You always step up to enter the house, not for the garage. That would need to be considered.
Posted on 2/6/24 at 10:31 pm to 23parker
We have 2 two-car garages separated by a framed wall.
We looked into converting one of these into a bedroom, office and large walk in closet.
We had plans drawn up by architects and got a bid. For around 425sf, the bid we received to convert the space was $150k. We decided not to move forward with the project. We probably need to get another quote just to make sure, but even if that original bid is $50k over what another bid would be, it still makes 0 sense. We paid ~$175/sq ft when we bought in June 2022. Converting a garage for well above that cost is insane.
Our plans included:
- pouring new floors to match the elevation of the current indoor living area
- adding 2 windows where the garage door currently sits
- removing brick from an existing external wall to use around said windows to make the exterior look seemless (and replacing that brick with siding)
- removing existing driveway leading to converted space
We looked into converting one of these into a bedroom, office and large walk in closet.
We had plans drawn up by architects and got a bid. For around 425sf, the bid we received to convert the space was $150k. We decided not to move forward with the project. We probably need to get another quote just to make sure, but even if that original bid is $50k over what another bid would be, it still makes 0 sense. We paid ~$175/sq ft when we bought in June 2022. Converting a garage for well above that cost is insane.
Our plans included:
- pouring new floors to match the elevation of the current indoor living area
- adding 2 windows where the garage door currently sits
- removing brick from an existing external wall to use around said windows to make the exterior look seemless (and replacing that brick with siding)
- removing existing driveway leading to converted space
Posted on 2/7/24 at 6:16 am to 23parker
I built my shop in my basement back in Georgia. I had a garage door to deal with. You can buy big pieces of foam insulation from Home Depot to put up against the garage door. They are more than 5"thick. Put up plastic before hand, completely covering the door opening so no wind could get through. I then stuffed insulation all around the outside of the foam panels then plastic over the top again. I used thick plastic.
Im sure there are more ways to do it to look better but I never got any buggs, water or cold through it. I could stand very close to that door and I counld not tell any difference in the temps.
Also, when I moved, I just took the stuff down and the door was operational again.
There are ways to do it better Im sure but that worked
Im sure there are more ways to do it to look better but I never got any buggs, water or cold through it. I could stand very close to that door and I counld not tell any difference in the temps.
Also, when I moved, I just took the stuff down and the door was operational again.
There are ways to do it better Im sure but that worked
Posted on 2/8/24 at 12:53 pm to 23parker
I converted mine... 19x19 space. Bought rubber flooring interlocking tiles from Rubber Flooring Direct. Have two dumbbell racks, bench, and pull up bar in there. It is partly my workout room but also a play room for the kids since it's so wide open. We just put a big window unit in there (it had a small little closet with a window) and I added a return duct to my HVAC right outside the door to help keep it cool.
Posted on 2/8/24 at 2:53 pm to 23parker
I did this in 2021. You don't need to run HVAC, just frame the opening, run a 2 ton mini-split and get enough concrete to make the floor level with the rest of the house.
Its our kids playroom now, built in bunkbeds, pingpong table, play kitchen, all that isn't in our main living space. Added about 575sqft to the house so itll be the best bang for your buck.
Its our kids playroom now, built in bunkbeds, pingpong table, play kitchen, all that isn't in our main living space. Added about 575sqft to the house so itll be the best bang for your buck.
Posted on 2/9/24 at 10:52 am to 23parker
Not a living space, but I did close off a 2 car carport in my last house to make it into a woodworking shop. One side was attached to the house and the other side was a small storage area 20 ft. x 3 ft. for lawn tools and such.
I had to close off the front and back sides of it and did so with 2 windows on each side and a double door for the entrance so I could easily get tools, sheet good and finished projects out easily.
No heat but did put in a window unit A/C for the summer months.
I had to close off the front and back sides of it and did so with 2 windows on each side and a double door for the entrance so I could easily get tools, sheet good and finished projects out easily.
No heat but did put in a window unit A/C for the summer months.
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