Garage conversions guide: Building a garage, pre fab garages

Garage conversions can be a great way to gain some extra living space, they can be relatively inexpensive to pull off and the rewards can be awesome, however, fail to go about it in the right way could result in all your hard work being for nothing, either through shoddy workmanship or the lack of an official permit. In this article I’m going to providing you with a few basic steps that need to be done which will ensure your converted garage is built buy the book and recommend looking into purchasing pre fab garages.

You should never expect to be able to carry out whatever work you wish without contacting the local authorities before hand, you may be required to obtain the proper permission before embarking on your conversion project. Double check with the building regulations in your area first before you put hammer to nail.

If you’re converting a garage into a room there is a significant amount of planning that should be done before hand. Providing your garage already has wiring installed, you need to insulate the ceiling and walls to ensure that it is capable of retaining enough heat and keeping out drafts. Firstly you’ll need to consult the building guidelines in your area to see the recommended practice for insulating a garage conversion. It’s very good practice to figure out what the suitable R-value for each are of the garage, note that this can differ between walls, floors and roofs.

Garage conversions also require you to check all of the walls and ceiling for any splits and openings through which it may be possible for drafts to enter or water to seep through. If you identify any racks which warrant attention you can purchase specially made insulating foam which can be sprayed onto these areas. Many experts recommend using fibreglass bass insulation in a garage conversion, be sure when fitting the fibreglass to attach it firmly, if there’s too much slack it won’t be effective. Readers should note that cavity walls shouldn’t be filled with too much insulation; there must be adequate air within the cavity.

When it comes to fitting the dry wall you obey the proper building regulations, all most all local building authorities recommend inserting a screw along the drywall every 6 inches. The size screws you need will depend on the size of the dry wall, 1/2” drywall warrant the use of 1 inch screws whilst ¾ inch drywall require 1.5 inch screws. You also need to use a 1 inch screw on each stud every 12 inches.

Only once the walls and ceilings have been converted correctly should you begin work on the floor, chances are your garage floor isn’t as clean as the rest of your house so it pays to give it a good scrub down.

Pre fab garages are a great way to set up a new garage without having to ‘build’ it yourself, these garage kits are constructed in factories and only need to be assembled by the customer. This is a great solution if you aren’t very confident in your ability to plan out and build your own from scratch, building a garage can be tough if you don’t know what you’re doing so it could be money well spent to avoid all the stress and save yourself some time too.