HomeWhat a garage conversion costs
What does a garage conversion cost?
Less than an extension of the same size, because the shell is already standing. What you are paying for is making it warm, dry, level and legal.
What you are actually paying for
The walls, roof and slab exist, so none of the expensive groundwork does. The work is:
- Raising and insulating the floor. Garage slabs sit lower than the house and are rarely insulated, so this is almost always needed.
- Insulating and lining the walls and roof to meet Building Regulations.
- Closing the opening. The door comes out, the gap is bricked up in matching brick with a proper lintel, and a window goes in.
- Electrics, heating and lighting, so it is a room rather than a lined garage.
- Plastering, second fix and decorating.
The bit that decides whether it looks right
The brickwork where the garage door used to be. Get the brick match, the lintel and the window proportions right and nobody can tell. Get them wrong and it is the first thing anyone sees from the road. It is the detail we take the most time over.
Is it worth doing?
If you are not parking a car in it, almost always. You get the lowest cost per square metre of any way of adding a room, you lose no garden, and it is usually the quickest job on our books because there is no groundwork to wait on.
Common questions
Is a garage conversion worth it?
If the garage is storage rather than parking, yes. It is the cheapest usable square metre you can add to a house, and it takes weeks rather than months because there are no foundations to dig or cure.
Do I need planning permission for a garage conversion?
Usually not, because you are not changing the footprint. It normally falls under permitted development. It does need Building Regulations approval, which is a different thing, and we handle that.
Will I lose the storage?
Yes, and it is worth thinking about before you start. Plenty of people put a small garden store up at the same time, which is a much cheaper way to hold the mower and the bikes.
Want a proper price for it?
Tell us roughly what you are planning and Scott will come and look. The visit, the advice and the written quote are all free.
Read more about garage conversions in Hertfordshire.
