# Need some ideas on converting a garage space into living space



## mpillow (Jan 24, 2003)

It is a 1.5 story garage approx 24 feet square...concrete slab, newer windows, semi insulated (main floor) with a serviceable woodstove/chimney...220 outlet and standard outlets....a phone is already there from main house, too...

Obviously insulating the top floor will be necessary (sleeping area methinks), and flooring...I was thinking a floating laminate (both floors) as it may in time go back to a reg. garage. I need to do something about the garage door too. Walls will have to be something other than drywall as in winter a move into the main house and drywall doesnt freeze/thaw well...

Running water isnt necessary but a sawdust bucket will work! the stairs are already in place too. 

All this on a small budget of course! Give me some ideas!


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## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

I'm no builder, so I don't want to offer up specific ideas on the how-tos of the construction project. BUT...one thing that you might want to do is to look into your local zoning regulations and question your local assessment office. 

(Using my area as an example) A neighbor once hung old drapes in the attic in order to block out the hot sun. He figured that it would help to keep the house cooler in the summer. When he got his new tax bill, he found that he was being assessed as having a 3rd floor that was habitable and was taxed for an extra 900 square feet of living space! In order to get out of paying on a larger assessment, he had to allow someone from the Assessment Office to take a tour to verify that it wasn't living space.

(In my city) If I had a garage that I wanted to convert temporarily, I'd leave the garage door in place and apply mirrored or darkening film to them to keep someone from seeing the change. From the street, it would still look like a garage. On the inside, I'd add what ever insulation was necessary and maybe even build a wall that would be easy to take down when I was ready to go back to using it as a garage.

This may not be an issue where you live. Of course, it isn't an issue for me because I don't have a garage!


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## Sawmill Jim (Dec 5, 2008)

Seen lots of enclosed garages with sheet rock walls . Go with post #2 put your wall across the door area in place with wood furring strips for easy removal later . Or put that wall in two sections on a roller track like barn doors use .


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## wormlady (Oct 8, 2004)

You don't say what you will need this for, but my first thought was to just park a conversion van or small motor home in there for living quarters.

How small is your budget? 

How many people will be living in the garage?


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

You could use paneling instead of drywall for the walls. No tape, mud or paint. 
I like the idea of a semi-permanent wall in between living area and the garage door. The previous owners of this house did those in the basement.

I don't know if hanging blankets over the windows will tip off a tax assessor. Maybe inside decorative shutters will work.


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## T-Bone 369 (Jan 18, 2007)

Since you are talking like at some point in the future you may go back to using this as a garage I would suggest the following.

1. Your going to need insulation in the walls and the ceiling. No question about that. What you finish the walls with is up to you - anything from simple drywall to plywood to T1-11 would work fine and be workable when you convert back.

2. I leave the overhead door inplace and built a new wall just inside that wall. Even high quality insulated overheads are only as good as the gaskets the seal it to the opening. Given a little breeze it will leak cold air like a seive. You can go ahead and remove the opener and the overhead track to get it out of the way. Secure the new wall to the floor with Tapcons so later you can just unscrew them and remove it. If your walkthrough door is on the same wall as the overhead just kill the new wall there to allow you to use it. Obviously you will want to insulate the new wall. 

3. For the floor I like the idea of using laminate but if you put it directly over your existing concrete you are probably going to have moisture problems. Often slabs in garages are not poured on top of a vapor barrier and tend to sweat. You could lay down sleepers and cover them with OSB but when you go to re-claim the garage all that will need to be ripped out. We converted an attached garage into a family room for a client a few years back and used Dricore panels for the subfloor. They are 2' square OSB panels with a vinyl backer the gives you an airspace under the subfloor and acts as a vapor barrier. They are T&G like regular subflooring and lay like tile. As they are not fastened down mechanically when you want to remove them you can just pull them up. Then you can go with a laminate over the top and again if you get the snap together when you want to remove it just take it up. Easy as pie. 

4. If you go to put in any plumbing that would require breaking up concrete for drains consider putting in a raised section of floor instead. For a bathroom, go to one corner, build a platform on 2X8's then build your bathroom on top of that. I have seen this done many times in basements. It gives you room for your drains and does not kill your head room. As it is only an 8" rise you do not need an additional step. Again, when your ready to convert back just pull it out.

Just a couple of thoughts for you. I'll include a link for Dricore.

http://www.dricore.com/en/homeowner.aspx


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## NJ Rich (Dec 14, 2005)

I did not read all the rplies:

Go on line to; www.homasote.com Homasote has a sound rating of 54-60 and an insulating value twice that of wood. It doesn't rot; takes paint well; doesn't require taping or spacking and has a fire rating. We used 2 penny galvanized nails with a head size of about 1/8 inch. They hold well do not look overly large and don't need cosmetic patching to finish the installation.

There is too much to write here but I have seen Homasote used on the exterior of houses that were forty years old and still looked good. My father used Homasote on soffits and the ceilings of a water bottling plant. 

Read the instructions about preparing the sheets for installation. The sheets get watered; stacked together and allowed to expand for a few days before installing. This is an easy process and makes the finished installation resist buckling and bulging from weather or moisture later. 

We left a 1/4 inch space between the edges/joints to allow for any expansion. These joints were covered with pieces of lattice.

For your project I think Homasote would be perfect for both ceilings and walls. Looking at the web site information garages and work shops were mentioned. Take some time and look at homasote's web site and read to get a better understanding of the product.


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## Sandhills (Jun 15, 2004)

Another flooring option would be vinyl glueless floor covering. It is held in place by the base boards on the wall. We put this in our kitchen several years ago and have not had any problems with it. It was also cheaper than the laminate.


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## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

depends on who is going to live in this garage and for how long.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

My daughter and son-in-law converted their 2 car garage into a sewing work room. It was already dry wall finished, but the double garage door they left down and built up to it a regular wall. Drilled the framing for the wall and into the concrete to stablize it, then did the wall. 

Later they sold the house and took that wall apart. And it was then just a 2 car garage. I think they may have filled the left over holes with some small amount of concrete. 
Oh, they left the concrete floors and put down throw rugs.

This garage did have a separate people door to one side of the double garage door, so they could still go in and out that way.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Our kids tiled their garage when they changed it into living space. The idea was that when they sold the property the new owners could still use it as a garage because the tile is so durable. I would use that instead of laminate on the floor.


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## mpillow (Jan 24, 2003)

Zoning is not an issue...
I like all the ideas! I need easy and cheap DIY type solutions. I guess the garage door is the biggest hang-up...my dad took out the insulated sliding barn style door and put in a new overhead garage door a few years ago...now he's losing his marbles and my mom needs a space away from him(and his smoke) to sew and I will need room for myself and teenager.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

You can just make a frame inside the garage door, but leave it on. That way, all you have to do is take down the framed wall, and the garage door is still there.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

If it were mine , i would 

raise the garage door and see if it used all the track , then leave 6 inches of extra track and cut off any excess , then build the wall right there when i put the door in that wall i would make it about 6 inches off the floor using a double footer of treated wood i would stud that wall out and put some windows in it even if they were more like the old storm type windows with plexi glass on the outside and a screen on the inside , or what ever you can find 
2 reasons for this , first garage door tracks are a pain to frame around , second this 8foot by width of door space will make a good room for the summer if on the outside of the overhead door you build some simple frames and screen it in but leave a wide screen door , because come fall you can store a bunch of fire wood in this space having it dry and ready to grab and toss in the stove easy , it can also serve the purpose of dry storage , a work space for those tasks you don't want to do at the dining room table .

this also keeps it a garage , with a heated work shot space , that you just happen to sleep in some times 
many places if it doesn't have a toilet it isn't a living space.
yes a saw dust toilet is the way to go.

you ask why leave that door 6 inches off the ground , that way you can level and frame up a 2x4 floor probably in 8 foot sections if you have the height for it and insulate under it run wires and such as needed then put down ply wood , paint the plywood with a floor paint use carpet remnants ans such as you wish uninsulated concrete makes for a cold room but it wouldn't have to be done right away and could even be done half at a time as needed 

now it sounds like you are thinking of this just as a summer residence like a bunk house in that case i would just put the screens outside the overhead door with a screen door , paint the floor if it was flat and sound , insulating the ceiling is good but may not be necessary at all just installing some good ventilation high on the second floor do draw out the hot air 

if you insulate , 7/16 osb for sheeting on the walls 

it all depends how fancy you want to get with it and how many months of the year you want to use it.


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## mpillow (Jan 24, 2003)

The screens are already there! 
I'm not Martha Stewart type at all but my folks are! Dust from the concrete is a concern and so I'd like to cover it, plus it will be cold if I should decide the cigg smoke is too much in the winter.
There is a woodshed of the back of the garage with reg, door access...so my wood will be covered. There is also a reg door and storm door on the front in addition to the garage door. 2 car garge/workshop with only one reg garage door setup.


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## mpillow (Jan 24, 2003)

there is a picture of the garage in this real estate link:
http://www.csmrealestate.com/index.cfm?fa=listings.view&ListingID=4566&PropertyTypeID=-1&mls=show


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

The previous owners of our house used special paint on the garage floor and we love it. It sweeps and mops like a dream, doesn't stain, and is virtually waterproof. If this isn't a permanent setup for you, then living with painted concrete floors wouldn't be bad.


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## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

I use to rent a one car garage turned into an apartment. The guy left the garage door up in the ceiling and sheet rocked over, then he framed the doorway and put a window and a door in. It was an alright place to live.

I would insulate, panel (as was suggested), toss down some cheap remnant rugs, and for the garage door a cheap fix would be to leave it down staple plastic around the door to keep water out, then frame beside it without damaging the door, insulate, and toss up some paneling. A sheet of paneling is just a few dollars more then a sheet of drywall, but you do not have to tape, sand, prime, and paint.....and best of all it is light and easy to carry. If the side door, 32 inch or whatever it is, is drafty then weather strip it and hang a heavy drape over it in winter to keep the chill out


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## soulsurvivor (Jul 4, 2004)

You could look around your area and see it there's a company that does the spray foam type of insulation. That's what we went with in our building. It turned out to be about a thousand less than going with a standard insulation. The company we used came onsite and gave us an estimate and answered questions we had about the use of this. We have one overhead door and a side door, no windows as it's really used as a garage. But we wanted it insulated because of what we're storing in the way of preps and other items such as the freezers. We also had a polished concrete floor/pad poured by a local guy that does that type of work. The heat is from a wall mounted propane heater with a blower and thermostat. It's set to come on at 35 degrees. The dimension of the building is 18 x 32.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

When we converted a garage, there was a question about the garage door being above grade. You won't want water running into it when it rains. To insulate it, since ours already had dry wall up- we drilled 4" holes at the tops of the walls and had someone come blow insulation down the walls. To cover the holes, DH cut crown molding pieces. If you leave the garage door, won't it collect dust on top of it? Our garage did have a moisture barrier under it so we glued down carpet industrial carpet squares. I like the linoleum idea though.


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## NJ Rich (Dec 14, 2005)

No matter what you install over the concrete garage floor put down a good concrete sealer to keep moisture out.

Make sure you have an other exit be it a fire code approved window for emegency exit. Best wishes, NJ Rich


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## bluefish (Jan 27, 2006)

We're living in our garage while building a house. We painted the floor with a special paint for concrete that they sold at the parts store where DH worked, ran some pex for water lines, installed propane for the water heater and cookstove, installed a woodstove and hung blankets for 'walls'. We have 2 'bedrooms' and a bathroom walled off. The second year we also built wall in where the garage doors are. There's 2 windows in each wall. They are build just outside the garage doors so we can close the doors if necessary.

Someday when we have the house done, we can pull out those walls, take down the blankets and it's a garage again.


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## bourbonred (Feb 27, 2008)

We moved into the basement with 2 kids and a teen while we refinished the upper floors and prepared the house to move. The basement was large with a laundry room, bedroom, library, playroom, bathroom, and a 2 car garage. We moved the children into the playroom, put the teen in the library, we used the bedroom, and we converted the 2 car garage into our livingroom/diningroom/kitchen. We painted the concrete floor of the garage which really cleaned up the looks of the place. The walls were stucco'd. We left the garage door in place and hung curtains and placed the sofa in front of it. The kitchen was dry. We used an old sink and cabinet section from re-doing the kitchen upstairs and placed a 5-gallon bucket under the sink pipe that we emptied daily. We moved down the refrigerator and a used electric stove. We lived down there comfortably for about 6 months.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

how about i give your mother my house and i move into that garage it looks nicer than my house 

with 5 garage doors i would take the one out and frame a wall window and door way , save the track and door and it could be put back in if needed later without that much cost.

I would still start with just painting the floor then adding rugs as needed see how it is for year it may be fine in KY , all my construction thoughts are always imagined on what to do for a Wisconsin year.


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## mpillow (Jan 24, 2003)

It is nicer and neater than my house! 
Serious....
Its zone 4 so I do have to insulate well...I'm also looking at those big tiles the exercise places use link up like puzzles...don't know how expensive they are but...nice and thick though!


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## frankva (May 21, 2009)

Those are pretty $$. Cheap = indoor outdoor carpet thrown down over the sealed or painted concrete. It will be cold. For it not to be cold you will have to build a floor and insulate it.

Don't glue down the carpet and you can roll it up and haul it outside to hose it off. 

Zone 4 will require some real insulating heating planning for Winter use.


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