What to do with a long garage that doesn't fit my car?

[ignite-me]

I just put an offer that was accepted on a house that has a narrow and long garage attached to the house. As I would like to be able to park my car inside the garage, I am looking for the most affordable way to make changes to the existing structure (see photos below). I am based in the North West of England (Lancashire).

Option 1:

- tear down the existing garage
- extend the driveway into the garden
- build a large single garage in the top left corner of the plot (I'm considering prefabricated concrete garages but will also look at local builder prices, but I cannot do this until the sale is complete). Just need it for storing a car - no need to any bells and whistles.

Option 2:

- build a new detached garage in the front of the house. Convert the old one eventually into a living area. This might be a potentially painful process to obtain a PP for a detached garage in front of the house even if the space allows.

Option 3:

- extend the width of the existing structure. However, the actual gain in width might be just around 50cm - which would work for the car - but I am not sure if that's good enough gain for the price considering the structural changes the existing garage will require. In my brain, I'm think it should be cheaper than building a new one (prefab or brick) but I'm not a builder and no clue on any prices.


Could anyone advise please on what would be the most sensible approach or what would you do in this situation? Ideally I would like to spend no more than 20k on this, but could go a few grand higher if it's a brand new high quality garage. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you

https://imgur.com/a/1eOOvDO

 

[Mottie]

Get a car that fits the garage?

 

[martygturner]

You could knock down the bit up to the rear wall of the house and turn that into a workshop and put up a timber open sided car port type supported on columns, that way when you drive in you could open the doors so to speak. It depends on what you want the garage for. As far as I remember if its open on one side its a car port not a garage. so fitting a door to the front would not be an issue and in the pohto there is a fence to the side.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Option 1 sounds good. 2 better but a long shot - planners will be resistant but possibly worth a try depending on what the street looks like and whether others have done the same. Bear in mind that it will get even narrower when you add the required insulation/damp-proofing. 3 is probably impossible, assuming the roof joists currently span the width.

You could also replace it with a new adjoining garage, perhaps with a room on the back. But you'd then lose access to the back garden, assuming it's a semi.

 

[Koolpc]

Sell the car!!

 

[Murdochcat]

£20K doesn't get you much these days when it comes to building .............

 

[ignite-me]

Option 1 sounds good. 2 better but a long shot - planners will be resistant but possibly worth a try depending on what the street looks like and whether others have done the same. Bear in mind that it will get even narrower when you add the required insulation/damp-proofing. 3 is probably impossible, assuming the roof joists currently span the width.

You could also replace it with a new adjoining garage, perhaps with a room on the back. But you'd then lose access to the back garden, assuming it's a semi.

It's a detached house, so there is a good option for access to the garden from the other side of the house. But for Option 3 I was thinking that it would require replacing the flat roof of the garage with a new one (potentially pitched) to accommodate the new width. But that could be pricey.

Others: And no, I will not sell my car, but thanks.

 

[mrrusty]

Last time I looked this was a DIY forum. Why not build it yourself? If you use blocks, the brickwork doesn't have to be that pretty if you then use a decorative cladding. Blockwork is relatively easy to master - a good string line and keep the height of the courses level. Several different roof systems you could use. If you went pitched like mine, you order the trusses on-line and they get delivered. Garage doors are easy to install if you follow the instructions, likewise windows are not expensive. OK, maybe you do need a bit of DIY aptitude - it isn't a job for a total newbie, but definitely doable for someone that's handy.

I'd go with option 1 or just rebuild it. Over 1m from boundary and you can go up to 30sqm without regs. Under 2m from boundary and you're stuck with 2.5m max height under permitted development, but planning for a garage is not expensive.

https://community.screwfix.com/threads/garage-work-in-progress.222282/

 

[pete01]

Move house?

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Yep, £20k will buy lots of bricks and timber. But if you want to sit in a chair and watch it all happen then absolutely no chance.

We don't know whether the plan is DIY or not, so can't say if the budget is silly or not.

It's supposed to be a DIY forum but sadly DIY doesn't seem to exist for millennials and younger. Most threads seem to be moaning about choosing and supervising trades nowadays. Someone please prove me wrong!

 

[Deleted member 323070]

Is it the width of the garage, or the width of the entrance that is the problem?
If it's the entrance the brick pillar can be reconstructed on the outside of the garage. But that would require a new garage door.

Half a metre gain is quite a gain for the width of a garage.

 

[Murdochcat]

If you have access to the back garden down the other side of the house i would let time go by and seriously consider flattening the garage, building again so it’s wider and closer to the boundary and splitting it into living and garage space ….

 

[phatboy]

It's supposed to be a DIY forum but sadly DIY doesn't seem to exist for millennials and younger. Most threads seem to be moaning about choosing and supervising trades nowadays. Someone please prove me wrong!

I'm 39, and started building my 80 square metre extension in January 2022. It's now built and knocked through to the house, and I am converting the old living room into 2 bathrooms and a walk in wardrobe.

I had a digger driver for 5 days for groundwork, and worked with a blockie for 3 weeks (I laboured and did some of the laying), and used a diamond sawing company. Other than that I've had nobody else in the place except plasterers and the surveyor at the start. I learnt:

- Meshwork
- Shuttering
- Concrete pouring
- Drain laying
- Block work
- DPCs
- Flat roof building and finishing (Structure, insulation, EDPM, parapet with capping)
- Soakaways
- Using acrows and fitting steel and lintels
- Plumbing
- (Already could do electrics)
- Prepping for plastering
- Rendering
- Fascia and guttering
- Block paving
- Landscaping
- Probably loads more by advice here, YouTube, trial and error, and the hard way

Where I did need professionals in I found when they realised it was a self build, they were quite happy to provide plenty of advice.

Not all millennials are incapable! Our choice was we build it, or we cannot afford it.

 

[noseall]

Ideally I would like to spend no more than 20k on this,

We are just putting the lid on a 3m x 8.5m attached, pitched roof garage. It's double your budget proposal. Unless you are going to do most of the work yourself, forget it.

 

[cdbe]

I would extend the garage to the front and widen part of the existing sufficient to fit the car in. You could come to the "front" or possibly further to the building line where the dining room ends (obviously PP dependent). One of those faux pitched roofs on the front would improve the aesthetics.