When is a garage not a garage?

[bobiscuit]

We have an integral garage which we are never going to put a car in. Eventually we're going to convert it, but not yet.

We want to knock through and install a door. We don't really want a fire door because there is never going to be any fuel/oil/etc. in the garage.

So how do we make it "not a garage"? Does it actually need the garage door bricked up? Planning permission??

 

[tony1851]

Before anything else, check with your planning department that there is no restriction on converting the garage to a habitable room.

 

[noseall]

We have an integral garage which we are never going to put a car in. Eventually we're going to convert it, but not yet.

We want to knock through and install a door. We don't really want a fire door because there is never going to be any fuel/oil/etc. in the garage.

It may not be a garage to you but it is potentially a garage to someone who buys your house. I guess if you intended selling before you converted then you could always revert to a fire door and frame as long as you make the opening big enough from the outset.

 

[chappers]

Don't really understand your thinking, if for the time being you are going to knock through and put a door in, then why not just do it properly and put a fire door in and anyway your assurance that there won't be flammable liquids in there won't really hold much truck with BC. I just can't see the reasoning behind not putting a fire door in.

 

[tony1851]

If you want to put a door in which is not 30 min FR, you would need to first make the space unuseable as a garage by such as bricking up the garage door.
If you didn't do it in that order, it would immediately contravene building regs., and your house insurance would probably be invalid.

 

[Muza]

Just as a word of caution, I am a chartered residential valuation surveyor, carrying out surveys and valuations for mortgage purposes. I have seen many many converted garages over the years and my general feeling is that they do not make great habitable rooms, they are generally too narrow to feel like a 'proper room' and most people are disappointed with the results. This is based upon my experience of garage conversions carried out on a limited budget, ie plasterboard dry line the walls, remove the garage door and fix a window / panel of brickwork, fix a kitchen unit over the gas meter, electric fusebox etc and knock a doorway through into the house.

In my experience garage conversions do not add value to most houses, as the room created is actually less desirable for house purchasers than a garage would be. I understand that converting the garage may sound like an easy solution to space problems, but you should be careful that you could make the property less appealing to potential purchasers in the future. Have you thought about moving to a bigger house?

 

[noseall]

My thoughts too, especially the bit about losing the garage. People like somewhere to store junk.

 

[RonnyRaygun]

I agree with the above.

But if you are definitely going to convert eventually, why worry about getting building control involved until you do the conversion? Knock the door through now and get it signed off later. You only need a completion certificate for when you sell.

Maybe also check with your insurance company too though.

 

[cjard]

We don't really want a fire door

Why not? Just curious what the objection is? Can't be financial, because in the grand scheme of things an extra few quid for a fire door is neither here nor there. Because it's self closing? Doesn't have to be any more. It's heavier? Thicker? Will anyone really notice? Probably not; I've been in this office 9 months and am the only person to notice that every door handle is different

 

[mattylad]

My parents converted their garage into a bedroom with en suite and a storage room in their hotel in Blackpool.
It worked albeit being a tad cramped.