Apr 08 2010
Use Your Garage For Extra Living Space
Garage conversion is a rising trend among homeowners. Most people don’t use their garage to store their cars, so it is essentially an extra room waiting to be used. If you’re like me, you’ll need to do a little spring cleaning and get rid of the stuff that has accumulated in there over the years.
Most people think they are stuck with their current living space. They feel cramped and think the only way to add more living space to their life is to buy a new house or build an expensive addition onto their home. Well, you don’t have to do that. A simple garage conversion can add extra living space affordably and quickly.
The first thing to know is that you don’t need to go through the hassle of coming up with a lot of money. If you wanted to buy a new house, you have to go through the trouble of finding the right house, the right loan, and a 10% – 20% down payment for the house. That’s a lot of work in my book for something I really don’t need or want.
The overall cost for a garage conversion will cost you about half of that down payment you would have used on a new house. No loans, no crazy mortgage payments, just more living space.
The second thing is that converting your garage is pretty straight forward. You have your overhead garage door, which you can either keep it and seal it, or remove it and install a traditional wall.You can keep the floor as is, or level it. If you plan on using the converted room a lot, it’s a good idea to invest in additional insulation for the walls and attic if you have one in there, since garages usually aren’t built to preserve heat the same way houses are.
The third thing to do is determining if you want to do the work yourself or hire a contractor. To be honest with you, if you’re not handy with the tools, you should save your time and prevent injuring yourself. You’ll save yourself a ton of diy garage conversion headaches. Plus, if you were going to purchase a new home, now you can use a portion of that money to have a contractor make all of the improvements for you.
So before you go out and find a Realtor, take a look around your garage and see if it has any hidden potential.
Related posts:
- Saving Money by Insulating Your Garage Door Good garage door insulation is a very easy way to...
- Materials For Garage Doors If you’re looking to get a new garage door then...
- What Is Epoxy Garage Coating? An epoxy garage coating is one of several types of...
- Kitchen Space Saving Ideas Many people have a small kitchen with limited space. Having...
- Garage Floor Coating Tips Do you have a concrete garage floor? Does it have...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.