How to Convert Your Garage Into an Extra Bedroom

Guest Blogger #413, Entry #1021, March 16, 2012

These days it seems like everyone is looking for inventive ways to get the most use out of their interior space (at least until the housing market rebounds and they can upgrade to a larger home). Everything from attic space to the basement to the garage or backyard suddenly qualifies for status as a man cave, play room, study, or entertainment venue; there seem to be no hard and fast rules concerning the use of what might once have been a dedicated space. So if what you really need is another bedroom to house your growing family, perhaps it’s time to consider converting your garage to make your existing square footage meet your needs. Here are a few steps you’ll need to take to make the dream of an extra bedroom into a reality.

Convert your garage into a useable space

Image via: Sun Set

Plan out your garage conversion

For starters you should set up consultations with a number of contractors. Transforming your garage into a usable bedroom is not quite as easy as sealing cracks and insulating around the garage door. This may be good enough for a den or a game room, but a space where someone sleeps cannot afford to be dank and drafty, especially if you live in a climate with extreme temperatures in the summer and/or winter months. So before you do anything else you should get some advice from a contractor concerning the work that needs to be done and then start taking bids to ensure that you can afford any work that is too complex to manage on your own.

Properly remove and purge garage contents

Once you’ve decided to move ahead with the renovation you’ll have to start by clearing out the space. Anything that was in the garage will have to go somewhere else (including tools, car parts, sporting goods, and so on), so think about where you might store these items in your home or consider erecting a modular shed of some sort in the backyard to stash everything. From there you can definitely take the initiative to clean the space and prepare it for upgrades and eventual habitation. Sanitation is of paramount concern since this area has probably been used to store all kinds of toxic substances (paint and paint thinner, motor oil, bug spray, and the like). So you may want to contact poison control to ensure that you clean it all properly. The process may not be as simple as calling a car hire Alicante Airport service, but if you cross your t’s and dot your i’s you’ll get it all done.

Convert your garage into the perfect bedroom

Image via: Tiny House Blog

Garage renovation tips

Now it’s time to undergo renovations. The garage door will have to be replaced or simply walled over; the latter option may be preferable if you want to leave future homeowners the option of easily returning the space to its former function. You will likely need to install a subfloor (and flooring), add insulation and new drywall, run electrical, and possibly even build out a ceiling (many garages have open rafters with no insulation to speak of). Cutouts for windows are also an option, and at the very least you will want to replace existing windows with interior-grade options (like double-paned glass). From there you can easily attend to the finishing touches (painting and decorating) to create the extra bedroom that will house a happy member of your family.

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