Sarson Building Services - High Quality Builders in Chichester, Selsey and Arundel.
Converting a garage into extra living space is one of the most cost-effective and least disruptive ways to ‘extend’ your home. In fact, a good quality garage conversion can add value to your home.
Is Planning Permission Required?
In most cases, a garage conversion will fall under permitted development — particularly if you are not altering the actual structure of the building. However, if you are converting a separate, stand-alone garage, as opposed to an integral one, then you may have to apply for a change of use.
If you live in a listed building then you will almost certainly require permission, and those in a Conservation Area may also have to apply for permission.
If you live in a relatively new build, check that there is no condition attached to the garage stating that it has to remain as parking — if this was the case, an application would need to be submitted to remove this condition.
Contact your local planning department for advice.
Do I Need to Update the Foundations?
Where you are filling in the space left by a garage door, adding new windows and doors, or building up and above the garage, the existing foundations will need assessing. You can either contact a structural engineer to investigate for you or dig a trial hole and ask building control to come and view the foundations.
Some garages were built with a continuous foundation across the front, in which case, it may be fine to build on.
If the foundations are found to be inadequate (or absent), there are several options that may be offered. You probably need to build new foundations to support the infill wall, the depth of which will depend on the soil conditions and any windows and doors you plan on including.
Damp proofing
The concrete floor may or may not have been cast over a damp-proof membrane. In recent decades, integral garages would normally have included a damp-proof membrane and certainly the walls would have a damp-proof course. But without plaster and screed finishings to conceal them, the two elements would not meet as they would in the house. Protecting the concrete floor with a polythene or paint-on damp-proof membrane and dressing it up under your new finishings to the damp-proof course layer will ensure that damp is not a problem.
Garage Conversions and Building Regulations
Garage conversions fall into ‘change of use’ and so will require building regulations approval. Building Regulations apply to:
moisture
proofing
ventilation
insulation
fireproofing
escape routes
structural soundness.
You must notify your local council of the forthcoming project by submitting a building notice or full plans application. Once you have finished, a building inspector will come to visually inspect the windows, doors, fireproofing measures and foundations before they will offer a certificate of completion.
Will Floors Need to be Raised and Insulated?
Floor insulation is always absent in a garage and including some in the conversion should be part of the project, whenever it’s possible. That said, breaking up the concrete floor simply to re-cast it over is usually uneconomic and unnecessary.
Garage floors are often lower than the house floor and so adding a damp-proof membrane, insulation and a new screed, along with your final floor covering, is a good way to bring the levels up to that of the rest of your house.
You can use the existing concrete floor as a base, adding a solid or liquid damp-proof membrane, before fitting a layer of insulation on top — building control will advise on how much insulation will be required.
Finally, the new screed is poured, ready to take your new floor covering. Be careful not to cover up any existing air bricks.
This is a good time to think about include underfloor heating within your garage conversion.
When working with very large differences in floor levels, a new suspended timber floor is a good idea. Aim to create a void beneath of at least 150mm between the concrete and underside of the timber, placing insulation between the joists, with new air vents to provide ventilation.
Sarson Building Services are general builders based near Chichester, Selsey and Arundel.
We offer a complete building service to our customers who benefit from a wealth of knowledge, experience and quality craftsmanship. Contact us on 07802 430 360.
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