If you’re desperate for some more living space in your home, you might be tempted to start using your garage as an actual living space rather than a place to store your car or other belongings. And while this might be a great idea, it won’t come without its challenge.
So to help ensure that you fully understand exactly what taking on this project will entail, here are three tips for converting your garage into usable interior space.
Best Tips For Converting Your Garage Into Interior Space
Understand That There May Not Be Added Value To Your Home
Before you get started on this project, the first thing that you should know is that converting your garage into another part of your home may not be as financially sound of a decision as you might think.
While this will add square footage to your home when done the right way, not having a garage could potentially negatively impact the actual value of your home. Especially if you live in an area where most homes have garages or garages are seen as a very beneficial part of a home due to weather or other reasons, turning your garage into something else could be a bad decision as far as resale value goes. So if you’re making this choice as a way to increase the value of your home, it’s wise to really check this out before making this assumption.
Make Sure You Have Other Parking And Storage Options
If you aren’t going to be using your garage as a garage anymore, you have to figure out another option for the items that have been stored there.
In areas where parking is limited, getting rid of your garage might make some other headaches for you to deal with. Additionally, if you’ve been used to using your garage as a storage space but are now going to be using that area as a living space, you’ll have to either get rid of a lot of the items you’ve been storing or figure out some other storage option, be it a storage unit, finding storage in your home, or getting some kind of out-building to use as storage now.
Know Everything That’s Involved
Once you’ve decided that turning your garage into another interior living space in your home is the best idea for you, you should fully understand what this process will likely entail for you.
In most situations, you’ll likely have to raise the floor of your garage, which could bring to light any foundation issues you might have. You’ll also likely have to install more insulation, add windows, move to heat and cooling into the space, potentially upgrade the electrical, and more. So if you’re thinking this will be an easy project, you might want to think again.
If you’re wanting to move forward with converting your garage into a liveable space, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you get started on this process.