Hi! Some advice needed on a garage conversion if possible. We are looking at converting our single connecting garage into a dining room/ playroom/ study. It would involve knocking through to the lounge, bricking up the front and adding a window, adding bi-fold doors at the back, adding sockets & radiator, constructing cavity walls and then plastering. We plan to organise the carpeting and painting ourselves. We have been provided with a quote of £11k plus VAT which was slightly more than I was expecting. Do you think this is a reasonable quote? How much should I be expecting to pay for this sort of job? Thanks a lot!
One thing I notice about most garage conversions is how bad bricking up the door looks, either because the new bricks aren’t exactly matched to the old or because they aren’t exactly lined up. If I did one I would consider using a contrasting colour or finish for the new brickwork, or maybe recessing it slightly to create a feature. Otherwise, if not done well a garage conversion could damage the attractiveness and value of your house.
Thanks a lot - that's helpful advice. I will be sure to raise this with the builder although he had mentioned previously the importance and emphasis he would place on getting matching bricks (and those particular bricks are quite common apparently). I agree though it either needs to look the same or totally different!
An alternative is to retain the garage door and have a very short garage about 1-2m which can be used to store bikes and tools, and build a wall to separate off the rest of the garage to create the new room.
Thanks I did consider that as one of our neighbours has done it but dismissed it for a few reasons: - It's easy enough to get a shed for the few tools I have - I'd prefer the look of a window at the front and I believe the room needs a window for it to be officially classed as a bedroom? - As it's only a single garage it would leave the remaining room quite small I think?
Sorry I’m not close enough to the market to answer your original question about price, and then I keep talking about other aspects. Do you know whether your builder plans to knock out the half bricks either side of the garage door and let in new full width bricks, or have a vertical mortar line with half bricks on either side. I would make a point of being there when the builder lays the first layers of bricks and if it doesn’t look right, stop him before he goes further. When you see a house with trellises on the front wall do you ever wonder why? My house is made from Georgian red brick and has dark brown woodwork. I am considering making some minor mods and am thinking of using Moroccan brown bricks as a contrast.
All questions are useful! The half brick thing was actually something he suggested as to taking them out and replacing with full bricks - he said he always does to try and get it to look as similar as possible. So that gave me some confidence that he knew what he was doing (I hadn't considered it).
Thanks - doing a general Google search gives you anything from £5k to about £20k so that wasn't much help in terms of benchmarking!
Unless you know your builder really well and have complete faith in him you do need to get other quotes. There's always a bright side - he's come in way less than £20k!
Yes! I found one on Trust A Trader that I'm waiting for a quote from but he gave me a lot less confidence than the one I mention above who I found through a Google search. But it's a lot of money to spend so want to be as sure as I can. I live in the Milton Keynes area if anyone has a recommendation!
I live in Beds but I’m not offering to do the work. If you ever need advice on matching bricks go to Butterfields in Luton. They have a Brick Library with hundreds of samples.
Actually my neighbour specialises in brickwork and plastering and the work he has done on his own house seems good. I think he prefers employment to contracting but I could ask.
Yes if you don't mind that would be great - always good to have another quote. I was planning on getting 3 quotes anyway
I'd also explore other ways of adding the insulation to the walls - I really don't see the need to make it a cavity wall, what with the expense of this and the loss of internal space. Assuming it's a single block/brick wall, I can't see any reason you can't just tank the inside surfaces to be sure to be sure, and then D&D on insulted p'board of at least 60mm thickness. That will give you superb insulation. Robert's point on making the outside door area look neat is a good point. As well as considering a contrasting brick - if you think that will work better - also consider other contrasting finishes. Very popular these days is coloured PVC 'weatherboard' cladding, but their success seems to fall in to one of two extreme camps. Do Google image searches, and look at other properties in your area that have had this done. Or just brick it
The builder is supplying them. He has quoted £2.9k to widen the opening (currently just a single door) and supply and fit white aluminium bi fold doors. Seemed reasonable?
Thanks, don't really have the knowledge to be able to comment on the cavity wall but I'll raise it with the builder and also see what the others suggest they'll do in their quotes. 2 of the other houses nearby have done it and have found the same brick (looks like the extension has always been there to be honest) so I'm pretty sure they could find a match.