Garage room

[Ted]

Hi everyone
I’m converting half my attached garage to a utility room .
Both sides of the garage are attached , one to the house the other to next doors garage , so there is no , in theory outside wall .
Do I still need a damp membrane ?
Also …. Is it better to frame the walls first and then the floor or the other way ?
Any advice would be great … Thankyou Ted

 

[Bingy man]

Hi ted , you don’t give much information regarding the intended use of the utility room and what the existing floor is constructed from ( I assume concrete, ?) is the level in the garage different to rest of the house ? Other than the garage door Do you have access from the garage to the house from a side door ? . Based on what you have said I wouldn’t go overboard with this project unless it will form part of the main house -eg if you were fitting a new kitchen in main house and you wanted the utility room to match . The biggest ? Is how long will you spend in this utility room ? Is it worth spending ££££££ on a room where you might only spend a few mins loading up a washing machine or getting a loaf out of the freezer . The last one I did was for a w/ m and a sink so cust could wash his hands after spending time in the garden and change out of his wellingtons so unheated , no insulation , existing floor just cleaned and painted and a stud wall to separate the rest of the garage used for storing bikes etc . More information will get you specific advise to meet your needs ..

 

[Ted]

Hi ted , you don’t give much information regarding the intended use of the utility room and what the existing floor is constructed from ( I assume concrete, ?) is the level in the garage different to rest of the house ? Other than the garage door Do you have access from the garage to the house from a side door ? . Based on what you have said I wouldn’t go overboard with this project unless it will form part of the main house -eg if you were fitting a new kitchen in main house and you wanted the utility room to match . The biggest ? Is how long will you spend in this utility room ? Is it worth spending ££££££ on a room where you might only spend a few mins loading up a washing machine or getting a loaf out of the freezer . The last one I did was for a w/ m and a sink so cust could wash his hands after spending time in the garden and change out of his wellingtons so unheated , no insulation , existing floor just cleaned and painted and a stud wall to separate the rest of the garage used for storing bikes etc . More information will get you specific advise to meet your needs ..

Hi
Thanks for replying.
So , yes , there is a door from the garage to the kitchen and there’s a step down from kitchen to garage floor , about 4/5 inches.
I’m doing the job for a friend of mine and he wants the walls insulating with 50 mm insulation and boarding over as with the floor too .
I’ll also be building a stud partition wall with a door in, too separate from the rest of the garage .
Any advice would be great full … thanks again
Ted

 

[Bingy man]

Hi again , so from the off I’m not a professional builder but ive done several over the years , so my way is as follows - pro builders may not agree but …start with the floor , if you want the two floors to be level allow 50 -75 mm of screed + your finished floor height tiles / laminate / floor etc then add 100mm of insulation and the remaining difference is made up with concrete , dpm is imo reqd but you need to be careful you don’t bridge the external damp course , as for walls any power requirements will need to be considered and of course plumbing cold supply to washing machine / hot and cold to a wash basin or sink . Insulation is but don’t quote me is 75 mm with a 25mm air gap then your plasterboard and skimming on top of this . 3x2 or 4x 2 stud frame with the insulation in between . Bear in mind the insulation/ plasterboard will reduce the available area so any kitchen units / wall cupboards etc are best measured when the walls / ceiling are complete . As I said at the start I’m not a professional so I stand corrected but in essence this is how I would go about it . You may need to seek advise on weather you need planning permission . the door separating the house /utility will probably need to be fd30 frame / door + door closer fitted minimum .. but again others may say different . It’s a decent sized job and the materials cost will be quite high so if you have an account at Selco or any other builders merchant you may be able to get a decent discount .a cost saver could be to use timber / insulation and omit the concrete but it’s probably minimum ., hope this helps and have fun

 

[Ted]

Hi again , so from the off I’m not a professional builder but ive done several over the years , so my way is as follows - pro builders may not agree but …start with the floor , if you want the two floors to be level allow 50 -75 mm of screed + your finished floor height tiles / laminate / floor etc then add 100mm of insulation and the remaining difference is made up with concrete , dpm is imo reqd but you need to be careful you don’t bridge the external damp course , as for walls any power requirements will need to be considered and of course plumbing cold supply to washing machine / hot and cold to a wash basin or sink . Insulation is but don’t quote me is 75 mm with a 25mm air gap then your plasterboard and skimming on top of this . 3x2 or 4x 2 stud frame with the insulation in between . Bear in mind the insulation/ plasterboard will reduce the available area so any kitchen units / wall cupboards etc are best measured when the walls / ceiling are complete . As I said at the start I’m not a professional so I stand corrected but in essence this is how I would go about it . You may need to seek advise on weather you need planning permission . the door separating the house /utility will probably need to be fd30 frame / door + door closer fitted minimum .. but again others may say different . It’s a decent sized job and the materials cost will be quite high so if you have an account at Selco or any other builders merchant you may be able to get a decent discount .a cost saver could be to use timber / insulation and omit the concrete but it’s probably minimum ., hope this helps and have fun

Thank you

 

[Terry - Somerset]

This is precisely the job we have just had done - converting ~50% of a single garage to a utility room. This now contains spare freezer, washing machine, tumble dryer and sink on one side with storage on the other.

The builders (who also did a lot of other work at the time) built the utility to (I believe) current building regs although building regs approval was not sought. A few comments/notes which may be relevant to your project:

• the walls were done first, then the raised floor as joists were fixed to the wall framework
• insulated raised floor to match the house floor level. Steps down into garage
• "double thickness" insulated walls - plastered
• doorway through from the hall - involved moving radiator
• fire door from the new utility into the remaining garage area.
• electrics and plumbing for new appliances + lighting (no external windows) + extractor fan
• make sure you plan for this as access to water and electrics may be more difficult when walls and floor complete
• electrical work was combined with replacing an aged fuse box with a new consumer unit
• plumbing/drainage was fairly simple as the utility was adjacent to a downstairs cloak room
• fortunately the ceiling height in the garage matched the house so having raised the floor there was still a ceiling height of ~7'9". You may need to be careful that you have adequate ceiling height with a raised floor level

Like you I attempted to broadly plan what was required and seriously under estimated:

• I had assumed a simple stud wall would suffice,
• didn't even consider fire door,
• realised as the work progressed that refitting the adjacent cloakroom was needed to ensure all the plumbing "joined up"
• we have ended up with a decent quality addition to the house - but it comes at a cost