A Do-It-Yourself Project In The Garage

My family and I have lived in this house for near on ten years. The kids are growing up fast and we need some more living space. We are quite fortunate to have enough bedrooms – that is why we chose this house in the beginning. The only problem is we only have one living room, so we struggle to meet everybody’s needs. When the kids have friends around we all have to sit in one room. This causes problems with the television and means me and the wife do not get any time alone or are not able to watch our preferred programmes.

So what is our solution?

We have considered moving but due to the current house valuation situation and the high costs involved, this is not an option at this moment in time. So the only other option is to extend. We will need to gain planning permission and get builders and before we know it, we are back to a very expensive project.

The solution came to me as I was parking my car. We have a large double garage that joins the kitchen via a door behind the staircase. We can convert the garage into our much needed living area. We would need permission from the local council, as it will be classed as a change of use. I can do all this myself with some help from the wife.

I stood in the garage and thought about how simple the project would be. It was then I decided I would tackle the job myself. Now I am fortunate to have had many double plug sockets fitted a few years ago, as I needed them for all my power tools. So no need for a costly electrician. The waste soil pipe runs in the corner where I had a small sink fitted with a water heater so I could wash my hands after working in the garden or garage. This would make a nice little toilet area. The garage door would be replaced by matching styled double glazing French doors. The window company will fit them so no need to pay or do that myself.

All I have to do is insulate the walls, place rails around the room for the plasterboard and construct a small water closet in the corner. All the plumbing is there so no problems for me to do-it-myself. My wife and I decided this would be our area so we furnished it to our own taste. The whole project took only two months and six weeks of that was waiting for permissions from the council. Once the plasterboard was up and the plug sockets were extended through the boards, it was time for paint. We decided to place a nice dado rail around the room slightly lower than normal, as this will give the illusion of the ceiling being higher than it actually is. What a result – a perfect do-it-yourself garage project at a relatively small cost. Problem solved.

Now after I shared my personal experience, you can start your own DIY project at your home (interesting to know is that in Denmark, the people commonly refer to them as Gør det selv hjem) and achieve great results.