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If it is an up and over door then the wall with have to be at least 4 or 5 feet into the garage to allow the door to still be opened. You will need planning permisssion/building warrant, the electrics and ligths will have to be 'P' Compliant under the new regulations and the change of use may invoke the deeds and the insurance company. All that for a 14ft by 8 ft office and where are you going to put the chest freezer, the bikes and all the garden tools. Regards Peter
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Depending on whether the garage has cavity walls or a single skin of brickwork, if not already insulated you would be best fixing timber battens to the walls with insulation between, with plasterboard over the top. If insulating you will also need a vapour control membrane otherwise condensation could cause damp problems. You can do the same for the floor with 18mm T+G chipboard on joists.
All quite straightforward but to do it 'by the book' you will need to get Building Regulations approval; if you do not it could be queried when you come to sell the house and you will have to get approval retrospectively, which can be awkward.
Do a UK-specific web search for "converting garage", there is plenty of info on it.
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Depending on whether the garage has cavity walls or a single skin of brickwork, if not already insulated you would be best fixing timber battens to the walls with insulation between, with plasterboard over the top. If insulating you will also need a vapour control membrane otherwise condensation could cause damp problems. You can do the same for the floor with 18mm T+G chipboard on joists. All quite straightforward but to do it 'by the book' you will need to get Building Regulations approval; if you do not it could be queried when you come to sell the house and you will have to get approval retrospectively, which can be awkward.
Or allow for ripping it out and skipping when you sell!
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Or allow for ripping it out and skipping when you sell!
A way to avoid all this is to have a (full wall) additional door/window unit installed. I know someone who has done this, it looks smart and can easily be reversed should you decide to move on.
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"We will need a study/office and best solution seems to be to convert a garage"
Sounds daft but I watched a programme recently about people who were setting up offices in their sheds. Clearly not some pokey potting shed but purpose-built, proper office-like wooden constructions with power. It?s lurking in the back of my brain and I can?t fish it out but I?m sure they were a couple of grand and they really did look the business. It was probly on a sky channel, something like "shedheads" or something with Sarah Beany in it.
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Yes you're right it was Property Ladder - it was suggested solution, it seems feasable and cheap, I would have some security concerns about using it as an office.
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I work from an office in a garden "shed." Security is a slight worry, but it's really no worse than an office in a building with multiple occupants. Mine is double skinned, insulated, with a proper door, shutters and alarm (on the house circuit, so all hell breaks loose). The garden is also surrounded by hedging with spiky plants in it and is covered by a security light. I don't leave anything too valuable/important down there, but I don't think the risk is all that high--it's a great solution. I built it myself for £2.5K, which gives an idea of how solid it is. An estate agent friend reckons it is worth 10% to the house price, which makes it the best six weeks' work I'm ever likely to do.
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Nice one Baskerville. I assume you had permission to build an office or a rather nice shed then apply for 'change of use' Your house insurance companu cover the value of the contecnts, or does it need to be a mower that looks like a PC or whatever, Is it P compliant and does it have a fire alarm mains pwered and liked to the house alarm. Nothing's simple is it. Regards Peter
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>Nothing's simple is it.
Sometimes.
Insurance company does cover the contents; they are perfectly happy with the arrangement. It's listed on the policy as a "non-habitable room," because it doesn't have foundations, but sits on posts in the American style. I'm not running a company out of it and it's "shared use," so change of use isn't an issue. Is using and storing a computer in your garden shed not allowed now? Do sheds have to be rubbish by law? Don't be ridiculous. I checked with planning and I'm glad I did. But no, they don't care.
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I'd be worried about data security of a computer in a shed. But I'm a paranoid old brief !
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I'm more worried about the much more valuable bicycles in the much less secure shed next door. Encryption makes me feel OK about the data--not impossible to crack, but very hard. To compensate I worry about forgetting the passkeys.
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As long as you checked these things out with the LA including the volume of the Office/shed then that's fine I am just pointing out the pitfalls. Many insurance campanies only insure 'Detached Rooms' for a max of £1000 so check that if it is a problem. Regards Peter
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The insurance is fine, really. The rules for businesses are also really quite liberal. Sure you have to check and you have to be reasonable, but I was pleasantly surprised at how relaxed they were. I suspect the economy would grind to a halt if they weren't.
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In response to PeterD, The OP (Round the Bend) states "study/office" which suggests it will still be domestic use, so application for change of use not required. If he does not change external appearance of house then planning not required. If running a business from home, Planning permission may still not be required:
www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/genpub/en/101188...l
These are the Planning requirements for other buildings built on your land: www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/genpub/en/110665...l
Its best to ring the local authority and ask, as they may have specific requirements for particular areas.
If Baskerville built his office before Part 'P' regs came into force, then it does not have to comply with Part 'P' regs. He could not be expected to comply with regulations that did not exist at the time of construction...
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Rich, you're correct. Idea would be to use it as a home study for part time homeworking so essentially domestic use. I would n't be running a business from it so there would n't be visitors with all the associated issues.
Thanks all for helpful advice and comments.
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IanS
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We had a client who rang up informally asking if he needed planning permission for a garden shed. We said no, you should not need it for a standard timber garden shed. A few months later he rang up again complaining that the planners had been on to him saying the shed he had erected contravened planning.
"Thats strange, why how big is it?", asked my colleague. "Its 85 feet long", came the reply! He had had it built so his son had an indoor cricket practice wicket...
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Thanks Guys.
Pugugly, I don't understand fully what you mean by "(full wall) additional door/window unit installed". Does this replace the upandover?
We have considered having one of those garden/office things. I believe you don't need planning permission so long as they don't exceed 10 Sq Metres - not enough for a practice wicket to use during tea breaks.
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IanS
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Yes, I thought it was confusing. Neighbours have removed Up and Over leaving a door sized hole, they have installed an entire unit to fil the gap comprising large wooden frame with two floor to ceiling glazed units and a french (single swinging leaf) doorway. It looks as if it was always meant to be like that and not something that was cobbled together. What this does is leave the option for the replacement of the Up and Over door and removal of doors/windows at minimum cost and hassle, should they or future occupants want to reinstate the garage.
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I work for Anglian home improvements,and whilst they are reknowned for windows and conservatories, I only deal with a fairly newish product,Garage conversions,completed with all planning and building regs, price like everything will depend on what you require, the length, height, width etc, but there was an article in the Times last Feb 2005, which said 10-20k for a single/double, but these were avarage prices, and I have done everything from a 6-29k conversion.
A builder Will do it cheaper but to lower specification, and I've known at least 3 people who we've had to rip out and start again, and a couple of others who as one contributor mentioned , the £5k they spent, had to be ripped out when they moved,which cost a further £4k.
sorry but I only deal in Surrey and home counties, but enquire and it will be sorted out.
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