Considerations You Need To Make When Performing A Major Garage Remodeling Transformation

When it comes to performing a major garage remodeling transformation the best course of action to take sometimes isn't clear until you've listed and considered your alternatives. The following paragraphs should help clue you in to what the experts think is significant.

When dreaming of performing a a major garage remodeling trransformation one of the most commonly encountered questions that comes up when thinking about converting your garage for a different use is the warmth of the floor. It doesn't matter if you are considering to convert your garage into a spacious home office, a home gym, a music studio, or a home workshop you probably need to consider some improvements for your floor.

Since the concrete garage floor is uninsulated you should concentrate on making it warmer and more resilient. If you fur up the floor with wood and plywood and insulate under the plywood before putting down the carpet you can accomplish both tasks at the same time. As a precaution, you should either utilize pressure - treated wood or lay down a layer of felt paper between the wood and the concrete to protect the wood.

The first step is to measure and determine how much you can and want to raise the floor. If your garage is attached to your house you most likely won't want to make it higher then main house floor. In some areas garage floors will have some amount of slope from the from the back wall down toward the garage door to allow water to runoff. You will want to level out the floor either by putting shims under the new floor joist or to rip the bottom of the joist on a slant to compensate for the difference. If you are going to rip them down you may want to consider using 2x6's instead of 2x4's if you are only raising the floor a few inches. If you cut down a 2x4 you may not have enough room left for the insulation.

Ok, so now that you have remodeling the garage floor out of the way it’s time to decide want you want to do with the walls. You may or may not have noticed before if the foundation and the face of the inside walls are even with each other. The foundation may be wider or thicker then the wall sitting on top of it causing a setback or step. Your garage remodeling will look much more professional if you flush out the wall with the foundation or at least box in the foundation. The choice there will probably depend on the fact if you current garage walls are insulated or not.

If the walls are already insulated boxing the foundation in with some nice stained wood may be acceptable. However if they aren't insulated the best solution is to bring out the wall past the foundation and leaving enough room for at least R - 21 wall insulation which is 5-1/2" thick. Then you just notch the bottom of the studs or furring strips the same depth & height of the foundation. This will result in a nice flush wall from the ceiling to the floor.

If you don't have accurate details regarding consideration for a major garage remodeling transformation, then you might make a bad choice on the subject. Don't let that happen: please keep reading.

The next decision on your garage remodel is to decide if you will leave the garage door in place or have it removed completely. If you are converting your garage into an office you will probably think it will look better to remove the door but when you go to sell the house the new owner may want to convert the room back into a garage. If you are not planning on staying in the home for many years you may want to ask a local real estate agent if they have many problems selling homes without garages in your area before you make that decision.

On your garage remodeling project you may also have to work around a couple to numerous obstructions. Things like pipes, ducts, or wiring and other hindrances may make a challenge in getting nice smooth walls. If the obstructions are minor like wires or small pipes you may be able to simply adjust the furring strips enough to adapt the wall around them. The solution for larger obstructions like ducts or large pipes is to box around them similar to boxing in the foundation. However the water heater may require a closet built around it or framed in but leaving a way to access it and to replace it if the need should ever arise. You certainly don't want to box it in so tightly that it would all have to be ripped back out for a simple water tank replacement.

Lastly a building permit may be required in your area for a major garage remodeling transformation. If so you will want to verify with your local building department on what is required by code and then adjust your plans accordingly if there is a need. Of course all the methods presented here are purely theoretical and are only offered as suggestions and guidance. Garages are built differently in different areas or regions and some methods will be perfect for some but may not work well at all for others. However no matter what type of garage you have if you plan it properly from the begiinning your garage remodeling project could be a major success that you can enjoy for many years to come!