For some, the garage is a special piece of their home they wouldn’t know what to do without. For others, it’s just a large, messy closet with poor climate control.

Either you’re leaving the house so often you never park your car inside, or your garage is so filled with stuff, you couldn’t park a car in there if you tried.

The good news is, there’s a lot you can do with your garage besides park a car in it. In fact, you can take a look at a previous post of ours for inspiration. But let’s say you want to take it to the next level. You don’t just want to use your garage space for a different purpose.

You actually want to convert the inside of your garage into a proper room. Is that a good idea? Where do you even start? First, let’s look at the pros and cons.

Advantages

Unless you live in a mansion, it never hurts to have another room or two in the house. Whether it’s a bedroom, a hobby room, a living room, or something more creative like a theatre, a garage gives you ample space to add something useful.

You could even turn you garage into a studio apartment setup and rent it out. This is particularly great for those wanting/needing some extra money.

Depending on where you live, changing your garage could even boost the value of your home.

Disadvantages

Or getting rid of your garage could lower the value. It depends on how sought after garages are in your neighborhood. In addition to a potential loss of value, getting rid of your garage means getting rid of a significant amount of storage and workspace.

Even if you don’t use your garage for your car, you’ll need to consider where you’ll put tools, rakes, lawnmowers, bikes, sleds, and all of the other things that are stored in garages.

Lastly, depending on how far you’re taking the conversion, it can be more expensive than you think to convert your garage into a room. Which is why you should ask yourself…

How Far Do You Want to Go?

People have different definitions of “turning a garage into a room”. For some, it’s dressing up the walls a bit, covering the floor, and placing some furniture. For others, they plan to replace the garage doors with permanent walls, lay some carpet, add a new ceiling, and make it look like a natural extension of the current home.

Obviously this is a much more permanent (not to mention expensive) change. You need to be certain that you won’t change your mind in the future and that doing so won’t negatively affect the value of your home.

Check for Zoning and Permits

Depending on the level of changes being made, as well as what you’re using the garage for, you may need to check with your city’s zoning and even get a permit. For example, if you’re renting the room out, there may be restrictions on how many people can live there, and what options are available for heating and cooling.

Walls and Flooring

Whether you’re doing a full on conversion or just making things a little more homey, you’ll want to make sure the walls are insulated and properly covered. The same goes for the floor. You may be fine with a hard cement floor, but it’s bound to get cold, and most likely moist.

If you’re serious about using your garage as a room, add a false floor that’s insulated.

Heating and Cooling

Most garages don’t have heating and cooling ducts running to them by default. If someone is going to be spending a significant amount of time in there, you’ll need to fix that. Whether it’s running duct work out to your garage, or adding one room solutions, make sure you have climate control.

Insulation

To keep your climate control effective and efficient, you’ll need proper insulation in the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. For those leaving their garage door in place, make sure you have an insulated garage door. Otherwise, you’ll be leaking heat in the winter and cool air in the summer.

If you’re in need of a new garage door in Ohio, insulated or not, we’ve got you covered. At Springfield Overhead Door, we offer a wide array of styles, colors, and designs to perfectly match with your home.

Contact us today.