Garage Conversions

Complete conversions specialise in garage conversions and can convert your unused garage into an extra bedroom, living room, home office, kitchen, play area for your children and much more.

Rather than moving home to get more space, why not expand the house you live in by converting your garage into living space. With a greater emphasis nowadays on improving and expanding our homes over the
much greater cost and difficulty of selling-up and moving, we are finding that there is a growing demand for the type of work we do. It is a proven and cost-effective way of getting the very best out of your home.

Converting a garage isn’t as easy as replacing the door with a window. It requires skilled workmanship and should only be completed by an

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experienced builder like Complete Conversions. Although unlike extensions and loft conversions that take a few months to complete, it usually only takes two to three weeks to convert a garage.

Some garages are rarely used to their full potential and most are just used to store junk. The average single garage is approximately 12.5m (150sq ft) - thats a lot of space going to waste. how many of you actually put your car into the garage? More importantly, how many modern cars would fit into your garage? That is why so many people in the UK are converting a garage into that valuable extra room.

Complete Conversions will turn your unused garage storage room into a fantastic new living space. We guarantee our work is completed to high standards, we work to your convenience not ours and our entire workforce strive to ensure job satisfaction.

We have converted countless garages and cover the whole of the South East. Our aim is to be the best conversion company around and one that you can trust completely when you are looking to improve your home.

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If you are thinking of converting a garage into a room then the first thing you should consider is using a specialist garage conversion company. Although it is possible to do a DIY conversion, a professional job will ensure the garage conversion meets the required standards for your local building inspector department.

This step by step guide will give you an idea of the different stages a garage conversion undertakes

Garage Door

The garage door is the first thing that needs to be addressed on your new garage conversion and obviously this will need to be replaced. In the space a new wall will have to be built that might have to contain a window or door. The original foundation will be insufficient to support this new wall so new deeper foundations will need to be dug. The ground will have to be assessed to ensure that the correct depth and type of foundation is used.

New External Walls

The new wall at the front will be built to the necessary building regulations and will be constructed as a cavity wall. This means that two walls are separated by an internal space that will be filled with thermal insulation.
This new wall will be built to withstand moisture coming up through the ground (damp proofing) and be weather resistant from the outside elements. It must also be fire resistant and be built to support the weight of the roof, any openings for windows and any other connecting walls.

Existing Garage Walls

The existing walls will need to be investigated to see if they are suitable. Most garages have a single wall construction that will be unsuitable for today’s thermal insulation requirements. Therefore, they will need to be upgraded with a new internal skin and carefully assessed in terms of damp proofing, also all the wall and the ceiling will need to be plastered.

Flooring

The existing garage floor will usually have to be raised to make it the same level as the rest of the house and it will also need to be strengthened for everyday domestic use.

There are two options for the new floor:

A solid floor – adding a damp proof membrane then adding thermal insulation and finally finishing off the floor with a ‘floating floor’. Either a layer of wood or a 75mm layer of screed. If using screed this is usually strengthened with wire mesh to prevent cracking.
Suspended timber floor - older properties have a crawl space beneath with the floor quite high above the ground. If you want your garage conversion to match this then timber joists are laid from wall to wall with a damp proof course (DPC) laid underneath the new floor.

Ventilation

Any windows must have sufficient opening areas to provide enough ventilation.
If there is a heating source then it could require permanent ventilation in the form of airbricks.
If there is a new suspended floor then sub-floor ventilation will need to be provided.
New bathroom, kitchens, shower rooms or utility rooms must have a mechanical extractor fan that meets the required specifications.

Electrics

Any electrical work carried out by Complete Conversions is always in accordance with the British Safety Standards.

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Planning & Building Regulation

Planning permission is not normally required. However, permission is required where you extend or alter the roof space and it exceeds specified limits and conditions.

Under new regulations that came into effect from 1 October 2008 a loft conversion for your home is considered to Planning permission and building regulations be permitted development, not requiring an application for planning permission

Loft Conversions

There are basically two different types of loft conversions - a "Roofline" conversion, and a "Dormer" conversion.

The various options on “Dormer” conversions are limitless.