A Simple Guide to Remodeling a Garage

When homeowners first start thinking about remodeling projects, they often focus on the projects like bathrooms, kitchens, or landscaping. After you get the inside of your home and the landscaping just the way you want it, though, what’s left.

If you don’t relish the idea of putting on an addition, your garage may end up your next project. Of course, remodeling a garage is a little different from remodeling inside your home. The construction is typically different and often lacks some of the amenities you find in the rest of your home. Therefore, you need to consult with an expert in garage remodeling or ADU construction that specializes in providing attached garage designs to homeowners that eventually help in solving the problem of functional dwelling space, due to increasing family size. 

If you’re thinking of upgrading your garage, keep reading for our quick guide to renovating a garage.

Plan Ahead

You wouldn’t rip out cabinets or tear up flooring in your kitchen without a plan and you shouldn’t in your garage. You should examine and measure the space to see what you’re really dealing with. You should also make note of where you have electrical access and think about where you might want more.

Then, sit down and work up a garage design. You can do this on paper or use a 3D modeling program for designing a garage.

Figure Out the Flooring

You must decide early on if you plan on using the garage as a garage again or will use it exclusively for some other purpose. If you plan on using it for working on your car or similar activities, you’ll likely want some kind of protective coating on it.

You can get a polyurea coating using something like the Garage Force process. That will protect the concrete beneath and still let you use the garage as a garage.

Electrical/Plumbing

Most garages only have a few outlets in them, which makes the space impractical for many uses. Part of your design process should take into account where what kind, and how many outlets you’ll need.

You’ll need a licensed electrician for this work and it may well require adding a sub-box to your electrical system.

You should also consider whether you’ll want running water out there. If so, plan on bringing in a professional plumber.

Insulation

Most garages have little or no insulation. That makes it miserably cold in the winter and unbearably hot in the summer. Plan on putting in insulation and likely some form of heating and cooling.

Finishing

Finishing the space will depend a lot on how you’ll use the space. In most cases, you’ll likely want some additional storage in the form of shelving and cabinets. Most people also put up at least basic wall coverings.

Remodeling a Garage and You

The key thing with remodeling a garage is that you don’t rush into the project. Otherwise, you risk partially completing the remodel only to end up undoing your work to accommodate something you want.

Take your measurements, think about what you want, and build a garage design. Then, make a plan to turn that design into a reality. Looking for more home improvement ideas? Check out our Home Improvement section for more posts.