cost to convert 2 car garage to bed/bath?

[jaybirdsmommy]

Anyone done this? What was the ballpark cost?

We are looking for a new house. Found one that has almost everything we want. Price is excellent, so there is some room to do some work. However, the bedrooms are tiny. We were wondering about converting the garage into a master bedroom, then adding a carport for covered parking (live in the South, a lot of houses here don't have garages).

The garage is already matched to the outside of the house (windows, etc) so no work would need to be done on the outside except to replace the doors, plus there is already some plumbing out there.

Thanks

 

[mrsv98]

In my experience, anything that deals with plumbing and electrical will be pricey. It really depends on the area and your finishes but I would think a not too fancy redo would be about 25k.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

Thanks,

That was about what I was estimating.

This house is perfect, other than the bedroom situation.

 

[firecracker725]

Thanks,

That was about what I was estimating.

This house is perfect, other than the bedroom situation.

The costs will vary widely based on several factors. I would think it'd be best to bring in a contractor (or a few) to have a look and set some realistic expectations.

 

[barkley]

no idea on the cost but make sure to check zoning and local laws-we've lived in multiple areas where converting a garage into bedrooms was prohibited by law (check yourself-don't trust what sellers/realtors tell you).

where we are now it's allowable to some extent but I would also suggest calling in a few reputable contractors b/c from those I've known to do it, this entailed (more or less depending on local 'bedroom' laws)-creating ingress/egress (not everyone has an actual door in the garage beyond garage door or a window), insulating (or upgrading insulation), connecting existing/getting separate hvac, relocating items (can't have a water heater w/a pilot light here in a bedroom), electrical, plumbing (and this can be tricky if your existing home is only zoned to allow for a set number of bedrooms or bathrooms-that's why in one of the residential neighborhoods we lived in the city wouldn't permit it, and why in some of the rural areas w/septic and flow fields county wouldn't even let you do a bedroom or bath standard addition).


don't forget to figure into the full cost (purchase price and improvements) how much your property taxes will increase with the added value as well as how much homeowner's insurance/utilities will increase as well.

 

[tvguy]

no idea on the cost but make sure to check zoning and local laws-we've lived in multiple areas where converting a garage into bedrooms was prohibited by law (check yourself-don't trust what sellers/realtors tell you).

where we are now it's allowable to some extent but I would also suggest calling in a few reputable contractors b/c from those I've known to do it, this entailed (more or less depending on local 'bedroom' laws)-creating ingress/egress (not everyone has an actual door in the garage beyond garage door or a window), insulating (or upgrading insulation), connecting existing/getting separate hvac, relocating items (can't have a water heater w/a pilot light here in a bedroom), electrical, plumbing (and this can be tricky if your existing home is only zoned to allow for a set number of bedrooms or bathrooms-that's why in one of the residential neighborhoods we lived in the city wouldn't permit it, and why in some of the rural areas w/septic and flow fields county wouldn't even let you do a bedroom or bath standard addition).


don't forget to figure into the full cost (purchase price and improvements) how much your property taxes will increase with the added value as well as how much homeowner's insurance/utilities will increase as well.

I agree about checking the codes about converting a garage. I guess it just depends on how the garage is built.

 

[Jaya]

I know it's illegal in my municipality. If you apply for a renovation/building permit, they'll turn you down. A lot of people do it anyway, leaving the garage door in place with a wall behind it so it doesn't look like anything has been done. But when you try to sell the house, it won't pass an inspection so you'd better hope you'd be selling it to someone who's paying cash and not financing it through FHA or VA or any others with stringent inspection standards.

 

[LisaR]

We put an offer in on a home years ago where they converted the breezeway from the attached garage to the house into a sun room. They went to a lot of work. The roof line matched, shingles were identical, and the inside was entirely up to code. It looked great! Unfortunately, they apparently did it without permits because had they pulled permits, they would have learned that you couldn't make that space a living area. We backed out of the deal. No clue what they had to do to rectify it. I know you're talking about the garage itself, but just check with the building department first like others have said.

 

[barkley]

I know it's illegal in my municipality. If you apply for a renovation/building permit, they'll turn you down. A lot of people do it anyway, leaving the garage door in place with a wall behind it so it doesn't look like anything has been done. But when you try to sell the house, it won't pass an inspection so you'd better hope you'd be selling it to someone who's paying cash and not financing it through FHA or VA or any others with stringent inspection standards.

the other issue that can come up is with homeowner's insurance-if someone does something like this and there's a subsequent claim submitted and the changes are discovered the insurance company can not only deny the claim for the damage to a separate portion of the home it but cancel the policy outright for having unpermitted work.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

Thanks everyone, I have licensed contractor coming to look at it with me tomorrow to get a better idea of cost. 25k is within our budget, 50K is not, just wanted to get some ballpark ideas to make sure I wasn't wasting his time.

and, just to clarify, since there are a lot of comments regarding legality - if the contractor tells me it isn't legal, then it won't be done. All permits, building codes, etc will be obtained and obeyed.

 

[TheIncredibles!]

Does the house have a septic system? If so you may want to check if there's any issues there as well. If the septic was built and approved for a 3 bedroom house and you add a 4th bedroom it could cause issues with the town depending on how persnickety they are. Our neighbors here in NJ did a garage conversion and the town wouldn't approve it until they agreed to rip a closet out of one of the other bedrooms making that 4th bedroom a "study" instead of a bedroom @@ Silly but you should check just in case.

 

[PlutoPony]

Insulation, heating and cooling would be high on the list of things I'd talk to the contractor about.

 

[barkley]

Does the house have a septic system? If so you may want to check if there's any issues there as well. If the septic was built and approved for a 3 bedroom house and you add a 4th bedroom it could cause issues with the town depending on how persnickety they are. Our neighbors here in NJ did a garage conversion and the town wouldn't approve it until they agreed to rip a closet out of one of the other bedrooms making that 4th bedroom a "study" instead of a bedroom @@ Silly but you should check just in case.

it's amazing the number of houses you see in the real estate ads around here that list a small number of bedrooms but make sure to mention the additional 'crafting', 'music', 'exercise' and 'office' rooms-all b/c they are precluded by their septic systems for additional bedrooms (so they just use armoirs as closets).

 

[NewRVLady]

My cousin did this with 2 old houses-garage became Master suite
However in both cases she knock out walls between kitchen /dining/den to get an open feel-houses looked FABULOUS inside...but the outside was just an old 50's ranch (that part I didn't like)

 

[tvguy]

I know it's illegal in my municipality. If you apply for a renovation/building permit, they'll turn you down. A lot of people do it anyway, leaving the garage door in place with a wall behind it so it doesn't look like anything has been done. But when you try to sell the house, it won't pass an inspection so you'd better hope you'd be selling it to someone who's paying cash and not financing it through FHA or VA or any others with stringent inspection standards.

My wife's mom and step-dad did that with their garage. After they both passed away and DW sold the house, the next door neighbor bought it for his father-in-law. He officially asked in the offer if the change was down with a permit, and if it was up to code. DW replied, ask the person who did the work. The neighbor was the one who did the work. Since it was a Probate sale, my wife actually never owned the house, and had not lived in it for 18 years, there was no disclosure required. The sale went through no problem, but yes, it was a cash sale.

 

[Jaya]

My wife's mom and step-dad did that with their garage. After they both passed away and DW sold the house, the next door neighbor bought it for his father-in-law. He officially asked in the offer if the change was down with a permit, and if it was up to code. DW replied, ask the person who did the work. The neighbor was the one who did the work. Since it was a Probate sale, my wife actually never owned the house, and had not lived in it for 18 years, there was no disclosure required. The sale went through no problem, but yes, it was a cash sale.

As you said, it was a cash sale. You can get by with all kinds of things with a cash sale.

 

[Albort]

As you said, it was a cash sale. You can get by with all kinds of things with a cash sale.

not always true, it varies city by city. Some cities require a city inspection before the sale of a house... some do not.

OP: as for the budget, 25k should work. Power isnt hard to do, the main thing is the digging for the bathroom(although a raised foundation would be the easiest to construct). This is without permit of course, cities usually dont allow a conversion of garage into a room... The contractor might have a way to get it though, who knows.

 

[arminnie]

We bought a home last year after looking for almost a year. We turned down a few homes because we really wanted a garage more than an extra bedroom. The house we bought had a covered patio that had been converted to a sun room - but they did a beautiful job. No one can tell at all that this was an add on - either from the inside or the outside.

 

[tvguy]

As you said, it was a cash sale. You can get by with all kinds of things with a cash sale.

Actually, the realtor said the difference was that it was a Probate sale. That mean it was not subject to disclosure since DW never actually owned the house.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We bought a home last year after looking for almost a year. We turned down a few homes because we really wanted a garage more than an extra bedroom. The house we bought had a covered patio that had been converted to a sun room - but they did a beautiful job. No one can tell at all that this was an add on - either from the inside or the outside.

I was just going to suggest some sort of add-on, say one that could be converted to a sun room after the need for bedrooms lessens. I think that'd be a much better way to go than killing off the garage.