Garage, vs. House dilemma. What to do?

My 2 cents - if you convert it back to a garage, make sure the house portion is sealed properly from all the fumes generated from working on the car, amd make sure it can be exhausted properly. Before I had my detached shop, I regularly got complaints from family members about the "smell" coming from the garage.

 

My shop is a 20x30 metal carport that I cloesd in. I put vinyl siding on it to match the house. I have just over $3000 invested in my shop including concrete floor.

 

Which company did you purchase the carport from? Do you have any pics? This is one of the options I'm thinking about.
Thanks.

 

Tile can & will crack under the weight of a vehicle if it wasn't installed perfectly.

IF the tile was laid by a competent person/contractor, it might be OK w/ the weight- ASSUMING its laid on a concrete pad. BUT, as I said before, carport pads are usually built w/ a slight slope away from the house to keep the rain from running into the house foundation. That means that IF yours originally had a slope, either they:
(a) put a layer of concrete over the existing pad to level it,
(b) put some kind of subfloor with 2Xwhatever and plywood, or
(c) plopped it down on an unlevel surface- meaning the tile was done by a hack job & will break pretty easily

I think you're on the right track with eventually installing a metal carport & using the converted room as a place to keep your tools & equipment.

 

We have a 2 bedroom with a 1 car garage. I built a large garage out back as we have about 3/4 acre but I found it nice to just walk out into the small garage to do things. Maybe when I get some heat in the other one it will make a difference. Definitely check on the septic situation. People I know that changed garages into rooms just closed them in and left the correct door for the house to garage.

 

I would put a garage door on both ends, so you can utilize the back yard too, and make sure that you have a nice fence around the back yard.

 

Nice looking '50's bungalow there! As a real estate appraiser I would think seriously about keeping the carport/room addition as living space - square footage of "living space" is a major value factor. Up here three bed houses are usually easier to sell and bring higher $$ than comparable 2 bed houses. Maintian what ever value you have now. If there is room in the back yard I would think about the "car port" option on slab that could be walled in at a later date as $$ permits. Keep it back from the house and keep the roof line in proportion to the house so it goes togeather. No easy solution here - I have a similar problem. My shop is an old brick barn (1,200 SF) with no insulation and a high ceiling. Ya can't easily heat it and on a day like today it so *!@%!! cold, Nothing by misery out there! My plan is to build a "pole" carport with a metal shed roof and later wall it in. Insulate it to the max! Doing this ya could end up with more room anyway than you might by changing the converted car port. A good thing since you like to spend time in the shop...
AND Be sure to check the zoning regs before ya close the deal to make sure you can build any new structures!

 

I always wanted a house like "Dan Tanner" where I could drive my car into the living room...

I had a friend that had Corvettes in his playroom and another that had 6 cars in his basement rec. room.

I'd have a bar and auto memorabilia all over the place.

 

Screw spending the cash on a "steel" building!

Why not put a very good insulated door back in and enjoy the space. If you even "need" it back as a room move the car out for a day or two.

As long as you don't trash the room it will always be usable as either.

Take you time spending your "pad", priorities may change after really living in the home

 

I don't understand why someone would want a garage that isn't tiled.



Seriously, though: that's a great looking house, but (in my opinion) the conversion looks a little too obvious. I'd put a garage door back where it belongs and add another bedroom somewhere else if and when you need one.

 

Jack, nice to see you over here!