How to Expand the House Almost Cost Free
Many homes look large from the outside, but that’s because about one third of the front is taken up by the garage roller door. Once inside, the house doesn’t have as much room as you may have expected. When your family expands, there’s really not enough room unless you add an extra one. That may cost more than your budget allows.
But there is another way when it comes to home renovation that you can expand the house and get more room, be it a bedroom or living room. It’s time to convert the garage. This works best where the garage has a doorway straight into the house as many do these days. But even if it doesn’t, cutting a door into the wall between the garage and the house is a relatively easy matter for a handyman.
Once the garage is cleaned out, adding carpet or vinyl is almost the only major cost. If the garage is to become two bedrooms for children, you could simply use furniture such as wardrobes to divide it off and the one door can be used for entrance to both sections. You may have to put another window in so both rooms have enough daylight. If you are not licensed in electrical work, you’ll need to have the lighting and some power points installed by a professional electrician.
If the garage is to be used for extra living space there are still the same additions such as more lighting, power points and soft flooring to be done before adding the furniture. You might want to erect a temporary wall over the roller door end to keep out insects and rodents. Then when the children leave home you can take it down and use the space as a garage again.
While converting the garage can solve space issues in the home, it will leave your car standing out in the weather unless you have room to add a carport. Some homes are built in a way that makes adding something like that very easy; others are not. You’ll need to decide whether your home can have a carport attached to one side, or whether it should be freestanding.
Once the car is housed outside, it will be more inconvenient to come home late at night, so having lighting installed either in the carport or to show up the way to the back or front door will make things a bit easier. You could also build a covered walkway from the carport to the nearest external door if council regulations allow it. That way rain won’t be a problem. Even adding a cement pathway without the cover will keep your shoes from getting muddy.