[MrFurious]

I have a garage attached to my house with nothing in it so i have the idea of making it into a new room so i can go watch movies and play ps3 without bothering the wife's viewing schedule!

Do I need permission to rip out the garage door, which is knackered anyway, and put a window in instead?

[C.Wolf]

I believe you will, as when you tell them it is going to be a habitable room they will probably insist on building control getting involved.

[MrFurious]

doh, its a shame that your not allowed to do things to your home which is all paid for and you own

[ched]

To be honest building control arent out to stop you doing things to your home. They are more about making sure things are done safely and in a good way for future occupants.
It may seem daunting but if you ring your local council and ask to speak to building control, explain what you would like to do. They should give you some good advice and what you need to do. They wont tell you step by step buy they should tell you the basics. They may also tell you you need planing permission!

Basically to convert a garage into a habitable room you need to insulate all external walls. Most garages are a single brick wall, not a double wall with a cavity. You will also need foundations for a front wall and window, then build wall up to damp course level. Create a damp proof floor for your garage and a little way up the walls. Then about 70mm of celotex (insulation) on the floor, the screed floor. Then build wall up and insulate then fit window. Now build stud walls inside on any outside walls and insulate. Insulate the ceiling and plasterboard, skim and you are done, well plus the electrics etc.
The above is a VERY basic over view of what is required and I have probably missed loads.


The easy way without building regs or planning, although you may be in trouble if the council ever inspected but if the garage door is still there who will know???
You could just created a small say 2 brick high wall about a foot back from the garage door, use a liquid damp proof paint (Wicks, a couple of coats) then put down 75mm or more celotex insulation (its hard like expand a foam) comes in big sheets (8x4ft) over the floor. Then put down a chip board floor. You then need a stud wall at the front behind the garage wall, ideally with a vapour barrier between garage door and the insulation then plaster board. The plaster board joints could just be taped and filled.

This would give you a cinema room, it will be cold in winter and if you dont build additional vapour barrier + insulation + stud walls against the single skin external walls.

Thats a post and a half, maybe I should get on and do some DIY myself

[peterdona]

If i was u mate and u got the spare cash id go for it
but as ched says earlier u got to follow all the regs

ive been waiting years to have my own cinema / games room since i got my hands on the Star Wars Laserdisc Box set and when my 3rd child came along and my wife says to me
i think we could do with another bedroom so the kids have one each, it was music to my ears

my garage was one of the largest rooms in the house and the biggest waste of space, all that was in was the kids bikes and loads of crap i had hoarded over the years

so the plans were to have a 6m x 3.5m room downstairs for me and a new bedroom upsairs for her, good deal in my eyes.

all the brickwork is complete, sealed and am in the process of plastering all the walls
ill create a new post as it gets nearer the end

[MrFurious]

i only intend to sort the garage, im not going to build on top or anything, i will be phoning the council tomorrow and having a chat with them, in the pics i see you have an ST, i have one, do you like it

[welshy]

I wasn't allowed to remove my garage door and install a window because "it would change the appearance of the terrace". Instead I removed the up and over door and installed a roller door and built a partition in the garage about 1.5m in. So I still retained a bit of a garage for storage. Anyway, seek permission first.