Most garages in Edinburgh, including family houses in Colinton, do not have a car in them. They have bikes, a chest freezer, paint tins from three houses ago and a lawnmower. Meanwhile the family is outgrowing the house.
Turning that space into a proper room, a home office, a playroom, a bedroom or a utility and boot room, is often one of the most sensible ways to add space without building outwards. It is not as simple as putting a carpet down, though. Here is what is involved.
Is your garage suitable?
Most integral and attached garages can be converted. Before you go further, check:
- Structure. Are the walls and roof sound? Single-skin brick or block walls will need upgrading.
- Floor level. Garage floors are often lower than the house. That is fine, but it affects how the floor is built up.
- Ceiling height. Most garages have enough, but low ceilings can limit options.
- Damp. Signs of damp in walls or floor need dealing with as part of the job.
- Services. Where is the boiler, the meter, the consumer unit? Garages often house them, and they may need to stay accessible or be moved.
- Detached garages. These can be converted too, but they are more like building a separate room, and the rules can be different.
Building warrant
In Scotland, converting a garage into a habitable room is usually treated as a conversion that needs a building warrant from the council. That is because the room has to meet the building standards for a living space: insulation, ventilation, fire safety, escape and so on.
Your designer (an architect or technician) prepares the drawings and applies for the warrant. Work should not start until it is granted.
Planning permission
Internal conversion often does not need planning permission, but changes to the outside, like replacing the garage door with a window and wall, may do in some cases. That is particularly likely if:
- You are in a conservation area
- The property is listed
- There are conditions on your property's original planning permission, which sometimes require garages to be kept for parking
Check with City of Edinburgh Council planning, or your designer, before committing.
What the work involves
1. The garage door opening
The door comes out. The opening is usually filled with an insulated wall, often built up on a new foundation or the existing threshold, with a window set in it. The outside finish is matched to the house as closely as possible.
2. The floor
Garage floors are usually concrete, often lower than the house, and not insulated. The floor is typically built up with a damp-proof membrane, insulation and either a screed or a timber floor. The aim is a warm floor at a sensible level, often close to the floor of the adjoining room.
3. Walls
Garage walls are usually single skin. They need insulation and a finish, often an insulated stud wall built inside, or insulated plasterboard, with a vapour control layer.
4. Ceiling and roof
If there is a room above, the ceiling may need fire protection. If it is a flat or pitched garage roof, the roof will need insulation and possibly repair.
5. Ventilation
A habitable room needs ventilation: trickle vents in the window, and sometimes mechanical extraction.
6. Fire safety and escape
Depending on the layout, a bedroom or room off a hallway may need a window suitable for escape, and fire-resistant doors or walls between the conversion and other parts of the house. Interlinked smoke and heat alarms are required in Scottish homes.
7. Electrics and heating
New sockets, lighting and heating, usually an extra radiator from the existing system or electric underfloor heating.
8. Joinery and finishing
Door into the house, skirtings, facings, window boards, built-in storage, and decoration.
Where joinery makes the difference
A garage conversion is as much a joinery job as a building job. Good joinery is what makes it feel like part of the house rather than a converted garage:
- Studwork and framing for walls and floors done square and level
- Internal doors and frames matched to the rest of the house
- Skirtings and facings that match existing profiles
- Built-in storage: wardrobes, shelving, desks, boot room benches
- Window boards and reveals finished neatly
Programme
A typical garage conversion runs:
- Design and drawings
- Building warrant (and planning if needed)
- Strip-out and preparation
- Door infill, floor and structural work
- Insulation, first fix electrics and plumbing
- Plastering
- Second fix and joinery
- Decoration
- Completion certificate
The site work is usually much quicker than the paperwork. Allow time for the warrant. Joinery either side of the plasterer is covered in
first fix and second fix joinery.
Cost
We do not publish set prices, as every garage is different. The main factors are size, the state of the existing structure, the floor build-up, the external finish required, heating and electrics, and how much bespoke joinery you want.
What about parking?
Converting the garage means losing it as parking. If your street has parking pressure, or your title deeds or planning conditions say something about the garage, check before you go ahead.
FAQ
Do I need a building warrant to convert my garage in Edinburgh?
Usually, yes. Converting a garage into a habitable room generally needs a building warrant in Scotland.
Do I need planning permission for a garage conversion?
Internal works often do not, but external changes may, especially in conservation areas or where planning conditions apply. Check with the council.
Can a garage conversion be a bedroom?
Yes, if it meets the standards for a bedroom, including ventilation, insulation and fire safety and escape.
Will the floor be lower than the rest of the house?
Garage floors often are, but the floor is usually built up as part of the conversion.
How long does a garage conversion take?
Site work can be relatively quick, but allow time for design and the building warrant beforehand.
Ready to talk through an extension, conversion or fitted joinery job?
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