With the expansion of any part of your home, there are many factors that go into the planning and process of the work you’ll be doing. Your garage is no exception.
Whether you’re looking to build an addition on top of your garage or you want to make room for another car, here are five things to consider when expanding your garage.
1. Don’t go “space crazy”
Having extra space in your garage is an asset that most car enthusiasts desire. You can increase the capacity to house more than one car; you can add a workstation, a laundry area, or even a small room for your pets.
You don’t want to expand a garage so much that you take away from valuable yard space. Before you begin your renovations, figure out how much space you want for your expansion and how much space you actually have.
If you find yourself taking up too much of your yard in order to compensate your renovations, you should consider having a car lift installed in order to save space.
2. Think about plumbing and electrical
If adding laundry equipment or a workshop is part of your garage expansion, don’t forget about plumbing and electrical infrastructure. You may need to add extra pipes or change your garage’s existing wiring system.
Figure out if your garage can accommodate the extra electrical or plumbing work you’ll be needing as part of your expansion and if your budget can handle this extra cost.
3. Consider functionality
Whether you’re expanding your garage to fit another car or to add more storage space, think about the functional aspects. Will you need more storage cabinets? Will you need a workbench? Are you planning on parking multiple cars at once?
Think about the functionality of each scenario. If you park two cars next to each other, you will need to have enough space between them to allow people to get in and out of the cars comfortably.
This success of this step is best done with the help of a garage design expert. Let them know what you’re looking to do in your space and have them give you a list of suggestions so you know what your options are.
4. Do the neighborly thing
Renovations are never a quiet affair. Your garage expansion will get loud, so notify your neighbors in advance, especially if they have small children or pets who may be effected by the noise. It’s the courteous thing to do.
5. Hire a professional
Unless you work in the field of garage expansion, you likely don’t have all the necessary know-how to successfully complete a full garage expansion.
You could get seriously injured or really mess up your expansion and have to start over or eventually hire a pro anyway to fix things.
Make better use of your garage space instead of expanding it
A garage expansion isn’t always the best solution for getting more functionality out of your garage. Upgrading your garage’s storage and organization systems may be a smarter alternative to doing a garage expansion.
Schedule a free design consultation with us to learn more about making better use of your existing garage space.
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