Garage conversions have been a hip home tune up for some time now. Repurposing the garage into proper living space means more room for fun, recreation, sports, and hobbies. Many families outgrow their current home, but a new house is not always an attainable solution which leaves extensions and conversions as the only option. The economic downturn of the last decade has seen many young professionals returning home to live with parents – this is a clear trend in the US, and more living space needs to be created.
Sometimes, people just don’t need a massive double garage, especially if they own a compact city vehicle. Any garage conversion begins with a thorough garage clearance – getting rid of all the junk and rubbish accumulated throughout the years is the first and foremost step of the project. Before you call in the garage clearance crews to bulldoze everything out of there, do a quick check and round up the items you may have use for or things that can be sold on. As the saying goes “one man’s rubbish is another’s treasure” so who knows you may get some money for the seemingly useless stuff you got lying around garage. On the same note, some garage clearance companies offer the option of buying some of the items from you.
It is advisable to check what type of waste you need cleared away – things like chemicals, paints, volatiles etc. require specialised handling and disposal, not many companies do this though as it requires special licensing. If you have a large garage that’s full of stuff to the brim, you need to open up some room for the garage clearance crews – usually companies work with decent sized removal vehicles that will need room for manoeuvring so move your car/s, and if necessary secure on street parking prior to arrival of the teams.
Good thing about specialised clearance services is that you don’t need to obtain permission from your local council, at least in the majority of cases. This is so because clearance services are an alternative to skip hire – rubbish is collected and taken away on the spot. Not having to hire a skip i.e. not having to obtain a council permission will also reduce the overall cost of the clearance.
Moving onto the actual garage conversion now – keep in mind that conversions and extensions are architectural and structural alterations to an existing property which means the planned changes must be certified and approved by architects on behalf of the local council or other such regulative body, otherwise your project could be deemed illegal and proposed for reversal. Obtaining permission should not be too much of a problem unless your project is too out-there, or there are special regulations in place prohibiting conversions.