Advice on building partition wall in single integral garage

[mrsmacp]

Morning all,

We are in the process of selling our house & purchasing a new house. The new property is 9yrs old & has a single integral garge at the front left side of the property which is accessed via a firedoor & small step down into the garage from the hallway.

We are never going to put the car in the garage due to too much garden stuff & the current owners have plumbed the back of the garage for their washing machine & tumble dryer. We are discussing partitioning the back quarter of the garage off to use as a utility area to house a wardrobe for coats/shoes, as a laundry area & somewhere for the dogs to sleep at night. Has anyone done this & got any advice?

My father-in-law has offered to build the partition wall & I want to make sure that we do the job right so that the space is insulated & the walls can be painted.

It terms of the floor, we are thinking of adding some foam insulation (similar to used under laminate) and then fitting thick lino. At night in the winter we will probably use an electric heater if we feel it might be cold for the dogs.

If anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated.

Mrs MacP

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Building Regs or not?

 

[mrsmacp]

Our understanding was that we would not require building regs due to it not being a habitable area....unless you count the dogs that is!

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Good point, well made! Just checking!

 

[robmiller667]

Can I check what you are saying freddymercury, if the area you are creating is habitable then you need to get planning permission?

I am looking at a house with a similar integral garage where the owners have put up a stud wall so that 2/3 of the garage space is now a spare room with an additional freezer for example. It could be used as a 2nd reception room although it doesn't have any windows.

He hasn't changed the exterior of the garage which has an up and over door.

(sorry to hijack the original question!)

 

[BBSBuilding]

If you are changing the use of your garage then normally you will need building regs.
Mostly they want to see that your insulation is up to standard.
The walls will require a certain insulation value or U value.
You may have to stud and insulate inside or use thermal boards.
If there is a roof above you will need to insulate to the required thickness.
If electrics are changed or you are using water in there you may need a certificate from a qualified spark and submit it to them.
That's the legal way....if u don't you may have trouble when trying to sell your house.
Done this many times as a builder

 

[tkmax]

Is it a material change of use of part of the building? There's a change in energy status as well.

 

[hammerswinger]

The building inspector told us that the wall between the garage & utility room (classed as a habitable area) could be a stud wall with 75mm kingspan or similar inside the wall (between the studs) & 25mm covering the habitable side. This is to eliminate any cold spots from the studs.

The habitable side would then be plaster boarded while the garage side would be covered with Ply board or OSB3 board then plaster boarded.

The Ply board / OSB3 maybe isn't necessary in all cases but our wall will be supporting a small roof

HTH.

 

[mrsmacp]

Hi All,

We have finally got the keys & I'm sitting surrounded by boxes. Thanks for all the replies, especially around the question of building regs as we want to make sure its all done properly & above board so that in many years to come, if we do decide to sell its not going to come back & bite us in the behind.

With regards to the garage conversion, we have had one quote back so far however it doesn't mention about insulation of the roof area & above the garage there is a bedroom & staircase so I need to check this with the builders. The quote I've received so far is for the following & I just wanted to run it past those of you in the trade to make sure it would meet building regs & to see if there's anything we may have missed out:

Initial Quotation:

To fit 1 x stoothing wall approximately 2400mm deep into the garage to make a utility room constructed in 4” x 2” timber insulated with 100mm kinspan insulation as per building regs then we will fix 12.5mm plasterboard to both sides of the timber and then plaster/skimmed.

We will fix plasterboard to all the walls of which will be dot and dabbed to the walls in the utility we will then plaster/
skim the boards.

ELECTRICS

The light switch is to be moved we will supply and fit 3 electrical sockets these will be positioned to the back wall.

PLUMBING

We will reposition the water feed and drainage for the washing machine and for the sink unit.

You have already got the new worktop of which we will cut out the opening for the sink/bowl to fit and we will fit the
worktop against the back wall this will be sat on batons fixed to the wall to give it extra strength.

You have already a sink unit we will make up good to fit this in position to compromise with the sink and the appliances.

We will supply and fit timber skirting approximately 7 metres to finish the job.

MATERIALS

All materials we use are new and of good quality and are of British standards, plasterboards, 4”x2” 3metre lengths
of timber, dot and dab bonding, scrim, plaster multi finish, thin coat angle beads, cavity insulation, skirting, electrics,
plumbing.

The work will take approximately 5 to 6 days to complete and all work will be carried out as per the building
regulations, we will issue an Electrical certificate on completion.

Our quotation includes supply of all materials and to dispose of all waste and includes all labour.

Total Costs

£1850.00

GARAGE FLOOR

To raise the garage floor to the same level as the house property, the area is approximately 2900mm x 2450mm
7m2 and has a concrete base.

We will lay a full sheet of visqueen membrane on the concrete over lapping the edges of the walls this acts as a
waterproof moisture barrier.

We will then fix 4” x 2” timbers to the outer walls to create a frame work of which we will fix timber joists at 400mm
centres apart, we will then insulate between the timber joists with 75mm kinspan insulation. Then we will fix
2400mm x 600 waterproofed treated tongue and grooved chipboard flooring glued and screwed down this will
complete the job.

Total costs for this includes supply of all materials and labour.

Costs £680.00

DOUBLE GLAZED WINDOW

We will take out the bricks to the window size allocated approximately 600 x 1000mm, the window will be upvc
double glazed with a window cill and obscured.

We will plaster the reveals to the inside and supply and fit 1 x internal window cill to finish.

We will need to supply and fit 1 x cavity catnic lintel into the brick work above the window as per Building
regulations.

Total costs includes supply of materials and labour

Costs £575.00