Garage conversions and building regulations in Epsom
By changing your garage from a storage and parking area you would have to meet the building regulations. Sometimes when undertaking a complicated conversion, it is recommended to have complete structural plans drawn up before you begin.
This gives you peace of mind that the drawings have been inspected by building control and confirmed that your conversion will conform to the regulations, if it is constructed according to the approved use guidelines. It is highly recommendable that a building control officer or inspector looks at your garage conversion because they can give advice regarding a large number of issues such as damp proofing, ventilation, insulation, structural protection and many more.
Epsom garage conversion key works and considerations
To prepare any garage for a conversion, the first step is to make sure that the walls and roof are completely sound and watertight. Our first class team of builders and tradespeople will then conduct the majority of the conversion work inside the existing garage.
The first task will be to strip the main structure, at which stage you get the clearest view of what’s in store yet including why you’re most likely to find unforeseen problems (such as patchy foundations or secret issues in the walls) that could add to costs. It will be necessary to cover these areas during the conversion
Checking the existing floor
It is highly likely that the existing floor in your garage is solid enough for any of the conversion requirements. However, to achieve sufficient thermal efficiency, it will need to be levelled (consider a self-levelling liquid screed), damp proofed with an acceptable membrane (lapping into the walls dpc) and insulated. When insulating the garage floor, our sophisticated construction techniques will generally result in a slightly higher garage floor that can be integrated with the floor of the main house.
How can we convert your basement?
The first thing when converting a basement is to ensure that the foundation will not let in water. As a basement is generally low in a property, it is very important to build it up to ensure that your new conversion is not affected by groundwater. In a normal drainage system moisture or flowing water passes behind the cone, this is why our meticulous builders will install a cavity drain membrane system. To an established structure a cavity drain system requires minimum planning and disruption
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Installing and infilling a new door
Clients generally would like the existing garage door to match the rest of the house, so this could be achieved using masonry infill so that the wall matches the rest of the house. The evaluation of the design stage should determine whether the foundations require modifications to accommodate the new loads. Planning allows you to add windows or a glazed access door and bring more daylight into your new space, which can also help to reduce the load.
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Why should I insulate the walls?
Usually integrated garages are designed to the same level as the main building, so the walls do not require improvements. Attached or detached single skin garages may be insulated internally, typically by erecting stud walls with timbers that are wide enough to accommodate ample insulation (plus an air gap). If your building has cavity walls, then we will not require stud walls to be built, we can simply blow insulation into the gap which means that all of the internal space is retained.
