Our Best Tips for Converting Your Garage Into a Living Space

When you convert a garage to living space, you add square footage to your home without using up more of your property. This project creates value for your home and is less expensive than building an addition. 

With features and requirements similar to an addition—insulation, flooring, HVAC, windows, building permits, and more—garage conversions can still be fairly expensive. They generally cost from $6,000 to $27,500, with an average cost of around $16,500.

Learn how to convert a garage to a living space, the pros and cons, and tips for a successful conversion.

Pros

The most significant advantage of converting a garage is that the main structure is already in place. This saves on the cost of building a foundation, exterior walls, or a roof, so very little exterior work is required.

• Less expensive: Garage conversions are less expensive than similar options such as building a new addition or building a tiny house.
• Can be rented: A well-built converted garage, complete with a bedroom, living space, bathroom, and kitchen, can be rented out as a source of additional income.
• Preserves yard space: Expanding into the garage preserves yard space, which some homeowners may prefer over building an addition.
• Do it yourself possible: Though difficult, a quality garage conversion can be done on a do-it-yourself basis. By contrast, building a detached addition is rarely a DIY project.
• Favorable zoning: Some communities pressed for space have begun to loosen or drop restrictions on accessory dwelling units (or ADUs). This category typically includes full conversions of garages into living spaces.

Cons

Converting a garage to a habitable space means that the garage must meet a new set of technical and legal standards not previously required.

• Requires permits: Most building codes require permits for erecting or moving walls, running water supply or drainage, running sewer lines, adding windows, installing a full electrical system, and installing HVAC.
• Storage space lost: Garages are typically used for storing items other than vehicles. If you convert the garage, you must create storage areas within the new living space or find space elsewhere in sheds or outbuildings.
• Vehicles unprotected: Unless vehicles have another storage area such as a carport, they will be left out in the open and unprotected.
• Possible code violations: Removing the cars from the garage may disregard local requirements for providing on-site parking spaces.
• Bureaucratic hurdles: Changing a garage designed for vehicles into a habitable, safe, and conditioned living space invokes legal and zoning issues. The garage must undergo a significant legal transformation to become a new space suitable for permanent living.

DIY vs. Hiring a Professional 

Hiring a general contractor to convert a garage to living space costs around $16,500. About half of that cost can be attributed to the cost of labor.

Converting the garage yourself may cost as little as $6,000. A higher-end garage conversion by a contractor may run as high as $27,500.

10 Tips For Successful Garage Conversions

Insulate the Walls

Wall and ceiling drywall must be removed and insulation installed. Use conventional fiberglass roll insulation, rockwool, or sprayed foam insulation.

Raise the Floor Height

Elevate the garage floor to match the flooring level in the house. An elevated flooring system can be built on the concrete garage floor to equalize the heights.

Install the Floor Covering

Install a floor covering such as laminate flooring, engineered wood, tile, or luxury vinyl plank flooring.

Cover the Garage Door

Build a solid wall in place of the garage door opening. On the exterior, the wall can be covered with siding to match the rest of the home's siding. A lower-cost alternative is to replace the garage door with an insulated garage door.

Install Windows

Add enough window space to provide for natural light and air. In some municipalities, this means a window opening of 5-1/2 square feet based on a percentage of the total garage space.

Maintain Proper Ceiling Height

Maintain at least 7-1/2 feet of minimum ceiling height. This may be difficult to do if you raise the floor height. Ceiling rafters may need to be removed or repositioned to add ceiling height.

Install HVAC

Provide adequate heating and cooling to the conversion. If the current HVAC system cannot be extended to the garage, there are a lot of options for garage heaters and A/C. Consider installing an electric baseboard heater, an infrared heater, fan-driven wall heaters, window unit A/Cs, or a mini-split A/C unit.

Install Plumbing

Install water supply and drainage for a bathroom and a kitchen if the garage will become permanent living space.

Install Electrical Layout

Add at least one wall-controlled light switch. Per the electrical code, garages already have at least one such switch. Add or change wall outlets so that they meet minimum spacing standards. No cord should have to reach farther than 6 feet to reach an outlet. For a full garage conversion, you'll need to hire an electrician to develop a complete electrical layout.

Hide the Service Areas

Non-load-bearing walls can be added around utility or service areas you do not wish to see, such as the water heater, furnace, laundry area, or storage. Sectioning certain areas and leaving them unimproved is probably the easiest way to save money on a garage conversion.