Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My wife and I recently purchased a home with an oversized garage in Queens. The driveway is plenty big enough for two cars so we installed plumbing, electric, a bathroom, subfloor and a thick laminate and made it into a rec area. The kids love it.
But now I started thinking about building on the roughly 20'X20' patio space separating the house from the garage to extend our small kitchen and connect the garage to the house.
Did the addition of a full bath and conversion of the garage to a rec room add value to the property? Would connecting the garage to the main house add or subtract value? Especially since if connected to the main house it becomes another full bath and bonus room.
Beyond the building department / zoning / code issues (which could already be major headaches...) the value of any "additions" is largely a function of multiple factors.
Quality of construction is a HUGE issue -- garages are rarely built as ?weather tight" as living space. Even if your efforts at "remodeling" addressed the obvious problems with lack of insulation / low quality siding / single pane windows the details of framing / roof construction in a garage are often much less stringent than the main house. After all if one of the "walls" is retracted multiple times a day it is not really critical that garages are as "resistant" to vermin infestation as the main house...
Supposing that the OP has one of the super solid "face brick on masonary" garages that some parts of NYC do have the issue of the slab / foundation being uninsulated and designed not for warm feet but big heavy cars is a huge concern. I suppose the floor could have been "built up" but that might compromise head room and make it more difficult to match threshold heights...
Speaking of threholds, what sorts of water flow is the lot subject too? A well designed garage floor typically used to have a center drain but more recent codes specify a "sealed" floor that slopes toward the garage door. Was that countered with a fully shimmed out subfloor? That is tough time consuming work...
Beyond the "quality of construction" issues how does this "upgrade" compare to other properties? Are not garages that can be used to store vehicles, sports gear, yard care items highly valued in Queens? Many buyers would not need nor want "living space" in the garage. The money spent could be seen as wasted in such a scenario...
Similarly if the garage was somehow "connected" to the main house the resulting loss of green space might be a negative for buyers that want someplace for kids to play, pets to air out, summer time cooking / entertaining and just a relaxing little garden...
I would be very cautious to ensure not just "compliance" with all applicable laws but also keep the home mostly consistent with comparables -- should you need / want to sell the questions that potential buyers might raise if your homes is the "oddball" could be major deal killers.
The driveway is plenty big enough for two cars so we installed plumbing, electric, a bathroom, subfloor and a thick laminate and made it into a rec area. The kids love it.
It must be quite an experience having an open-air bathroom. Does your 'stream' freeze before it hits the bowl this time of year?
It must be quite an experience having an open-air bathroom. Does your 'stream' freeze before it hits the bowl this time of year?
haha
I think OP meant:
The driveway is plenty big enough for two cars so we installed in the garage plumbing, electric, a bathroom, subfloor and a thick laminate and made it into a rec area. The kids love it.
You can with what is point out. But two outdoor storage for vehicle isn't near equal to garage storage. You lose value there if decide to sell with some buyers. In new York I wouldn't even think of it as garage is a big plus with buyers.
Here in North Dakota, with our freeze thaw cycles, if you want to connect the 2, you have to put a 'house' type of foundation under the garage. It cannot stay on a 'slab' type foundation (pretty expensive, since full basements are the norm here). At the very least would be to put a full foundation to below the frost line (7-8') and an insulated crawl space. If there are not similar foundations, I believe there has to be a certain open distance between them...12-15' sticks in my mind.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
