Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Oct 15, 2012 10:18 am I am in the early planning stages of figuring out the cheapest way to get another 'room' for general storage/man cave in preparation for a 2nd baby. Our house has 3 bedrooms and we really need to have some extra space, but don't fancy the budget of extending. My wife & I both absolutely love our house, street, area etc so don't want to move. At this stage the front runner is buying a garage from Stratco or similar and lining it so it is effectively another room (but obviously detached from the house - will run power to it). My question is - have people done this in similar situations, and were you happy with the result? I'm guessing ballpark I could do this for around $5000, which is obviously much cheaper than an actual extension on the house, and saves the hassle of moving. Thanks in advance. Re: Ways to make more space 2Oct 15, 2012 3:20 pm HI My uncle did this out the back of his house for the same reason - 2 kids in a 3 bedroom home, nice house, street etc He has his gym set up in there along with a bar and stools and a tv/radio etc - he loves it and it is generally where we all go when he has a bbq and is entertaining. He positioned it next to his garage so running power wasn't too much of an issue. I think it is a great solution Sleven Moved into our Atlantique MkII 36 by Carlisle Homes Re: Ways to make more space 3Oct 15, 2012 3:46 pm My brother-in-law plastered/painted/carpetd their garage to make an extra (huge!) room and its great - the only downside is that the heating isnt ducted into it and even though he properly insulated it, in winter the room is freezing. - MrsT Brought first house in 2008. Renovated...a LOT. Built in 2013. Our thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=67954 Re: Ways to make more space 4Oct 15, 2012 4:04 pm Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This is what we did in our last, house - built an alfresco 5m x12m and then enclosed with cafe blinds. Was great as we could use the space summer of winter. We also built an additional brick and tile room which we used as a gym, outdoor kitchen and additional bathroom. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. —Albert Einstein Re: Ways to make more space 5Oct 16, 2012 11:45 am Hi McReidy... We are in a similar situation - only have 3 bedrooms with 2 kids and constantly trying to figure out how to get more space. We too are toying with the idea of a lined 'shed' out the back. But we were looking at the pine (or cedar) timber sheds - not the Stratco/colourbond style. We would like a sliding door put into it rather than the standard timber/shed style door that came as standard. Our costs were going to be.... ballpark.... $3850 approx for Shed (3.6m x 5.4m) including cut panels to fit a sliding door $650 extra to upgrade to actual weatherboards so that we could paint to match house - as opposed to the standard rough treated pine boards $280 to extend shed height to 2.7m to allow for sliding door $320 for 900 x 900 window and 1 x roof skylight panel $230 for gutter kit So shed and extras alone approx. $5300 Then..... $1500 (approx. very rough quote given) to lay concrete slab $1500 for sliding door (again, very rough price given over the phone) $600 (approx. to get council permit - required for anything over 10m2 - and to build over easement). (Some people don't bother with getting a permit....) And we were going to put insulation batts in the walls and plasterboard the inside - along with carpet (cheapish) and connected to electricity, possible air con which were all yet to be costed. Basically, if we go ahead, we don't expect much change from $10k - and in reality prob. closer to $12k (but can probably source cheaper doors, cheaper slab etc etc). But, we also think it is a cheap way of getting an extra room - ideal for storing extra kids toys, spare TV/games room, spare guest room, etc etc etc. We are going to get quotes to do a small extension to our house which if within budget will give us a small spare room inside so we won't proceed with the shed. But if the house extension is definitely out of our range, then we will go ahead with the shed option for sure. Especially with the upgraded weatherboards to match our house and a bit of garden around it, it will look 'nice' in the back yard rather than just a shed. Good luck with however you work around it. HHCIB Not sure who you're building with, but I moved in recently to a 11month scheduled, 8 month actual build on the South coast/Illawarra NSW 3 5919 I posted the floorplan on Houzz.com forum and got some really good ideas and advice from people there. Then we reached out to a couple of renovation companies and one… 5 10106 at most it will have a short lintel which could be moved up just below the ceiling or even above. Above means you need to patch the cornice and might need to deal with… 2 61392 |