How to Convert a Garage to Living Space | Garage Conversion Video Tour

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At Maxable we've toured a lot of scary-looking garages. Garages that look like they could collapse at any minute, but, this garage conversion might take the cake. I actually cringe to show the before photos on this one because the client is someone I know very well. My mom.

The garage offers huge potential though! If you can convert your garage into living space you can rent it out, have a family member live there or rent it on Airbnb.

Here's a quick recap of the garage conversion:
-The plan was to convert my mom's garage and attached guest quarters into a 600 square foot ADU. We also wanted to add some adorable extra features like a front deck and curved archway connecting the main home to the ADU.
-The project took 9 months from start to finish. The design took 2 months, permits took 3 months, and the construction took an additional 4 months.
-We put solar panels ($16K) on the main home, which powers the ADU and the primary house. The main home is ~1,400 square feet.
-The unit will be used as a vacation exchange and a rental. The vacation exchange is a fun concept. You can swap your house (or ADU!) for someone looking to vacation in your neighborhood. In popular cities like San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, you can save a lot of money traveling to very cool vacation destinations.

Garage Conversion Budget Break Down

So what's the budget break down on a project like this? There were a lot of factors on this project that made it more expensive than a typical garage conversion.

This garage is on a slope, so the backside of the garage is entirely underground. For years the garage hadn't been leaking and wasn't watertight because of the hillside behind it. When you're storing old camping gear, it doesn't matter as much, but when you're putting in fancy finished water leaks are a massive headache!

Lynn spent $17,000 waterproofing the garage.

Here are some other big-ticket expenses that drove the cost up and might not apply to everyone:

$17,000 waterproofing (most garages won't be built into a slope. They had to excavate part of the hill and build a retaining wall as well as run french drains below the flooring)
$16,000 solar panels (for ADU and main house. This is post rebate)
$7,000 creating a faux exposed brick wall (this is the whitewashed brick behind the kitchen and perpendicular wall)
$3,000 on beautiful, but pricey tile
Other costs:

$10,000 on design plans
$6,700 on permits
This project cost was $170,000.

Видео How to Convert a Garage to Living Space | Garage Conversion Video Tour канала Maxable