Home & DIY
This Guy Transformed His 396 Square Feet Garage into an Awesome Apartment. This is So Cool!
He wanted to upgrade his garage into a livable space and decided to convert it into an apartment.
To add more value to any of your property, transform it into a decent and very attractive place. However, such enticing scenario entails bigger investment. But if you are the type of person who usually wants to cut the cost and avoid spending so much money, you might want to consider to “Do It Yourself” some parts of the renovation. It might lessen the expenses, but it can be pretty much costly in terms of your time and effort.
Mikey McCartney, shared his photos and story on how he managed to transform his 396 square feet garage into a nice apartment. The place required a lot of work since it did not have yet the plumbing and electricity. Installation of the basic amenities like bathroom and kitchen also posed a big concern. It requires extensive renovations to have modern conveniences such as internet and cable TV. The perimeter walls were completely modified to add insulation, doors, air-conditioning and, of course, windows.
Check the incredible works of Mikey. Fortunately, he took photos of the “then and now” moments of the garage for you to see the amazing transformation!
This was the side view of the Garage before the renovation.
And this was the front view.
The garage had to be completely gutted first.
He added the frame on one of the sides for the windows, air conditioning unit and door.
The garage door had been taken out and substituted it with a standard door size.
The pipes are installed outside the wall.
To cut the expense for the piping, Mikey chose to just add the pipes at the outside of the “wet wall” for a good venting. With this, the 2×4 framing would already fit the pipe for the toilet.
Trenches are dug for the water line, sewer, and electrical lines.
According to Mike, trenching was the most difficult part that he had encountered during renovation. For the electrical lines alone at the left side, he needed to dig trench as deep as 18” for the laying of pipes. The right trench was reserved for the sewer line while the middle trench was used for the water line.
They also built garden beds.
Two large above-ground garden beds were also built. The garden beds are a little bit bent because of too much dirt. The small hole on the wall between the two windows was the provision for the air conditioning unit.
Here’s the reframing getting done inside.
Inside the house, they completely reframed it by removing the sagged cross beams on the ceiling. And to have a feel of a bigger space, he chose a vaulted ceiling design.
A space for a living room and bedroom was also provided which was separated by a double wall.
Mike’s girlfriend, helping with the trimming.
Opps…
Unfortunately, Mikey spilt a spray insulation on floor while fixing the cracks between the windows. Such mess was very difficult to clean.
Instead of installing tiles, mike decided to dye the floor.
Since the garage was built on a concrete slab, Mikey decided to dye it. With the help of a floor maintainer, they first clean the floor and sprayed it with brown dye. After 24 hours, they applied the polyurethane with a normal paint roller on it and let it dry for another 24 hours. Then, they rolled on the sealant on the floor. Amazingly, Mikey only spent about $1 per sq. ft. for the floor. It was quite cheap for an elegant finished flooring.
He used tiles in the bathroom.
They used classic tiles design for the bathroom so that it would jive to their 1931 house. They enhanced the design by adding wainscoting on the bathroom walls.
The outcome for the materials they used for the bathroom was just remarkable.
With the vintage feel of the tub, the bathroom gave an ambiance of sophistication and character.
They matched the color of the tub base and claw feet with the color of the floor tiling.
The also added a small storage with a pocket door.
Plinth blocks, where the door trim meets the base moulding, were added to give a decorative design.
This main living room positioned directly fronting the door.
Quite amusing and clever, they used the owl picture to cover the breaker box installed on the wall.
Another brilliant arrangement.
The location of the AC unit is position in the middle of the rooms with the vents in multiple directions. It can also be used as a heater during winter.
They just refurbished the kitchen sink cabinet.
And the result was just delightful.
Mikey also added a finished kitchen from Craiglist.
It has many extra features that would save space like storage and the folded counter space which can be used as a dining table.
The bedroom was set up with full furniture and quite a huge bed.
There’s space for a chest of drawers, full bed and computer table.
With such small space, they have also managed to install a chest type drawers and computer table on each side of the bed respectively.
A big picture frame was placed on the double wall that separated the living room and the bed room.
On the other side of the wall was a 47” TV.
Cleverly, they installed a panel in between the wall which can be rotated 360 degrees.
This is just amazing!
In the future, Mikey plans to have it rented to a tenant. You might want to check it! And here’s another awesome transformation of a useless garage.
Share this awesome renovation project with your friends! Don’t forget to leave your comments and ideas below.