Extending Above a Garage

Extending your property above a garage can be a very economical way of getting extra space without the hassle and cost of moving.

Different Garage Extension Options

There are essentially two different ways of doing this sort of extension. The first is building a new room on top of a garage that is attached to the house, or perhaps link-attached. This is very common in Sixties and Seventies estates when garages were beginning to be built as a standard feature of many family homes but the integral garage came a long later, so single storey flat roofed garages at the sides of semi-detached or detached houses were the norm.

The second is more prevalent in later houses where a garage might be attached or detached but would have a pitched roof to make it blend in better with the rest of the area. In this case building a room in the eaves room is often possible, depending on the pitch and height of the roof and whether or not A-frame trusses were used in its construction, as they intrude into the roof void.

Planning Issues When Extending Over A Garage

If you are extending over either type of garage it is likely that you will have to apply for planning permission and obtain building control approval as well. Whether or not you will get planning permission depends on what sort of extension you're doing, what you plan to do with it, and the rules that apply in the local area.

It's highly likely that neighbours will object if they feel that they will be overlooked so you might have to be canny with your window positioning. In places where there is a lot of pressure on car parking spaces (London, for example) it is unlikely that you would get permission to turn a garage into living accommodation.

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Flat Roofed Garage Extensions

With both types of garage you'll need a surveyor to check the extent of the foundations of the garage to make sure they can take the extra weight. Building over a flat roofed garage is generally an easier extension project as you can simply add the extra storey and there's no need to fit in with anything else. As long as you aren't going any higher than the existing building's roof line there shouldn’t be any particular problems.

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Extending Over A Pitch Roof Garage

Extending over a garage with a pitched roof can be tricky. Quite often the pitch and height of the roof might not be high enough for people to stand up in so you may be faced with putting the upper storey floor as low as you can, which may mean that tall people have problems getting in and out of cars in the garage below.

The other option is to raise the roof by a couple of brickwork courses but of course that is likely to make the project a good deal more expensive. One solution might be to put in long, wide dormer windows, but neighbours may object if this means they will be overlooked. If the roof void is filled with the supporting trusses then structural work will be needed to cut them out but replace the strength with other supports.

It's An Extension, Just Like Any Other

Apart from the issues discussed above, extending over a garage should be no different to any other sort of extension. Look at out articles on the rest of this site to find out more about the project you are thinking of undertaking.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Planning Permission Checker lets you tell us about your planned extension and find out whether you need planning permission or can build under permitted development. Try it now →