Anyone ever converted their garage?

Hey Skip that's such a great idea im in the process of doin in myself! I however, have an oversized 4 car garage so i am only using part of it and still luckily have alot of room left over for cars and toys. My brand new electrical panel is there with a good concrete floor and elevated ceiling, needless to say, I am as excited as you. Any other great tips your wife has would be appreciated lol.

Slipknot1,

My home, which was built in 1954, has a breezeway between the two car garage and the rest of the home. This is my dedicated listening room. It measures 23'-6" x 14'-0" with 8'-6" ceiling and concrete floor. It's the same size that a third stall of the garage would be. It's a wonderful room that needs very little in the way of acoustic treatments. If you plan on keeping your home I would suggest removing the garage door and track. If you are likely to sell your home then I would consider retaining the door and it's hardware. Just make sure in either case that you build a shed that is much larger than you think you need. Go for it!!

Patrick

I did, as a matter of fact mine is my dedicated room now. My garage was attached only at the right rear corner of my home by a small breezeway off the side of the house.

I built a new garage in front of the old one with a new dinning room addition between the two. I now access the dining room from the new garage, I have an 8 foot wide access (two short steps) off of the rear of the new dining room into the new dedicated room.

I had the new garage built complete, the dining room ruffed in and did all the work on the new dedicated room. This has worked out great as all bedrooms are at the other end of the house so music and movies bother no one.

I was going to just move to a larger home at first..once I looked around $$$, I went with this plan. It was a lot of work on my part but I came out way ahead in both price and sq. footage.

The other thing was, by me doing all the design and build on the new room (I did not do the electric or heating) I got a much better room than a builder would have had time to do because I took my time (about six months) to research and implement things down to smallest detail. My advice is to go for it but be prepared for a mess for a while, give as much thought as you can before you start (just like building a good system).

I don't know about your state, I was lucky in that my old garage had footings that met code. You may want to check all codes for your area first.

Dave

Oh yea..I almost forgot, they raised my property taxes soon after I got done so now my system sounds much more expensive than it did in the old room.

I converted my garage and am very happy with the results. For one thing I can play music at any time of the day or night without disturbing the rest of the family.
One of the best things about converting a garage is you are starting with a blank slate. Before you move in any audio equipment or furniture give thought to any need of changing the room dimensions, insulation, wall stiffining, etc. If you get the room right it will be like you bought all new speakers and electronics.
Also, think about heat in the winter, how to keep it cool in the summer.