side/ rear access

23party

Hi,
We have finally reached a date next week to sign contracts on a home that we have been searching for now for four years since selling our own. For personal reasons it has become ' time to buy'. The house we are buying has a garage and rear access is thru that garage and a back utility space. We hope to convert the garage leaving no rear access- to leave an internal passageway would render the converted room too narrow.
We have had very strong opinions on whether to keep or not keep a passageway for rear access from family friends and builder...am interested to know whether anyone has faced this issue or what the thoughts are. There is a rear lawn and hedgespace to cut but plan on composting, and to store bins to front. Bikes for family thru house for next 20yrs???? Or keep access and lose a room downstairs????
Thnx

BryanF

23party wrote: »

Hi,
We have finally reached a date next week to sign contracts on a home that we have been searching for now for four years since selling our own. For personal reasons it has become ' time to buy'. The house we are buying has a garage and rear access is thru that garage and a back utility space. We hope to convert the garage leaving no rear access- to leave an internal passageway would render the converted room too narrow.
We have had very strong opinions on whether to keep or not keep a passageway for rear access from family friends and builder...am interested to know whether anyone has faced this issue or what the thoughts are. There is a rear lawn and hedgespace to cut but plan on composting, and to store bins to front. Bikes for family thru house for next 20yrs???? Or keep access and lose a room downstairs????
Thnx

you want to convert the garage as it is required for living space? may i ask have you consider alternatives such as getting an architect in, to give you a few design options. often times there are alternatives but we can sometimes be too close to see them..

the access thing is total up to your self, if you go this route, install a wide door, so that you have the width to bring things through

Carlow52

u are losing a ' to be room' as opposed to an existing:).

I think converting is the wrong thing to do, it makes a terraced house out of it

As Brian has suggested get some opinions advice, converting a garage is normally not 100% satisfactory: concrete roof, party wall, concrete floor, head room issues, step down from house etc all make it messy and the mula could be possibly better spent

dkb

We're sale agreed on a similar house with access through the garage that leads outside along the side wall of the kitchen. Although I would love another room downstairs, my heart is broken with wet muddy bikes etc coming through the terraced house I've lived in for the last 10 years (and that was us before we had a baby last year!). I don't want the kids' bikes, muddy boots etc coming through the hall. Ideally we wanted a house with side access and a garage but alas the house doesn't seem to exist where we want to live. We hope to extend the current kitchen out the back, there's lots of space, and convert part of the present kitchen into a utility room and shower room with access outside into the present side passage and therefore the garage and the front of the house. We do lots of outdoor sports etc so we would hope any kids we have will too, so the plan is that anyone out on a bike etc comes in through the garage with the bike, muddy gear etc and then into the utility room where there's also a shower so that they can clean up before coming into the rest of the house! We'll also store all the bikes sports gear etc in the garage.
Hope this helps!

23party

thanks for those replies- we have decide to reconfigure the layout and maintain rear access passage thru side of house....families, garden waste, dirty bikes, football boots...etc etc- thanks again