A Gaping Hole -- What To Do With The Overhead Door In Your Garage-To-Apartment Conversion
Are you planning to convert your garage into a useful apartment? It can be a great way to earn some extra income, open your home to a family member or increase your home's value. But in most garage-to-apartment conversions, one of the biggest challenges is deciding what to do with the overhead door itself. Here are 5 ways to handle the overhead door in your conversion plan.
Just Seal it Up
Without a doubt, the easiest and cheapest thing to do with the overhead door is to simply seal any leaks and insulate it. This may call for replacing some or all of the weather stripping or rubber seals around the frame of the door, as well as permanently sealing the edges with waterproof caulk or polyurethane. Since the door is also unlikely to be insulated, you may need to add some fiberglass insulation between the supports.
Make an Exterior Wall
Removing the overhead door completely allows you to give the inside and outside of the home a full makeover. How complicated this process is will depend on how much you want to make it look like the surrounding materials and what those walls are made of. A simple wood exterior is the least expensive option -- simply remove the door and its frame, then replace it with a wood stud frame wall on which you can hang siding that matches the home's exterior. Other materials will cost more, so consult with a qualified contractor before deciding on this option.
Add a Bay Window
Adding windows to the new wall where your garage door used to sit will help bring in light and open up the space. You can gain even more advantage by making that window a bay window. Not only will a bay window add more natural lighting to the apartment, but it will also add usable square footage to a small space and appear more attractive both on the inside and the outside.
Take in the View
Instead of closing off the garage door side of the apartment, you may wish to open it up to the outside instead. Glass-panel overhead doors leave the garage door intact in case you want to convert it back into a garage, but get rid of the industrial feel of the new apartment. Glass doors are a great way to make the apartment feel larger than it is and to take advantage of any natural beauty outside.
Convert to Carriage-Style Doors
Changing the overhead doors to carriage-style doors bring a sense of tradition and style to the apartment and provide a nice focal point to the home's exterior. Modern carriage-style doors may open from the bottom upward or from the sides. And they would require no remodeling should you ever decide to return the garage to its original purpose. Explore carriage door options through a company like Jayton Door Corporation to determine if this is the right choice.
Adding a garage apartment is a big project, so be sure to give aspects like the overhead door plenty of thought ahead of time. Modern technology and options mean that you don't need to settle on something you don't like no matter how large or small your budget is.
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