Revert room back to original garage format

[reubin78]

Struggling to find information on reverting a room back to it's original integral garage format. We are looking into purchasing this UK-based property and we're trying to understand whether this is a simple/achievable task or whether we'd be wasting our time.

Property is a bungalow with standard tiled roof and shared loft space. Estimate property is 1950s and conversion took place early 1990s. Original double-garage doorway was converted to a standard double-glazed house door and a window (which spans the remaining width) sitting on a brick dwarf wall. Walls are plastered, room has central heating, etc.

Is it possible to undo the "conversion work" and simply use it as a garage again or would this be classed as a potentially new garage and therefore be subject to latest building regs? For example, if the original concrete floor remains then is it still acceptable to use it? I've read various things about provisioning for fuel leaks, etc. Also would the loft space need to be divided for fire protection.

Any guidance appreciated.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Rip it all out, fill your boots! That said a half hour fire door between the house and garage wouldn't go amiss.

 

[Nakajo]

This *may* devalue your property, so be wary.

 

[garyo]

I think the garage floor is meant to be 150mm lower than the house but you'll probably find that this was the case originally and its just been clad in insulation and screed so should be fairly easy to revert. Whether 150mm is actually a rule or just a recommendation I'll leave to someone else!

 

[reubin78]

No concerns about devaluing property as have sufficient bedrooms and the property is located where parking is very difficult. Would allow for second car to be parked off-road.

For my general reference, I assume the 150 depth only applies if there is an internal door between the house and garage? If the only access was the garage door and an external door does the floor height matter? Except for neon able to drive the car in/out!!

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Correct.

 

[^woody^]

Whether 150mm is actually a rule or just a recommendation I'll leave to someone else!

It's a requirement to stop liquids spilling into the house. A lower floor will do this, as will a threshold step on top of the floor. 100mm is often mentioned, but it's not definitive.

 

[reubin78]

Must the loft space over the garage be separate from the house? Is it a non-issue if the garage ceiling provides sufficient fire protection?

Likewise, assuming the internal wall (between house and garage) is brick or block construction them does that provide sufficient fire protection? At this point I'm open to retaining and/or removing the existing plasterwork.

We'd look to employ a suitable builder to complete the renovation but it's currently just a case if understanding roughly how big/small a task this is and whether we're just better looking at other properties!

 

[^woody^]

Yeah just the ceiling needs to be the fire break.

Presumably the loft was built left open before the conversion, as I can't imagine that a wall was removed in the loft.