Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa June 2013 | Page 40

IMPROVING

BY ANGELIQUE REDMOND

From Garage To
Granny Flat
With these simple steps

M

any 1940’s and 1950’s era style houses
have single car garages that are just
begging to be turned into a living era.
Whether you need a playroom for the kids, a flat
for Mom or your university-going child, a home
office or just want to make some extra income,
garages are an ideal candidate for conversion.
Granny f lats are different to main dwellings
insomuch as they must be designed to exist in
harmony with the main dwelling. They should
not dominate or detract from the front house,
nor should they be unsightly. Granny flats must
also share the infrastructure with the rest of the
main house. This means that sewer; electricity,
water and telephone lines need to be run from
the main dwelling to the new cabin. The most

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June 2013 SA Real Estate Investor

important aspect of a granny flat is that it must
be sited to create privacy form the house. This
means promoting separate open spaces plus
adequate acoustic and visual privacy. It’s vitally
important that experienced people who are
genuinely interested in the end result design
these dwellings. Will your new granny flat be
attractive to tenants, today and forever?

So where do you start?
The first place to start is with municipal laws
and building codes. What are the laws in your
municipality about converting a garage into a
living space, what building codes need to be
met and do you need to apply for a permit? To
find out about this phone your municipality

and check what you need to do to get the ball
rolling on your project. Each municipality has
it’s own building inspector who will be able to
advise you on whether your conversion requires
building plans and approval.

Raising the floor
More often than not the existing garage floor is
sloped and slightly lower than the house floor.
So to convert your garage into a living space you
will need to install a new floor structure. There
are several options when doing this, one is to
build up a wood framed floor that aligns with
the floor in the main house. Another is to install
a wood framed or concrete floor that is a step or
two down from the main house. An advantage
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