Project Overview
With a façade of blue and a carport that was only just making do, there finally came a time for these homeowners to up the ante and make a change. Enter Custom Outdoor Living. The existing car accommodation was definitely beyond a simple dose of TLC, so we set about designing a garage solution that would blend with the home, and look as though it had always been there, with secure panel and roller doors at either end.
The building of this garage was as much about smartening up the property, with a renovation, as it was about creating storage, aesthetic appeal, better security and an easier living solution – without breaking the budget. The owners had already reclad the front and rear of the house, new windows had been installed and the roof had been replaced.
Their gradual home improvements, to-date, are most appealing, and our double garage design certainly makes a world of difference in street appeal. Adding the garage, now, as they continue to renovate in future, will also allow the owners use this new space to temporarily stack and store their furniture as the home’s internal facelift continues.
Rotting weatherboards and gutters, the carport, the old shed and an abundance of dirt and tired old concrete were removed from the site. An awning was also demolished from the front door verandah. Creating a 70 square metre garage demanded the pouring of a large, reinforced concrete slab to begin with.
Next the boundary fence was removed to improve access, before the framing and new roof sections were built. As one of the leading Garage and Carport Builders in Melbourne, we designed a structure that would allow direct undercover access to the front door, and, someday, when a deck and covered area is constructed at the rear, the same all-weather access privileges will apply.
Acoustic insulation was installed along the house wall, the internal garage was an open A-frame with cement sheet walls, and the external corrugated roof was completed with matching monument coloured Colorbond. In keeping with the other earlier home renovations, new bullnose weatherboards were used to finish the front of the garage, whilst the boundary side and rear of the garage were vertically clad with Dura Groove. The Dura Groove increases the fire-rating protection and shall minimise weather rot and the need for excessive maintenance in the future.
With four new entry doors, oodles of power points, LED lighting and a smooth finish concrete floor, the owners now have a home for their vehicles, a newly completed stage ticked off in their long-term fixer-upper project, and the peace of mind that they can now finalise the landscaping and enjoy a fresh look for the whole front façade of their home.
Matt Goodie, Managing Director of COL, says, “Not everyone can afford to do major addition or renovation works all at once. The beauty of dealing with us as your designers and builders is that we can design something with foresight, like this garage, that will allow further additions and renovations (like a back deck area) to easily meld into the design at a later date.
We listen carefully to what you want, at every stage of our consultations with you. You’re invited to make suggestions, of course, and we value-add to those suggestions with our 30 or more years of experience. Our collaborative approach means we keep in touch with your budget limits, help you realise ways to cut costs if necessary, and always give you the option to go one step further with the planned improvements if you wish. We’re wise in the way we do business, but savvy in partnering with you along the way to ensure you get what you want.”
By having a virtually blank canvas inside the double garage, the owners may decide to section off areas for storage, box out an office, a mezzanine level, or purpose it for anything else that takes their fancy. Whatever they decide to do with it, it’s certainly a winning gamechanger to the way they live.
