Advice on utilizing insulated garage

[John Carbone]

Have a 4 bed sleeps 9 with an attached garage that is already fully insulated with electric/windows/and two entrance doors. When you are in the garage it has the same walls as the main living areas, so apart from the concrete floors you couldn’t tell it’s a garage. I’m getting no real use out of it in the rental. I have a spot I can add a mini split for heating/cooling. 

Undergoing a renovation to remove the garage door but I can't decide what the best use of this space will be for a STR. I already have a small game room with 2 arcade games.

What will be my best ROI? The place is only a few years old so everything is pretty well updated.

[Brooklyn McCarty]

Turn it into an awesome game room! 

[Bruce Woodruff]

I agree, move your games in there and maybe use the 'small game room' as an office? Lots of people travelling for work nowadays....

Or  add plumbing and make the garage into a bedroom? Recent construction so Building Dept should be ok with it.....

[John Underwood]

Game room would be cool but I think best ROI would be a bedroom. You could make it a game room with a futton, bunk beds, pull out couch or Murphy bed and have the best of both worlds.

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @John Carbone:

There are a lot of variables here. The easiest option is to convert it into a game room. This gives larger groups a second space to separate kids and adults, husbands and wives, or whatever. Pool table, darts, game table and board/card games, big TV, etc.

[Eliott Elias]

Start producing income from it, check with the city to see if it was done correctly and is considered living space in the house. 

[John Carbone]

Quote from @John Underwood:

Game room would be cool but I think best ROI would be a bedroom. You could make it a game room with a futton, bunk beds, pull out couch or Murphy bed and have the best of both worlds.

I like this option. I’ll see what I can work with on space to see if it can get it all in there. 

[Collin Chan]

We turned ours into a large game room.  Exactly as @Nathan Gesner stated with a 5 in 1 game table (usually set up for foosball), dart board, and overall hang out space.  It still has a garage door but the previous owner had it fully conditioned and put insulation panels on the garage door.  It's attached to a bedroom that we have a bunk and queen in already so the game room is a hit with families and we've been booked at 97% occupancy for the last 3 months with March already 80% booked due to the family friendly vibe.

[John Carbone]

Quote from @Collin Chan:

We turned ours into a large game room.  Exactly as @Nathan Gesner stated with a 5 in 1 game table (usually set up for foosball), dart board, and overall hang out space.  It still has a garage door but the previous owner had it fully conditioned and put insulation panels on the garage door.  It's attached to a bedroom that we have a bunk and queen in already so the game room is a hit with families and we've been booked at 97% occupancy for the last 3 months with March already 80% booked due to the family friendly vibe.

Do you have a link to the listing?

[Collin Chan]

Quote from @John Carbone:

Quote from @Collin Chan:

We turned ours into a large game room.  Exactly as @Nathan Gesner stated with a 5 in 1 game table (usually set up for foosball), dart board, and overall hang out space.  It still has a garage door but the previous owner had it fully conditioned and put insulation panels on the garage door.  It's attached to a bedroom that we have a bunk and queen in already so the game room is a hit with families and we've been booked at 97% occupancy for the last 3 months with March already 80% booked due to the family friendly vibe.

Do you have a link to the listing?

Sure, I'll send it in a PM

[Ken Boone]

So the game room option is the easiest.  You could have a fantastic game room in a space that big.  However, I would consider putting an indoor heated pool in that space.  I have seen a few builders go back and do renos on garages and install pools in that space.  The one builder that I know did one of these pools last year, I would never use so you might have to call around to find someone to do this, but I know it is very doable.  Your ADR will increase significantly with an indoor heated pool.  That is 100% what I would do no questions about it.

[John Carbone]

Quote from @Ken Boone:

So the game room option is the easiest.  You could have a fantastic game room in a space that big.  However, I would consider putting an indoor heated pool in that space.  I have seen a few builders go back and do renos on garages and install pools in that space.  The one builder that I know did one of these pools last year, I would never use so you might have to call around to find someone to do this, but I know it is very doable.  Your ADR will increase significantly with an indoor heated pool.  That is 100% what I would do no questions about it.

What kind of roi would I be getting on it in your estimation? My average nightly rate is $300, my guess is the cost to do something like this 100k plus? And then I’ll have higher insurance premiums and more maintenance. Do you have any numbers on how much more revenue a heated indoor pool does in the smokies? I assume these are above ground pools?

[Ken Boone]

John, I don't know how much it would cost to do the work.  I have seen builders quote anywhere from 60-80k for the entire pool room on new builds which includes everything, walls, ceiling etc..  so I don't know what the cost would be for a reno on a garage but I know its doable.  Yep insurance will be higher, you will have a pool company now servicing your pool regularly.  More equipment means more maintenance.  I thought the same thing about all of those issues until I bought my first pool cabin.  I don't worry about those things anymore.  This would be an inground pool.  The contractor would have to bust up most of the concrete flooring dig down run pipes etc, set the form to pour the pool shell.  Need a closet in there for all your pool equipment to go in where pipes will run to.  These pools are not usually big and not usually deep.  Mine run from 4 - 5 ft deep.  The size of the garage will determine what size pool you can put in.  The smallest I have is a 6 x 13 wonky shaped fiberglass pool and the largest pool I think is 8 x 18.  It is the novelty of being able to swim in the cabin, year round, that drives the guests to it.  

[Michael Baum]

I love what @John Underwood said. Make it a kids space for sleeping with 2 bunk beds in there then game it out.

If the garage is on the smaller size, I would add a 3-1 bumper pool table. We have one in our living room and it gets used a ton. Gaming, poker and bumper pool. Much smaller than a full size and just as fun IMHO.

Once you get the garage setup you can setup the small game room with a queen bed and outfit it (assuming a queen will fit OK), and that means more revenue coming in.

What are the dimensions? Post some pics man!

[John Carbone]

Quote from @Michael Baum:

I love what @John Underwood said. Make it a kids space for sleeping with 2 bunk beds in there then game it out.

If the garage is on the smaller size, I would add a 3-1 bumper pool table. We have one in our living room and it gets used a ton. Gaming, poker and bumper pool. Much smaller than a full size and just as fun IMHO.

Once you get the garage setup you can setup the small game room with a queen bed and outfit it (assuming a queen will fit OK), and that means more revenue coming in.

What are the dimensions? Post some pics man!

Wasn’t thinking about the dimensions when I posted, but it’s a 14x22 (just a 1 car garage). I’m getting the garage door and motor removed, and insulating this area. On the outside I will be doing new exterior log siding so it will match from the outside. I’ll probably be doing an accent wall in the spot that gets filled in where the garage door is at on the interior. 

the garage area has an access into the house and access out the back to the deck and hot tub and patio and side yard. I thought about adding twin over twin bunks but I thought maybe it will be odd with the flow of people going through this new room to access the outside amenities, 

how much am I limited with this size garage?

[Michael Baum]

Hey @John Carbone, I don't think you are limited at all. It is a pretty big space so you can fit some stuff in there. I guess I can't really comment unless I can see it.

Do guests have to go through that area to get to the back yard?

Another thing you might want to think about, put in a glass garage door. Make it open up so you get that cool vibe in the game room. You could change out the overhead door opener with a jack shaft opener on the end.

I don't think that the bunk beds would be odd. Our bunk room is on the bottom floor of our house. It has a main entrance to the house and a lot of guest go in and out through there. Never had a word about it. 

[John Carbone]

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Hey @John Carbone, I don't think you are limited at all. It is a pretty big space so you can fit some stuff in there. I guess I can't really comment unless I can see it.

Do guests have to go through that area to get to the back yard?

Another thing you might want to think about, put in a glass garage door. Make it open up so you get that cool vibe in the game room. You could change out the overhead door opener with a jack shaft opener on the end.

I don't think that the bunk beds would be odd. Our bunk room is on the bottom floor of our house. It has a main entrance to the house and a lot of guest go in and out through there. Never had a word about it. 

So it’s not the only access point, but it’s the only way to get to the hot tub and deck from inside the house without going outside the front of the house and walking down the ramp to the side yard. Is the bunk room in the same room as the game room?

[Ken Boone]

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Another thing you might want to think about, put in a glass garage door. Make it open up so you get that cool vibe in the game room. You could change out the overhead door opener with a jack shaft opener on the end.

Yea I am not a big fan of those glass garage doors.  There are a few of those in John's area - mostly on pool cabins ;)  They have the glass garage door on the side of the pool room or back of the pool room or whatever makes sense.  So it looks really cool and sounds really cool.  You know, hot summer day, open door, feel the breeze, walk in and out back and forth from outside back into the pool, its all great - until.. The guest leaves it open at dusk or after dark and the mosquitoes and bugs fill the place and the next day they are complaining to you about all the bugs in the cabin,  or that the pool is full of bugs.  I just can't imagine what the pools in some of these cabins look like after an evening with the door open.  We have a number of highly intrusive bugs at different times of the year in this area, stink bugs, ladybugs and millipedes to name a few and even during the daytime during ladybug season would be a disaster I would think.

[Michael Baum]

Hahaha! Point taken there @Ken Boone. 

[Michael Baum]

Quote from @John Carbone:

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Hey @John Carbone, I don't think you are limited at all. It is a pretty big space so you can fit some stuff in there. I guess I can't really comment unless I can see it.

Do guests have to go through that area to get to the back yard?

Another thing you might want to think about, put in a glass garage door. Make it open up so you get that cool vibe in the game room. You could change out the overhead door opener with a jack shaft opener on the end.

I don't think that the bunk beds would be odd. Our bunk room is on the bottom floor of our house. It has a main entrance to the house and a lot of guest go in and out through there. Never had a word about it. 

So it’s not the only access point, but it’s the only way to get to the hot tub and deck from inside the house without going outside the front of the house and walking down the ramp to the side yard. Is the bunk room in the same room as the game room?

So the room is setup for kids so there is some game stuff in there, but nothing like what we have been talking about. So it might not work for you.

[Ken Boone]

Hey man so another thought instead of the full blown pool you can put in a swim spa.  This would not require tearing up your concrete and all the work.  There are several cabins up there have these instead of pools.  It's not the same level as a full blown pool, however, from what I am told they still do very good.  

[John Carbone]

I’m tounge and grooving the whole room, adding a large tv, 3 arcade games, pool table, mini fridge, ….and leaning towards throwing a bunk bed in the corner, I have a week to decide.

currently I sleep 9 and I have a spare twin over full bunk in storage I could use to up it to 12. Is this a no brainer? @John Underwood

[JD Martin]

Without seeing your layout, but having converted several carports & garages to livable space on my rental properties, my vote would be either:

1. A kickass master suite setup, if you don't already have a great master, or

2. A combo bunk/game room, not even taking out your other game room. 

If you've already got a great master, then with a space that big you could put two awesome bunk beds in there to get you 4 sleeping spaces, and on the other end a kid-geared game room - big tv with video games and gaming chairs, pinball, skeeball, basketball, air hockey, etc. No billiards, darts, card table, etc - leave that set up for your second game room. You deck this room out and (assuming you don't hate kids) market to people that have a gaggle of them, who see the separate bunk room and self-contained video game room and think "peace & quiet!"

In this scenario all you need is some daylight (window/windows) and climate control. No exterior door, no plumbing, no heavy electrical demands, etc. 

[JD Martin]

Quote from @John Carbone:

I’m tounge and grooving the whole room, adding a large tv, 3 arcade games, pool table, mini fridge, ….and leaning towards throwing a bunk bed in the corner, I have a week to decide.

currently I sleep 9 and I have a spare twin over full bunk in storage I could use to up it to 12. Is this a no brainer? @John Underwood

 Just saw this post. I think you're absolutely in the right idea except I would do 2 bunk beds so that it can be an encampment for a double family that rents your place. The kids that don't get the killer bedroom/game room are going to be unhappy. 

[John Underwood]

Quote from @John Carbone:

I’m tounge and grooving the whole room, adding a large tv, 3 arcade games, pool table, mini fridge, ….and leaning towards throwing a bunk bed in the corner, I have a week to decide.

currently I sleep 9 and I have a spare twin over full bunk in storage I could use to up it to 12. Is this a no brainer? @John Underwood

 That sounds awesome!

[Aaron Dominy]

IMO this is very dependent on the market. Use airdna to see if there's a significant spread between 4 and 5 bedroom homes. See what the top performers are doing in the area (what they have that you don't). The space might be best utilized for another Bed/bath, or might be best to have an awesome entertainment space. Your research should answer this question