There has been a lot of turmoil in the UK recently, especially within politics and the finance sector. This may lead people to look at how they can tighten their purse strings. This tightening can take many forms, from going without certain luxuries to shopping at a different supermarket. But to others it can be a bit more extreme.
For some people it may mean considering moving home to a more affordable place; from a detached to a terraced, or from a terraced to a flat. For others though, it may mean something entirely different. As we have seen in some instances in London recently, some people are taking the drastic step to moving into a concrete garage to live.
This isn’t such a huge step as you may first imagine. A well-built concrete garage on its own provides some of the basics needed for survival. In this cases shelter from the weather, and a lucky few might even get running water.
But what if you really wanted to give this a try? What if you had few options left and a concrete garage was a serious consideration you had to make for a home. How would you go about doing it? Well, the below is a good place to start.
- The first step is to clean, and clean thoroughly. By their nature concrete garages are extremely dusty, and no doubt there will be a few spiders and bugs sharing your new home with you. A deep and thorough clean will always be the first step.
- Once your garage is properly clean you will be able to spot any damp patches and cracks. Now is the time to patch these up to ensure your garage is water tight and draft proof.
- As a follow on from the above, if you’re lucky enough to have windows make sure to check that they open and close properly. If not, now is the time to repair them.
- The large door to your garage is where it will be weakest from a safety and insulation standpoint. If you have the budget it is definitely worth upgrading. Insulated garage doors are available, and extra security is easily installed.
- Running water is obviously essential to living. If your garage does not have it as standard now is the time to fit it, before anything extra is installed. If you can, access to hot water will make life a lot more bearable.
- Now you have the structure sorted you can start to add furniture! Charity shops are often perfect places if you are on a budget. Or, if things are really tight you can often find free items on places like Freegle and Freecycle.
- For privacy, and to suggest a better feeling of a home partition screens can create the impression of rooms.
- For food you can get by with basic camping equipment. It6 is easy to source and relatively low cost. However, if you are willing to learn what you can about DIY and have access to scrap wood you may be able to knock up a serviceable kitchen.
- Even with your fancy new garage door you will probably need some form of heating. Any kind of household heater will work. However, due to the nature of the structure it is worth making sure your heater is safe, things like safety switches if it gets knocked over are vital.
By this point your concrete garage should be positively cosy!