Turn your garage into the perfect man cave

You may have thought a garage was merely the external structure to house one’s automobile. How wrong you would be.

Once host to cars, cobwebs and cans of two-stroke fuel and little else, modern garages are morphing into new-age man caves, where blokes retreat from the world, tinker with mechanical things and entertain their mates.

In Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You, University of Texas professor Sam Gosling provides a psychologist’s perspective on the modern garage.

“Space is very important for regulating emotions – it’s incredibly important to be in one’s own space and resonate with who one is,” he says.

Well, we think what the professor is driving at is that turning your garage into a highly personalised space isn’t such a bad thing. So what will you need?

Get your stuff up

First and foremost, a garage is the best place to store a lot of stuff, including items which are expensive, prone to rust and painful to step on with bare feet.

That’s why it makes sense to store lots of it vertically by installing:

• A wall-mounted metal tool kit
• A peg wall with adjustable hooks and brackets to hang everything from whipper snippers to secateurs
• Padded bars to hold surfboards and skis
• Hanging hooks for bikes

Things to consider when buying a quick-flip renovator

Whether finances are tight or you have cash to splash, be sure to ask yourself – can I make the changes I want within my budget?

When it comes to property, it’s easy to see potential in just about anything. But whether it’s a dilapidated cottage or a retro disaster zone that needs much more than a simple lick of paint, there are numerous things to consider before purchasing a quick-flip renovator.

And while anyone with a predilection for positive thinking should be applauded, with so much money at stake renovations require more than just blind faith. If you’re keen to purchase a flipper, you must go into it with your eyes wide open and be prepared to balance the property’s renovation potential with your budget constraints. The last thing you want is an unfinished renovation, a poor product or a sizeable debt at the end.

Get inspired: Renovator’s delights for the savvy buyer

Go subterranean

Make sure you have a look under the house – the subfloor area can tell you so much about it. You can get a feel for the overall health of the property and find out what work has been done previously.

The other thing that will be evident when you look downstairs is whether the property is on a slab or piers. When reconfiguring a floor plan, a slab is much more difficult to work with and thus more expensive too. In addition, make sure to check out the health of the piers – whether brick, concrete or steel, have they been pitted, damaged or eroded? You don’t want to go through an arduous renovation process only to have a sale fall through after a prospective buyer gets a report back showing less than desirable conditions underfoot.

Lastly, make sure to check how much space there is under the house. For example, if you want plumbing works done under it, limited space makes it much harder and more costly. Access is always important.

Building materials

When it comes to raw materials, timber is more desirable than brick from a renovation perspective. It is much easier to cut through walls, move windows and install doors if you’re renovating a timber stud wall house. Obviously brick houses can be revamped but you will have to source identical bricks or be prepared to whip out the render or paint.

Read More:  Things to consider when buying a quick-flip renovator