Garage Conversion in Ainsdale
Ainsdale. The elevation rendered out so the old door opening stops showing from the street, and the room dry lined and skimmed inside.
What the customer wanted
A garage in Ainsdale that had stopped being a garage years ago and had become the place the bikes and the freezer lived. They wanted a room out of it. The building work, the opening blocked up, the floor built up, a window in, was somebody else's job. Ours was the two halves that decide whether it ends up looking like a room or like a garage with a settee in it: the elevation outside and the lining inside.
The outside
The giveaway on a converted garage is almost always the front. New brick and mortar sit differently against forty-year-old weathered work, and no amount of matching gets a patch to disappear on an elevation that has been standing in coastal weather since the sixties. You can see the whole panel of newer brick from the pavement.
Rendering the elevation is what makes that go away, because it puts one finish across the old work and the new work together and there is no longer a line to notice. That is what the photograph above shows: brick on the left, and the same wall in a through-coloured render on the right. On a house that is already rendered it is a straightforward match. On a brick house it is a decision, and it is usually the whole elevation rather than the one panel, so the finish reads as deliberate.
The inside
A garage wall is cold and usually solid, so the lining is not just about getting a flat surface. Insulated plasterboard goes on where the specification calls for it, on dabs or on battens depending on what the wall is doing, and the ceiling is boarded under the existing structure. Every joint is scrim taped, every angle beaded, then the whole thing is skimmed as one so it reads as a room and not as a lined box.
It is worth saying plainly what is not ours. Blocking up the door opening, the floor build-up, damp proofing, the window and building regulations approval are a builder's work and other trades'. We come in for the rendering, the dry lining and the plastering, and we work alongside or after them.
The finish
Outside, one continuous render across an elevation that used to have a garage door in it. Inside, a warm, lined, skimmed room ready for a decorator, with the reveals and the angles straight enough that nothing about it says the space started life as somewhere to park.
A conversion of this size is usually a week or so of our work, split into the outside and the inside, and it fits around whoever is doing the building work rather than holding them up.
The full detail of what a garage conversion involves on the plastering and rendering side is on the garage conversions page, and the lining itself is on the dry lining page. This job was in Ainsdale.
Want one like it?
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Questions people ask about this
Do you have to render the whole front of the house?
Not always, but usually it is the right answer on a brick house. Rendering the single panel where the door was leaves a rectangle that reads as a repair. Taking the elevation as a whole makes the finish look chosen rather than patched.
Does a converted garage need insulating?
Effectively always. A garage wall was never built to be a room wall, so without an insulated lining the room is cold, and cold surfaces are where condensation shows up first.
Do you do the building work as well?
No. Blocking up the opening, the floor build-up and damp proofing, the window and building regulations are a builder's job and other trades'. We do the rendering, the dry lining and the plastering, and we work alongside or after them.
How long does the plastering and rendering side take?
Usually about a week, split between the outside and the inside, and it slots in around the building work rather than holding it up.
What customers said
4.7 out of 5 on Google and 5.0 from 35 reviews on MyBuilder, plus 100% recommended from 6 recommendations on Facebook. Every review below is verbatim from those profiles, and each one says which.
Rendering to pathway boundary wall
I received a first class service from Birkdale Plastering. Anthony always attended as arranged. He was invariably polite and hard-working and cleared any mess before leaving. I am very pleased with the finished job.
Rendering
Antony did a great job would highly recommend him
Rendering exterior wall
Render of an outside wall. Excellent job and finish Turned up when he said, cleaned up and took the time to protect the areas around the job. Would highly recommend to family and friends.
Pebbledash rendering to 3 bed semi-detached house and adjoining garage
Anthony did an outstanding job pebble-dashing our entire house. It was a challenging project but he handled every aspect with professionalism and care—nothing was ever too much trouble. He worked incredibly hard and maintained a clean and tidy worksite throughout. We couldn’t be happier with the result.
Kitchen ceiling repair after a leak
Anthony has done an excellent plastering job today for us in Formby. Repaired a hole on our kitchen ceiling after a leak whilst on holiday. Very good finish and so tidy too! Would Definitely recommend him!
Render 3 external walls on a bungalow
Outstanding work would highly recommend went above and behond with everything, if anyone needs rendering this is your man.
Areas we cover
Based on Liverpool Road in Southport. We work right along the Sefton coast, down into Liverpool, and inland across West Lancashire as far as Preston. Every town below has a page of its own.
Related services
Internal Plastering
Skimming, float and set, ceilings and repairs. Flat walls that take paint evenly and stay that way.
Read moreDry Lining & Plasterboarding
Stud walls, ceilings and insulated linings, set out square, taped and beaded before skimming.
Read moreDecorative Plasterwork
Cornice, ceiling roses and panelled ceilings restored, matched and run in where sections are missing.
Read moreGet a free written estimate
Tell us what the walls are doing and we will come and look. You will get an honest assessment and a written price, with no obligation and no pressure.
Southport, the Sefton coast, Liverpool and West Lancashire
Get in touch
Tell us what the walls are doing and we will come and look. Free written estimate, no obligation.
- Phone 07923 545449
- Email anthony9thompson@yahoo.co.uk
- Address
Birkdale Plastering and Rendering
546 Liverpool Road, Southport PR8 3BG - Opening hours Every day, 7am to 9pm