Righto, I'm going to be moving back to my mothers soon, and more than likely we shall convert the garage into a room. The house is a normal semi with the common extension on the side where you have a garage downstairs and a bedroom on top.
The drive was on a slope and there was a gas pipe in the way, so as a result the garage floor is on a slope - To sort this I would lay a false floor raising it all up to the higher level, approx 60cm above the lower end.
None of this worries me, if I had time I would definitely tackle it myself but we may get a builder in. The main issue comes with bricking the door up and swapping this for a window.
The only picture I have of the situation: (Look at the house on the right)
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Again, we would probably be getting someone in to do the work but I like to have a good idea of what is involved!
The foundations for the extension don't extend across the garage door, so if a wall was built and the garage door lintel (which doesn't appear to be tied into the side of the house appreciably!) was removed, what would bear the load? Would a full foundation have to be dug down to the same couple of feet level as the rest of the extension?
Alternatively, What's to stop us keeping the (steel) lintel where it is, and building a wall on some fairly shallow foundations up to it, with a window in this wall?
If that's the case, I know a bricklayer and I can fit windows, so we could complete that part ourselves with no issues, but obviously I don't want to go making major structural alterations on my own!
The drive was on a slope and there was a gas pipe in the way, so as a result the garage floor is on a slope - To sort this I would lay a false floor raising it all up to the higher level, approx 60cm above the lower end.
None of this worries me, if I had time I would definitely tackle it myself but we may get a builder in. The main issue comes with bricking the door up and swapping this for a window.
The only picture I have of the situation: (Look at the house on the right)
Again, we would probably be getting someone in to do the work but I like to have a good idea of what is involved!
The foundations for the extension don't extend across the garage door, so if a wall was built and the garage door lintel (which doesn't appear to be tied into the side of the house appreciably!) was removed, what would bear the load? Would a full foundation have to be dug down to the same couple of feet level as the rest of the extension?
Alternatively, What's to stop us keeping the (steel) lintel where it is, and building a wall on some fairly shallow foundations up to it, with a window in this wall?
If that's the case, I know a bricklayer and I can fit windows, so we could complete that part ourselves with no issues, but obviously I don't want to go making major structural alterations on my own!
. . . 
Oh and your insurance company will need to know too.