2024 - From dream to reality | A garage transformed into a bright family room

Any renovation requires a good deal of planning and crowns a more or less long-term process. We present projects of various sizes, which could give ideas.

Posted at 12:00 p.m.

Very athletic, Sylvie Labrecque and Yvan Carbonneau planned to settle in the great outdoors when they retired. He made the leap before her, in August 2021. They started looking at properties on the resale market in late 2021, turning their attention to those in the Laurentians, where they usually go. . In the midst of a real estate turmoil, in February 2022, a two-storey house in Val-David caught their attention. They visited it once, for 30 minutes, on February 13, made an offer to purchase (which was accepted) on February 15 and took possession of the house on February 1.^ermay. Yvan Carbonneau then began work to transform the garage into a bright family room.

“We were looking more for an environment than a specific house,” he explains. It was important that it be close to our places of entertainment, because we do a lot of outdoor sports in the Laurentians, and that it not be too far from where our children live. We saw this house, which met our needs, with the exception of the family room. »

PHOTO PROVIDED BY YVAN CARBONNEAU

The garage, with a large window, was very typical when Sylvie Labrecque and Yvan Carbonneau took possession of the house.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY YVAN CARBONNEAU

Here is another view of the old garage
PHOTO PROVIDED BY YVAN CARBONNEAU

The section where the old garage and the old family room were located has been transformed. Access to the new family room having been widened, Yvan Carbonneau took the opportunity to standardize the floor covering on the garden level. The flooring is now acacia wood.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY YVAN CARBONNEAU

On entering the house, before the work, the door giving access to the garage was to the right of the entrance.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY YVAN CARBONNEAU

The house, seen in the background, was built on a sloping site. The property being vast, Yvan Carbonneau built a shed below.

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He immediately saw the potential of the house and took advantage of their very short visit to see if he could put his plan into action. “Looking at the photos on the Centris site, I noticed that the family room was probably going to be a problem,” says Mr. Carbonneau. The land is sloping and the house has two full floors, a garden level and a ground floor. »

PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS

Yvan Carbonneau did about 40% of the work in the house, which he and his wife bought in February, in Val-David. He had perceived its great potential from the start.

The back of the garden level, where the old family room was, is completely in the ground. The room was small and had no natural light. It was almost demoralizing to go there. The garage, on the other hand, already had a large window with a view of a beautiful landscape. By converting the garage door into a full-size window, it became a very bright room. The old family room in the back could be transformed into a storage room.

Sylvie Labrecque, co-owner of the residence

Without wasting time, the owner booked the services of a contractor he knew, applied for a permit from the municipality and ordered the window that would replace the garage door. He started work as soon as he got the keys to the house on the 1^ermay. The move was scheduled for June 7. And on June 13, he and his wife were going on a trip for a month. He wanted only finishing to be done on the way back.

Very manual, he had planned to do a good part of the work. He hadn’t anticipated the power outage that affected all residents of Val-David… for 10 days! Fortunately, that was before the arrival of the contractor and his three workers. He bought a generator and during this time mainly built the spacious shed, which he needed to store lots of things.

“I had two little surprises during the demolition which increased the costs”, explains Mr. Carbonneau, who traveled evening and morning during the work, joining his spouse in Laval in the evening and only allowing himself a day off per week.

“We moved the wall between the old family room and the old garage by 3 feet to enlarge the new family room,” he explains. As it was a load-bearing wall, I had to hire an engineer to calculate the span of the beam that needed to be installed. Then three days before the workers arrived, I discovered that there were pipes in the wall that needed to be removed. I was lucky to find a plumber locally, quickly. »

Then, for 10 days, the contractor and his team did the interior fittings. “They prioritized what I couldn’t do myself,” he said. I took care of clearing the site daily of waste. I did 40% of the work in the house and 100% of the shed. In six weeks, most of the renovation was done. »

The ground floor is transformed. The fact of having replaced the old interior door, which gave access to the garage, with a large opening is particularly beautiful. “I also standardized the floor, which is acacia,” he points out. Both chambers are multifunctional, and we use them. It’s much nicer than before. »

In short

PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS

The house, in Val-David, was built on a sloping lot. It has two levels, a garden level and a ground floor. The garage door has been replaced by a very large window.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS

The family room has been enlarged by almost a meter. There is plenty of room to comfortably watch TV and play pool. A large closet has also been fitted out to store sports equipment.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS

A space is reserved for the home theater.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS

The owners are very athletic. They store their equipment in this large, easily accessible locker room. Another storage space has been added at the back, in the old family room.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS

By removing the interior door, which gave access to the garage, and enlarging the opening, the light circulates freely on the ground floor.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS

Yvan Carbonneau recovered a lot of materials and sent very few products to the landfill. For example, he adjusted the garage door and integrated it into the shed, which he built entirely.