Creative use of old garage

[fudosan]

I have an old concrete, single garage that has not been used since a new one was built a few years ago. The garage sits in front of the house as part of the garden. It is basically a concrete box with no window except the front door opening to the street. Window are not possible on the remaining sides unless I raise the walls and roof above the garden level. Hope you get the picture.

I wonder if I can turn it into a home office or something else but I'm not sure of the dampness, air circulation, and lighting issues. Does anyone have a creative idea to utilize this piece of valuable space.

[Gerrard]

Can you rent it separately to someone else? I've seen this done where there is a shortage of off street parking.

How about as storage? Not so good if it may get damp. There's a plumber near me who rents a garage to store his spare pipes and things.

[dksnz]

Could look at putting light in via the roof [skylight / clear roofing], but would need to dampproof the floor & up the walls to above ground level.

Best way to do this would be a waterproofing membrane [need to check the specs on it as it needs to be a 'decent' one as it is holding water/dampness from the positive side, as opposed the std method of putting it on the back - negative - side of the wall & backfilling it] & then strap & line with the flooring/lining. Depends on what the stud height you have is. If you want to do it the belts & braces way would need to dig around the outside & put in drainage & backfill with polystyrene to relieve water pressure build up.

With regard to get light in there - have also seen it done where the garage door has been removed and replaced with glass blocks to allow light but privacy to the footpath - this has a seperate back door entry tho'