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Garage conversions in Austin

We turn garages into bedrooms, offices, family rooms, and separate units with a bath and kitchen. We fill in the garage door opening, level the floor, insulate and cool the space, and finish it like the rest of your house.

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Two-car garage converted into a living space with a wall of black-framed windows

Garage conversions we take on

We take on garage conversions in Austin for attached or detached garages. We turn them into bedrooms, home offices, family rooms, gyms, or guest suites.

A garage already has a slab, walls, and a roof, so the job starts with that shell and turns it into heated and cooled living space. The water heater, washer, and dryer often live in the garage, and moving or enclosing them is part of the plan. At the walkthrough, we look at the attic above the garage because ductwork for the new room usually runs there.

Turning a garage into an ADU

ADU stands for additional dwelling unit. The City of Austin says a space with habitable rooms, a full bathroom, and permanent cooking facilities is a dwelling unit and has to meet the city’s dwelling unit rules, including zoning, utility meter, and address requirements. For permit information, see Austin remodel permits. We check your lot’s zoning and size before design, so you know whether a separate unit is allowed.

Turning the garage into a separate unit adds work throughout the space. We trench a sewer line from the new bathroom and kitchen to the house’s main line. The unit also needs a water heater, its own heating and cooling, an outside entry door, and insulation and drywall throughout.

What changes in a converted garage

Turning a garage into a room involves these changes:

  • We frame in the garage door opening with a wall, a window, or a door.
  • We level and raise the floor to meet the house floor because a garage slab slopes toward the door.
  • We insulate the walls and ceiling, then hang drywall.
  • We provide heating and cooling through extended ductwork or a ductless unit.
  • We add new circuits, outlets, and lighting.
  • We add windows for light and air. In any bedroom, we include a window big enough to climb out of in an emergency.

How a garage conversion runs

We start with a walkthrough of the garage. We look at the slab, the wall between the garage and the house, the attic above, and any water heater or laundry hookups in the garage. Once the drawings are ready, the permit application goes through the city’s garage conversion path.

The door opening is framed in and the floor is built up first, so the room is closed in early. Rough electrical, HVAC, and any plumbing come next, followed by inspection of that work. Then we move to insulation, drywall, flooring, and trim. The final inspection comes after that work is done.

Permits and cost

The City of Austin has its own permit application for converting a legally established garage, separate from an addition, and we file it. Read about permits in Austin remodel permits.

Angi’s Austin garage conversion cost page, updated January 29, 2026, gives a published range of $3,900 to $20,020 for most Austin projects. For national figures and what a full unit runs, see the home addition cost guide.

FAQ

Questions homeowners ask

How long does a garage conversion take?

Angi’s home addition timeline guide, updated August 4, 2026, says a garage conversion typically takes 2 to 4 months. A conversion with a bathroom and kitchen sits at the longer end because the plumbing has to be trenched through the slab. See the remodel timeline guide for more on timing.

Can a converted garage be a bedroom?

Yes, a converted garage can be a bedroom. The City of Austin reviews against the 2024 International Residential Code, which requires every sleeping room to have at least one operable emergency escape and rescue opening, a window or door you can get out through. So where the garage door was, we plan a window or door that meets that rule, along with insulation, heating and cooling, and a finished floor. See Austin remodel permits.

Can a converted garage have a full bathroom?

A converted garage can have a full bathroom. We trench drain lines through the garage slab to the house’s sewer line and give them the slope they need to drain. We also run water supply lines, waterproof the shower, and duct an exhaust fan outdoors.

Can we rent out a converted garage?

Possibly, once the converted garage qualifies as a separate dwelling unit under the City of Austin’s rules on zoning and lot size. Under the City of Austin’s short-term rental rule, an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) built after October 1, 2015 can’t be rented short-term for more than 30 days in a calendar year, and a short-term rental needs a city license. See Austin remodel permits.