Turning Garage Square Footage Into Living Space
In most Scottsdale houses, the garage is the largest unfinished room under the roof. It already has a slab, a roof, and three finished walls — which is why converting one is usually less disruptive than building out. The real work is in the details: insulating walls that were never meant to be lived behind, getting the floor level and conditioned, moving electrical, and designing an opening that looks like it was always part of the house rather than a door that got filled in.
Michael Fischer is a residential remodeling and construction contractor working out of Scottsdale, licensed, bonded, and insured under Arizona ROC General Dual License #327028, with an A+ BBB rating. A garage conversion pulls together the same trades we work in every day — living room renovation, architectural design and project management, and our sliding and accordion door wall systems when a client wants real glass where the garage door used to be.
What Goes Into the Plan
Every conversion starts on paper before it starts on the slab. Here is the order we work in:
- We walk the property and measure the garage — slab height, header height, ceiling structure, and where the panel and water lines sit.
- We draft the conversion in AutoCAD: floor plan, wall locations, door and window openings, outlets and lighting.
- You see the 3D renderings, so you know what the finished room looks like before anyone swings a hammer.
- We take the drawings through permitting with your city and, where it applies, your HOA.
- If you want the opening to stay open, we install a sliding glass wall or accordion door system in place of the old garage door.
Because the drafting, the renderings, and the project management all happen in-house, the person who drew the plan is the person answering your questions while the work is going on. Nothing gets handed off to a stranger halfway through.
What People Turn Their Garage Into
Most of the conversions we get asked about fall into a handful of uses. What they have in common is that the homeowner wants the room to read as part of the house, not as a garage with carpet in it.
- A home office or studio with proper lighting, climate control, and sound separation from the rest of the house
- A game room or gym that opens to the backyard through a folding or sliding glass wall
- A flex room tied into a wider patio, pool, or outdoor kitchen project, so the inside and the backyard work as one space
Parking matters too. Part of the early conversation is always where the cars go afterward, and whether the driveway and hardscaping need to change to make that work. We would rather raise it on the first visit than have it come up after framing.
Free Quotes Across Scottsdale and the North Valley
We take on conversions and remodels in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Cave Creek, Rio Verde, Carefree, and Phoenix. Quotes are free, and they are based on an actual walkthrough of your garage rather than a guess over the phone — square footage alone does not tell us whether the slab is level or where the panel is.
Call Michael Fischer at (602) 329-2517email hemimike@yahoo.com, or write to 11153 E. Karen Drive, Scottsdale, AZ 85255. We are open Monday through Saturday, 9:00am to 5:00pm, and closed Sunday.