Adding a garage to your property is a pretty straightforward idea, especially when you don’t already have one. However, knowing what to do with an outdated garage is not always so simple. Should you renovate or replace? Renovating your garage sounds like a more practical option than building a new one, but that’s not always the case. Consider these facts while you’re deciding how to proceed with your decision.

Renovation Brings Visible Change

When you’re renovating a garage, you have the luxury of pouring your entire budget into the things that matter most to you. Assuming your garage is structurally sound, you don’t have to spend money to bring it up to code. That’s money that you can put towards updated counter tops, more storage bins, or even an outstanding entertainment system if you want to turn your garage into a man cave.

Building a New Garage Cuts Out Problems

If you’re dealing with a wrong-sized garage or one with extensive problems or code violations, it might make more sense for you to cut your losses and start from scratch. Replacing the wiring within a garage can cost thousands of dollars, for example. If that’s a significant portion of what it would cost to build a new garage, you might want to look into simply getting a new garage. It could save you money in the long run versus having to redo everything that goes wrong with an old and ailing garage.

Renovating a garage Preserves the Character of Your House

When you renovate a garage, you’re better able to preserve the character of your house. Building a modern garage looks a lot different these days. While you can imitate an older style, you can never truly capture it. Renovations that only change the interior of your garage can strike the perfect balance between something modern and functional and the charm of your original building.

Building a Garage Lets You Scale Up

Garages are more prominent now than ever before. People want to house more cars, and they also want to spend more of their free time in the garage. Whether it’s using your power tools, relaxing in your den, or just puttering around with hobbies, the garage is now an extension of the house. You can do a lot of things with renovations, but you basically can’t add more room without it being more trouble than it’s worth. If you want a large, modern-sized garage, you should build it from scratch.

When deciding whether to renovate or build a new garage, first look at the structural integrity of your building. If you have to do a lot of work just to get your current garage up to code, don’t waste your time. If you’re mostly looking at surface areas, you could save money by renovating a garage rather than starting from scratch.