Who doesn’t love more usable space at home? Whether you want to keep your garage as a semi-finished space or turn it into an in-law suite or ADU, improvements to this area will increase both your quality of life and home value. In this blog, we will discuss data points around garage remodeling, ways to improve your garage, and more.

If you live in North Georgia and need help with garage floor coatings in Atlanta, house painting services in Johns Creek, or anything else, please get in touch. We would be happy to hear from you.

What Goes Into Finishing a Garage

Adding Insulation and Drywall

Insulating your garage makes it more comfortable year-round by regulating temperature and reducing energy costs. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that properly insulated garages can lead to 15% lower energy bills in homes with attached garages. Installing drywall creates a finished look and adds fire resistance, making it a necessary step for any garage transformation.

Adding Custom Garage Storage and Cabinets

Built-in storage solutions maximize space and improve organization. Custom cabinets and shelving systems can make room for tools, seasonal decorations, and sports equipment. According to HomeLight, garage storage upgrades can add up to $2,500 in resale value, making them a practical improvement for homeowners looking to enhance usability and appeal.

Adding a Polyurea Garage Floor Coating

A high-quality garage floor coating, such as polyurea, is more durable than traditional epoxy and resists stains, chemicals, and wear. Homeowners who install a premium floor coating often see an ROI of 65% to 80%, as it improves aesthetics and long-term durability.

Adding a Bathroom, Workshop, and More

For those who use their garage as a workspace or recreational area, adding a bathroom can be a game-changer. HomeAdvisor estimates that adding a small bathroom to a garage renovation costs between $3,000 and $6,000, depending on plumbing complexity. Creating a dedicated workshop with built-in workbenches and power outlets can further enhance functionality for DIYers and hobbyists.

Upgrading Your Garage Door

Replacing an old garage door with a modern, insulated version is one of the highest-ROI home improvements. According to the 2024 Cost vs. Value Report, garage door replacements recoup over 100% of their cost at resale. A new garage door improves curb appeal, security, and energy efficiency.

Garage Conversions – The Next Level

For homeowners looking to maximize their square footage, converting a garage into a living space can provide additional functionality and increase home value.

Do You Need a Permit for Converting a Garage to Living Space?

In most cases, converting a garage into a living space requires a permit. Local zoning laws dictate the requirements, and failure to secure proper permits can result in fines or complications when selling the home. Costs for permits vary but generally range between $1,000 and $3,000, depending on the location and scope of work.

Prepping the Garage to Be a Living Space or Den

Transforming a garage into a den or family room involves insulation, drywall, heating and cooling, and upgraded flooring. According to Zillow, garage conversions can add $20,000 to $40,000 in value, especially when they enhance livable square footage in competitive housing markets.

Prepping the Garage to Be an Apartment or In-Law Suite

Turning a garage into an independent living unit requires additional considerations, such as plumbing, electrical work, and separate entrances. ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units) are growing in popularity, particularly in areas with housing shortages. According to HomeLight, homes with garage ADUs can sell for 35% more than similar homes without them.

Does a Garage Remodel Boost Your Home Value?

The value added by a garage renovation depends on the type of upgrade. Here’s what recent data shows:

• Garage door replacements have a 100%+ ROI according to the 2024 Cost vs. Value Report.
• Insulated and finished garages can lower energy costs by 15% and improve home comfort.
• Custom storage solutions add approximately $2,500 in value by enhancing organization and usability.
• Garage floor coatings provide a 65% to 80% ROI, improving durability and aesthetics.
• Converting a garage into a living space can increase home value by $20,000 to $40,000 and attract buyers looking for additional square footage.
• Garage ADUs can boost property values by up to 35%, making them a strong long-term investment in high-demand markets.

While the best return on investment comes from garage door replacements and smart storage solutions, full conversions into living spaces can significantly increase resale value in competitive markets. Homeowners should weigh costs, local demand, and personal needs before committing to a full-scale garage renovation.

Garage remodels in 2025 offer both functional benefits and potential financial gains. Whether upgrading storage, enhancing insulation, or converting the space into a livable area, these improvements can make a home more comfortable, efficient, and attractive to buyers.

Call Bear Mountain Custom Painting For Home Improvements

As the leading painting company in Cumming and all of the surrounding areas, we would be happy to help you. From window replacements in Alpharetta to garage floor coatings in Atlanta, we are here to help.

The process of selling your home is never as simple as you initially believe it to be. After all, while you might feel like your home would be a catch on the market, there’s never a guarantee that potential buyers are going to feel the same way. This disconnect is what can make it so difficult to have people notice your property. And ultimately, it can increase the challenge of getting your money’s worth out of the exchange. So, if you want to ensure that your home sells fast for the amount you want, you need to understand what individuals desire. These are some easy ways to make your home more appealing to buyers and the impact they can have on its overall value.

Clean and De-Clutter

The first step to preparing your home for showings is to ensure the entire house is clean and free of the clutter you’ve left sitting around in the past. Because it makes your space look untidy, you need to remove clutter for buyers to see your home in its best light. Otherwise, you risk it coming across as cramped and dirty.

Clutter is also responsible for the majority of the dirt and grime collection within a home, which makes an area much harder to keep clean in the long run. Consequently, you must get rid of any objects you don’t need and give the home a deep cleaning as part of the staging procedure.

Use Neutral Color Schemes

While you’re cleaning up the home, it’s also prudent to consider repainting many of your interior surfaces. Years of traffic can leave your walls scuffed and difficult to wash. This can make them appear unsightly to potential buyers and can damage their overall perspective of the home. As such, this task will allow you to freshen up the home while giving it a new aesthetic.

Speaking of which, try implementing a neutral color scheme while you’re at it. Neutrals are typically the better option when selling a home because they make the interior resemble a blank slate. This allows potential buyers to see themselves living in a particular space without the influence of your previous design choices.

Ease up on Personalization

Likewise, try depersonalizing your home as much as possible before you allow buyers to walk through it. Keeping your family pictures and personal items where they’re visible makes individuals feel as though they’re walking into someone else’s house—not necessarily theirs. Therefore, you want to eliminate these things so that their imagination can run wild. It’s through this that a buyer will be able to see all of what a home has to offer them, and they’ll develop a love for it.

Brighten the Home’s Interior

You can make the setting more interesting by finding a few ways to brighten up the interior. Darker spaces typically put off buyers because they’re less practical and energetic. When installing new lighting fixtures or simply replacing window treatments, you can bring in a lot more light and provide an entirely new perspective of the space. Brighter rooms tend to be better at helping an individual maintain focus. They also establish a positive mood.

Address Any Foul Odors

Another easy way to make your home more appealing to buyers is to cater to their sense of smell. Every home has a strange odor or two floating around. While you could mask them with aerosols, buyers walking through your house won’t have such a luxury. This is why you’ll want to tackle them at their source if you want to maintain any lasting interest in the property. Some of the most common causes of foul smells include mold or mildew, filled garbage disposals, and unsanitary surfaces. So, you’ll want to be on the lookout for these things and address them before having anyone enter inside.

Hone in on Pet Damage

If you have, or have ever had, pets, you need to consider that as well. Pets can cause several different types of damage to a home, whether they’re from bathroom accidents or chewing. For this reason, you should frequently be on the lookout for areas that you might need to redo. Typically, this will mean replacing the soiled carpet or fixing any sections of material that your pet turned into chew toys. Curtains and blinds are particularly common hotspots for destruction for both cats and dogs. So, you’ll want to check in these places too.

Focus On Curb Appeal

Remember that a home’s outside appearance is the key to getting individuals to want to look at its interior. Curb appeal is one of the most impactful features of a property because it’s the image an owner projects to the world. The nicer a house looks on the outside, the more interest you’ll see when it comes time to do showings. As such, things like a paved walkway, a welcoming front entrance, a manicured lawn, and a healthy garden can make a large difference.

Work on the Little Things

But, most importantly, take the time to work on the small issues. Though every home has a few minor problems, letting them pile up can force the new owner to undertake a collectively large repair job. Problems like pipe leaks, siding cracks, and broken window seals are all examples of things that can worsen over time if left unchecked. Buyers are even more likely to turn away from the deal upon noticing them. Therefore, tackling them now is one of the best ways to guarantee a quality property for whoever owns it next.

Getting your home ready for buyers can be a lot of work. This is why we at Bear Mountain Custom Painting seek to take some of that labor off of your plate. Our professional house painting services can take care of any interior or exterior painting you might need, while our siding and gutter installation contractors in Cumming, GA can tackle pressing repair work. We make it a point to be as accommodating as possible to the needs of each specific homeowner. Due to this, we can ensure that you’ll always see the results you need for future success.

With its warmer days and less frequent storms, summer is the prime time to complete a few pending projects around the house. However, with so many different maintenance tasks to choose from, it’s often hard to decide which ones are most worth your time. These are some of the top home improvement projects to take on during the summer and the extra value they can provide you in the long run.

Clean and Repair Your Gutters

Though your home won’t experience as much rain when the weather is warm, well-maintained gutters are essential to keeping your home safe from even the slightest showers. The cleaner these pipelines are, the easier it is for them to direct water away from your home’s foundation and prevent potential flooding. So, if you’ve noticed that your own gutter system is looking rusty or that it’s harder to clear out, you should definitely devote some of your time to fixing them this season.

Install New Windows

You should also consider installing new windows around this time of year. As the temperatures rise, your air conditioning unit will be vital to maintaining your overall comfort within the home. However, older windows tend to form drafts much easier, sucking all the cool air outside and wasting your money. Because of this, installing newer models is often the most effective way to increase your home’s performance and save you a bit of cash while you’re at it.

Fix Up Your Siding

Another important home improvement project to take on during the summer months is to upgrade or repair your home’s siding. Like other exterior components of a home, siding takes a lot of abuse from the elements. This eventually leaves it cracked, faded, and less effective than it was several years prior. Taking some time now to replace any broken parts and repaint your siding can go a long way in increasing your home’s protective abilities, as well as its value.

Whether you decide to undergo one of these projects or all of them, Bear Mountain Custom Painting can provide the perfect team to lend a helping hand. We offer a lengthy list of home improvement services ranging from new gutter repair and installation to interior and exterior home painting. This way, we’re always in a position to assist you with your renovation plans, regardless of what they entail.

After years of storms, sun, dirt, and debris, it’s common for the effects of these things to start showing on your home’s siding. Fortunately, you can fix many of these issues with something as simple as a yearly cleaning. Washing your vinyl siding is essential to removing substances that speed up its deterioration rate. So, in using these helpful tips for cleaning and protecting vinyl siding, you can make it last for much longer and keep your home looking its best.

Prepare the Surrounding Area

Before you start washing, you should first prepare the entire area around the base of your home. Cleaning your siding requires a lot of movement around the perimeter of the house. As such, the chances are greater that your plants and ornaments that sit nearby will sustain damages in the process. For this reason, we highly recommend that you cover all items in the vicinity with a tarp or move them to a different location.

Acquire the Right Cleaners

You should also spend some time finding the right type of cleaner for your home. There are various types of home siding, which means that there are also several different cleaning mixtures to choose from. Those that might work well on wooden materials might inadvertently harm vinyl and not give you the results you’re hoping for. Therefore, choosing the right ingredients will be vital to making your siding last. For vinyl specifically, mixtures made of water, vinegar, or bleach are often the most effective.

Power Wash With Care

Another important tip for cleaning and protecting your vinyl siding is to be careful when using a power washer. Though these devices are wonderful for rinsing a large area in a short amount of time, they can also cause unwanted damage in the process. Because of this, it’s important that you keep the pressure setting low and that you check for any peeling after power washing. Doing so will ensure that damage is minimal and that you attain the fresh, clean look you envision.

However, if cleanings are no longer getting the results you want, it might be time to consider a siding replacement. At Bear Mountain Custom Painting, we specialize in everything from interior painting to exterior siding and gutter work. Our siding installation services in Cumming, GA, in particular, promise beautiful and protective results that will last for years to come with the proper maintenance. So, every wash will leave your siding just as attractive as the day it was mounted.