The Story
This Garage Additiion Serves As An
“Activity Hub” For A Half Dozen Kids
How do you coax a home built in the 70’s into accommodating a very busy family of eight? Steve and Karen Berg found a solution that took some of the family’s activities out of the house and into a new garage that’s only a garage in name.
Six children provide Steve and Karen Berg with their share of busyness. Their existing home, located on a two-acre lakefront lot in Casselberry, lacked sufficient room for the activities of both kids and parents. Three of the six children participate in Irish step dancing competitions and have a wall full of medals and trophies to show for it. One son plays drums, and Steve is an amateur radio enthusiast. Making room for the family’s activities as well as daily necessities was a challenge. The Bergs’ existing laundry room was cramped and couldn’t handle all the laundry that resulted from time spent at the lake and pool.
“We wanted a garage, but we never intended to use it as one,” Steve explains.
PSG Construction came “highly recommended” from three of the Bergs’ friends, so Steve and Karen approached PSG partners Paul and Stephen Gidus to discuss adding a garage the family could use as an activity “hub.” Karen also wanted to update the facade of her brick ranch. Using their design/build services, PSG worked with the Bergs to add a 1,376 square foot fully finished two-car garage with a laundry room, kitchenette, full bath and hobby room. The addition is fully air-conditioned. A breezeway connects the addition with a new 10 foot x 30 foot wide front porch.
Where vehicles would normally be parked is an 8 foot x 16 foot portable wood dance floor. “This is where our three children practice their Irish step dancing,” Steve explains. “It was important for us to give them a place to practice. Before we had the addition, I had to lay sheets of plywood down in our Florida room.”
The 11 foot x 15 foot hobby room in the garage holds Steve’s amateur radio equipment and has its own access from the breezeway. The laundry room can be accessed from the main garage area as well as the breezeway. Equipped with a stationary tub, drop-down ironing board, and Karen’s sewing machine, the new laundry room makes maintaining the clothing for the big family an easier task. “We find it’s more convenient to have the laundry room in the garage because it’s closer to where the kids play,” Steve says.
Sharing the space in the laundry room is a kitchenette with cabinets, a counter top and a refrigerator. The Bergs use the kitchenette to make the children’s lunches.
To attractively connect the addition to the existing house, PSG Construction removed the small portico at the front entrance of the house. A sprawling 30 foot wide covered porch , a courtyard and a breezeway connect the addition to the front entrance. “This was an afterthought,” Steve explains. “Karen always wanted a big porch.” White columns and a low white railing around the porch give the brick ranch an attractive facelift and welcome change.
A garage in name only, this new space helps keep the Berg family operating at optimum speed.
SOURCES
Pavers – Booth’s Cobblestones Inc.
Interior Trim & Doors – Residential Building Supply
Electrical – J.D. Electrical Contractors, Inc.
Plumbing – Modern Plumbing
Drywall – R.K. Edwards, Inc.
HVAC – Air Masters
