Keeping Santa’s workshop intact

Thanks to relatively recent state law changes intended to encourage the creation of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), plus the various zoning amendments that Redwood City has enacted over the last couple of years, there has been an uptick in the creation of these alternative forms of housing. These days, those of us who own single-family homes can much more easily build either an attached or free-standing ADU on our property, or can convert our garages into one. ADUs can be used for aging parents, for adult children who need an affordable place to live, or as a source of rental income.

Given my interest in housing, and given that my wife and I own a single-family home in Redwood City, we’ve had many discussions about whether we should, or even could, add an ADU to our property. Perhaps our most straightforward option, one that I’ve seen others do throughout Redwood City, is to convert our two-car garage into an ADU.

Our garage, which is attached to our house, is about 400 square feet in size. Above it is an unfinished attic space, one that isn’t tall enough to serve as living space. Thus, without expanding — something that we really couldn’t do, given the way our house and garage are laid out on our property — the resulting ground-floor ADU would be snug, but livable. Our garage is already insulated and drywalled, so we have that going for us. And our electrical panel is on the back wall of the garage, simplifying the necessary electrical work. Framing the few needed interior walls should be a snap.

Plumbing, on the other hand, would not be so simple. Our garage has no plumbing: no laundry hookups and no utility sink. Adding enough for a bathroom and a small kitchen would involve extensive work. In particular, adding drains connected to our sewer line would be a significant task. That would involve not only cutting the concrete slab that makes up the floor of our garage, but also cutting into the driveway leading up to the garage.

It’s all doable, of course — it just would take time and money. But one must also consider the impact that converting our garage would have on our way of life. Unlike many in Redwood City, my wife and I actively use our garage.

As I walk around Redwood City I’ve had occasion to look into other people’s garages (when they happen to be open) and I’ve seen them put to all sorts of uses. Many people, of course, park their cars in their garages. But I’ve seen garages that are crammed full of boxes and bins. I’ve also seen garages that are fitted out as a sort of family playroom, with ping-pong tables and the like. Yet others appear to serve a combination of purposes, including laundry room, home workshop and storage. And a handful appear to have been converted into living space.

In our case, not only do we use our garage to store our cars, our bikes and many household supplies, it also serves as a workshop. I’ve carefully fitted a workbench in there, along with a number of large power tools that can be positioned for use once I’ve moved the cars out onto the driveway. I regularly use my shop, most recently to make some of the Christmas presents that we are giving this year. And last week my wife fashioned an impromptu gift-wrapping station in the attic above (there isn’t enough headroom to stand up straight, but we can sit).

Given how we use our garage, converting it into an ADU would have a significant negative effect on our daily lives. Thus, we’ve set that idea aside. But an ADU is not off the table altogether: We’re still thinking about what adding one to our backyard would involve. We’d truly love to have a more personal impact on our region’s housing issues, and if we can reasonably do so, we will. But not by converting our garage. Somehow, that would feel too much like we were closing Santa’s workshop.

Greg Wilson is the creator of Walking Redwood City, a blog inspired by his walks throughout Redwood City and adjacent communities. He can be reached at greg@walkingRedwoodCity.com. Follow Greg on Twitter @walkingRWC.