How To Build A Breezeway Between House And Garage?

Having a connected breezeway between your home and garage is practical, enjoyable and attractive. A nice breezeway makes it easier to get from your house to your garage in inclement weather while providing covered space where you can enjoy pleasant weather.

In this article, we discuss the benefits of building a breezeway between your house and your garage, and we provide good advice to help you do just that. Read on to learn more.

Is A Breezeway An Upgrade?

A well built, attractive, useful breezeway definitely adds value and curb appeal to your home. In fact, a nice breezeway can be considered a real design feature, and it may add a great deal of value to the price of your home because it adds to looks, convenience and usable square footage.

What Qualifies As A Breezeway?

Any roofed structure that runs between two buildings can be called a breezeway. Some are just roofed passageways, open on the sides. Others are fully enclosed with windows installed to provide complete protection from the weather and create a nice living space.

If you want something a bit fancier, you could add trellises and grow vines for shade and privacy in the summertime. You may wish to lay in a foundation, build walls and add windows to create a whole new living space.

Generally speaking, there are three sorts of breezeway.

They are:

1. Offset: If your house and garage are not directly aligned with one another, you’ll need to build an offset breezeway to connect them. This construction may have one end entirely built upon one of the buildings with the other end connecting at a midpoint (or other point) on the wall of the other building. In this case, independent walls may need to be constructed to create an enclosed structure between the two buildings.
2. Funneled: If one building is much larger than the other, or if one is offset from the other, you may create a breezeway in a funnel shape to connect the two. In this case, the sides of the breezeway may be of different lengths, and one or both may be built on an angle in order to connect the two buildings.
3. Contained: If you want your breezeway to act as a functional living space, complete with finished interiors, you’ll need a contained breezeway. A contained breezeway is the most common type, and it is certainly what you’ll see if the breezeway was part of the original home construction. When this is the case, the home and garage will be properly aligned with one another, and the breezeway will be built along straight lines between the two. Additionally, the roofline will be continuous between home, breezeway and garage.

Just as with any other part of your home, you can finish out a breezeway by adding a porch or deck to provide even more usable and attractive outdoor living space.

How Can You Plan The Right Breezeway For Your Space?

Begin by looking at the overall design of your home and garage as they now stand. If you’ve got a pathway between the two now, you may just wish to add a roofed area to what you already have and call it done. You might further upgrade this simple breezeway with a boardwalk, cement or gravel pathway upgrade.

Your choice in breezeway construction is not only dependent upon the relationship between your home and garage. Other factors you’ll need to take into consideration when planning your breezeway include:

• Intended use: Is your breezeway just going to be a passageway, or will it be a living space?
• Seasonality: Will you want to be able to use your breezeway as added living space year round or just during the warmer months of the year?
• Function: What will you do in your breezeway? Will you need running water, electrical outlets, a heating and/or cooling source?

These considerations will help you make plans and create lists of the materials you will need.

Is Building A Breezeway A Do-It-Yourself Project?

The answer to this question depends very greatly upon the type of breezeway you want to build and your level of knowledge, skill and ability.

If you are just constructing a covered walkway, you may be able to DIY with minimal skill. If you are planning to construct a usable room between your home and garage, unless you are a professional contractor yourself, you’ll be better off hiring a contractor.

When hiring a contractor to build a breezeway, be sure to consult a few and ask for bids for your project. This will ensure that you get the best price.

Check the references of any contractor you are considering, and have a look at the person’s past work. Ideally, you want someone who has had plenty of experience constructing and modifying both homes and garages because your job will involve work on both.

Make sure your contractor has all the professional licensing and certification necessary to do the kind of work you need.

How Much Does It Cost To Build A Breezeway?

The cost of breezeway construction really depends upon the type of project you have in mind. If you’re just building a covered walkway, DIY, you may be able to get away with spending under $1000.

If you are building a finished room between your home and garage, you could easily spend over $100,000; however, this investment in the value of your home should pay for itself both in improved function and increased property values.

If I Build A Breezeway, Do I Now Have An “Attached Garage”?

This might seem like a simple question, but it really isn’t. The answer impacts your ability to get permits, and it may impact your homeowners’ insurance.

To get the correct answer to this question for your area, you may need to look into local constructions codes, talk with your local fire department and discuss the matter with your insurance agent.

Find out how adding a breezeway might impact your permitting costs, your local taxes and your homeowners’ policy.

What Are The Benefits Of Having A Breezeway?

An open breezeway provides shelter from inclement weather when you move back and forth between home and garage. It can add pleasant seasonal living space, and if designed as a carport, it can add to your covered parking space.

An enclosed garage breezeway adds comfort and safety to your home. It protects you from cold, heat, wind, rain, snow and hail when walking between your garage and your home. It provides protection against intruders and wildlife when making this trek after dark.

An enclosed breezeway adds space for living and entertaining. If you build a flat roofed breezeway, you could even add a deck on top.

Your enclosed breezeway can provide a nice area to unload and sort groceries and other purchases. You can set up storage for shoes, boots and outerwear in the breezeway so that you don’t clutter up your garage or your house with them.

It’s easy to see that adding a breezeway between your garage and your house gives you a lot of bonus space and a lot of options when it comes to enjoying your home.

A well designed breezeway (open or enclosed) can make your house more attractive and add to its curb appeal. If you are looking for more DiY ideas, this is our guide about building a garage pergola.