My Workshop/Garage Build

[neil-the-sticker-guy]

Hi people.

I joined the site a month ago or so and thought i would let you guys see the build of my workshop/garage.

i'm right at the begining of my build so i haven't got much to show yet. i'm hoping it wont take an eternity to erect and done within a few months, but i do have a tendency to become a bit lazy at times. :lol:

i spent a couple of days clearing the land and now i'm waiting for the digger which is arriving next saturday. due to the costs of getting rid of the unwanted soil i will be building raised beds using railway sleepers (2 high) and putting the soil into them. i plan to do this next thursday and friday with help from my friend.

the plot of land is located at the bottom of my garden and the workshop will be accessed from the exsisting garage i already have. i plan to knock the back wall out of my garage so as a car can be driven in to it. the picture shows the 3 garages to the left and i own the furthest one with the sheet of wood over the door opening

the plot is 7m wide and i'm not decided as to how far up my garden i plan to have it. im thinking roughly 10m but may make it larger.

the main structure is going to be 4x2 timbers with a feather edge board to the exterior and insulated in the void with a foam insulation. i will have a moisture barrier underneath the feather edge and cladded on the inside with plywood. i may plasterboard and plaster it but that all depends on cost at the end of the build as to wether i do.

i plan to have a pitched roof but am still deciding what roof covering to use. im open to suggestions!!

i have a few issues which i could do with some advice on.

im unsure of who owns the wall at the bottom. i phoned the land registry and they wasnt helpfull at all. in a round about way they said to build it and wait for the complaints and risk taking it all down again. which im not happy with. i will probably go and chat with the neighbour and see what he has to say.

im also a bit worried wether i have to reinforce the exterior wall once the back of the exsisting garage has been removed. it has piers to the wall and also timbers tieing into the opposite wall of the garage.

also on the right hand side of the first picture there is a concrete slab that runs lower than the ffl of the garage. i will be concreting over this but i dont know whether to break this up or leave this how it is.

anyway, thankyou for taking the time to read and wait to hear your replys. hope to get some more pics up soon.

Neil

 

[neil-the-sticker-guy]

im taking it that i have a restriction on my account for posting pictures until ive posted an amount of posts.

 

[PowerTool]

Think the spam filter only stops you posting until after you've made three posts - so I can see your pictures just fine
Nice sized plot - as for the back wall,I think it's best if you have a chat with the neighbour anyway;not only about the wall,but also about your planned build.People tend to be more forgiving if they are aware of such things beforehand,and being on good terms with your neighbours is never a bad thing

Andrew

 

[neil-the-sticker-guy]

yeah ur right, probably best if i have a word. i am going to to be putting a 4m high object in front of his porch so i best let him know. :lol:

im pretty sure im going to have problems with neighbours so id like to stay on there side as much as i can.

 

[plug]

Hi Neil god to see you have made a start on the garage, hope Rachel is giving you plenty of help.
Looking at the back wall I think it may be yours as the support pillars are on your side and it looks like a building was on the concrete slab, I would check with your neighbor, maybe take it down and replace it with the back wall of your new garage. Check the thickness of the existing slab, but I would break it up and relay a complete new one so you can make sure it is fully damp proof and insulated.
If you want some more advice me and Becka could always pop over one evening.

 

[ike]

the main structure is going to be 4x2 timbers with a feather edge board to the exterior

Unless the building is entirely of non-combustible material, including the roof structure, I think you musn't build closer than 1metre from the boundary. That would be to the extent of the eave/gutterline, not the wall cladding. I'm sure this is a common requirement across most local authority planning regs.

Oh, that is unless you design it so it qualifies as a sectional building, e.g from flatpack. Hence your neighbours shed being OK right up to the wall. Some forum members have designed and build some very, ahem, high spec 'sheds' this way.

As long as it can be deconstructed into panels...if the need ever arose. :wink:

cheers,

ike

 

[neil-the-sticker-guy]

hey paul. yeah you guys are welcome to come round.
any help is always appreciated. probably going to need lots of advice on the roof as i wouldnt know where to start to be honest!!

yeah i was prepared to break it up i suppose. probably the best thing to do.

yeah uve got me thinking about the 1m boundry thing. not really sure about that. when i phoned the planning office they didnt mention it at all. the girl wasnt helpfull at all.

any advice on this project from anyone would be help, im by no means experienced in building a shed!! :lol:

 

[Shadowfax]

Hi Neil
Re the distance you can build from the boundary. It is nothing to do with planning regulations but everything to do with building regulations. Ring Building Control.
Basically they should tell you that if the building you propose is substantially non-combustible, then you can build up to the boundary. If not you will have to build it at least a metre away.
Ring Building Control to check anyway.
Good luck with the build.
Cheers.

SF

 

[neil-the-sticker-guy]

so what your saying is that if i build it out of timber i will have to build it a metre away? just to confirm.

that would really mess my whole plan up and ruin the whole project. the idea is that i will be able to drive my car into it.

grrrrr. i hate regulations.

 

[ike]

so what your saying is that if i build it out of timber i will have to build it a metre away

That is what you need to ask the council. In my experience, you get more help face to face with someone in the office. :wink: They usually have a simplified planning guide booklet which covers common FAQ's in this area.

What I wouldn't recommend is to fire on without being absolutely sure of what you are allowed to do. The lasting peace of mind is worth the upfront effort. :wink: It won't cost you a penny to ask, but it could cost you dear otherwise!

cheers,

ike

 

[neil-the-sticker-guy]

well after ur advice i contacted building control and they told me i wasnt allowed to build the boundry wall out of timber. was told i could build it out of blocks tho so its all good.

got my girlfriends step-dad coming to price up for building the single wall and also a price for the whole garage to be out of blocks. thinking about it i would rather it be out of blocks so depending on price i think im going to go for that way.

also id probably have an rsj put in aswell and have a sliding lifting winch put in so if ever i need to lift and move heavy things it would make this very easy!!

lastest update. ive installed alot of the railway sleepers in the garden. these are used to make raised beds to get rid of alot of the earth that is dug out for the base of the garage, these will be finished tommorow and the digger also arrives tommorow afternoon too. so i can crack straight on with digging out. once its dug out i can knock the rear wall down and also take the back out the garage. the bricks will form most of the hardcore for the base. once thats all down im on to the concreating.very nervous about this as im doing it in once piece!! the slab size will be 11m x 7m as i want a 1m hardstanding in front of the garage.

will keep u posted with some pics and more info!!

 

[Shadowfax]

There you go, mate. A good result - and peace of mind as well.
Nice one.

SF

 

[Shultzy]

Don't know how thick your concrete slab will be, but I would put reinforcing steel in it.

 

[neil-the-sticker-guy]

never had to find about the price of a block work building. what sort of money do you guys reckon im looking at for a 7m x 10m and 8ft high for the labour and materials for the block work?

the slab is going to be 150 thick. yeah i planned on doing that. was quite surprised about how many people said to not bother. to be honest its about £15 a sheet from tp so its silly if i dont.

 

[Benchwayze]

Hi Neil,
here are some of your options... Aerated Blocks, Breeze Blocks, Screen Blocks, Fibo Blocks.

I can't say which are more suitable, but I should get Yellow Pages if I were you and ring around Builders' Merchants. They'll tell you what's suitable and you'll also have some idea on the best buy!

Don't forget to stay within the permitted percentage area of your whole garden and you'll be fine.

Looking forward to watching progress.
Just thought! When you speak to your neighbours, go bearing gifts. A nice bottle of wine sometimes works wonders! Some of them even like coffee tables!

Good Luck
John
ccasion5:

 

[neil-the-sticker-guy]

hahaha. i did think about the gift idea. :lol: dont know why but im a little nervous. probably heading for an arguement!!

once ive had her step-dad round im going to get ringing about for prices.

the annoying thing is she works for brett, which supply alot of the builders merchants. trouble is she can only make one order a year and its very limited as to how much she can order. really need the blocks as soon as but she needs to wait till other people she knows have decided what they want.

 

[neil-the-sticker-guy]

just looked at the date of my last post!! was it really that long ago.

well things have moved on a little since then!!

they ground has been dug out and the bottom wall knocked out.
all the hardcore has been spread and about 4 ton of sand over the top of that!! ive dug a trench all the way round to support the walls and make things a bit more substantial.

the garage is hopefully going to progress very quickly now as i have got a couple of guys in to sort the concreting and wall building out.

i would love to do this myself but dont have the confidence to do it.

so plan is as follows.

1st weekend is filling the trenches with concrete and taking the blocks up to floor level.

2nd weekend will be filling the whole base with concrete for the finished floor and starting on the block work on the sunday.

3rd weekend more block work.

4th weekend block work completed (hopefully)

il get some pictures up with some progress. to give you guys an idea of how its turning out.

 

[MikeG.]

Neil,

I read your first post and panicked! I started a "stop, stop!!" type of posting.......then thought I had better read some of the other posts. Thank goodness I did, and thank goodness you listened do a bit of advice!!

Actually, you can have a timber structure up to the boundary, so long as the cladding is suitable fire-resistant. Eternit to a cementitious board that looks like wooden feather-edge board which is suitable for these circumstances.

But the thing that really had me panicking was the idea of a layer of plastic under the feather-edge boards, and outside your insulation!!! No, no, no!! That always goes on the inside of the wall, on the warm side of the insulation.....otherwise you will end up with mould, rot and god knows what going on within your framework. (I love the way some builders will tell you that plastic sweats.....when of course it does nothing of the sort).

I will be interested to see what sort of roof you propose, because the slope of the garages isn't really helping you.

Anyway, good luck with this, and don't get lazy! This shouldn't take too long!! I look forward to seeing the photos.

Mike

 

[neil-the-sticker-guy]

:lol:

yeah im not really sure exactly how the roof is going to turn out but i have a little idea of how it will go.

im going for just a normal pitched roof. the new garage roof shouldnt interfere really with the old one as the 2 walls will be spaced away from each other. the only place it will is where the 2 garages connect. but ive got an idea in my head roughly how im going to do this.

i thought maybe some supporting timbers running from one wall to the other across the new garage opening then sheet timber then lead layed on top of this to take away the water (at a slight gradient towards the gutter of course). its hard to explain when i dont really know the terms to use.

 

[MikeG.]

Thats a leaded box gutter you are describing. It takes a little bit of skill, and a little bit of thinking about to get them right.

How long will that section of roof be, roughly?

Mike