DIY Garage Building

[47p2]

A kettle in the garage is not a good idea, I would then need a fridge for milk, and a shelf for chocolate biscuits and a sink to wash up.

 

[dieselman]

A kettle in the garage is not a good idea, I would then need a fridge for milk, and a shelf for chocolate biscuits and a sink to wash up.

Best left in the house..that way you don't have to let the Mrs into the Man Cave to do the washing up...

 

[47p2]

The ultimate....

......garage automobilia for a Range Rover owner arrived today

 

[dizzy lizzy]

do you spend a lot of time in there John.......I know what you men are like....I wouldn't dare touch anything in Brian's garage...he knows if something has been moved a fraction of an inch........ha ha

 

[47p2]

It's my garage Lizzy, Swmbo is forbidden to enter :lol::lol:

 

[Developer]

It's my garage Lizzy, Swmbo is forbidden to enter :lol::lol:

I've just watched Grand Turino John, and I thought of you during the garage scene.

No, not because of the wrinkly miserable unsociable old git played by Clint Eastwood - I meant because of the garage full of tools and how it's central to his car ownership.

 

[47p2]

- I meant because of the garage full of tools and how it's central to his car ownership.

'Apparently' they copied my idea John

 

[Turbo Merc]

From start to finish this project was a huge learning curve for me as I had never tackled anything on this scale before, so I thought I would share my story with you and show what a mammoth task I started and eventually finished some 21 months later.

Thank you for this excellent thread. I have never built any building before but I am about to build my own garage so naturally I am fascinated by your story. My garage is going to be 7m x 6m so a little smaller than yours. I have started by laying a solid base so the next stage is to build the walls.

Not being a builder I have two questions come to mind at the moment if I may:

When you built the walls why did you lay the concrete blocks flat rather than on their edges as normal? I understand that it would make a stronger wall but was it necessary? It must have seriously increased the amount of blocks required.

Did you consider making the roof trusses yourself? If so was it cheaper to buy them ready made? I am thinking about making them myself to keep costs to a minimum (using the old fashioned join methods not the pressed plate method)

Thanks again.

 

[47p2]

Glad you enjoyed reading my trials and tribulations.

All the block-work to floor level was laid flat to strengthen the base of the garage, there was a lot of back filling to do and the walls have to hold a lot of weight, so rather than have the walls bulging a few years on I decided to pay the extra now and do the build properly rather than patch it up later. I have had to back-filled over 100 tonnes into the base of the garage, so not worth taking any shortcuts.

The hassle involved in making roof trusses, what with cutting out the joints and ensuring they are all done to an exact size would have taken too long. If you shop around and you will find they are not expensive compared to buying the material and by the time you add your time to making them you will possibly decide it's a lot easier and cheaper to let someone else do the hard work. You may also find your planning department will require a certificate for the trusses and the supplier will give you this if you ask.


Have you laid the base in one slab?

 

[Naraic]

In any case whether the blocks are laid on their ends as opposed to flat, the same number of blocks would have been used given that the walls are 9"(?)thick.

My own garage blocks were laid on the flat. There was a section with a room above and this required a cavity wall construction, but the rest was solid.

 

[Turbo Merc]

In any case whether the blocks are laid on their ends as opposed to flat, the same number of blocks would have been used given that the walls are 9"(?)thick.

My own garage blocks were laid on the flat. There was a section with a room above and this required a cavity wall construction, but the rest was solid.

If I wanted 9" thick walls then I would agree with you; however, I think that is slightly excessive for my single storey garage. Unlike 47p2 I don't have any infilling to do as I am building onto a reinforced solid concrete base so only intend to build a single skin wall using blocks on their sides just as they do when building houses. As such the number of blocks used will be half that that would be required if I laid them flat.

 

[Developer]

If I wanted 9" thick walls then I would agree with you; however, I think that is slightly excessive for my single storey garage. Unlike 47p2 I don't have any infilling to do as I am building onto a reinforced solid concrete base so only intend to build a single skin wall using blocks on their sides just as they do when building houses. As such the number of blocks used will be half that that would be required if I laid them flat.

A pillar or two on each wall would add strength, if you're only building a single skin.

 

[Turbo Merc]

A pillar or two on each wall would add strength, if you're only building a single skin.

Thanks for that. I had intended to put one in each wall but having seen your pillars I am going to do two along the 7m wall and one on each of the 6m walls. I am also going to have one centre pillar to create two doors on the front and I am going to build strong ones like yours.

In answer to your earlier question: I did make one solid base. I know many people recommend dividing bases up into a number of slabs but as it was not exactly huge, 7mx6m, I went for a single 150mm slab with steel reinforcement and 300mm thickness all around the sides of the slab - plus tons of compacted hardcore underneath of course.

I am building it in France so whilst they are a lot more relaxed about their building regs (some may say slack - no the building inspector does not come out to inspect it) - I am going to stick to what we would do in the UK as I want it to stay up!

My only complaint about your postings is that they are so comprehensive and useful that I am going to have to spend hours reading it all and taking it all in lol!

 

[Developer]

Thanks for that. I had intended to put one in each wall but having seen your pillars I am going to do two along the 7m wall and one on each of the 6m walls. I am also going to have one centre pillar to create two doors on the front and I am going to build strong ones like yours.

In answer to your earlier question: I did make one solid base. I know many people recommend dividing bases up into a number of slabs but as it was not exactly huge, 7mx6m, I went for a single 150mm slab with steel reinforcement and 300mm thickness all around the sides of the slab - plus tons of compacted hardcore underneath of course.

I am building it in France so whilst they are a lot more relaxed about their building regs (some may say slack - no the building inspector does not come out to inspect it) - I am going to stick to what we would do in the UK as I want it to stay up!

My only complaint about your postings is that they are so comprehensive and useful that I am going to have to spend hours reading it all and taking it all in lol!

Wrong John, but go for the pillars anyway

 

[47p2]

My block work above floor level is all single width. On the 6.7 metre wall I have a single pillar and on the 10.2 metre wall I have built it as two walls and mastic to allow for any movement and each wall has a single pillar (see the plan on page 1)

For the full blown comprehensive story you can read it here

 

[Turbo Merc]

The 'two walls in one' is a very interesting idea. Thanks for the link.

This may seem like an odd question but did your old Rover ever live in Devon? Many years ago (too many for my liking - late 70s) I helped restore one and your reg number seems strangely familiar. It is probably just my age playing tricks lol but you never know stranger coincidences have happened.

 

[47p2]

No, my Rover came from Sydney Australia. Originally built in Solihull on December 30th 1947 and shipped to Australia on January 5th 1948 where it remained until I brought it back to the UK in April 2003. The TAS registration number is an age related number that the DVLA assigned to the car when it was first registered in the UK in 2003. 'AS' is from Nairn and there are a number of classic TAS vehicles on the roads today with this number, they will all have been re-registered vehicles from around 2003, re-registered possibly because the original number was sold or if the car was imported or if the original number was lost a long time ago and the car has been off the road.


The reason for the two separate walls is to allow for movement on a larger wall and prevent it from cracking, a 10mm gap between the two walls is filled with a special mastic and will allow for the wall to flex with the different temperature changes

 

[47p2]

Update

Managed to find some genuine Rover and Land Rover posters which meant I had to do a reshuffle

 

[Frontstep]

Looks very similar to my compressor !!

 

[47p2]

Looks very similar to my compressor !!

That one is a 1968 Ingersoll Rand, almost silent when running but just a little slow for powering air tools