My garage build

Interesting thread this ... we've have thoughts of converting our annex to a 'studio' (non-residential) if our place doesn't sell easily, wouldn't take much work to do it, only a few thousand pounds, but not sure if worth it ...
 
Minxy Girl said:
Yours must be well hidden as I can't see them! :giggle:
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Not in my garage as it's single brick with internal steel frame to support roof.

But I have on other "sensitive" builds, included steel lintels and cavity lintel all concealed within the brick work - just make sure the building inspector doesn't see it! Once people have got used to the new build and / or neighbours have moved on put in a new application.
 
Builders back today and started to build top of gable walls......they’re not enjoying it.....awkward height to work at under trusses and lots of cutting block to get the angles correct! Hopefully finished tomorrow then joiners to board top of trusses.....?
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Loving it.... do the builders know your doing this thread..? As this is good advertising and could give them some good recommendations and work, you could get a bit of a discount..???
 
pappajohn said:
Our neighbour applied for PP for a new build games building.... Multi-Gym downstairs and games rooms upstairs with kitchen and shower room.
Planning denied on grounds it could be used as self contained dwelling......planning dept ain't daft but he is thinking he'd get away with it.
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My garage had a covenant put on it by planning to say it couldn't be used as a dwelling! Luckily I've no intentions of doing so, not unless I *really* upset SWMBO...….

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Brickies have now finished the gable walls.......bit glad........was getting a bit fed up of all the dust!

Joiners in now so.......today they have got all the roof truss ties nailed in and the metal wall straps on.

Started boarding off the roof and got the roof windows marked out ready for them to be installed.

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Wow, it's really starting to take shape now :D2
 
Its taking shape nicely. I can't quite tell from the photos but shouldn't those wall plates be 25mm bedded on wet mortar to meet building regs? If it is great - if it isn't now is the time to kick up a fuss - I do hope i'm wrong as other than that it's a lovely job.
 
You’re quite right....technically the wall plates should be mounted on a bed of mortar but there seems to be wide non compliance and it seems to rather depend on circumstances and even regional variation.....point of mortar is to ensure the wall plate spreads load evenly along wall....in this case no issues as it’s flat and level.....other scenarios such as a stone built wall where there is an undulating surface or pointed edges may be different. Building control have no issues and it is well secured with concrete nails and metal straps. As with most things in building it seems to be as long as BC are happy then it’s ok!

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So......joiners have fitted as much as the fascia and soffits as they can but leaving room for roofers etc to get into to complete lead work.

Side access door fitted but not finished.

Roofers have now sheeted roof with membrane and strapped roof with battens for tiles to lie on.

Windows fitted.

Lead flashings and valleys also complete.

Tiles delivered and lifted onto roof ready for laying.

Slight delay in tiles arriving so lost a couple of days but hoping by middle of next week it will be topped off and roof watertight!
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Not posted for a while! Garage build has been on the go slow. Weather and holidays!

Still.....roof now completed, gutters on.....trench dug and electric cable in. Render is the problem.....plasteres went on holiday and then trying to get few days without rain has been a problem....got the scratch coat on and drip strips etc but now waiting on some good days in a row to get the final coat on.

Garage doors......that’s another story. Supplier quoted in January and price agreed......when he came to fit them...oh dear......he’d quoted me a wrong price and the doors were no longer available. Anyway....after a bit of discussion I’m getting a slightly better spec door and he’s maintaining his quote which was actually too low! It has put me back a few weeks though however I’m not in any huge rush.....long as it’s ready for winter.

Once that’s done, down pipes from gutters to get fitted and drainage pipes laid then we can get the finished ground level finalised and then take a bit of time to get electrics sorted....going to take my time with that and get things sorted as I find I need them.....few basic lights and plugs to get it started.


It’s taken far longer than planned but its getting there......

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Apologies for the lack of of recent garage updates but we have had a few fraught weeks with people not turning up and some rainy weather which has prevented planned work going ahead. It’s not been a particularly enjoyable build experience to be honest. It hasn’t really enhanced the reputation of the building trade.

Anyway....the roof is now on and a good job they did too. There was supposed to be Velux windows on either roof of the garage but in the end I decided to go with more in the workshop parts as the larger half will be where the motorhome parks so the extra light will be more beneficial over the workshop part.

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Render..........well......how many weeks did we have to wait for that to be completed! In short render does not like being put on when it rains as it has a tendency to end up on the ground in a sloppy heap! Between rain and availability of plasterers it too several weeks to finally get it done. Bit of an issue as the belcast drip strip which goes around the bottom of the render was forgotten about on two sides......builder claimed this was planned as it was at rear and side of building ‘where it wouldn’t be seen’...... ended up having to be merged back in on top of the existing render but would have been better if it had been fitted as planned. Very messy! Arrived home to find plastered had emptied out the remnants of mixer half way over our drive. Hardened plaste nd gravel don’t mix, or rather they do...made a fair old mess.

We were supposed to have red brick at the bottom of the garage walls to match house....unfortunately the brickies laid them in the wrong course which meant 90% of it was going to be below ground level....ended up having to render over it....not happy! This is what it would have looked like.....should have been garage floor level upwards but builder got caught out by the level of ground he could see rather than the proposed finished level and put it below?

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Garage doors......as you know there was a delay in the doors being delivered but they finally arrived several weeks late and finally fitted a few days ago. Seem to be good solid doors and fitting was fairly straight forward if a bit heavy to get into place. Remote control and safety sensors to stop doors if they hit an item as they go down. Also found out there is also an alarm if you try to lift the doors manually....when I tried to lift the bottom slat before they were fully fitted and ended up with an alarm going off but not yet having read the manual to see how to turn it off!
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Drains put in without any issue and guttering also sorted out with no problems.

Electrics are still to sort out but going to do this over a few weeks so that plugs and lights will be where I find I need them as I go along. I’ve put up a couple of LED strip lights just to give a bit of light and I have to say I’m amazed at how bright they are compared to other old fashioned gas tube ones I have elsewhere....brilliant!

Now.....problems.......

The garage floor was laid weeks ago but it rained heavily shortly after it was laid and there was some damage caused to the surface. Structural engineer confirms no issues so agreed to grind off the damaged surface which was only a few millimetres deep to get to solid surface and then give a cement screed to give a smooth finished surface. I don’t know how many hours it took to grind off the surface but there was about 400 kgs of cement dust.....very dusty work.
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All ok so far......then the cement screed was laid....basically mix cement powder with water and apply to floor after painting on a primer. Wait to dry.

This is the result!
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Lots of possibles......primer didn’t take, mixed too quickly putting air into mix, too much moisture in air, reaction with existing cement mix.....

So....how to fix...option to lay more of same on top....which I didn’t fancy as it may have done same again...so.....we’re grinding it all back off again and going for a semi polished garage floor! Will look nice but jeez......I’m on about hour twelve of grinding and no end in sight!

At end of day it’s contractors responsibility to make sure it’s right so until it is the jobs not finished. I’m doing the grinding so that I get it how I want it!

Slowly getn the ground outside levelled off and finished so not long to go until we can look forward to no builders turning up unexpectedly!




It’s been a long journey....we’re now ten weeks over completion date! Hopefully the end is in sight.....
 
Stoosal said:
Apologies for the lack of of recent garage updates but we have had a few fraught weeks with people not turning up and some rainy weather which has prevented planned work going ahead. It’s not been a particularly enjoyable build experience to be honest. It hasn’t really enhanced the reputation of the building trade.

Anyway....the roof is now on and a good job they did too. There was supposed to be Velux windows on either roof of the garage but in the end I decided to go with more in the workshop parts as the larger half will be where the motorhome parks so the extra light will be more beneficial over the workshop part.

View attachment 331970
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Render..........well......how many weeks did we have to wait for that to be completed! In short render does not like being put on when it rains as it has a tendency to end up on the ground in a sloppy heap! Between rain and availability of plasterers it too several weeks to finally get it done. Bit of an issue as the belcast drip strip which goes around the bottom of the render was forgotten about on two sides......builder claimed this was planned as it was at rear and side of building ‘where it wouldn’t be seen’...... ended up having to be merged back in on top of the existing render but would have been better if it had been fitted as planned. Very messy! Arrived home to find plastered had emptied out the remnants of mixer half way over our drive. Hardened plaste nd gravel don’t mix, or rather they do...made a fair old mess.

We were supposed to have red brick at the bottom of the garage walls to match house....unfortunately the brickies laid them in the wrong course which meant 90% of it was going to be below ground level....ended up having to render over it....not happy! This is what it would have looked like.....should have been garage floor level upwards but builder got caught out by the level of ground he could see rather than the proposed finished level and put it below?

View attachment 331989

Garage doors......as you know there was a delay in the doors being delivered but they finally arrived several weeks late and finally fitted a few days ago. Seem to be good solid doors and fitting was fairly straight forward if a bit heavy to get into place. Remote control and safety sensors to stop doors if they hit an item as they go down. Also found out there is also an alarm if you try to lift the doors manually....when I tried to lift the bottom slat before they were fully fitted and ended up with an alarm going off but not yet having read the manual to see how to turn it off!
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Drains put in without any issue and guttering also sorted out with no problems.

Electrics are still to sort out but going to do this over a few weeks so that plugs and lights will be where I find I need them as I go along. I’ve put up a couple of LED strip lights just to give a bit of light and I have to say I’m amazed at how bright they are compared to other old fashioned gas tube ones I have elsewhere....brilliant!

Now.....problems.......

The garage floor was laid weeks ago but it rained heavily shortly after it was laid and there was some damage caused to the surface. Structural engineer confirms no issues so agreed to grind off the damaged surface which was only a few millimetres deep to get to solid surface and then give a cement screed to give a smooth finished surface. I don’t know how many hours it took to grind off the surface but there was about 400 kgs of cement dust.....very dusty work.
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All ok so far......then the cement screed was laid....basically mix cement powder with water and apply to floor after painting on a primer. Wait to dry.

This is the result!View attachment 331984View attachment 3319900

Lots of possibles......primer didn’t take, mixed too quickly putting air into mix, too much moisture in air, reaction with existing cement mix.....

So....how to fix...option to lay more of same on top....which I didn’t fancy as it may have done same again...so.....we’re grinding it all back off again and going for a semi polished garage floor! Will look nice but jeez......I’m on about hour twelve of grinding and no end in sight!

At end of day it’s contractors responsibility to make sure it’s right so until it is the jobs not finished. I’m doing the grinding so that I get it how I want it!

Slowly getn the ground outside levelled off and finished so not long to go until we can look forward to no builders turning up unexpectedly!




It’s been a long journey....we’re now ten weeks over completion date! Hopefully the end is in sight.....
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I realise this is an old thread, but I would of had a resin floor poured to give a perfect surface, any colour of choice. Really impressive finish and extremely hard wearing
 
I am jealous. What a wonderful project do you think that you would get your money back (£50,000) if you sold? I know that you said it will outlast you. But never say never. I was surprised that you never put solar panels on the roof to keep the van batteries topped up. Unless you are gonna park under the roof windows.

A great job it must have been very stressful
 
Never looked on the value as if we would ‘get it back’. We intend to stay for another 25 years or so and always saw it as adding to the way we wanted to live. There are also options for converting to accommodation etc so any value may be in terms of that option. We’ve always assumed that the investment would just form part of the overall property value and, when taken together with house, garden, area etc should hopefully/probably at least return what we spent.
 
pappajohn said:
Shame you didn't have a rhododendron Bush in there, I would have made a special trip up for it.
I just trimmed hers back.... With the chainsaw to a stump.
My life is hell at the moment. :cry:

Not being related to Percy Thrower I didn't know what it was but it was overgrown to me.
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My Dad cut back Mums favourite bush back once - right back to the stump. Hate to worry you but that cost him 6 months of aggravation!

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What a great thread and a fantastic project. Loved following it.
In my view for £50k ish you got a quality job at a sensible price.
Were the builders shy? No pics of em (well 2)
Did you have a topping out party?

Great job.
 
Those Gabions are great eh. You can do them in any size. Also great for dual purpose. retaining and decorative finish
 
CazPaul said:
Really interesting, how do you build a Gabion please for a retaining wall, how thick is it do you need foundations and how deep?
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Very easy!

Dig out to ground level and compact down. I put down a layer of hard core and compacted. Make sure there is a very slight slope backwards into slope. Usually about 6-8 degrees.

The baskets were about £80 each, arrive flat packet and you just wire together. If I remember correctly they were about a metre long and 800mm deep. Place on ground and fill with stone. You can choose whether you want a decorative stone and give a ‘finished’ look or just fill them with what’s available. Angular stone better than rounded so that they ‘lock’ into each other as you fill. Once you have done the first row you can back fill with more stone then add next layer as if you were building a brick wall and set next level back from front of layer below by an inch or so, so that it ‘leans’ back as it goes up.

I chose gabions rather than a block wall as I think it looks far better, the baskets allow a bit of movement if the slope does move in the future and water can pass through it. Price wise there wasn’t much between a block wall or gabions but as we did work ourselves it did work out cheaper.

It’s a good option if you want to consider trying to get a space behind the back wall and you can probably do most of it yourself. Build right up and have a decorative garden wall at top facing house?
 
bobnick said:
What a great thread and a fantastic project. Loved following it.
In my view for £50k ish you got a quality job at a sensible price.
Were the builders shy? No pics of em (well 2)
Did you have a topping out party?

Great job.
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It was a lot of money for us but it’s what we had always wanted. Motorhome and car get kept inside so hopefully will last, workshop for odds and sods, plenty storage. I put extra concrete into base of larger garage so I can get a two post car lift in. Unfortunately Covid has put that on hold but I’m hoping to get it sorted later this year.
No topping out......by that time I was getting a bit annoyed as we were about ten weeks behind schedule on what was an eight week build!

Glad it’s done but it was a very frustrating build!
 

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