Building a shed / gym - general questions

Soldato
Joined
17 May 2013
Posts
2,861
Location
West Sussex, UK
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I'm wanting to build a gym/shed in the garden but have so many questions!

If I throw some here, I'd love to hear some input from builders/people in the trade/people who have done this before.

Starting with the base;
1. 100mm/4" concrete good enough?
2. Should the base be to exact external measurements, or should the base be larger?

Construction;
3. Timber or block? I ruled brick out as everything I've read has said it's expensive!
4. If block - Aerated or concrete? Concrete would be stronger - but would the base need to be thicker to deal with the weight?

I'd be more comfortable working with timber - but the blocks would outlast it. Timber has also gone up in price a lot over the last year or two, so may not be much in it price wise.
EDIT> A quick look suggests bricks would be around £2.5k, and blocks £900, so timber might be the way to go.

Roof;
I can't do a pitched roof as on the boundary. Rather than going completely flat, I'm thinking 2.5m at the back and 2.3m at the front. This should allow some rain run-off but keeping a sensible height.
5. Does this approach sound OK?
6. Spend the extra for rubber over felt?

Thanks for any input!
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
4 May 2007
Posts
9,347
Location
West Midlands
I recall reading somewhere that if the structure is being permitted development, if it's over 15 square metres (3*5) then it needs to be built from a non combustible material. So its worth checking that out!
 
Associate
Joined
26 Apr 2012
Posts
1,179
If you are on Facebook I would recommended checking out this page lots of people building similar to you with similar questions

Oakwood Garden Rooms self build group

The guy that started it also has a YouTube Channel which could come in handy

YouTube Channel

I am wanted to build something similar myself but am going to wait a while until the prices drop a bit as in no rush.

Look forward to seeing your progress
 
Soldato
Joined
13 Feb 2012
Posts
5,761
In terms of things you should strongly consider equipment wise as must haves to really round out your home gym i would say as follows:

Rack
Freeweights
barbell
Adjustable dumbbells - well worth the out lay in cost for the space saving they give, a few good options, mainly powerblocks or the nubobell adjustable dumbbells
Adjustable cable pulley setup - either wall mounted or stand alone if you have the space but get one thats fully adjustable not just high / lo - the amount of movements you can cover with this kind of thing is what makes a huge difference.
Adjustable bench

That should just about cover everything you need.
 
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