Fresh garage build, 5x10m, £10k

[PardonTheWait]

Hi all,

So all signs point to our house purchase going through. One of our (my) main draws for the house was a reasonably large garage, or space to build one.

This is what we're dealing with, garage-wise:

From front:





From the back:



The metal workshop is fairly sound but the roof isn't great. It's also as ugly as sin. I'm going to use it immediately to store tools, pushbikes, an engine & gearbox etc, but the plan is to pull it down and use that space and some of the space in front of it to build a garage/workshop.

The aim is to be able to store at least one car and be able to work on it inside the garage for most jobs. I would like to be able to store two cars and have workshop space. I've worked out that I have a 5 x 10m space to work with for the building itself.

With a budget of up to £10k I have decided (and I may be wrong but I don't think I am) that breezeblock and brick construction is way out of my budget, which leaves me with concrete prefab and timber as my options. I'm currently leaning towards timber but unsure they will be able to build a big enough building.

I think the timber garages are hugely more attractive than concrete prefabs, and have an advantage in terms of natural insulation, handling condensation, and being able to screw into for fitting cabinets etc. They're also roughly similar price-wise to concrete. Concrete seems more permanent in a way but when you look at older concrete garages they look like **** and it would need considerable work to insulate. I feel like a timber framed garage would be decent to start and could also be insulated, and it would be much easier for me to insulate myself.

Has anyone had a prefab concrete or timber garage built? If so who did you use and are you happy with it?

I'm looking at Chart Garages for timber, as well as quick-garden, and Nucrete and a few others for prefabs.

I want power to the garage but the bomb-shelter looking thing in the garden has an antenna on top of it so I'm assuming they've run power out there already.

I'll need a concrete slab put down regardless of what I choose, currently thining I can dig out and do the shuttering myself, but for such a large slab I think I want to get the concrete pumped in, as up to 50msq done in a cement mixer is going to be a really heavy day, especially considering I've never done it.

Planning wise, I believe it will be covered under permitted development. The paved area is right up against the curtilage of the property and ideally I would like to have it up against the fence. This means a roof height at the ridge of 2.5m which I think is plenty. The only reason I would need it higher is engine swaps and a two/four post lift - I'm in the middle of an engine swap right now but happy to work outside for it. No plans for a lift.

If we build 2m within the border we can go higher but I feel it would eat into the garden space too much, with not enough advantage. I've read people talking about flammable (timber) buildings not being allowed too close to the property border but haven't found any proof of this in planning articles.

Long post... but basically I'm after opinions and experience from people who've done similar and how they found it. Can anyone help out?

Hoping that in time this will turn into an interesting build thread but of course first of all the purchase has to go through and I'm sure a ton of more important jobs will turn up and jump the queue if it does go through!

Chers

 

[DXP55]

Thats a good size - At the end of the day a brick one would be the way to go but I understand your costs.
After I built my extension I built a new wooden garage - not as big as yours but big enough at 10ftx27ft - In hindsight I could have and should have gone higher by at least a foot or more.
As you can see by pictures there is a concrete pad down the size of the old wood and asbestos garage so I trenched around it -filled with concrete and got mate to do two lines of bricks - I did put threaded bar in concrete for when the 4x2 face plate went down I could bolt it down - The picture shows it just up - the back has to be done and front with garage door opening in it - I made all the trusses out of 4x2 horizontal and 3x2 for the rest - I did 5 trusses in all and ran 2x1 front to back over the trusses and used 18mm ply to cover the roof..
There was also a lot of cross bracing to put in and at the end of the day when the frame was finished it was solid as a rock
Sorry about picture quality but these are scans of prints.

Every time I go past to see a old mate it still looks good as new - has to be 25 yrs old now

 

[jellybeard999]

Personally I'd go brick or block and render over timber or prefab.

 

[PardonTheWait]

Thats a good size - At the end of the day a brick one would be the way to go but I understand your costs.

Personally I'd go brick or block and render over timber or prefab.

I’d love to go for a brick or block garage but honestly the moneys just not there. I can’t see £10k getting us even remotely close to that sort of construction.

I’m finding myself tempted by a second hand concrete sectional, I’ve actually found a 5x10m one for sale close to work for buttons, and it looks in good nick. However I’d need to store it until the move, which means my parents place in Norfolk, and at that size that’s a lot of concrete! Very rough maths... three trips to Norfolk in a rented Luton and probably at least a day to take it down and load the van, so realistically a whole weekend. Weekends are chock a block at the moment because we get married in four weeks

I will keep my eyes peeled for cheap prefabs. Timber preferable but the more I think about the potential cost difference...

 

[Amp34]

Timber should be fine. Done right it’ll last and look good for 50 years+, just make sure the concrete slab is lain properly and it drains out of the garage. If it starts to look tatty just strip the outer off and change it.

I’d also go for as high a ceiling as possible. We have a 9’ ceiling (flat, peak is 15ft) and it’s extremely useful as additional storage. You can hang things from the ceiling for starters.

Guessing you’re going 5m wide and 10m long? Should just fit two cars in side by side with plenty of space to work behind. Possible to add another metre wider for some additional space?

 

[PardonTheWait]

Guessing you’re going 5m wide and 10m long? Should just fit two cars in side by side with plenty of space to work behind. Possible to add another metre wider for some additional space?

Well the paved area that the grey workshop is at the back of is 5m wide, but if I want a taller building I’ll have to either have it 2m from the boundary, or I guess apply for planning permission? It’s all new to me so I’m not positive what the deal is.

Although the garden is good and big, so I could go wider, I’m reluctant to take up too much of the space as we’ve both got to live there and my other half doesn’t necessarily want our garden hidden behind a giant garage!

Maybe widening the area out by 1m and building a 4m wide garage 2m from the boundary would work. That is if I decide I need it taller. I see the benefit definitely but with the space around the boundary that will become very imposing in the area.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Why not go through the process of planning permission first? If they say no then go ahead and build the shorter version?

 

[PardonTheWait]

Why not go through the process of planning permission first? If they say no then go ahead and build the shorter version?

I’d prefer to go under permitted development as it obviously saves money, but it’s definitely an option. If we decide a preferred option we’ll go through it first and like you say go for a smaller one if it’s refused.

Has anyone gone through planning permission for a garage bigger than permitted development size? Was it easy?

 

[the_r_sole]

I’d prefer to go under permitted development as it obviously saves money, but it’s definitely an option. If we decide a preferred option we’ll go through it first and like you say go for a smaller one if it’s refused.

Has anyone gone through planning permission for a garage bigger than permitted development size? Was it easy?

permitted development only saves money if you can get what you want under pd! pointless tying yourself into it if you could put something which adds much more value to the property for the sake of a couple of hundred quid imo
planning for a detached garage on a plot like that should be a simple affair

 

[Amp34]

You say you want to store two cars (presumably side by side?). Why not work out how much space you want to be able to park two cars in there (remember you need to open doors). Alternatively work out if you want one double garage door or two singles, then work out minimum width you’d need for that. Then see if you can do it under PD or need PP.

 

[PardonTheWait]

You say you want to store two cars (presumably side by side?). Why not work out how much space you want to be able to park two cars in there (remember you need to open doors). Alternatively work out if you want one double garage door or two singles, then work out minimum width you’d need for that. Then see if you can do it under PD or need PP.

Well.. What I really want is basically the biggest garage I can get past my other half, the council, and my neighbours. Realistically two side by side is going to make it too wide. A 10m long garage could fit two cars end to end with workbenches down one side quite nicely as long as it is 4m or so wide. However the way I'd probably have it laid out is lots of space for one car, and a nice large work area at the other end, and have enough of the contents be movable that I could rearrange as and when if I ended up with another project that wanted to be kept out of the weather.

I need to go and lay out a few sizes with cones or something! Hard to visualise the sizes. R_Sole you're probably right about planning. I will look into it more closely as we approach the actual purchase, as we are a little way off yet. Looks like I will need building regs anyway, as I think I would like larger than 30m2. I guess having the concrete poured would avoid the need for an inspection on the concrete pad?

 

[sovietspybob]

Yeah you don't have enough money for brick or block.

I was in the same predicament as you a year ago, really wanted a block and rendered garage but had a similar budget to yourself.

I ended up with a steel garage as when i'd priced it up it ended up being very similar to a wooden one but with 0 up keep and should be more permanent.

Mines 6mx7m and 3m eves with 3.5m at the highest point inside which is wide enough to have 2 cars side by side and open the doors, at 5m it will be very tight side by side. There'll certainty be no working on one car while another is parked next to it.

I think all told mine was about £13-14k but i did have a 150mm reinforced slab laid in case i want a car lift which pushed the price up, laying the slab yourself (just make sure it's PERFECT) should make it do-able for £10k

I did a lot of messing around with a few drawing apps trying different layouts and moving cars and workbenches around to see what would work size wise then laying it out with string on the ground and actually driving the cars in to the area.

This is how mine stands, you can get any colour you want with the steel cladding so i got mine to match my house.

 

[PardonTheWait]

I ended up with a steel garage as when i'd priced it up it ended up being very similar to a wooden one but with 0 up keep and should be more permanent.

Looks great, do you have issues with condensation or is it insulated?

Might have a damp issue at the house, so it's all a bit up in the air at the moment. Waiting on two sets of damp proofing companies to do surveys now.

Might be a big issue, might be able to work round it.

 

[Amp34]

You can render a wooden garage, just need to use steel mesh over the exterior sheathing for it to attach to.

 

[sovietspybob]

Looks great, do you have issues with condensation or is it insulated?

Might have a damp issue at the house, so it's all a bit up in the air at the moment. Waiting on two sets of damp proofing companies to do surveys now.

Might be a big issue, might be able to work round it.

It's not insulated no, i couldn't afford that at the time might do that at some point in the future but not any time soon.

I do get some condensation on the inside of the panels at certain times of year, it's got an anti condensation membrane on the roof panels so you don't get any drips which is brilliant compared to other steel roofed buildings. I tend to just leave a dehumidifier running when it's bad.

 

[SPG]

Plain concrete, use wooden shiplack or if your budget streches plastic shiplack on the outside, zero leaks through the joins a free air gap for condensation just need to sort the roof.

 

[PardonTheWait]

Right! So it's moving forward now.

We decided on this garage:

https://www.quick-garden.co.uk/wood...ts/wooden-garage-4m-x-7-5m-13-x-25-44mm.html#

It's 4 x 7.5m so bang on 30sqm. Once we'd eyeballed the sizes and so on, we didn't want to eat too much into the garden, this also means no planning permission as it can go under permitted development.

Old workshop:






Didn't get any pictures of the demolition but here it is gone:



Squad goals



Marking out the hole for the slab:





Starting to dig out - the first transformer I got with the hire breaker wasn't working which meant another 2hr round trip.. living out in the sticks, yay



End of day one:



Shuttering going in:



End of day two:



Still got to dig out a lot of soil tomorrow to get it down low enough. There's quite a bit of random hardcore in there mostly towards the back, so we will dig out the front, move the hardcore to the front, then dig out the back. Should be ok.

Aiming for 2-3in of hardcore, then a heavy duty membrane and a 6in C35 slab with reinforcing mesh. That should be getting poured on Saturday.

There was power to the workshop which we have chased out, and that will be routed to the front left of the garage and come up through the floor.

Going pretty well but I am knackered and so's my dad! One more day of proper work though. Really happy with the size - it's just going to be a big single with room for workshop type stuff at the back and down part of one side.

 

[SeatIbiza]

This looks cool.

Was there any reason you didn't go closer to your neighbours fence? You could either gain some extra width or move it all over and gain some garden back. Seems this might become just a no man's strip down the side?

 

[Martynt74]

Presumably the roof overhangs the side and you don't really want that dripping over onto the neighbours garden.

Also access to be able to paint the exterior wall?

 

[Quartz]

There was power to the workshop which we have chased out,

You should take the opportunity to check how much power you can draw through it. You'll want to be able to safely run power tools etc in your workshop so make sure the cable is capable of 30A or more. You might also take the opportunity to run power to the shed at the back if it's not already there. And run ethernet cables to both, of course.

Was there any reason you didn't go closer to your neighbours fence?

Agreed. Note that their shed goes right up to the border.