building a garage. help me

[turbodriver63]

Hi folks.
I've been beating around the bush on this for years now, but the time has come to build a nice garage for myself.
I have struggled in old cow sheds at my parents house, and i'm just sick of cold damp sheds with no space for a pit or a car lift.

My basic plan is a shed that could hold 2 or three cars, along with a homemade spraybooth in a corner.

So basically im looking for ideas on what sort of structure, roofing etc would be best and not insainly expensive.
Any ideas appricated

[avants2turbo]

Prefab concrete insulated, you'll have to be careful with home made booth, remember the paint mist creates a very explosive enviroment, inlet and exhaust air have to be balanced to create a 0-10 pascal negative pressure zone with a sufficiant number of air changes each minute and thats just for starters!

[3b_aby]

don't get prefab COMPTON shed

2 came down in a village near me with 2 ft of snow on them, both on the same day

my mate had 2 mk1 golfs a mk2 scirocco an audi and 3 bikes in his

3 cars have had damaged roofs

all of the bolts pulled through the trusses on both sheds- the mbolts did not shear/ strip threads, neither did any of the steelwork buckle, just not built professionally by the compton fitting team

hes still waiting a response from COMPTON

[avants2turbo]

You say that, but surely thats dependent on the fitting team not the product? My dads 11 year old double garage is made by them and its been good as gold

[sjw185]

check out 44mm log cabin style garages:

http://dunsterhouse.co.uk/garages-carports/trentsup-sup-300-double-garage-and-hobby-room-bd/trentsup-sup-300-double-garage-and-hobby-room-bd/

Also possible to do a concrete pad then build 4x2 walls clad with weather board.
And get trusses made up to suit.

Planing has been my biggest problem, taken me a couple of years to get my planning and building warrent sorted
Mine is going to be block built attached to my hoose.
Im fed up with gravel driveway for a workshop

cheers

Steve

[Error404]

As said planning is your biggest hurdle, a pit will be a load easier to get through than a structure high enough to use a lift. I'd always go bricks and mortar over prefab or timber knock-ups.
My double is 5m x 5m and is just the right size for the coupe on one side, then tools, workbench, engine stand and some storage racking on the other side and space to work.
Work on 2.5m x 5m as a footprint for a car since you need to move round it, open doors & work on it etc

Make sure you think properly about lighting and power, do you need to run a MIG or any other high amp tools?

[3b_aby]

avants2turbo

probably to do with the fitting team, still a worry though....check your fathers shed and make sure that the fitting team have put large washers at both ends of each bolt holding the trusses together

these sheds only had large washers at one end and the bolts just "pulled through" the metal of the trusses

i'd hate anyone else to have the misfortune to have well cared for cars wrecked all for the sake of a few large washers

[avants2turbo]

avants2turbo

probably to do with the fitting team, still a worry though....check your fathers shed and make sure that the fitting team have put large washers at both ends of each bolt holding the trusses together

these sheds only had large washers at one end and the bolts just "pulled through" the metal of the trusses

i'd hate anyone else to have the misfortune to have well cared for cars wrecked all for the sake of a few large washers

Agree, will have a look when im over there tomorrow

[montez]

As for the planning issue you may be able to get away with it under the General Permitted Development Order. This allows home owners to develop their home within certain constraints without the need for express planning permission. Here is some more detailed information http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/

[s2_wot]

have a look through this site, they're sound lads. Click here.

Insulation is definitely a must with non drip coating on the inside of the roof skin. You'd want to be able to close the door airtight and work inside in the worst of conditions outside. To keep the garage tidy you want to be able to hang stuff on walls so it's worth thinking about what they're made of. You'd want the roof high enough that you could operate a lift if you ever wanted to buy one. but don't make the roof too high it's a waste.

If it was me I'd think about having one person sized entrance door and one door for cars. You can pick up a couple of sets of those car jack roller things and push the cars around inside if necessary. Less doors is less cost and less opportunity for wind to get in and blast you out of it.

In the area where you have wasted roof space put in a loft to store stuff. You can put the compressor up there out of the way and pipe down from it.

Good concrete floor with steel mesh encased and powerfloated.

White wall paint & good lights.

If you need ventilation I'll sort you out; I'd also go and take a look at what Eamonn C has done for his project.

Did I succeed in spending €20k for you, I think so

[macspring]

Td63

For extra ideas look on the web for the US site that just focuses on members garages, it'll blow your mind the size and the sophistication, but good for ideas.

Also for more normal ideas look at "detailingworld.co.uk" web site and look for garage build thread's, they're naturally very into their garages in order to be able to detail their cars.

HTH.

Not a bit envious, still on the gravel driveway al fresco, 365.

Kind regards.

[martinws]

my mate bought a prefab wooden garage a few years back for about £700. it is around 3 meters by 6 meters. Not perfect for cars but hes into bikes anyway. All he had to do was make a concrete base for it and a guy came out to build the garage on top of it.
There is a pit in my garage that was built by the previous owner, im not sure on the details of it but i will see if we have the plans somewhere. Id defo build as big as you can get away with and if you need a building warrant then id still go for it. It can only add value to your house anyway.

[turbodriver63]

some great tips there lads .
Wont have any probs with the planning
as it will be built at the rear of a farming yard.
I will definately dig a pit, and leave a space for a lift sometime in the future.
The non drip roofing is a good idea.
I was talking to a mate today about my ideas, and he said whatever size you want your shed to be. double it.
I'll keep thinking about it and take a look back here tomorrow once i rob the bank....

[macspring]

Td63

Definitly doulble your size and triple your budget.

Much easier ot do it right the first time, dearer to revisit an issue.

Make sure the pit is properly tanked and can't leak. Put an inbuilt shelf around the edge of the pit to rest tools on, with power sockets in the pit, with in built lights, and decent steps down / up.

Research every little nuisance before starting.

[Tonks4x4]

In all honesty I find pits a PITA. Loads of grief to dig out, brick up and tank and allow for drainage unless you are going to use a sump and pump to drain water. A 2 post lift is more use on an Audi than a 4 post. And if you have access to 3 phase at the yard the lifts are cheaper to buy than single phase.
If it's on farm land why not look into buying a second hand steel structure. I don't know what your budget is but we had one built where we keep our horses 15m x 35m it came to just under 10k which was S/H structure and new sheeting. No planning required as it's a "temporary structure".