Discussion
I don't really get involved posting on here but I really enjoy looking at the garage builds with plenty of photos so thought someone might get something out of looking at mine.
I wanted to call this my 'dream garage build', but it isn't really because I have space constraints and a budget. But it's my realistic dream garage build for this stage in my life.
I've always wanted a good space at home to work on my cars but never had it since I've owned my own homes.
I've had garages but nothing wider than a standard single. I have space at work and lifts to make working on vehicles easy, but it's an hour round trip.
When we were moving back in 2018 my main criteria was a good sized plot, which I could fully enclose, have a big drive way and space for a large garage. I didn't really care too much what the house was like. I didn't really want it to already have a big garage as it probably wouldn't be what I wanted and would be torn between pulling it down to start again.
We bought a place which fit the bill the best it could for our budget. It had a (very nice) single garage, but definitely not situated well on the plot. Behind this were a lot of crappy old, rotten sheds with low asbestos roofs. These were good for nothing, I new from day 1 I would tear it all down and build my ideal garage.
My criteria was;
To have enough floor space to park 1 vehicle at one side, have benches and an array of tools and simple fab machines at the other side and have room between the two to park another car and work on it from all sides.
Be very well insulated, I've spent my life working in cold sheds and I wanted a change. If it's snowing outside I want to be in the garage with just a hoody on and no gloves.
I didn't set a budget, but it still needed to be done for as cheap as possible.
I decided internal dimensions of 8m wide and 7m deep would give me a good sized garage, whilst still leaving me a half decent sized back lawn.
It will also still give me vehicular access to my back lawn and the space that will be behind the garage.
In order to keep it warm I'm having it brick and block, with an insulated cavity. For the roof I've decided on a flat roof, sloping front to back, made of insulated steel sheets. Doesn't look as good as a pitched roof, but much cheaper for materials and labour in erecting. Not to mention the low roof should help with keeping it warm.
I got permission granted 2 years ago and I'm only just breaking ground on the garage now, I'll just say I don't have a very high opinion of most builders.
3 different builders have messed me around and ghosted me up until this point, they didn't make off with any of my money, but they have cost me a lot of time. This may have been a result of trying to keep things as cheap as possible by using self employed brick layers and doing the organizing myself.
I'me sure if I'd have used a building firm I'd have had a garage long ago, but would still be skint from it.
Anyway I've gone on enough so I'll post some photos.
The old sheds behind the garage, before and after I tore them down
The perfectly good single garage which I was going to have to pull down to get what I wanted
I was wanting to expand my driveway a bit at the same time. Every now and again I come home with a trailer, my smallest one is a 12' tipper but my biggest is an 18' flat bed.
Reversing them on the drive is a pain as I live on a busy road and you can be waiting out there for what seems like a long time whilst your holding traffic up, for a gap to pull across the opposite lane to back in.
I wanted to be able to pull in forward, turn round and pull back out forwards. I've just managed to make enough space to do this with my longest trailer.
This is my driveway size when I moved in compared to what I've got now
I wanted to call this my 'dream garage build', but it isn't really because I have space constraints and a budget. But it's my realistic dream garage build for this stage in my life.
I've always wanted a good space at home to work on my cars but never had it since I've owned my own homes.
I've had garages but nothing wider than a standard single. I have space at work and lifts to make working on vehicles easy, but it's an hour round trip.
When we were moving back in 2018 my main criteria was a good sized plot, which I could fully enclose, have a big drive way and space for a large garage. I didn't really care too much what the house was like. I didn't really want it to already have a big garage as it probably wouldn't be what I wanted and would be torn between pulling it down to start again.
We bought a place which fit the bill the best it could for our budget. It had a (very nice) single garage, but definitely not situated well on the plot. Behind this were a lot of crappy old, rotten sheds with low asbestos roofs. These were good for nothing, I new from day 1 I would tear it all down and build my ideal garage.
My criteria was;
To have enough floor space to park 1 vehicle at one side, have benches and an array of tools and simple fab machines at the other side and have room between the two to park another car and work on it from all sides.
Be very well insulated, I've spent my life working in cold sheds and I wanted a change. If it's snowing outside I want to be in the garage with just a hoody on and no gloves.
I didn't set a budget, but it still needed to be done for as cheap as possible.
I decided internal dimensions of 8m wide and 7m deep would give me a good sized garage, whilst still leaving me a half decent sized back lawn.
It will also still give me vehicular access to my back lawn and the space that will be behind the garage.
In order to keep it warm I'm having it brick and block, with an insulated cavity. For the roof I've decided on a flat roof, sloping front to back, made of insulated steel sheets. Doesn't look as good as a pitched roof, but much cheaper for materials and labour in erecting. Not to mention the low roof should help with keeping it warm.
I got permission granted 2 years ago and I'm only just breaking ground on the garage now, I'll just say I don't have a very high opinion of most builders.
3 different builders have messed me around and ghosted me up until this point, they didn't make off with any of my money, but they have cost me a lot of time. This may have been a result of trying to keep things as cheap as possible by using self employed brick layers and doing the organizing myself.
I'me sure if I'd have used a building firm I'd have had a garage long ago, but would still be skint from it.
Anyway I've gone on enough so I'll post some photos.
The old sheds behind the garage, before and after I tore them down
The perfectly good single garage which I was going to have to pull down to get what I wanted
I was wanting to expand my driveway a bit at the same time. Every now and again I come home with a trailer, my smallest one is a 12' tipper but my biggest is an 18' flat bed.
Reversing them on the drive is a pain as I live on a busy road and you can be waiting out there for what seems like a long time whilst your holding traffic up, for a gap to pull across the opposite lane to back in.
I wanted to be able to pull in forward, turn round and pull back out forwards. I've just managed to make enough space to do this with my longest trailer.
This is my driveway size when I moved in compared to what I've got now
|https://thumbsnap.com/NnXrRr1b[/url]
Progress has been painfully slow. My builders a great guy but he has other commitments, which I new about when I asked him to build it.
So progress only happens on the days he is free, it's not raining and it's not freezing. Those days are few and far between at the minute.
Anyway we've got up to floor level, poured and floated the floor and got all the blocks on the slab ready to get the walls up.
I'm quite excited about this area
So progress only happens on the days he is free, it's not raining and it's not freezing. Those days are few and far between at the minute.
Anyway we've got up to floor level, poured and floated the floor and got all the blocks on the slab ready to get the walls up.
I'm quite excited about this area
Indecision said:
I assume the ‘exciting area’ is for a 2-poster?
The internal height won't allow for a full size lift, also the posts of a 2 or 4 poster would seriously restrict the usability of the garage for me.So I'll be fitting a mid rise scissor lift and having it flush with the floor so when it's down I still have the full floor space free.
Mid rise scissors do have a lot of drawbacks compared to 2 posters, but I feel it's the most suitable option for me.
I originally planned to build a large pit but the high water table in my area would make it impractical and expensive.
PageyUK said:
Subscribed. Best of luck with the build. Are you doing any of it yourself?
Thanks, I'm doing as much as I can myself. But I'm no brick layer. I've been doing the foundations and floor with the builder, I'll probably roof it myself, make the doors and do the driveway myself too.rich350z said:
Always love a garage build.
Any rough indication of costs along the way would be appreciated as we'll (hopefully) be building a double garage once our house renovations are complete.
I'll have an add up at the end, I honestly have no idea what the total will be. I want it done for as little as possible but nobodies working on quoted prices, everyone just has an hourly wage as I've found it's the cheapest way to do business, but makes budgeting harder.Any rough indication of costs along the way would be appreciated as we'll (hopefully) be building a double garage once our house renovations are complete.
I had a built single size single skin garage built during the first lockdown. It was around £22,500, so probably £25k by the time I'd fitted out the interior (benches, pain, floor, etc). South East, outside M25.
I was going to update my garage build thread from back then with the finished result pics and full costs, however there was an issue with the main doors which I'm now re-fitting in the coming months, so had held off for ages posting the outcome. Will update it when I sort the doors.
I was going to update my garage build thread from back then with the finished result pics and full costs, however there was an issue with the main doors which I'm now re-fitting in the coming months, so had held off for ages posting the outcome. Will update it when I sort the doors.
eein said:
I had a built single size single skin garage built during the first lockdown. It was around £22,500, so probably £25k by the time I'd fitted out the interior (benches, pain, floor, etc). South East, outside M25.
I was going to update my garage build thread from back then with the finished result pics and full costs, however there was an issue with the main doors which I'm now re-fitting in the coming months, so had held off for ages posting the outcome. Will update it when I sort the doors.
That sounds very expensive for a single skin single garage, back when I was getting quotes for mine before I chose a builder I had prices of around that figure for a brick and block, cavity insulated double. Sounds like things are a lot cheaper up North.I was going to update my garage build thread from back then with the finished result pics and full costs, however there was an issue with the main doors which I'm now re-fitting in the coming months, so had held off for ages posting the outcome. Will update it when I sort the doors.
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