Bought a house... looking for double garage inspiration.

[cjhillman]

Looking for some garage inspiration/advice when starting from scratch. We've just bought a house and there is a lot of room at the back of the property that in coming years I want to put a lovely decent sized garage there with electricity, water and internet but, I know that will cost serious money though and I'm allowed to dream right?

The reality... I'm thinking what could I afford in the next couple of years. Maybe If cleared the ground and get some concrete laid I could put up a wooden or second hand concrete garage and make it look nice. I know moving a second hand concrete garage is a nightmare though as a couple of mates have done this and told me to avoid it although I wonder if a company would do this for you? 

I did see a nice garage in this bracket by RumHam which was quite inspiring.
forum.retro-rides.org/thread/221319/double-garage-build?page=3

Realistically it would be nice to stop renting a garage and put something up where I could keep my Cars dry and probably learn to weld and tinker more. It would be great to see what people have done on a budget and some interesting garage builds. 

This is the kind of space I'm working with. Where I'm stood you can drive down the side of the grass to what is essentially is as wide as the house (normal 3 bed) with a single car driveway.

[homersimpson]

I moved a concrete sectional double garage and unless its local to you and you have access to a big vehicle to move it (and some decent help) then I wouldn't do it again.

The one I moved was about 50 miles away and I had two helpers and a transit pickup and it took about four trips to move it all and a day to take it down.

At my parents house I had (and still have) a timber garage built of CLS studwork with waterproof plywood on it and its over 23 years old and still ok, if you wanted to make it look nicer you could clad it in feather edge boards or similar.

The advantage with wood is that its warmer and dryer than a concrete garage in my experience.

For the roof I would avoid metal sheets as although they are cheap the condensation in winter is terrible and if you insulate under them (as I did in the one at my parents) you can get condensation in the insulation which isn't great. If I did it again I would look for a proper insulated roof system.

Also with metal sheets any noise you make in the garage is massivly amplified and if your thinking of taking up welding (and grinding) then your new neighbours might not be friends with you for long!

Make sure that the concrete base is higher than all the ground around it, although this sounds obvious when you start setting it out this might be more difficult to achieve than it first seems but if you don't then water running into the building is a possibility.

[cjhillman]

thanks! homersimpson ! thats great! Do you have any photos of the wooden garage? A lot of the ones I see are still expensive but I think theyd be easier to work with. I'll keep the roof in mind. I guess wood/felt ones can have their problems with adverse weather?

[mrbig]

If it was me, I would start with getting a proper base installed. Make sure its specced to accomodate a brick built garage in the future and then you can look at your options within the remaining budget. A second hand garage, might be a massive ballache, but it could give you something to work with for a few years while you save up for your forever garage.

If you have the budget, I've always thought these look pretty good for the money:

dunsterhouse.co.uk/wooden-garages-and-carports/double/premium-deore-double-w5-9m-x-d5-5m?infinity=ict2~net~gaw~cmp~17593759653~ag~~ar~~kw~~mt~~acr~6854345728&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwrcKxBhBMEiwAIVF8rN64S9rAY9KhHqljRYxub_adBR06ae16fCOF9C1EDEHAZerkR59jABoCWsQQAvD_BwE

[ChasR]

Firstly, congratulations on the house purchase. As someone who is new to new to home ownership post-Covid, well done. As a newcomer, and someone who is self-employed, I can imagine that it wasn't easy to get a mortgage, along with the hassle of proving things to get a mortgage (maybe I was unlucky ; I ended up changing brokers the second time around which did make things simpler, albeit I then had rate hikes to contend with, as I remortgaged just as the 'mini-budget' came in).

As for garages, something brick or wooden built with a concrete base, ideally powerfloated, would be great. But obviously, there comes budget and time restrictions.

When I got my place, it came with a garage, that the previous owner built. He did a concrete foundation, used sections of concrete, and a vented roof. They're called Compton garages in their style.

forum.retro-rides.org/thread/217753/chasr-manshed

It's been pretty good. It can get a little chilly in winter, but a diesel heater can fix that issue. Condensation isn't too bad. The only time condensation is an issue is when it goes from -1 to around 10 degrees, but most workshops (even insulated ones) I've seen also suffer from this, where a heater may help reduce that. At the same time, I've noticed the house has become more humid, when looking at the humidity meters.

[bricol]

I moved a second hand single garage, used some panels from a single garage I already had, and bought some seconds panels from a garage manufacturer. An SDS drill to drill new holes panels where the different makes joined up, assembled on a new concrete base, C-section purlins bolted across the top, and seconds insulated metal panels on the roof, and an electric roller shutter on the front to maximise useable space - I have a good dry working and storage space.

Now I'm a decade older, the thought of moving panels tires me, never mind actually doing it, so if I was to do it again, I think I would buy the garage.

[cjhillman]

Apr 30, 2024 16:08:16 GMT mrbig said:

If it was me, I would start with getting a proper base installed. Make sure its specced to accomodate a brick built garage in the future and then you can look at your options within the remaining budget. A second hand garage, might be a massive ballache, but it could give you something to work with for a few years while you save up for your forever garage.

If you have the budget, I've always thought these look pretty good for the money:

dunsterhouse.co.uk/wooden-garages-and-carports/double/premium-deore-double-w5-9m-x-d5-5m?infinity=ict2~net~gaw~cmp~17593759653~ag~~ar~~kw~~mt~~acr~6854345728&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwrcKxBhBMEiwAIVF8rN64S9rAY9KhHqljRYxub_adBR06ae16fCOF9C1EDEHAZerkR59jABoCWsQQAvD_BwE

I do like this especially painted grey. I wouldnt have that kind of budget after doing a base, tbh I don't know what budget I'd have yet as we're still going through the process/not in yet so havent spent all our hard earned yet but I do like this. I'll look out for second hand ones maybe.

ChasR !!!

Thanks for the message mate! I'll be reading your garage thread (pretty sure I read it once before with excitement)! It has been a tricky process and were still not fully there but its all looking good so far touch wood! It took a long time to get to this point due to the seller. Also having a girlfriend with a good job has helped the struggling musician element to buying a house haha. Does the wooden section to the top of the walls help with condensation ? I've seen a few garages like this but not sure why as of yet. I'll check the compton ones out a bit more
Btw are you going to retro rides gathering this year? Hoping to get down there in the Capri this time.

bricol

That does sound like a lot of work mate. Its the same story Ive heard from friends so I think I'll be saving up for a new garage at this point. Once we're In I can really think of how to use the space as its quite deep by the looks of it.

[cjhillman]

Just looking over the checks for the property and on the drainage section it shows these two sewage pipes that run through the property. The scolicitor said if we wanted to extend the house we'd have to talk to the water board as theres drainage to the rear of the property (that incudes manhole covers) but I wonder if those ones to the rear of the garden would affect my plans? 

[welshpug]

have you checked planning regulations in your area?

[cjhillman]

Planning regulations are all ok to build garages on freehold properties here. I think the sewers might be a problem though. I might have to try and use another part of the garden at this point. Also wondering If I can do something more temporary with the wooden sheds to avoid problems.


Looking at the maps I did notice that the house further down has garage over the top of a drain in the garden. I guess it could have been put there years ago so maybe thats how they got around it.






Also looking at some of these garages they only have shingle of some form under them. This property already has that there so I wonder If I could get around that and not make it permanent. Could it be tied to the floor without concrete?

[Davey]

Sewers shouldn't be an issue, manhole covers will be. They need to be accessible and be prepared for things to be dug up if there's an issue with any pipework.

[tofufi]

Sewers shouldn't be a big issue - but it's worth doing a bit more research into.

We looked at extending our old house (ended up moving instead) and would have needed a 'build over' agreement. Effectively they wanted to see drawings of the planned foundations and to ensure that any groundworks or walls built wouldn't disrupt or exert a load on the sewage pipes.

[cjhillman]

Yeah there doesnt seem to be able manholes down there from when I went down. The more I look into it its a more recent sewage system that stopped flooding in the area.

I guess if it is a problem down there maybe I can make a garage closer to the house and make more of a garden down the bottom.


Does anyone know how the wooden garage such as above is pinned down? It doesn't apper to have a base unless thats a concrete edge?

[homersimpson]

Apr 29, 2024 22:10:25 GMT cjhillman said:

thanks! homersimpson ! thats great! Do you have any photos of the wooden garage? A lot of the ones I see are still expensive but I think theyd be easier to work with. I'll keep the roof in mind. I guess wood/felt ones can have their problems with adverse weather?

Here are a few photos, apologies I don't have any good ones of the garage as I was always photographing the cars

The garage was first put up in the late 1980's and was a second hand 16' x 8 'timber framed garage with cement asbestos walls and roof which our neighbour gave to my dad (no idea why he gave it away!!!). 

This lasted until 2001 when we extended it by 5', the bit on the right was made of CLS studwork clad in water proof ply (12mm I recall).  We replaced the roof with tin at the same time and then eventually the remaining asbestos was removed and clad with OSB as that side of it wasn't easily seen.  A few years later we then built a 13' x 13' extension on the back which houses my MK2 sprite and a mini at the moment.

One intersting thing is that both the garage and extension are sat on 2" paving slabs with some hardcore and sand under them so it doesn't actually have a proper base which hasn't been an issue over the the 30 plus years its been up.

This was in 2003 when I was about to restore my first Jag.

This was it in 2008, ignore the gargoile (with more hair) in the photo, he is just there to ward off evil spirts

This was the side of it at about the same time showing the entrance to the rear storage garage which was accessed from the side (made a right mess of the lawn when the weather was bad!

The garage still look like this (you can also see my dads shed behind built in the same way) although could probably do with repainting now.

One other thing to consider whatever you make it out of is that only the bits you can see need to look nice, if one side is against a fence, or hidden from view then you can do that in something cheaper, not all four sides have to be the same.

I insulated the front garage using rockwool and hardboard to hold it up and it was great in the winter with a small heater but condensation was evident and while it didn't cause me any major problems (certainly better than being cold) the odd drip from the ceiling onto me was a reminder that the building wasn't quite as it should be (interstital condensation).

The next garage I had was the concerete sectional one and now I have a brick built one which is by far the best with the timber being a close second.  The concrete sectional one was cold and draughty.

[homersimpson]

May 2, 2024 11:42:40 GMT tofufi said:

Sewers shouldn't be a big issue - but it's worth doing a bit more research into.

We looked at extending our old house (ended up moving instead) and would have needed a 'build over' agreement. Effectively they wanted to see drawings of the planned foundations and to ensure that any groundworks or walls built wouldn't disrupt or exert a load on the sewage pipes.

If you build something permanent over the sewer then it could be a problem if there was ever a need to get at it (thinking of concrete base in particular), if you use paving slabs and a timber or similar construction (see my post above) that could in theory be dismantled/dug up like a patio would be then I would be less worried.

I would find out who the pipes serve which will give you an idea of how likely an issue in future might be.