Long term garage 'modification' - Recent update...

[Mr S]

Well, we actually had some half decent weather this evening, so at 6 I got started.

I finished the second course of bricks all the way round and started on the third course down the left hand side. Alas, I've now run out of bricks Travis Perkins ran out of blue bricks when I ordered these and they are being a wee bit sluggish delivering my last 150 odd bricks.... I'll be on the phone to them tomorrow!



There should be some bricks here lol



Ah well, if they're not here by the weekend, I guess I'll get on with putting the fence up!

Oh, and I've been so engrossed in doing this garage that I hadn't noticed that my motorbike rear tyre was down to the canvas.... Oooops! Better get that changed, apparently 120+ bhp in the wet works best with tread!!!

[20vtcab]

ive just done a similar floor for a job on a barn conversion we have to put vents in the floor to let the air circulate do you have this on yours?

[Mr S]

Yep, I've got to have vents too - need to confirm with the BCO how far apart they have to be - how many did you have? 1 per 6 foot or something along those lines?

[20vtcab]

think there were 10 vebts coming up out of one side of the building just bits of pipe with grills over them

[Mr S]

Spoke to the BCO and it needs a vent every 2m on each side, so that's cleared that up for me

My other bricks got delivered yesterday so I'll get them down tomorrow and I'll soon be ready for concreting the base...

[Mr S]

Managed to get another course of bricks down this evening... It sucks being so busy when I want to be getting on with this. The weather's not exactly helping - I'm sure it used to be summer at this time of year?!

Next job is to put 'closure blocks' at the end of each row of the floor blocks, except where the vents are going that is...

[bazzateer]

UPDATE !!!

[Mr S]

Soon.... Had a busy/lazy/family type couple of weeks so not much to report at the mo. I'm planning a major assault at the weekend, soon get it up to 'pouring the concrete' level!

[Mr S]

Ok, so I lied... I spent most of Saturday sorting out the front balljoints (well, waiting for Merc to fit them to the suspension arms I took in....), fitting new tie rods, getting a new tyre and getting a full 4-wheel alignment check done. Then Sunday I spent at Chatsworth House as it was my folks' anniversary....

Ah well, there's always this week to do some work! Except that I've got to sort my Mrs' front disks on her bike out tonight... Doh!

[bazzateer]

Oh this thread soooooooo needs an update, preferably one with some progress!!!

[Mr S]

Sorry, been camping it up for a few days over near Skeg with the bladerunner family...

There is updated work, but don't want to snap it until I've finished the current 'phase' - give myself a target to work towards, prob be Saturday

[bazzateer]

Oh, all right then!

[Mr S]

Hmmmm, quick 10 mile bike ride to get me fired up and ready to work this morning, and when I get back it's raining. Bum.

Still, there's always tomorrow!

[nugget]

I've just spend an hour and a half roughly reading this thread from page one to 11 and I am dying to see the rest. Good luck

[Mr S]

Well, 6 months and 1 day after demolishing the old garage seemed to be a good time for an update - especially as I've not done one for a while. Sadly, progress hasn't been as quick as I'd liked, family life, holidays, money and time seem to be getting in the way of progress (too much of the former, not enough of the latter!). Not that I'm complaining, it's all good!

Now, it may not look as though much has happened, but it's not quite as bad as first appearances. I've put the closure blocks in at the end of each run of beam and block flooring (used engineering bricks rather than the expensive shaped blocks you can get). The 5 'telescopic' air vents down each side are placed and fixed in with mortar. Everything has been placed so it won't interfere with anything else - eg. the brick pillars don't clash with the floor vents. Nothing clashes with the side door positions etc.

The brickwork is now just above floor level. 5cm above to be precise. Which is jolly annoying as my next step is to lay a 7.5cm (3" for the old skool among you) reinforced concrete screed over the whole lot. I guess I'll have to lay another row of bricks then notch a big long piece of wood (for tamping) so that it reaches down and gives me the desired 7.5cm thickness.

Technically, before I do that I've got to 'grout' the floor. Apparently you wet the floor thoroughly and then brush in a dry 'mortar grout' (sand and cement) mix. Not sure if I'll then have to lay a DPC membrane over the top of it. Probably not but I might do just to be sure that there will be absolutely no damp at all coming up through the floor

Oh, it's time for another building regulations visit too! Hope I've done everything right so far, it's the first thing I've ever built! lol

Anyway, enough rambling, here's a couple of pics. If all goes well, the concrete will be poured this week or next!

[Mr S]

No more bricklaying this evening, I've started grouting the floor instead. As I said in my last post, you have to wet the floor, then brush a dry 3:1 mortar mix into the gaps left by the blocks, between the beams and around the edge. This makes the whole lot into one big monolithic structure and hence spreads load from above around the whole area.

Around the edge and between the beams where the gaps are larger, you have to compact the mix as well. It certainly does seem to make a big difference, the beams are no longer so 'bouncy' as they were before. Even with only doing the relatively small area I have it's good.

I decided that I'd leave it 'til the weekend to do the last course of bricks, mostly so I can get it all done in one shot rather than having to clean all the tools after laying only a few bricks...

Then next week it's time to pour the concrete for the base (after an inspection of course.....). Anyone know where I can get hold of some 'A98' reinforcing steel mesh for the slab? I need about 60 square metres!

On another note, has anyone got any doors/door frames (preferably stable doors) knocking about for much cheapness? I need 2 for down the side....

Here's a pic, sorry it's a bit crappy but then my Phone Camera doesn't seem to like low light levels...

[bazzateer]

Try your local double glazing people for spare doors and windows removed from houses etc. If they came out in one piece they should be OK. Often you can get old d/g ones too.

The garage in my old place had d/g windows and side door.

[rysz]

Aug 29, 2008 13:07:18 GMT bazzateer said:

Try your local double glazing people for spare doors and windows removed from houses etc. If they came out in one piece they should be OK. Often you can get old d/g ones too.

The garage in my old place had d/g windows and side door.

Top Tip there bazzateer

Rysz.

[Mr S]

Cheers Bazzateer, I'll give that a go, there's a couple of double glazing place in my town and a few more in Derby where I work... Splendid idea!

Today's progress has involved finished the last course of brickwork (now done, the last pic which is a bit dark shows it done, the other pic I took earlier in the day, mostly for my own reference I've also been continuing to grout the floor, but I've now run out of sand. Doh!

Still, I went to the builders merchant this morning and ordered another couple of 'bulk bags' of the stuff (note that I did it this morning, I foresaw just this problem... lol). I also ordered the steel mesh (it's 'A142' mesh if anyone's interested - basically the same as A98, but the steel bars which make up the grid are 1mm bigger, and no-one locally had A98, so I figured this'll do!).

The plan now is to have Wednesday off work so I can finish grouting the floor, get the building control officer to OK what I've done so far, get the mesh shaped/cut and down. Then on Thursday, 2002gimp will hopefully be joining me and the concrete will be poured! It will be a monumental day for me, 'cos it means that in a week or so, I'll be able to park stuff on it! lol





Until next time.........

[Mr S]

Oh, and I discovered on Friday that although you can load 250KG into the boot of a W126 Merc 420SEL (10 bags of cement, plus a subwoofer and an LPG tank....), it's not necessarily recommended and it tends to ground out down bumpy bits of road.... lol