betenoir
Part of things
Afraid of the Light
Posts: 163
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I have been busily updating threads on here about my Ibiza and Caddy projects, and I have done numerous car threads on various forums, but I have never before attempted to document a garage build thread. I did not expect to enjoy the build so much, and hopefully I can convey some of that on this thread. In our previous house I had a decent concrete garage somewhere between the size of a single and a double, but ironically for most of the time we lived there I was not particularly active in working on any cars. When we moved to our current house, part of the appeal was that it is on a corner plot, and has plenty of space for a garage workshop. Initially I envisaged a double length garage across the end of the garden, but when I priced-up my plans I estimated I was looking at around £30k, which was miles beyond my budget. I shelved my plans whilst I awaited a better (cheaper) idea, or the necessary windfall. During 2018 I got a bonus from work which, whilst nowhere near what I needed to fulfil my first idea, could be enough for a more conventional timber double garage. Given that I need sufficient space not just to park two cars but to work comfortably around both of them, I even went as far as to produce a scale drawing to illustrate whether a 6m square garage would be big enough to work around a pair of mk2 Ibizas.  Having decided on the required size, I set-to seeing if I could site one beside the driveway without blocking all of the light to the kitchen window. I spent ages with a tape measure, twine, and various markers for the corners, working out if and how it would fit in the available space. Concluding that it would, I produced the appropriate diagrams to support a planning application, which was submitted with the support of a planning consultancy.   The planning consultant told me I should expect to wait six weeks for the planning decision, but ten days later the positive response came back. Project workshop was on! |
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Looks like a good sized workspace.
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betenoir
Part of things
Afraid of the Light
Posts: 163
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At this stage I thought it looked huge, but I still had a niggling doubt that once I got cars and tools into it I would be wishing I could have got something bigger. Having said that, fitting anything bigger into the same location would have been tricky.
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eternaloptimist
Posted a lot
Too many projects, not enough time or space...
Posts: 2,578
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Doesn’t matter how big you build it, eventually it will be too small!
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XC70, VW split screen crew cab, Standard Ten
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betenoir
Part of things
Afraid of the Light
Posts: 163
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Doesn’t matter how big you build it, eventually it will be too small! True enough. Hopefully as long as I don't get into cars which are significantly larger than my current Ibizas this garage will prove to be big enough for two of them. If I ever have more than two active projects on the go at one time then I will be in trouble for reasons not associated with workshop space! |
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betenoir
Part of things
Afraid of the Light
Posts: 163
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After placing the order for the timber garage, I had a wait of a few months before it was due to be delivered and erected. Groundworks contractors were lined-up to level the site and put in the concrete base, only to let me down a couple of days beforehand. This meant that I could not get the base done before the garage was due to arrive, so I had to delay it to the next available date, which was a couple of months later. This was a massively frustrating extra delay to an already long and difficult part of the process. Eventually I found another groundworks contractor, and soon thereafter I had a garage base.   The garage is to sit on a single course of bricks, with the cladding overhanging this. This will save worrying about sealing the walls to the floor.  Close to what will be the back wall, I have had a couple of towing brackets bolted onto the concrete. These are intended to enable me to winch a vehicle into the garage if it cannot move under its own power. Whether or not this will work will be tested soon enough.  This was my first opportunity to find-out for certain how much space will remain on the driveway with the garage in situ. I did this in the obvious way, by seeing how many cars I could park on it. Still six cars, good news.  |
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Last Edit: Jan 7, 2021 22:04:53 GMT by betenoir
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Project Garage Workshopdeanflowers
@deanflowers
Club Retro Rides Member 81
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You could put a covered lean to on the side as a car port?
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'The reason i have pulled you over is to say how incredible and absolutely awesome that is'
Mercedes W109, Mercedes W140 S280 SWB & S320 LWB, W201 cosworth kitted, clk230 Kompressor, w109 300sel, Lincoln Continental 1964, BMW E30 Tech II tourer, MK1 Golf Clipper, BMW E31 840ci sport, JAGUAR XJ40 3.6, Kangoo van, Volvo 740GLE estate, Maserati Quattroporte GTS
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betenoir
Part of things
Afraid of the Light
Posts: 163
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You could put a covered lean to on the side as a car port? There is insufficient space either side for that. One side I would breach the planning if I went any closer to the boundary, and the other side it would block access from the driveway to the house. In an ideal world I might like to build a car port alongside or in place of the existing single garage, but there is a large mulberry tree making that difficult too. I will have to make do with workshop space for two projects  |
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This looks like an exciting project. Are you planning on using any ramps in there? I see the pitch reaches 3200cm, have you worked out how much internal height you will have?
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eternaloptimist
Posted a lot
Too many projects, not enough time or space...
Posts: 2,578
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This looks like an exciting project. Are you planning on using any ramps in there? I see the pitch reaches 3200cm, have you worked out how much internal height you will have? Personally, I’d be sneaking a few additional courses of bricks in before the garage arrives. |
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XC70, VW split screen crew cab, Standard Ten
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betenoir
Part of things
Afraid of the Light
Posts: 163
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This looks like an exciting project. Are you planning on using any ramps in there? I see the pitch reaches 3200cm, have you worked out how much internal height you will have? The working height, if you take that to be the lowest point of the 'ceiling', is more or less the same as the height of the walls, which is just under 2.2m with the single course of bricks. This means I could raise an Ibiza or similar by up to 800mm to get underneath, which should be plenty. As there is no actual ceiling, there are areas which have more than 2.2m height, and I think I could even erect my A-frame gantry in there if required, although I am more likely to use an engine crane. I toyed with the idea of installing an inspection pit, but I decided I would rather have the flexibility of a flat floor throughout. I have been working on an uneven gravel driveway for many years, and in comparison this workshop will be a massive improvement just by dint of having a flat floor and a roof. |
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skinnylew
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,710
Club RR Member Number: 11
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Project Garage Workshopskinnylew
@skinnylew
Club Retro Rides Member 11
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Jan 10, 2021 13:31:48 GMT
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excellent stuff. Is it just my eyes or does the Ibiza have two different size wheels of the same design ? I might need my eyes tested....
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betenoir
Part of things
Afraid of the Light
Posts: 163
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Jan 10, 2021 14:19:52 GMT
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excellent stuff. Is it just my eyes or does the Ibiza have two different size wheels of the same design ? I might need my eyes tested.... That is well spotted, nothing wrong with your eyesight. The wheels on the Ibiza in the picture are Oz F-1s (which I am slightly obsessed with) and they are 16” on the front and 17” on the back. It has not been driven like that, I just needed some wheels with tyres that hold air so I could move it around. |
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skinnylew
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,710
Club RR Member Number: 11
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Project Garage Workshopskinnylew
@skinnylew
Club Retro Rides Member 11
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Jan 10, 2021 14:56:07 GMT
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excellent stuff. Is it just my eyes or does the Ibiza have two different size wheels of the same design ? I might need my eyes tested.... That is well spotted, nothing wrong with your eyesight. The wheels on the Ibiza in the picture are Oz F-1s (which I am slightly obsessed with) and they are 16” on the front and 17” on the back. It has not been driven like that, I just needed some wheels with tyres that hold air so I could move it around. Yay. I used to put my car in for Mot with 14"s on the front and 17"s on the back  (Fiesta mk3 17"s caught on full lock at front so failure....) |
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betenoir
Part of things
Afraid of the Light
Posts: 163
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Jan 11, 2021 21:58:05 GMT
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Frustratingly, when the guys arrived to erect the garage I was working away, so I did not get to see it going up. My partner sent me some photos of progress by the end of day 1.    All that was left to do on the second day was to hang the doors and fit the glass in the windows, by which time I was back home, and apparently too excited to remember to take any more pictures. Up to this point I had been paying other people to do the work for me, but from here on I was going to be doing most of it myself. |
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betenoir
Part of things
Afraid of the Light
Posts: 163
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Jan 15, 2021 21:15:29 GMT
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I did get a quote for having the electrical installation done by a friend who is an electrician, but I always fancied doing the bulk of it myself and then just getting him to connect the supply and do the certification, and that was how it went. The plan was for a square of LED battens around 50cm in from the walls all the way round, and another row of the same lights down the middle of the garage. Whilst I knew the arrangement I wanted the lights in, I struggled for a while to work out how they should be mounted. The solution came to me when I was sat in my office at work, and I spotted cable trays when I glanced upwards. I ordered a load of 10cm cable trays, and four trapeze mountings for the ends, which all reminded me a lot of Meccano when it arrived.  Bolting the cable trays to the joists was straightforward once I had located some spacers of the right size.  The trapeze mounts were always going to be the more difficult bit, and to ensure I located them correctly on the cable trays I put the light fittings in place first. Attaching them to the ceiling required longer lengths of studding than was supplied, and some additional wooden supports.  Wiring the lights took a while, but only because there are so many of them. Altogether there are fifteen LED batten fittings. I also wired a separate circuit with two BC bulb fittings.     |
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betenoir
Part of things
Afraid of the Light
Posts: 163
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Jan 15, 2021 21:57:39 GMT
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Having got some light to work by, the next job was to line the walls. The obvious way to do this, and what I was originally intending to do, was to use full height lining panels, with the wiring for mains sockets in surface conduit. I decided against this because I may need to have the lining panels off if I decide to add thermal insulation behind them. If I have to remove the sockets and wiring to achieve that it would be a PITA. Instead, I decided to install 100mm boards at waist height all the way round, with the sockets on the front face (obviously) and the wiring behind. Lining panels would then go in above and below this, so they can be easily removed without disturbing the sockets if required. After my order of boards and etc. had arrived from Wickes, and I had bought myself a decent straight edge and some clamps, I started applying my rudimentary carpentry skills.    After much measuring, marking, cutting, trial fitting, adjusting and drilling, and a couple of coats of grey paint for the sockets board, I had lining panels for all of the walls, except for in the corner beside the personal door where the temporary electrical supply is located.     |
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betenoir
Part of things
Afraid of the Light
Posts: 163
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Jan 16, 2021 22:35:28 GMT
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ballbagbaginsI do not see much point in lining the walls unless I also line the inside of the roof, and the doors. The thermal insulation sheets are not cheap, so that buying enough to line all of the walls and the roof would cost several hundred pounds. If I confirm I need to do it, then I will, but I am going to try working in the garage through one winter to see how it is when uninsulated. As I have been working outside on my driveway in all weathers for a number of years, I suspect I will be very comfortable working in there without insulating it.
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betenoir
Part of things
Afraid of the Light
Posts: 163
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Jan 21, 2021 21:23:53 GMT
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Ax GTi Turbo
(Fiesta mk3 17"s caught on full lock at front so failure....)
