Dom’s English suburban garage workshop build.

[zDomz]

I thought I would document the build of my new garage as I have been reading the journal for some time getting inspired by so many others!

The build has started but first let’s go back a year and a bit!

So July ‘17 I got the keys to my new house. The 94 year old guy I bought it from packed his suitcase and moved to a carehome. As you can imagine there was lots of sorting out and modernising needed.

The house already had a garage but it leaked and was barely big enough to fit a fiesta in. However for a house in town the driveway width and garden size made up for it.



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[zDomz]

Fast forward through planning applications and finding a builder etc..... we had a smashing time making a load of rubble.

The extension started going up and the existing garage came down.

The wife’s bit was just about finished and my bit gets a turn!

Monday of this week my garden turned into trench central!

And yesterday the footings got poured. (Unfortunately I had to work late so the pictures are in the dark)


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[Motoman1100]

Thanks for sharing the journey. I especially like the addition it looks great. I spent several years living in the UK back in the service and you made me laugh with the comment about the garage barely fitting a Fiesta. I used to own an A reg Fiesta and would marvel at how small our garage was too. In America if you can't park 2 Suburban SUVs and have enough space to walk around them both you need a bigger garage. Ha

Anyway, looking forward to following your build.

Cheers

 

[littlebean]

will be following this one - I've just agreed to lose half my single uk garage so have to dream by following other builds!

 

[zDomz]

Cheers guys -I am glad I am not talking to myself here!

Got home from work (late again) to find my builder had been getting organised ready for the footings.

I hadn’t realised how much slope there was on the garden previously. The level drops by about 4 bricks over the length of the building.


The sheds on the left of the picture will be relocated once the garage is built. Although I may get rid of the wooden one.




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[zDomz]

Well the weather wasn’t great on Friday so builder didn’t get to much done. He is a one man band and just gets extra hands in for some jobs so just steady progress.

Once we are outta the ground I have a different bunch of guys to do all the block work. They will come back once the roof is on to render it as well.



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[LXCam]

You're definitely not talking to yourself, it's just the way it is around here. Sometimes it take a bit before the crowd joins in so keep the pics a flowing please. Man I luv the look, how old is the original structure? Also it looks like your lot is maybe ~10-12 meters wide but how deep is it and what will be the dimensions of your shop. Good luck and keep us in the loop as I enjoy seeing how construction styles are done in other places.

 

[zDomz]

Thanks LXCam.

I have been round the journal long enough to know I need to hook the crowd! Hopefully once I get in to it and get the look and finish I am hoping for I will have an audience.

The house was originally built in 1934. It sits on a plot of about 10.75m x 53m. From the rear of the extension to the rear fence is about 37m. The garage is 4m x 12m. Originally I was planning to build a much wider and shorter garage at the bottom of the plot but that got vetoed by the wife due to the apple and plum trees.


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[open12]

From somebody living in a postage stamp in Scotland Im amazed at the length of your rear garden... Its nice to see another UK build on here!
Keep up the good work, there are folks watching it

 

[captain14]

I have read your thread since the original post. I don’t always
Comment but I’ll be back For updates. Especially for the brick and block work. My house and garage are brick and block construction too.

 

[zDomz]

Hey open12 - yeah I was lucky to get this house with the length of garden. Shame I hate gardening! I think most houses of this type built around this time had a lot of land because people were growing a lot of their own food.

Quick conversion for the feet and inches guys..
35’x174’ plot
121’ from back of house to rear fence
39’4” x 13’1” garage (as built external measurements so am gonna lose the thickness of the walls)

But the nice thing with this house unlike most of its type the driveway is nearly 14’ whereas most are only 7’ wide.



As a reference this is a screen grab from google map of a similar house I lived in years ago with my parents.... as you can see the transit van completely hides the garage door. The neighbors haven’t even bothered with a garage.

You guys in the States don’t realise how much space you have!


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[Favguy]

The neighbors haven’t even bothered with a garage. [/url]

In fairness, the neighbour there doesn't really have any options to build a garage!

Keep up the good work, will be watching with interest.

 

[LXCam]

You guys in the States don’t realise how much space you have! url]

I can't speak for everyone but personally I know just how fortunate we are. My lot is just a tick less in width then yours is deep. But a half a mile away we have a housing track that a normal sized car parked in the driveway will partially block the sidewalk. Hell you can shake a guys hand on his front porch from the sidewalk it's so concentrated. They could easily put six of those houses just in my front yard alone. Trust me bud, I'm count myself a lucky chump.

 

[zDomz]

Slow and steady progress over the last week. Just about ready for the floor pour now.


I can finally get a handle on the size of this..... but I am still wondering if it is big enough. Although I guess that’s the eternal worry when building (unless it is a big party garage!)

 

[firecracker]

Keep them coming zDomz. I much prefer people that build garages rather than make them into extra rooms. Can hardly get down our grove for cars parked on the road and not using the drive and garage.

 

[Favguy]

Good progress there. I'm not seeing the footprint of any pillars along the side walls keyed in to the brickwork, so is it going to have an internal blockwork wall built up alongside the brick once the floor is down?

It'll never seem big enough! I thought my build was a good size, but now I've acclimatised to it, I wish it were bigger. Stuff seems to expand to fill whatever space you have no matter what the size... Also, looking at some of the huge US builds for 9 cars and the like on here doesn't help lol!!

 

[zDomz]

He tells me that the pillars will sit on the floor slab. I expected that they woulda been built first but I ain’t a builder what do I know?


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[Ruxpin]

Watching with interest. Please keep the updates coming

 

[LXCam]

The brick work looks perfect, nice job.

 

[zDomz]

The brick work looks perfect, nice job.

Yup the brickwork is really top notch. My builder is a perfectionist so it is to be expected I guess.

Found a picture of my garage at my last house - as you can see I have upgraded a bit with the scale.

7’ door with a few inches either side and only 18’ long.

 

[Favguy]

He tells me that the pillars will sit on the floor slab. I expected that they woulda been built first but I ain’t a builder what do I know?


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I'd have thought it better to start them from the foundation along with the outer leaf, if there's any settlement in the floor slab, it's going to be problematic. Do make absolutely sure he's actually keying them into the outer wall as it rises though. At one of my previous houses, the garage builder had just ran another pillar of bricks up alongside the outer skin, not keyed in, just against the mortar between them, not even used any wall ties! Needless to say, it had moved over the years and wasn't doing anything to support the wall.

How did you get out of the door at your last garage?!

 

[firecracker]

Steel ties can be used so doesn't need through bricks to tie the skins.

 

[zDomz]

How did you get out of the door at your last garage?!

Needless to say I didn’t normally park in the garage. I had just pulled it in to give the rear quarter a little bit of a paint job with an aerosol can. And even that was done through the pedestrian door!


It’s too late to do anything about the pillars now as the floor has been poured. Sorry there are no pictures. I meant to get some before it got dark but I got sidetracked!





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[zDomz]

So progress has been made this week!

And a day later.

The pillars are tied into the outer with wall ties.

Builder thinks we should be at roof plate level by Friday afternoon. But the roof trusses are gonna take at least 2 weeks to get here..... I thought he woulda ordered them sooner so that they arrived as soon as the walls were up.....


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[Favguy]

Good progress Are you rendering or painting the blocks?

 

[zDomz]

The blocks are gonna be rendered with white self coloured render - so no painting the outside for many years! The inside will be insulated and boarded. I am not 100% sure wether to use plaster board or OSB at the moment. As I love the clean look the plaster gives I am leaning that way. But I need to be a bit further down the road before I worry too much about that.

The garage doors and windows are ready and waiting to go in as soon as the walls are ready for them!

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[zDomz]

Only one picture as I got into a discussion with wifey about “did you realise how big it is gonna be?” And. “It’s all I can see from the house”......


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[Bob Heine]

Cheers guys -I am glad I am not talking to myself here!

zDonz, I missed the start but I'm watching quietly from my rather dark hidey hole. I really like the plan and I hope the new look of the garden grows on your wife.

 

[LXCam]

Only one picture as I got into a discussion with wifey about “did you realise how big it is gonna be?” And. “It’s all I can see from the house”......


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It's a bit late now hun

 

[sawduststeve]

Only one picture as I got into a discussion with wifey about “did you realise how big it is gonna be?” And. “It’s all I can see from the house”......


Don't worry, when it's got it's roof on , and it's a nice bright white, you'll hardly notice it. It does look like a decent size though, did you hide the plans.

Nice build Dom.

Steve.

 

[1/2 Cup]

zDomz looking great.

 

[Willypu]

That is quite a bit of progress in a relatively short time. I am looking forward to seeing how this goes. Maybe your wife could come up with a garden plan, that way she would feel like she is part of the build?

 

[zDomz]

Yep that was a fast bit of progress..... now I am struggling to get anything done.....

My builder put the block work guys back a few days cuz he wasn’t ready for them to start now they have left to do another job leaving mine unfinished and me wondering when they will return. I am also waiting for the roof trusses to arrive and while they are being constructed my builder is also off at another job...*#%*<€**

But on the plus side the wife and I had a discussion about the garage. It turns out she doesn’t really have a problem with the length or width (nudge nudge wink). But it was how high it stands up...... LOL!

So the compromise Is i have lost 4 inches of height.

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[Bob Heine]

So the compromise Is i have lost 4 inches of height.

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zDomz, in Pub inches I think you lost 9.

 

[WagonHo!]

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[WagonHo!]

Great build.
That must have been an interesting discussion over size counts. I thought over the pond they do millimeters so alls good - 4mm it is.

 

[ZRX61]

Why didn't you put it at the end of the yard & go full width?

 

[zDomz]

Why didn't you put it at the end of the yard & go full width?

That was the original plan. But the apple and plum trees had to stay. (In house planning department insisted). Also may not have got permission from the council if I had to remove 8 trees.

It’s also a long way to go in the rain.. a much more expensive driveway and more difficult to run services (I want to put water and drains in as well as electric)


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[zDomz]

Update !! Current situation is the builder had been back for a day and a half. So the walls are now up to roof height. But due to lack of daylight I have been unable to get any pictures yet. I am told that the roof trusses are going to be delivered in a weeks time. So just back to waiting.... zzz


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[Forkliftfred]

Nice size. Bookmarked!