Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT German flatpack home and garage build UK

[vavet]

That is a really cool way to build a house. Seems like a much better way than a site built house like most of our houses here in the US. Except for that whole thing with driving on the wrong side of the road and using Celsius, you Brits are pretty smart!

 

[M-technik-3]

Thanks, looks like it from that angle but its a F11 530D, remapped to 310bhp & 650ft/lb torque though so its a great daily driver.

We never got those here, That's a 5er hard to judge dimension on small photo,
Those still M57 engine?

 

[ZRX61]

The only odd bit that I see is the holes for utilities etc in the slab are square instead of round which makes me think the corners will be prone to propagate cracks.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Nice house, nice garage, nice everything.
Here in upstate NY we had panelized houses, similar to yours, since the late 50's, early 60's. Woodcraft was the name of the company. They were extremely well built, like yours. Then they fell out of favor in the 70's, and the company went bust. It took until the late 90's for a small resurgence, which has never equalled their original boom. Stick built and modular homes are cheaper.

 

[samb]

That is a really cool way to build a house. Seems like a much better way than a site built house like most of our houses here in the US. Except for that whole thing with driving on the wrong side of the road and using Celsius, you Brits are pretty smart!

Haha that's very kind thank you. I think we do a lot backwards over here- bureaucracy rules in most things! Partly why I was amazed that my planning application went through straight away- I was expecting a battle!

We never got those here, That's a 5er hard to judge dimension on small photo,
Those still M57 engine?

Exactly right, N57 all the way. Great engines!

The only odd bit that I see is the holes for utilities etc in the slab are square instead of round which makes me think the corners will be prone to propagate cracks.

I'm not too sure to be honest.

Nice house, nice garage, nice everything.
Here in upstate NY we had panelized houses, similar to yours, since the late 50's, early 60's. Woodcraft was the name of the company. They were extremely well built, like yours. Then they fell out of favor in the 70's, and the company went bust. It took until the late 90's for a small resurgence, which has never equalled their original boom. Stick built and modular homes are cheaper.

Thank you kindly, it's a real shame this format is not used more widely as its cost effective, less obtrusive to surrounding residents and more economic with materials. People get used to a certain format and stick to it.

 

[Virginia Mark]

What is your roofing material made of, I like the look of it.

 

[samb]

What is your roofing material made of, I like the look of it.

It's Marley heavy duty concrete tiles. You get a whole brochure full of choices when speccing the house but I wanted a clean look.

 

[samb]

Thought I'd do a quick update on the garage, its been a while and serves as a reminder to me of where I'm at and how its evolving. I've drawn a lot of inspiration from you guys, next on the list is a DIY PVC tube set up to hang the drills I think. Seen it on someones thread but can't remember whos!

I grew sick of the worktable I built, the oak worktops were offcuts from someone's kitchen build and were toally free, I decided to cut them down to be uniform in size and bought some very cheap Ikea kitchen cupboards. Really happy with how it came out.



The cheap IKEA kitchen cupboards came with some laminate work surfaces which I had no use for, so decided to put them on some cheap hair pin legs and sell them. Made a fair bit of money back towards the build by selling them and some of the same on the leftover oak tops. (also converted into tables)



Anyway, I had to do the work surfaces along the left wall as opposed to the backwall due to my requirement of still being able to drive a fullsize car should I need to as my F11 is quite long. I can probably take down the power rack now that covid means gyms are open again, which should help with space.



I even made a fold down table for the shop vac out of leftovers to get it off the floor...



I wasn't happy with how the bikes were being stored, so decided to hang them DIY style- takes up much less space this way.



Recently got back into biking, its been a few years so bought myself a 750 Aprilia which should come in handy for commuting in summer. I am most certainly a fair weather rider. Its great to have the space to work on the bike, although I bought a load of MDF to make some panelling for the living room which is taking up space presently.

 

[nicholam77]

Looking great, and nice bike!

 

[nicholam77]

How's the Aprilia? I don't ride myself, but my brother does. He had a Ducati 899 that had some heat buildup issues around the seat area and sold it. He ended up with a BMW instead, but I think that Aprilia was one of the replacement options he was looking at but wasn't sure about good dealer / maintenance support in the U.S. Just curious how you like it after having it for awhile.

 

[kaymccampbell]

You've done great things with your shop. Nice bike, too.

 

[samb]

How's the Aprilia? I don't ride myself, but my brother does. He had a Ducati 899 that had some heat buildup issues around the seat area and sold it. He ended up with a BMW instead, but I think that Aprilia was one of the replacement options he was looking at but wasn't sure about good dealer / maintenance support in the U.S. Just curious how you like it after having it for awhile.

Thank you mate, its a decent bike - plenty of torque from the V Twin, but in all honesty I prefer full faired bikes and will likely go back to one as the commute in to work is mostly motorway. Really reliable though which is rare being Italian!

You've done great things with your shop. Nice bike, too.

Thank you kindly, its kind of basic but I am trying to make it better as I take inspiration from here!

 

[samb]

QUICK UPDATE FOR JUNE 2021

The Mini Cooper S has gone, soon to be replaced by something more classic in origin hopefully.
Super easy to work on thanks to the bonnet design taking up most of the front structure and headlights into the air too and really did handle like a go kart. not too fast but still good fun.



The Aprilia Shiver 750 has had a bit of money spent on it recently by way of a reduced sprocket set, DID X Ring chain, belly pan, mobile phone mount and a few other bits. It's a good bike, very reliable and fun to ride but I am looking for another bike to either work alongside it or replace for better commutes on high speed roads.



The missus and I had some annual leave recently where we had planned to go to the US. C19 changed that, so instead we did a short trip to visit friends in Bristol. Anyone recognise this bridge? Built to an original design by Isambard Kingdom Brunel where work started on it in June 1831.







Anyway, on return from this short trip, we still had plenty of days off... so decided to do some work in the house. I built a bit of panelling for the living room wall. I bought some large sheets of MDF, cut them down into 10cm strips , did some high school math to work out how many boxes could fit along the wall and got started. It's definately helped to add a bit of texture to the house as its very modern looking but needs softening in places.

The start...I'm committed now by way of 'no more nails' glue!



And the finished result.



Not much garage related work just yet but it is in the pipeline. I'll finish off with the update that I finally put up my festoon lights too over the decking which I have had in a box for over a year! Perfect lighting for BBQ nights and drinks with friends in the evening.

 

[samb]

For those that are interested, I like to buy the odd project to do on days off. Recently I bought a rather nice 190E and have started a small build thread for it; titled: 1989 Mercedes 190E - looks fast, drive slow.

In a weird twist of fate, I was browsing car ads online recently and saw a car that I often walked past and admired. I even said to my missus "I'd love to get something like that as a project" in the summer as I saw it under a car port . Anyway, I saw the advert (which had no price but a massive amount of interest), walked round the corner to where I'd seen it parked and made him an offer!



The thing is, I don't know a great deal about its origins, the last owner has had it for many years but he's quite old now.

It is a G reg late 1989 190E 2.0 8v Auto with 67k miles and a good amount of history.
There was some surface rust on the front offside arch but apart from that looked very solid underneath. However, it's sat in a garage since 2016 so requires some routine maintenance, even though it turns over instantly, even after all this time.

I fully appreciate that the wheels are gross and need to be replaced badly. Like wise the white badges and grille.



Last week there was a massive rainfall and I'm pleased to see there were no leaks as its not in a garage presently. The sunroof had me worried as its been garaged for so long I thought the seals might have dried up or perished.

This week, whilst awaiting service parts arriving, I set to cleaning up the interior. During which, I managed to find all the service history in the boot of the car too, when I bought it he wasn't sure where it was!

Got back from work and gave the interior a good clean up, way better than it was. (No before pictures but imagine spider webs everywhere and dirt in the seats, carpets etc... as you'd imagine for a car that hasn't moved in years.)





Still got some way to go before it can be MOT'd. Top of the list is getting it serviced, new brakes all round, fluids and replace the alloys and tyres (they're all perished so wouldn't get through an MOT on them)

Even though it is very low mileage (backed by MOT's and fsh) - the drivers bolster fabric had torn. This was easily fixed with some colour matched iron on patch. I've used it in the past on some Renault Clio 197 Recaros that ALWAYS tear, it does a damn good job for pennies. Obviously its no match for a full reupholstery but the money is better spent elsewhere in my opinion. No pic of the patch up sadly.

 

[samb]

So on my days off, I got to work on servicing the car...

First up, I got the 190E up on stands and check the bodywork and underside, I already knew the front offside wing has some minor surface rust so I treated that and then went exploring. I didn't find any rust on the underside which was great, so undersealed the floor and arches whilst it was in the air.

Next, I flushed and replaced the coolant, found a leak in radiator whilst I was at it!
Went on to change fluids, filters, cleaned up calipers and discs, replaced bulbs in dash, replaced perished rubbers, changed battery - basic stuff thus far... it should be ready for an MOT next week.

Last thing on the list before the MOT is to sort a blow in the exhaust, its the mid silencer thats halfway back, it has a small hole where the weld has obviously given up. Nothing major. It *should* pass an MOT then, I'm hopeful. I might just cut the mid silencer out and replace with straight 2" pipe, hopefully it'll give it a slight growl.

The car weirdly has white badges and a white grille. I'm not sure why but it was too much for me. I removed the white grille inner and sprayed the fins black:



I also took off the white 190E badge from the rear as well as the emblem on the rear- again spraying it black and its a MASSIVE difference. So much cleaner now.
Undecided whether to put the newly black sprayed 190E badge back on or leave as is?



I also cleared the floor space enough in the garage to allow it to be rehomed and with winter now in effect, be able to work on it in relative comfort. For years I have had to work on cars outside in the rain and cold, its quite the treat to have my own garage.

 

[samb]

Next, I swapped out the perished tyres on scabby rims with some 17" 7.5J Monoblock reps that came with some very good tyres. The car look far better but I noted when I was under it has got red dampers and potentially sportline springs, it sits low and the bodykit means that it does scrub at the front slightly when I go over bumps in the road. Its okay for 'normal roads' but when the tyres eventually wear down I'll go from the current 215 profile tyres on 7.5J rims, to a slimmer tyre to negate the issue.

From this:



To this:



Really happy with the progress, I don't normally buy a car based on emotion so I'm pleased it was a good one. The looks it gets is nice, a lot of people seem to admire these classics. That's all for no folks, thanks for taking the time to read.
It is very low but damn it sits well.

 

[Bob Heine]

Undecided whether to put the newly black sprayed 190E badge back on or leave as is?

Samb, being ancient, I grew up in the "nosed and decked" era when the first thing you did to a car was remove the hood (sorry, bonnet) ornaments and the trunk (boot) ornaments and the lock (electric popper controlled remotely). For that reason I like the clean look without the model badge. If the boot release wasn't there I'd even lose the MB logo.

Of course, most young drivers wouldn't recognize your ride as a Mercedes without the logo and even less likely recognize it as a 19E (if you even care about that kind of thing).

 

[bazzateer]

Loving all this. What roofing material do you have on the garage?

 

[samb]

Samb, being ancient, I grew up in the "nosed and decked" era when the first thing you did to a car was remove the hood (sorry, bonnet) ornaments and the trunk (boot) ornaments and the lock (electric popper controlled remotely). For that reason I like the clean look without the model badge. If the boot release wasn't there I'd even lose the MB logo.

Of course, most young drivers wouldn't recognize your ride as a Mercedes without the logo and even less likely recognize it as a 19E (if you even care about that kind of thing).

Haha I love the US/UK translations going on there! Fair enough, I tend to agree.
I'd actually prefer the grille surround the be OEM chrome though but nevermind, it'll stay white for now.
I'm in my 30's and I'd say non car guys have no idea what it is even- just some old beater!

Loving all this. What roofing material do you have on the garage?

It is 900mm stripped Bitumen hexagonal felt shingles.

 

[matt_o]

Love the house, the cars, the bikes.. the garage, all nicely done. keep us posted

 

[samb]

Love the house, the cars, the bikes.. the garage, all nicely done. keep us posted

Thank you kind sir.

 

[Metallitubby]

the perished tyres on scabby rims

It's really interesting/awkward that someone would put Honda Accord wheels on a Mercedes 190.

 

[samb]

It's really interesting/awkward that someone would put Honda Accord wheels on a Mercedes 190.

Haha is that what they are? I saw they Honda stamp but didn't know the designated model. Terrible.

 

[samb]

This week when it was not raining I decided to service the sunroof mechanism, it's now smooth as butter.



In line with my interests, I've owned a lot of older cars. They always they seem to have chequered MOT histories, even ones that are pretty much perfect to drive and look at. It seems where one careful owner sells to a less so owner and the car barely gets through an MOT before it then goes to another owner that again cherishes it. This cycle then shows it self in an MOT history that goes through the traffic light colours with red fails, amber warnings and green for straight passes.

It was amazing to see that this particular car had a very good record, since 1985 it failed once in 2008 for a front offside wheel bearing having excessive play. The remaining years have always been passes. Isn't that pretty amazing for a car as old as ours? I think so, the car might only have 67k miles but its still 32 years old!



The boot floor is in great condition, free from rust and all original. I decided to take the jack out and clean it up, quite a period piece! That's dirt in the corner not rust!



The build up has been documented but I still had to put the car over the pit and give it a once over, I found the rear calipers were binding slightly, so I rebuilt them to make sure it wouldn't be an issue. Whilst I was under there I dealt with the hole in the exhaust. It was such a small hole in the mid silencer that it didn't justify a whole new system but I didn't fancy my chances with the thin metal and mig welder.

I was able to gun gum, bandage it and then use some alloy exhaust repair sheeting. It worked a treat. Likewise, the car has been fully serviced with all the perishable items replaced to make sure its going to keep going. I noticed that the brake fluid reservoir caps were perished so they got replaced.



Anyway... Yesterday was a big day - MOT time, the first since 2015 when it got retired and garaged!

IT PASSED WITH NO ADVISORIES! I was very pleased as had spent probably about 100 hours or so in recommisioning it to this point.
To celebrate I took some photos locally, here they are.

 

[Metallitubby]

Haha is that what they are? I saw they Honda stamp but didn't know the designated model. Terrible.

Indeed they are. I am about as Honda-centric as any one person can be, but those wheels have no place on that car. Thank you for remedy'ing that ASAP!

 

[littlebean]

late to the game but it's Clifton suspension bridge isn't it?

 

[littlebean]

also, roller cab (along with everything else) looks great - what brand is it?

 

[samb]

late to the game but it's Clifton suspension bridge isn't it?

Spot on!

roller cab

It's a Halfords own one, a special edition vintage white I believe. They now call that range Halfrds Advanced. Pretty good tools to be fair, all come with a lifetime guarantee and you can use a trade card on it all to save about 20% off everything!

 

[littlebean]

cheers - used to go over it from time to time a lonnnnngggggggggg time ago

 

[samb]

I've done quite a bit to the house over the last few months, although not yet uploaded the photos- I'll get on that in the coming days as I like that this thread works as a diary should I lose everything!

In the mean time, I have been increasing my car collection. Friends and family think I have too many 'toys' but this forum is a place of like minded individuals and on here atleast it's small fry!

Recent purchase being the Cayman S 987.1 - which I may use for the odd trackday later in the year but want it to be on the softer side, more fast-road than track really.



It's got some nice bits, sits just right on the staggered Bola CSR 19" wheels, although I also have some OEM Lobster Claw's too.
It also has a sports exhaust, brand unknown until I get underneath it but it makes the most of the flat 6 engine!

The first thing I put in was an extinguisher on a quick release mount- I have them in all my cars. It might not do much against an inferno but could still save a life.



The leather seats are in good condition but I used some Auto Glym conditioner to bring them back to their best. I'm no detailer, very amateur but I enjoy seeing results from some grafting.



The front air ducts as standard do not provide any protection for the radiators and worse still is leaf collection that over time blocks and can cause rot. You can buy special grilles but I thought I would make some. I also decided to tint the foglights, I am unsure about them at the moment though. If you have an opinion, let me know!



The 987.1 is a small car. I love it, compared to my daily and work cars it's diddy and very go kart like. It's certainly a small package to fit a 3.4 litre in. I tend to drive with my lights on in daytime as well, kind of like rolling with DRL's as you really fall into other driver's blind spots being so low down.

 

[littlebean]

cayman looks very nice, not sure I'd tint fog lights though (just my view and may be worthless!) unless you know 100% you're never going to get caught in fog
pretty jealous of the space you've got too

 

[mike93lx]

Looks awesome. Thanks for sharing

 

[nicholam77]

Loving the cayman!

 

[ovscrider]

amazing build, we need to embrace some of these panelized building methods more here.

 

[Klokwerk]

That construction is pretty cool. Goes up fast. And it looks great!

 

[samb]

Just catching up on the week, I've got some floor tiles coming from Halfords. I've not put the down yet as not been well but I'm hoping they work decentish. They're cheap and in no comparison to the like of Racedesk or Swisstrax but by using my trade card I'm able to cover 25m2 for like £70 ($100 ish) which is nuts really.

I watched this video and decided I'd give it a go as the concrete floor is fine now, it's sealed well so doesn't cause any dust issues and is nice and flat- it just looks a bit rubbish and I think the floor will add a bit of warmth in the feet, especially working on cars in winter on hands & knees.

Halfords garage floor review on YT

Time will tell...

In other news, I've done a bit more on the Cayman. As I said before, my intention is to convert it to a semi-fast road spec, nothing too outlandish but it's not a daily so I don't mind it being a little raucous.



Not really a fix as such, but I really didn't like the PCM system, it really aged the interior. In the past I have bought some Android system's such as Pumpkin and was hugely impressed to the point that I think they're still better than the current ones being pumped out by premium brands outside of Tesla's infotainment.



I decided to try out a cheap Android 11 double din unit. I can't remember the brand but I'm sure they are all one and the same, just different boxes. I also bought the rip off Porsche cage and surround and the 987 specific ISO harness.

This should have been a 10 minute job but I had NO IDEA that these cheaper 'double din's are not actually regulation sized, it's about 5mm bigger in each direction so would never fit flush or even in the double din sized cage. I managed to get round the issue by carefully cutting and reshaping the cage to fit, then mounting the headunit behind the rip off Porsche surround instead of in it.
I would not do it again, massive ballache to make it work well but it now atleast looks good and is done right, I'd have just binned it otherwise about bought Kenwood or Alpine HU.

I'm using the AGAMA car launcher interface on it bought from Play Store, way better than the generic one that it came with. Until last week I didn't know you could buy differing car interfaces!



Oh and while it was all out, I replaced the buttons on the climate control unit.



I also am getting the Mercedes ready for sale, I really am in two minds as to whether to keep it or not. i just love driving it, a properly relaxing drive, simply brilliant.



Obviously being an 80's car, it doesn't like you playing anything else...



Finally, the lift up spoiler throws that common Spoiler fault error at 75mph, it has a ducktail fitted but that's no reason for it not working. It was getting on my nerves as beeped the warning if you go over 74mph EVERYTIME. I was going to buy a Foxwell NT530 and code it out but I think I thought I'd try to repair or fix the motor first as it'll be cool to be able to drop it.

This wretch kept me company...





There was power to it, the motor was functioning but the hydraulics were not flowing, something wasn't right. The previous owner had the car for many years but averaged about 500 miles a year, I think infrequent use was the main culprit here. I got my hammer out and freed the motor up with some force, tested and back to 100 percent efficiency! Down it goes...

 

[samb]

The garage flooring turned up... it's 10mm thick and about as good as you can expect for around £4 per m2. Overall I am quite happy as it doesn't depress too much with the motorcycle on it.



I didn't order enough to finish the whole garage as it only let me order 9 packs online... I'll go down to Halford's for some more over the weekend I guess. Only needs two more packs to finish it.



I think even with a car on it over time, I'd get sink marks where the wheels are but I could just replace those tiles if it bothered me but they're only really in the garage when I work on them, then back outside.

When I come to jack a car up, I'd also just lift the tiles in those spots, same for axle stands. Might seem like a faff to some and I might get sick of doing that.. who knows. it certainly will make the garage look more finished though.

For those in the UK that are considering them as a cheap garage flooring option, I'll let you now my thoughts in the coming weeks!

 

[samb]

Small update. The nights are starting to get lighter, but it's still very dark early. The missus asked me to put some lighting down the drive to the road for when the bins get put out. It does assist with Security, but to be honest that's something that I've always been hot on anyway. Most thieves are opportunists as going equipped carries a similar sentencing weight to having actually done the burglary in this Country- so it pays to be diligent.

Simple drive way lights put up:



The lawn still looks decent for a DIY effort, given how bad the soil was after I built the house. The amount of broken glass and rocks I pulled from the soil after 4 plus sifts was ridiculous. At the time of laying though my time was cheaper than paying for turf.



I can't wait for it not to be dark by 1730 hours!

 

[littlebean]

looks great - be interested to hear how those floor tiles perform

 

[benwalsh91]

i really really like this. you've done a great job. What part of the UK are you in if you don't mind me asking.