Hi all!
I see I'm not the sole UK resident on this site, so nothing new on that count.
Sadly here though there isn't the garage and shop culture that there is in the US and there are certainly no web sites or publications that cover the subject (although the great UK public do love a shed), so I am glad that I found this site.
I am a confirmed gear head that enjoys working on cars and other mechanical things, hence the need for a garage. I used to have one built in to my home but family demands mean that it was cleared and transformed in to another room.
After many years of searching this over populated, real estate sparse corner of the UK, I managed to find my "happy place" - a two bay sectional precast concrete garage, no power, no water. Doesn't sound anything special.... it wasn't. Dark, damp and in need of some work, I set about making it in to a place I wanted to work and spend time.
Whilst the I could not do anything significant to the structure for fear of the local building control department, I could work with what I had and improve the inside.
Firstly was to brighten it and banish the grey stain ridden concrete and dull asbesdos roof, which all took a spray coat of white emulsion paint. The coarse concrete floor was next, receiving a layer of latex based floor levelling compound and a two coats of light grey epoxy floor paint.
Power was the next consideration and without mains electricity (£2500 / $3500 to be laid on) was to come up with an off grid power supply. For this I have used five 624 commercial batteries, connected to a solar panel, for running primarily a 12v system but also a 2000w 240v inverter unit. Additional power is supplied by a 3kw silent run generator although this can't be used after certain hours as the garage is in a residential area.
Lighting comes from three, three foot LED 12v strip lights per bay, which are not only very low power consumption but compact. The light generated per strip is roughly equivalent to a comparable sized fluroescent tube. In addition to this are two per bay independent solar LED flood lights for when more light is needed.
About a year after purchasing the first two bays the garage next to mine came up for sale and I was able to secure it, giving me the entire block.
The sectional wall was then removed and a steel framework put up to support the roof and allow a clear walk through. That bay then received the same treatment as the rest.
For the future......
Well that's why I am on here, for idea's and to see what other people have done. There are a whole host of small improvements that I'd like to do when time and budget allows. Ideally I would like to find some sort of vehicle lift that is either powered by 12v or is manual (I don't use it often enough to worry about that being powered).
If anyone on here has any suggestions for 12v equipment that is good to use then I'm always open to suggestions. Likewise if anyone else has an off grid garage they'd like to power, I'm be glad to share my knowledge.
Look forward to chatting to you all...
I see I'm not the sole UK resident on this site, so nothing new on that count.
Sadly here though there isn't the garage and shop culture that there is in the US and there are certainly no web sites or publications that cover the subject (although the great UK public do love a shed), so I am glad that I found this site.
I am a confirmed gear head that enjoys working on cars and other mechanical things, hence the need for a garage. I used to have one built in to my home but family demands mean that it was cleared and transformed in to another room.
After many years of searching this over populated, real estate sparse corner of the UK, I managed to find my "happy place" - a two bay sectional precast concrete garage, no power, no water. Doesn't sound anything special.... it wasn't. Dark, damp and in need of some work, I set about making it in to a place I wanted to work and spend time.
Whilst the I could not do anything significant to the structure for fear of the local building control department, I could work with what I had and improve the inside.
Firstly was to brighten it and banish the grey stain ridden concrete and dull asbesdos roof, which all took a spray coat of white emulsion paint. The coarse concrete floor was next, receiving a layer of latex based floor levelling compound and a two coats of light grey epoxy floor paint.
Power was the next consideration and without mains electricity (£2500 / $3500 to be laid on) was to come up with an off grid power supply. For this I have used five 624 commercial batteries, connected to a solar panel, for running primarily a 12v system but also a 2000w 240v inverter unit. Additional power is supplied by a 3kw silent run generator although this can't be used after certain hours as the garage is in a residential area.
Lighting comes from three, three foot LED 12v strip lights per bay, which are not only very low power consumption but compact. The light generated per strip is roughly equivalent to a comparable sized fluroescent tube. In addition to this are two per bay independent solar LED flood lights for when more light is needed.
About a year after purchasing the first two bays the garage next to mine came up for sale and I was able to secure it, giving me the entire block.
The sectional wall was then removed and a steel framework put up to support the roof and allow a clear walk through. That bay then received the same treatment as the rest.
For the future......
Well that's why I am on here, for idea's and to see what other people have done. There are a whole host of small improvements that I'd like to do when time and budget allows. Ideally I would like to find some sort of vehicle lift that is either powered by 12v or is manual (I don't use it often enough to worry about that being powered).
If anyone on here has any suggestions for 12v equipment that is good to use then I'm always open to suggestions. Likewise if anyone else has an off grid garage they'd like to power, I'm be glad to share my knowledge.
Look forward to chatting to you all...