# Del's garage



## >DEL< (May 21, 2008)

Well last week, finally after months of effort and hassle with various (lazy) groundsmen and builders and all sorts of trials and tribulations, my new garage and home for my car(s) is completed!

Before I start, got to say a BIG thanks to *Epoch* for his own thread about his garage as that was a great source for some handy little tips and information (as well as inspiration!!!) for my project.

I was supposed to start this thread back in May when work began to show progress but it never kicked off. Now it's done i can sort of go backwards and show you what i've been upto.

It's ironic that after all of the work done so far, we are only at the end of phase 1, and that is to have the simple building. There's still loads to do.

This is the original "before picture" showing the rear area as it has been pretty much from day one when he moved in.
You cant really tell how much of a jungle there was back there behind the Beetle, and land that was simply being wasted.









Right at the back was huge conifer which was easy enough to cut down. All the other smaller trees and bushed were also cut down and chucked into the chipper leaving a clear open area and for the first time we could see the space being wasted.









Removing the 100+ year old root was a different matter altogether! Here's the root in all its glory. Apparently, it weighed 1 ton.

















With all the trees and the jungle well out of the way, the next phase was to try and establish some sort of clear area and work out how big an area we have to lay a concrete base...










Taking boundaries etc into account, we decided to clear an area big enough to lay a concrete base 19 x 24 foot.

The diggerman got a little carried away and just kept draggin the stuff out of the ground.









Next was to flatten then area and as it was on a slope, not as straight forward (pardon the pun) as it sounds, and harder when the workmen don't turn up the day they are supposed to and then their own workmen don't turn up / lorries axles break etc etc. Not a major thing i guess but it all adds days and weeks to a simple operation.

The main pile here was taken away 3 days later than planned causing pointless delays as we couldnt do the next bit until all that mountain of soil and clay and roots had been taken away.



















Once it had eventually been taken away, it was in with the hardcore









and more hardcore.... and then it rained leaving a nice moat all the way around.









Anyone thinking of doing a job like this, make sure you get your armoured cable in and in the corner. As you will see from my later pics, have the cable entering from underneath really has it's plus points.









There's Tom the Diggerman aka "Jiggaman" forming the square and spreading the hardcore around.









Because of the sheer size of the slab, Jiggaman insisted the easiest way to form the edges would be using "Roadforms" They can be hired and to be fair the hire cost is not far off the price of buying timber to do it. Timber however could bow from the pressure of all that concrete being poured in so again, anyone doing a job like this, i strongly recommend them. They are also a hell of a lot easier to adjust and level.

Sadly, one place around here does them, and they were not in the greatest condition when we hired them. Still managed to make them do the job! 









At last a turning point! Actually felt like things were taking shape and gave us a good idea of how things will look.









With the hardcore ready, we covered it in sand to stop any sharp bits and them covered that in thick polythene to act as a damp-proof membrane. Also put the heavy steel mesh in at the bottom about an inch and a half off the bottom.









All ready and set for the big pour... I ordered 7.5 cubic meters of RC30 from a local firm that said they would deliver in two loads with a gap of about 25 minutes.

If you do one this large, i would advise that you use a larger company like LaFarge or Hanson as they should be able to deliver it in one go with a larger lorry.

Next day, with after two huge loads of RC30 concrete mix, here we are...



















One concrete base all ready and waiting to go off, ready for the garage to come in a few weeks time.

Remember if you are making a base, dont let the concrete dry off too quickly. If you do, it will crack due to it shrinking as the water dries out of it. Mine dried a little quicker than i hoped as it was a warm day and there was no one there to keep spraying water on it. Thankfully they are only hairline cracks and to be expected. But dont take it lightly if you are doing a concrete slab.

and all of that was a few weeks ago.

Monday, the garage turned up!









They don't hang about once they start slotting the panels in place!


















And by the end of the day its was looking pretty much as it's going to look.


















By the end of the day, all that was left was to come back to put the roof on and final bits and pieces

As you can see from the state of the garden, there is still loads more back-breaking work to do...


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## beardboy (Feb 12, 2006)

Good work! 

Love threads like this :lol:

Very envious


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## >DEL< (May 21, 2008)

Roof firmly on, and some of the soil shifted out of the way.... Will need to spread a great deal more before we can lay fresh lawn on one side and gravel on the other.









Electrics will be the next thing to go in.
Had already put an armoured cable in the corner when we laid the concrete. Nice thick cable strong enough to take a compressor. Thankfully it worked out just in the right position. 
(A little bit of judgement and a lot more luck.)









Random shots of the inside. Am planning to baton the walls, insulate and line them with thick MDF for a smooth and "easy to attach tools to" finish.


















Will be busy this week trying to get the area in front of the door cleared and ready to get cars in and out.


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## Silva1 (Sep 16, 2007)

Damm.. thats some task 

Looked like it went up in no time :thumb:

*Now you just need to fins a way to put the car in :lol:*

_Edit:_ too late :lol:


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## Robbieben (Feb 19, 2006)

Taking shape nicely, it will be very nice once finished.


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## >DEL< (May 21, 2008)

got a PM asking about the building itself.

Before buying, i had only heard of COMPTON buildings and assumed they were the only name to go for.

Thankfully i did loads (and i mean loads) of homework on this and basically got quotes from just about every garage / concrete sectional building manufacturer i could find. The internet is really a great tool for this.

I tried:
Compton Buildings
Nottingham Sectional Buildings
Hanson Garages
Pudsey Garage Co Ltd
LM Sturdy Garages
Im sure there was one or two others.

ANYWAY.... the thing i found was that most of the places either only supplied the building THEIR way (i.e doors and windows where THEY say), or they didnt do one big enough.

In my case, i wanted plain walls on three sides, and an unusual front with just a single door, two windows where i wanted them spacing and a personal door (most "double" garages come with two doors across the front and that's it).

Luckily for me, i found a place called Dencroft Garages based up north. I found them to be very helpful and down to earth, and as they make their own buildings from scratch could make a garage to the exact size and specification that i wanted.

And not only did they make a building that was perfect for me, but if i compared their price to the nearest product from most of the others, it was actually considerably cheaper. In my case they charged a little bit extra as i was outside of their standard delivery and fitting radius but it was still cheaper than any local companies, and their price includes them coming to deliver and erect the whole thing. It took them about a day and a half from start to finish.

They have a simple but useful website and once you know exactly what you want, give them a call. Phil Dencroft owns the place and often answers, failing that, Christine works there and is really helpful.

I can only go on my own experience and from that, i would certainly only recommend them.

I would also say be careful when you are ordering "extras" For example, Dencroft charge £4 per running foot for guttering. On my building that would be 18 feet x 2 sides, times £4!!!! which comes to £144-

No way was i paying that when i can do the job myself. And that's exactly what i did. I bought all the guttering, downpipes, union joins clips everything i needed for the job for £39- from a "trade" supplier that deals with the public :lol: and fitted the whole lot myself in one evening.


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## joe_0_1 (Apr 7, 2007)

WOW - Amazing - want one


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## Epoch (Jul 30, 2006)

Cracking set up, the side door on the front will really help in keeping the air inside at a good temp.

I wish I'd had more room for mine.

With regard to the electrical cable entry, I ran some guttering with a angle on the bottom through the concrete slab so that I can add or change the cables at a later date, same end goal though.

Can't wait to see the progress on this as it goes forward


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## Ducky (Mar 19, 2007)

Looking good there mate, always love these sort of threads...just makes me want a bigger garage now! :thumb:


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## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

Looking good, keep the post updated with progress 

Can't wait for the inside to start.


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## m9fdb (Jul 20, 2007)

love these kinda threads keep updating it - I will have a double garage one day :lol:

I have told the fiance that the next house move has to have a double garage or atleast room for me to build one. Ideally i want one bigger than a double though


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## wywywywy (Sep 11, 2006)

Absolutely loving it :O
I am full of envy now!

Is there any chance you can put some prices/costs up please?
If you prefer not to tell too much for some reasons, ball-park figures will do.

Thanks.


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## 1996a6v6 (Feb 8, 2008)

Wow, thats a massive amount of work you have done there, well done :thumb:


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## andythilo (Mar 20, 2007)

Subscribed


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## newannaive (Jul 1, 2007)

great garage....


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## ACB Bergkamen (Aug 10, 2008)

very nice. its a good place for do your job


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## sgwilliams (Aug 11, 2008)

looking good, wish i had the time, money and the ground space to extend my garage


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## chris l (Mar 5, 2007)

looks good wish i had a garage i could use unfortunatly it is full of other peoples stuff


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## M4D YN (Nov 24, 2007)

just remember how lucky you are :wall:


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## Sonic (Jun 28, 2007)

Nice work - i cant wait until i get my garage up and running


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## nuttynil (Sep 23, 2007)

nice one u have given me the push i need to get my double garage up that has been at the bottom of the garden for 3 yrs .......


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## Piratez (Jun 28, 2008)

Wow :thumb:


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## colarado red (Jun 5, 2008)

awesome wish i could have a garage that size i'ed have something rs in there for the summer months:argie::thumb::thumb::thumb:


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## big-daf (Jun 21, 2008)

we not due a wee update yet :lol:


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## nuttynil (Sep 23, 2007)

:wave:yeah we are due some updates please............


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## nicku72 (Feb 3, 2006)

Yea any more pics???


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## cleancar (Sep 21, 2006)

very good write up, how much for the whole job ?


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## Dave Richardson (Feb 3, 2008)

Superb & I'm envious

Dave:thumb:


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## Mirror Image (Apr 19, 2009)

cleancar said:


> very good write up, how much for the whole job ?


im curious as to this also. I currently have a wooden garage with a concrete base so this has made me think about widening the base then going for a prefab garage like above.

M.


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## Franco50 (Feb 5, 2008)

Markatr said:


> im curious as to this also. I currently have a wooden garage with a concrete base so this has made me think about widening the base then going for a prefab garage like above.
> 
> M.


I'm in exactly the same boat as you. I had a look at Dencroft's website (this is the supplier the OP used) and came across their price list which should give you a rough idea of their costs.

http://www.dencroftgarages.co.uk/Dencroftprices.pdf :thumb:


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## -tom- (Jan 27, 2009)

looks great so far bud subscribed tom


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## Puntoboy (Jun 30, 2007)

Nice work 

I wish I had the space to build a garage let alone the money to build one.

I'll keep this thread in mind for when we move


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