# My garage - The start



## johnsastra16v

Going back to March 2008, my fiance (now wife) bought our first house together.
All i wanted was a house with a garage. Is that so much to ask for?.....Apparently so

Anyway, we found a house that ticked every box for the fiance. But it didnt have 'my' garage.

Anyway, this brings us to today. Over 2 years since buying the house, but just a year since moving in.

The shed I had was rotten and small, and was only kept as a temp until i decided what i wanted to do.

Well ive decided i want a garage. a 6m x 5m garage to be precise.

Today i started ripping the shed apart, which on my own took a few hours.

This is going to be a really slow thread so you'll have to bear with me.

we had some quotes to get the garden levelled out and a brick garage built, but weve decided we want to keep costs as low as possible. so were going to be attempting most of the work ourselves. so the levelling of the garden and the base floor for the garage.

The garage itself will be a sectional garage. although im yet to order anything. but that will all begin now

Heres a couple pics from today anyway just to start the thread. I'll be hoping t find a lot of advice along the way to help us do the base and levelling, as im a complete novice

before..




































and how i want it...


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## Herefordquattro

Lots to do then, at least the wife got what she wanted mine did.t (i got the garage) and i've never heard the end of it

Always sworn by this website for hardlandscaping advice : http://www.pavingexpert.com/ :thumb:


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## JCW85

^^^^Yep lots of useful info on there for the budding DIY'er. You may need to get some professional in but most you can do yourself.

Have you set yourself any sort of deadline? I shall have to keep an eye out for this thread.


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## johnsastra16v

Havent set a deadline as i really havent a clue on how long it should take. Main thing is ive started now...
Thanks for posting that link. Will hsve a browse tomo


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## johnsastra16v

heres the space we have to play with


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## pete5570

Daft question, but do you have access to the proposed garage? It doesn't look wide enough to get a car down there.


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## johnsastra16v

what doesnt look wide enough?
as the photos dont show the access path.

but the access is inbetween my house and the neighbours. it is narrow. 2.5 metres. but the car can get down there. and its only to have the car in to work on. not to drive down everyday


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## Guest

Keep up the good work fella!


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## johnsastra16v

more progression














































i know theres no 'exciting' progress yet, but......its getting there


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## peanut1

Keep going!!! Im watching this!


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## Mirror Finish Details

OK I must be so stupid I thought the final pic in the OP was the finished garage...................how stupid I am!!!!!

Looking good though mate. Subscribed!!!!


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## johnsastra16v

Mirror Finish said:


> OK I must be so stupid I thought the final pic in the OP was the finished garage...................how stupid I am!!!!!
> 
> Looking good though mate. Subscribed!!!!


lmao

thats eventualy how id like it to look. but obviously with a different finish to the exterior


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## ChrisJD

Mirror Finish said:


> OK I must be so stupid I thought the final pic in the OP was the finished garage...................how stupid I am!!!!!
> 
> Looking good though mate. Subscribed!!!!


:lol::lol: At least you're honest and brave enough to admit it:thumb:

A lot work to be done there, good luck with it and will keep checking on the progress.

Chris.


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## iestynd

Subscribed - Although i feel you have chosen the wrong time of year to be doing this type of work (weather wise).

Good luck, I would love to be able to build something like you want. Have you looked at a timber framed garage? Not sure how much they cost or even if it would be in keeping with your area.. but if it is all you would have to do was get a good solid base down and run some electric from the house and your done.
That said i guess you will be running electric to whatever you build and also i would highly recomend running some water as well that way you can fill the buckets without disturbing the Mrs :thumb:


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## johnsastra16v

I know weve left it late in the year to start, but hopefully we'll get concrete down before the freezing weather turns up.

yes we will be running electricity down there, but not water. ive got a water hose in the garden anyway, so its no big deal not to have a sink in the garage


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## ivor

I've Just added added electric to mine which means no more extension cable across the garden, who are you getting your garage from ? I got mine from Lidget concrete 8m X 8.85M came in at about 5k iirc I know this though they turned up at 0730 and the garage was up and waterproof by 1400 sure beats waiting around .


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## johnsastra16v

mine will also be a lidget garage. im meeting with them this weekend to discuss a few final things and then perhaps order it


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## ivor

well worth it just make sure you have some white paint for the inside as the grey concrete really makes it dark it took me two coats of dulux exterior paint and looks good now


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## johnsastra16v

i will be painting it white as a temporary thing, while i work on the car until next summer. But once the car is ready i will be insulating and boarding up the inside, and making it more 'homely'


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## ivor

was thinking of doing this as well I was going to sikaflex some battens to the inside then screw some boards to that so I can put all my tools in order


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## johnsastra16v

Bit of an exhausting day today

went and ordered my garage today. Its made by Lidget, and is 18.6ft wide x 16.3ft length.

Ive asked for delivery start of november, so hopefully we'll have everything done and ready by then

weved removed alot of soil again today, which will allow us to get some hardcore down and 4" of concrete for the base without it being too high.

I didnt manage to get any pictures today, but expect some tomorrow for those interested

John


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## JCW85

Keep the updates coming John - look forward to seeing the pics tomorrow.

Chris


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## WopaDoBop

Reading with anticipation as i'm in the same boat, the house ticks all "her" boxes, so she has promised me a garage/workshop which we have plenty of room for


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## johnsastra16v

well heres todays update

took day off work. headed off to HSS to hire the mixer, and barrow

yesterday saw a delivery of 8 bags of 850g ballast, 2 bags of sharp sand, plastic membrane, 30 bags of cement

we started at 9.30am (after a filthy mcdonalds breakfast) and just finished at 8.30pm

weve only concreted 3/4 of the garage today as we ran out of cement.

i'll let the pics do the talkng as im exhausted









































































the fotings are about a foot deep, and the concrete on top is no less than 4"

its getting closer now....


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## n_d_fox

looking good... out of interest, where do you stand with planning permission for this sort of thing?


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## johnsastra16v

no permission was needed through local council
do check though before you do a job like this

went out this morn to see that a bloody cat had trodden all over it lol


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## kxlylmz

you are going very well. i am watching it.


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## macmaw

I really admire you for having the guts to tackle a job like this, you will have sooo much satisfaction once it's done.
My garage is a similar size to what you have planned, mines being 6.5m x 4.5m, plenty room. 
Well done, can't wait to see this coming along :thumb:


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## johnsastra16v

thanks

after yesterdays progress though, there now isnt a single muscle in my body that isnt aching!


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## TheMetalMan0

Subscribed. Great thread so far, keep the updates coming.


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## johnsastra16v

taken day off work again today to finish concrete base off with my friend

expect pics this evening for those interested


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## johnsastra16v

well, weve finally finished the concrete base!

had to buy an extra 10 bags of ballast, and 5 bags of cement. literally was just enough


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## robrobc

Good work there fella.........I shall watch this with interest.

Keep up the good work.......it's shaping up great :thumb::thumb:


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## johnsastra16v

todays work

starting to look like a garden now

i think im going to lay a 4th row of slabs, just to make it more comfortable for the car to get down without it being a squeeze.
garage is also to be delivered on wednesday, so its all starting to get there now


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## kxlylmz

You are going very well, i am following...


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## Ducky

Top stuff dude, much respect for taking it upon yourself too! Always love these kind of threads! :thumb:


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## Mr Face

Nice goin fella:thumb:

What, no under floor heating


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## johnsastra16v

Lmao. The wife would have killed me ig i put underfloor heating


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## johnsastra16v

cracked on some more today. lifted the block paving from the right hand side, to lay another row of slabs.
managed to lay the slabs, finish off the paving on the right, and also put in 3metres of drain gully, and also the 90degree bend and the pipes leading into the 1 metre deep soakaway hole


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## Pezza4u

I love reading these projects, coming along nicely mate...can't wait to see it finished :thumb:


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## raitkens83

Looking good mate, Cant wait for more updates.


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## johnsastra16v

raitkens83 said:


> Looking good mate, Cant wait for more updates.


you and me both buddy


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## rustie

Interesting thread, I built my own shed / garage extension this summer, 30' by 12' (old measurements as i'm an old geezer) and did it as a lean to on the existing back of the garages where I live as a workshop.

Mine is concrete base, wood frame and clad with black barn boards then membrane behind on a wooden frame with 18mm OSB cladding inside. I used plastic roof double glazing material which works well with daylight everywhere for free. No windows adds security while maintaining light.

Base, I'm not as fit as I was but dug out the soft soil which took ages and in hindsight should have hired a mini digger for a day at around 80 quid. Then put in shuttering to the height the concrete should go to, levelled it all up.

Next step was to put in "Shoes" where the 4 by 4 posts will go so they sit in concrete and give a good base to the uprights.

Then I added 2-3 inches of type 1 - the grey chip stuff they use on motorways, compacted it flat with a hired wacker, added 2" of builders sand and wacked that flat too. Added a membrane and run it up over the sides of the shuttering.

Ordered concrete not by cubic metres but by mix on site so you get just what you need, they can adjust the mix on site so I asked for something to bear car weight and went 4" deep. Mixer turns up and I had set up the shuttering so we could do it in 3 goes, 3 separate days (concrete cost around £600). They pour it in to barrows that you wheel round but easier than mixing your own. You need space to tamp down so 3 metres squareish at a time is manageable. By the time the second delivery is due you can stand on the other one and get the levels right.

Then build the frame up, clad it in and out and finish off. I put one coat of garage paint down which keeps the dust off. 

Next step is lighting!

Good luck with your project.

Rustie


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## johnsastra16v

**LIVE UPDATE TODAY**

Today is deliver and erect day

update 1


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## johnsastra16v

UPDATE 2


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## PaulN

lol Cracking! A web cam would have been better but ill keep my eye on the thread today for sure.


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## johnsastra16v

lmao Paul.

Update 3


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## DetailMyCar

Awesome, must be nice for you to stand back taking photo's and watching someone else do the work for once after all that hard graft clearing the space and getting the base down and slabs laid!! Awesome job - I bet you can't wait to get in there and start putting up all your shelves etc


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## johnsastra16v

nickg123 said:


> Awesome, must be nice for you to stand back taking photo's and watching someone else do the work for once after all that hard graft clearing the space and getting the base down and slabs laid!! Awesome job - I bet you can't wait to get in there and start putting up all your shelves etc


DAMN RIGHT! Lol

yeah cant wait to get in there and get some electrics in.

got a delivery today for 4 garden light posts too, to make the garden look prettier too


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## Bezza

excellent work! I love these progress threads, i'm subscribed.

My garage is build out of the same stuff as yours (although smaller and not built by me) 
Its great, sturdy clean stuff for a garage and much better than my old asbestos one!


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## johnsastra16v

*Update 4*

All finished.

So pleased. The 2 guys did a great job at fitting, and I couldnt recommend Lidget Concrete Garages enough! Fantastic build quality and fitting

enjoy...


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## PaulN

Looks great, and the weather was kind to you too....:thumb:


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## thehogester

Looks brilliant mate, id love a garage like that!


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## ALANSHR

Looks great, lots of good work by you and a great finish by Lidget so well done and look forward to seeing the interior work progress now?


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## johnsastra16v

yeah just got to decide how i want the interior and fittings etc

the roof is a little lower than i thought, so im going to have to rethink my lighting options i think.

im only 5'8ft, and i can touch the top of the roof no problem


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## ALANSHR

Mmm, good point on the roof height, you can get low profile strip lighting which might help but if the roof is at arms length it shouldn't be too much trouble.

I would also advise that you paint it white internally, I did mine cream originally and regretted it so changed it eventualluy to white which gave much better reflection of the multiple strip lights, also changed the floor from light grey to light blue which overall has really helped when working in there, particularly on the lower half of the cars.


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## TheGooner84

nice 
are you looking to insulate and drywalling the inside for a bit of warmth


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## johnsastra16v

TheGooner84 said:


> nice
> are you looking to insulate and drywalling the inside for a bit of warmth


indeed i am


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## Guest

This is a cool thread. Nice garage! Where the driveway meets the garage, it looks like a very tight gap. Is it wide enough or are you going to widen the drive slightly?


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## johnsastra16v

yeah i was looking at that with my father in law.

im going to widen it by about half a slab, so it meets with the end of the door. as i really dont want to take up any more of what would be lawn

i may, instead, put a row of slabs against the garage wall, so atleast there'll be a slab in that corner of the door


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## GlynRS2

Wow - that went up quick. :doublesho
Looking good :thumb:


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## ant_s

TheGooner84 said:


> nice
> are you looking to insulate and drywalling the inside for a bit of warmth





johnsastra16v said:


> indeed i am


if your doing it your self and want a little help mate, just ask (if you not a million miles away lol)


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## ALANSHR

If you ran another line of slabs and were worried about the garden aspect you could always remove some of the paving the just comes into shot near the house to create more green space or just paint the slabs green...


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## johnsastra16v

ant_s said:


> if your doing it your self and want a little help mate, just ask (if you not a million miles away lol)


cheers buddy


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## johnsastra16v

ALANSHR said:


> If you ran another line of slabs and were worried about the garden aspect you could always remove some of the paving the just comes into shot near the house to create more green space or just paint the slabs green...


that was an option, but i think i like how the line of the grass would be inline with the line where the block paving bricks start


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## Mr Gurn

WOW.......:doublesho:doublesho



you've done a great job of that fella!!!:thumb:



why is it women always manage to get their own way!!!:wall::wall:



bet you cant wait to pull the car in there for the first time!:driver:


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## johnsastra16v

Mr Gurn said:


> bet you cant wait to pull the car in there for the first time!:driver:


you betcha!


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## ishaaq

looking good that is! if you dont mind, how much did it cost all together?


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## johnsastra16v

the building itself cost £3500

HOWEVER, materials for the base, hiring of cement mixers, total cost so far is £5000

and i still havent got electrics in, or anything inside the garage


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## yetizone

Looks great - nice to see it come together so quickly.


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## johnsastra16v

what would you guys says the best way of attaching 4x2's on the concrete panels to be able to insulate and boarding the inside up?


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## QuattroA3

try these 
http://www.orbitalfasteners.co.uk/d...-In-Fixing-M8x140-Rawl-P-No.-21-536-2960.html

They install easily, simply drill a hole through the wood and into the concrete pop in a fastener & hammer in job done :thumb:


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## ivor

they are very quick at putting these up.

I've got the electric in mine all sorted I'm just tidying it up a bit a good thing to get is shelving from costco if you know someone who's got a card I've shelved the entire back half for about £200 and that's a lot of shelving.

With fixing to the inside you might be able to use the wholes left by the casting process just get some thin screw bar and sikaflex them into place


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## TheGooner84

QuattroA3 said:


> try these
> http://www.orbitalfasteners.co.uk/d...-In-Fixing-M8x140-Rawl-P-No.-21-536-2960.html
> 
> They install easily, simply drill a hole through the wood and into the concrete pop in a fastener & hammer in job done :thumb:


they are good for and will carry a fair bit of weight - i used 6 my living room to attach a plinth to the wall for a tv mount. wife asked if it would be strong enough to i hung off the bracket
anchor bolts would be another option but these wouldnt sit flush and would be overkill for drywall


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## johnsastra16v

shes in....


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## apmaman

sweet!


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## Paul JC

Great job!


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## sunilbass

looking good pal!


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## hotwaxxx

Fantastic - looks great.:thumb:


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## johnsastra16v

cheers mate


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## nuttynil

like it


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## johnsastra16v

its been a LONGGGG time since i last updated, but the garage had been used to store the car in and remove the engine so was a real mess in there.

good news is the engine is back in and car up and running, so attention can now move to finish the garage and garden off.

had my gate fitted today after spending the weekend tidying the garden up abit. theres a picture of how it should look like with the featheredge board fitted, which will be getting done by the end of the week.

the gate has been designed so that it swings open to allow the car up and down, but also a smaller door for me to take the rubbish out etc, without having to us ethe swing system.

the original wooden post at the end of the fence has been removed, and the metal post now moved back a foot and a half to allow more space for me to get the car in without trouble.




























and inside


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## Brigham1806

Looks good, excellent setup.


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## JD-Cumbria

Awesome mate


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## Zetec-al

that side entrance looks very very tight! but nice garage.


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## johnsastra16v

the side entrance is very tight, but my cars can get in and out, so thats what matters

heres the finsihed item...

just finished gate


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## alan_mcc

Loving the gloss-it bottles on display. Great setup.


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## johnsastra16v

door opening into the garden...


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## Corsasxi_Dan

awesome build mate


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## cossierick

Looks great. 

What did you use on the walls and how have you fixed it. 

I was hoping to try insulate my roof but im not sure on the best way.

rick


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## johnsastra16v

Its just 18mm bosrd sceeed onto the concrete walls. I chose wood, over plasterboarding so that i can soon fix kitxhen wall units easier onto the walls


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## johnsastra16v

after all this rain weve been having, water has been leaking into it.

so, i reapplied a cement lining all around the garage to hopefully cure the issue. i also added guttering to the rear of the garage as it slopes towards the back, as this is were the biggest leaks were.

then i moved into the garage again and starting building my shelving unit.



















i also painted one side of the garage floor light grey with still the other half to do soon


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## Rgk Detailing

Nice man cave mate! :thumb:


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## Ross08

Great build thread, keep us up-to-date with the shelving and that please


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## david_h

The swing gate is a brilliant solution, especially with the smaller gate inside it.


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## johnsastra16v

i'll keep the updates coming.

im really pleased with the gate. was my own design/thoughts, and just got it build up to that specification.


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## -Simon-

Nice work...I've been using Pavingexpert for a while, it's the landscapers equivalent of DW ;-)


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## johnsastra16v

Finished more of the shelving today, including putting 9mm mdf as the base on the frame.

I also made a door at the back left side of the garage to hide a few odd bits including our old kitchen table that we dont know what to do with.

also put the car back in for the first time after painting the floor


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## Zetec-al

Wish i had a garage!! Nice mate.


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## david_h

Just a quick one on your leaking problems. Mine initially had a few areas where the water was getting under the concrete panels where they rest on the base. To cure this I've run gutter sealant all the way around the bottom edge of the garage and it's not leaked since. I would recommend this.


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## johnsastra16v

i did do this initially, but may not have put enough. i dont know.
i have since put loads of cement fillet all around so too late to add more sealant.

although it hasnt leaked anymore, but maybe it hasnt rained enough??


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## johnsastra16v

and the final wall now with plaster board...


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## martin_46

Looks great, enjoyed having a look through all your pics :thumb:


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## ravi811

Wowwwwwe


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## slineclean

Looks lovely chap and could only dream of having a garage like that. Youve put some hard work into that ( & cash! ) hope your happy with it .


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## johnsastra16v

ive still got to update this.

but im pretty happy with it. still far from finsihing it though


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## simon1969

very nice keep up the good work mate


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## ski nautique

love the garage


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## johnsastra16v




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## shudaman

looks grate mate!

got some insiders lol?


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## Lupostef

Looks fantastic :thumb:


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## johnsastra16v

Here's the latest pic of the man cave.

soon to have some flooring go down. also waiting to finish the sound system tidying up.


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## Kev_mk3

nice work John


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## mlgt

Nice man cave


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## carrera2s

Just read start to finish mate:thumb: credit to you great job:wave:


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## johnsastra16v

Thanks. I cant believe how many years its been since i started the garage and its still so far from finishing


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## MattDoleman

No point rushing it though mate  Looks like it's been well worth the effort so far!


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## SuperchargedLlama

Really like what you've done there, love the finish on the outside as well, the brick facing looks really classy.


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## johnsastra16v

Well, it seems to have been YEARRRRS since my last garage update.

I've started redoing the shelving as I didnt like how the mess i had accumulated over time was no show. So i ripped out the old shelves and have now started to build others.
I have a nice corner unit too, but still have the doors to put on the fronts.

It's been quite slow, as i get distracted easily and stop working on it. But for now, here is where I am at..


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## nuttynil

That's better hope you recycled the old wood


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## johnsastra16v

nuttynil said:


> That's better hope you recycled the old wood


Yes the old wood was recycled. Still need to buy plenty more to finish off though


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## johnsastra16v

and now the doors start going on...


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## c87reed

Looks really well, and for a large garage I don't think that it looks out of place either. Looks like you had a decent radio setup in there.


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## Deano26

Nice build mate. 

Love the mk3. I had two and always troll eBay for another one. Just can't get a good one now. All the good ones are tucked away in a dry garage.


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## johnsastra16v

Deano26 said:


> Nice build mate.
> 
> Love the mk3. I had two and always troll eBay for another one. Just can't get a good one now. All the good ones are tucked away in a dry garage.


I sold mine afew years ago and have regretted it ever since.


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