# My Workshop Build



## ttc6

Hello All

I've enjoyed reading through a few good garage build threads on here. Some of them have no doubt inspired me in some way to do what I have. A couple of photographs to share my progress.

It's a project which has taken up rather a lot of my time over the last 8 months or so. Nearing completion now, and I'm at the more exciting stages of internal finishing and fit-out.

The boss and I bought our first house little over 12 months ago, after a lengthy search for the elusive small house / large garage combo. After a couple of failed attempts, and seeing as most garages would have been a compromise at best (I have a BMW E34 to restore), we found a pre-war end terrace in need of some love on a huge plot. I set about renovating the house (kitchen, re-plumb, some electrical work, and decorated throughout) and started planning for the more important part...

The original concept plan, finished design, and site when we started:



































































First I had to build a road. Hired some plant and cracked on.










































'Stump' removal - from an old car port. This thing wasn't blowing away in a hurry.










Groundworks. A lot of stuff went wrong at this point. Never should have hired a builder - but everyone's got a bad builder story. I'll let the pictures of the mess speak for themselves.

Started off with a nice neat trench. I was getting quite the hang of the digger by this point.










Didn't last long. Far too much concrete was ordered and accepted - tried to fit it in the hole anyway. Ended up miles out of level and we had to lose the remainder of the order on the site. Mixer got stuck and nearly cracked a public sewer. It was carnage. Alarm bells should have started ringing at this point.


















Thankfully the bricklayers were excellent, managed to get the footings level within one course which was no mean feat. They had, however, been told to put them in the wrong place. The chaps moved them quite happily but this was to cause more issues later on...










Walls went up.


































It was at this point the builder and I parted company. One of the large door pillars had to be torn down and rebuilt as the two didn't line up, because corners were cut when the footings were moved. Pun intended of course.

Thankfully I got the same bricklayers back to fix the pillar and set the steel.

The final straw: the walls went up too high to bring a conventional roof design in under the strict permitted development height limits. So I took it on myself and designed an alternative - and it worked out quite well I think. Metal web joists set on a fall to achieve a cheap, stiff, light, flat roof that was a piece of cake to build.


































































































Got some pros in to board and felt. They made a nice job.


































Thanks for looking. Plenty more to come!


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## ttc6

So once we were (relatively) enclosed and dry, I set to work on the floor. Two reasons I left it until after the roof: the walls had no support underground so there was a real worry of the floor pour splaying the walls; and I specced some fancy concrete that really couldn't get wet.

A lot of work in breaking up the edges of that terrible foundation pour, where it had flowed all over the edges and there was nothing more than soil in the corners. All tidied up, hardcore levelled and compacted, sand blinding down:


































DPM:


















And now for the pour. I wanted something as close to a finished floor as I could get without further processes - the traditional tamping / troweling wasn't going to cut it, especially as I'm working with limited height and couldn't afford a decent thickness of screed. After talking to a couple of professional industrial floor contractors (about polishing - enormous cost), and the local cement works, I came across self-consolidating concrete. The chaps at Tarmac were very helpful in explaining the product (Topflow Horizontal), and the cost included sending a man to supervise the pour. All I can say is how impressed I am.

The concrete is designed to perform two tasks: to flow like water into complex formwork, and to leave a self-levelling screed finish. The aggregate is of a closer tolerance than traditional concretes so that it both flows and compacts very quickly, without putting much extra energy into the process. Mine was done with steel reinforcement fibres, so no traditional mesh to trip over and a nice uniform tensile strength in the finished slab.

It was literally a case of shooting the mix in, pushing it roughly where it needed to go, then 'tickling' the surface with a dappling bar. 12 hours later and you've a floor like glass...










































Steve from Tarmac making the final finish pass after the aggregate had all settled. You can see how liquid it is.










Finished job:


















Next up was finishing the road and getting the outside halfway clean again. A hell of a job, rowing all the hardcore around with a rake. Separated the road from the garden to make way for a kerb:


































And more levelling of the hardcore. Got a vibrating roller on the case - single-speed single-cylinder diesel. What a beast.


































The day after saw a delivery of local limestone chippings. Well pleased with these, but the shovel and barrow seemed pretty small!


























































Poor little 306 had been suffering quite a bit with all the building - pushed it inside for a bit of respite from all the dust!










Well overdue a bit of work... :buffer:


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## ttc6

Started coming together at this point. Slightly out-of-order, but windows and a nice second hand door from a friendly local firm:

































A couple of deliveries:


































I looked at many doors. I bought the expensive one. I'm well pleased I did - not that much more expensive than one made in this country, everything considered, but the quality is a level above. What sold it to me is how light the touch is when it becomes obstructed - a lot of the alternatives exert enough force that I think they would probably crease a roof given half a chance.

Easy to put up too: (meanwhile, paint going on)


















Painting blockwork, my that was a slow process. I managed to find a paint that didn't soak in like so many seem to, but the rough surface meant that it was slow going and the paint didn't stretch as far as I wanted. More important things.


































Getting dark in there of the evenings now, so next priority was to get some lights up. Took my time thinking about this, went through a few paper schemes. Got the calculator out. 420W of LED battens later...


























Borderline dodgy...


















Started sending a couple of 20A radials round:


















Brighter than sun. Definitely didn't overdo it, nope.


















And that's where we are today.

Thanks for looking!


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## LeeH

:thumb:


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## ted11

Nice man cave.


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## Jack R

Starting to look good, always makes it more interesting with an honest thread when you post the problems too but credit to you for pushing through.


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## chongo

That was an enjoyable read so far:thumb: looking forward to more progress pictures :wave:


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## steelghost

Now I know where this monster DIY pressure washer is going  Looking forward to seeing where this all goes, good luck!

With all that roof area you've got the perfect setup to run your PW on rain water for spot free rinsing :thumb:


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## luke-m-j

Look forward to updates... I'm looking to undertake something very similar shortly... Under permitted development too.

What kind of dimensions has it come out at?


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## ttc6

Thanks for the comments everyone! Plenty more pictures on the way, just updated up the top now.



JR1982 said:


> Starting to look good, always makes it more interesting with an honest thread when you post the problems too but credit to you for pushing through.


Thanks. I've done a lot of learning on this build. I'm pretty handy but wasn't confident enough to take on a whole scratch build, hence the builder. I didn't have to watch him too long before I realised that actually, if you've half a brain, it's not difficult!



steelghost said:


> Now I know where this monster DIY pressure washer is going  Looking forward to seeing where this all goes, good luck!
> 
> With all that roof area you've got the perfect setup to run your PW on rain water for spot free rinsing :thumb:


Ha, yep! that was the plan all along. I can't get a connection to mains water or drainage down there - even though the ironic thing is that the garage is over to the right because a sewer runs straight under the drive the full length of the plot. Got a soakaway anyway, and the whole road is pretty permeable. Frankenwasher is going just inside the big door on the right with the water butts in the front right corner.



luke-m-j said:


> Look forward to updates... I'm looking to undertake something very similar shortly... Under permitted development too.
> 
> What kind of dimensions has it come out at?


Cool, are you doing it yourself? I did a lot of homework on PD so there's not a lot I don't know. Let me know if you've any specific questions.

It's 7.1 x 5.4 internal - with the corner cut off it makes 36 m2 which is the floor area limit for a single skin building. Any larger and you need a cavity for structural rather than insulation reasons - and to be honest this is as big as I could sensibly go with a flat roof (joist span was a problem). Height limits are the problem with me being so close to the boundary but PD isn't interested in the plan dimensions. Over 30 m2 and you need sign off from building control - we did it on a building notice so no waiting around. I'm glad I pushed it that extra 6 m2, it was well worth it - I could just about get 2 cars in there for storage now, and one very comfortably for working on.

It's not insulated at all - the payback time was going to be something silly like 40 years because it's not going to be heated often. The main thing is making it airtight - so that you can heat the air (rather than the building) quickly.


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## steelghost

ttc6 said:


> Ha, yep! that was the plan all along. I can't get a connection to mains water or drainage down there - even though the ironic thing is that the garage is over to the right because a sewer runs straight under the drive the full length of the plot. Got a soakaway anyway, and the whole road is pretty permeable. Frankenwasher is going just inside the big door on the right with the water butts in the front right corner.


If you have the space, I'd definitely go with an IBC container with a small header tank for gravity filtration - or even bigger if you can manage. It doesn't take that much to really run down my 2x200l water butts, and I'm only on a little Kraenzle HD7. If you get some serious PW in there, you're going to want to have more water on hand


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## JB052

Excellent


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## euge07

very nice indeed,good luck with it


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## Guest

"If you've half a brain, it's not difficult!"

Yes...bricklaying is easy,should know I do it everyday.Just think...if you had a whole brain,you wouldnt have ended up with the abortion of corners....you would have told the bricklayers how to do it.
What you going to do...hang baskets of flowers off the steps in the blockwork :thumb:
Sounds like an I.T type person talking a good job.


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## Gav147

Sorry have to agree with Eric (yes I'm a builder too... and I also don't appreciate the "if you have half a brain" comment) but why let them build the angled corners like that? It is just a mess. Yes the block work can probably be rectified before it's (assumingly?) rendered but there is nothing you can do with the blue engineering bricks, for the sake of about a tenner you could have got 4 squint's to make 2 perfectly angled corners and then laid the blocks correctly.

But hey it's easy ain't it!

ETA - You might have wanted to put some pan straps on to hold your roof solid as well, although you can't now as you've put the full roof on and blocked the gaps in the joists, good job it doesn't need building regs eh!


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## ttc6

aka.eric said:


> Yes...bricklaying is easy,should know I do it everyday.Just think...if you had a whole brain,you wouldnt have ended up with the abortion of corners....you would have told the bricklayers how to do it.
> What you going to do...hang baskets of flowers off the steps in the blockwork :thumb:
> Sounds like an I.T type person talking a good job.


Maybe I should have been more careful with my words, or maybe you should have read all of my posts thoroughly before you waded in with your opinions and took my words out of context. I am perfectly happy with the job the bricklayers did; and at no point did I disagree or fall out with them. They are skilled trades, I happily paid for their trade, and I am perfectly comfortable knowing what I can and cannot do. I cannot lay bricks and I would not try, because it is far more efficient for me to pay someone who is competent.

The general builder I employed is not skilled, he does not have a trade, and he subcontracted the work. He lied, schemed, and threatened me on more than one occasion. His chosen method of dealing with conflict was to get aggressive, rather than to discuss like an adult. Unfortunately he, and people who choose to operate like he does, give your trade a bad name. His role was to ensure that all elements of the build went smoothly - which he was not able to do. In fact quite the opposite; he made problems where there should have been none.

You can make your assertions about my profession all you like. You probably couldn't do what I do for a living the same way as I probably couldn't do what you do for a living. I'm perfectly happy with my 'abortion of corners', thank you.



Gav147 said:


> Sorry have to agree with Eric (yes I'm a builder too... and I also don't appreciate the "if you have half a brain" comment) but why let them build the angled corners like that? It is just a mess. Yes the block work can probably be rectified before it's (assumingly?) rendered but there is nothing you can do with the blue engineering bricks, for the sake of about a tenner you could have got 4 squint's to make 2 perfectly angled corners and then laid the blocks correctly.
> 
> But hey it's easy ain't it!
> 
> ETA - You might have wanted to put some pan straps on to hold your roof solid as well, although you can't now as you've put the full roof on and blocked the gaps in the joists, good job it doesn't need building regs eh!


The corners were made like that because the angle is not one for which squints are available. It was a conscious decision, as to cut the blocks by hand would have likely ended up with it looking less regular than it does now. The front of the building will be clad eventually, and as such there is no need to trim the blocks. In an ideal world the building would have been rectangular - but there's always compromises.

The blocks were laid correctly. The roof was fitted correctly, as per the engineers stipulation. I know exactly how 'solid' it is - as does the BI, who was consulted at the design stage. The building is built to the relevant regulations, has been signed off, and has a certificate to prove it.

I quite fancy a career in armchair consultancy myself, it looks easy. :thumb:


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## rob267

Back on topic. 
It looks great mate. What a find, a house on a plot that big. Well done.

Love the shape, much better than a normal rectangle garage.
Keep the updates coming.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk


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## isctony

I'm glad it's not a rectangle! Not that my opinion counts for anything but I think it creates more interest in that shape 

Please do keep the rest of us happy campers happy with more updates, would love to see how this progresses.


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## Guest

"The building is built to the relevant regulations"...
Being non habitable..that means nothing.
Basic rule of building....DPC,s must unite.Concreting the floor after the walls are built is no excuse...build in an apron.How you have done it,there is nothing to stop moisture coming up between the floor and wall.









"The corners were made like that because the angle is not one for which squints are available. "
Rubbish...cut any angle you want..
No competent person has told you that its acceptable to build a flat roof without any vertical restraint straps
"You can make your assertions about my profession all you like"...come on dont be shy,what is it?
"I quite fancy a career in armchair consultancy myself"..No such thing.Dont insult people that know what their talking about...when you obviously dont.


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## Paul08

Looking good, look forward to see how it is finished.


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## Gav147

ttc6 said:


> I quite fancy a career in armchair consultancy myself, it looks easy. :thumb:


Go for it, you might want to actually learn something first mind before making bs comments about the building trade and only needing half a brain.

You can have squints made to what ever angle you want, even if it is being clad you will still see those engineering bricks as your cladding will not be going below the dpc level, also that roof needs restraint straps, try reading approved document A of the building regulations, it is there in black and white.


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## Jack R

If you look at the photos the metal straps that are fixed to the block work, wall plate and spaced correctly (from what I can see) look like there doing a good enough job to restrain the roof along with the joists that’s obviously been designed for it’s purpose seeing as they’ve been delivered pre cut to match the building. Whilst some other details might not be upto everyone’s standards the op is obviously happy with what he’s got, after all it’s only a garage.


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## ttc6

My comment about having 'half a brain' has clearly upset a couple of people, which was not my intention. And quite frankly, no one has any right to take any offense from it but the builder who I employed. I ask anyone who doesn't like the comment to read the entire thread, so that they may understand it in its proper context. At the end of the day, if you don't like it you don't have to read it.

I'm not going to discuss building standards on this forum. My building is safe and fit for purpose. I didn't ask for input on how it could have or should have been done and I don't owe anyone any explanations. The photographs are there for anyone to study, I'm not covering anything up, and anyone can work out how the building is constructed if they wish to do so.

I don't have time for people who are impolite, so I'm just going to ignore any irrelevant comments made from now on.

For those who have made nice comments, thank you very much. I'll be updating the thread soon when I can.

Thanks in particular to JR, for taking the time to say exactly what I was thinking.


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## Peter77

You have built a garage "most people" would be proud of. It looks like an excellent place to detail and spend many hours of enjoyment. I would love something like that. Well done. 


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## bense556

I am also very envious of this space! So much so that it has got me looking at properties without a garage, where something like this could be possible. 

Our current double garage has the aforementioned straps - however they are only drilled into the brickwork, not into the wooden roof - again signed off by the relevant authorities, yet doing absolutely nothing!


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## tmitch45

Nice garage I wish I had something like that where my car actually fitted inside in the first instance and in the second instance left me plenty of room to work on it.

Did you consider fitting a pit? I'm looking forward to see the next update.


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## luke-m-j

Did you do the drawings yourself? What software did you use?
How much detail did the building inspector want?

I have 2 'single garages' (kind of) adjacent to each other... Built maybe 20 years apart and all round a bit of an abortion... One leaks... So I am looking to build one single structure. Flat roofed. 5m x 6m to replace the originals, same overall footprint. Not something I imagine I'll need PP for although it is on the boundary.


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## Paul08

Some people can’t help but post negative comments. I took the photos down of my garage build and stopped updating it because of them. My garage has been signed off by building control and was fully built by myself and my dad who are not builders. The inspector and everyone else who has seen it said we’ve done a great job. However still not enough to please people online, I shared to inspire others that they could do the same but couldn’t be bothered with the negativity


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## Skilzo

I like that looks great the shape and size is pretty cool be good for spending a few hours in there


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## Soul boy 68

That is absolutely fantastic, such a lot of land that is well utilized, can't wait to see the finished work :thumb:


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## Naddy37

Unusual shape for a garage, but, it works perfectly for the space available, and it’s great seeing the stages of construction.

Looking forward to further pics once it’s fully completed and kitted out.


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## Andyblue

Naddy37 said:


> Unusual shape for a garage, but, it works perfectly for the space available, and it's great seeing the stages of construction.
> 
> Looking forward to further pics once it's fully completed and kitted out.


Was thinking the same 

My first thought is why that corner and not the left hand side as you look down the drive, but what a space it'll be, should be loads of room to get round the car - kind of makes you wonder why not done more often .


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## ttc6

Thanks again for all the kind comments chaps. To be honest I wasn't expecting such a huge response! If anyone can use this to learn from my mistakes / fuel ideas for their own projects then all the better.



steelghost said:


> If you have the space, I'd definitely go with an IBC container with a small header tank for gravity filtration - or even bigger if you can manage. It doesn't take that much to really run down my 2x200l water butts, and I'm only on a little Kraenzle HD7. If you get some serious PW in there, you're going to want to have more water on hand


Measured up for an IBC this morning, reckon it's a bit too tight. The corner I want to site the water storage is only 600 from the boundary - I could put one down the far corner but that would mean getting the water down there and back up, could get messy. Ha, 'little Kraenzle'... you know I want one and Frankenwasher is only because I don't want to pony up the cash! Think my current washer rips at 4.5 lmin-1.



rob267 said:


> Back on topic.
> It looks great mate. What a find, a house on a plot that big. Well done.
> 
> Love the shape, much better than a normal rectangle garage.
> Keep the updates coming.





isctony said:


> I'm glad it's not a rectangle! Not that my opinion counts for anything but I think it creates more interest in that shape


Ha, glad you like it! The corner was a necessity of the site - just the way the drains run essentially. It means I can get a long car in there on the diagonal though, which is a bit of a killer for normal garages when the 5 Series is nearly 5m long and you're trying to swing an inline six and box all at once.

The plan is that it will roughly divide into two triangular working areas - one dirty for spanners and welders, etc.; and one clean for a PC and all the detailing gear.



tmitch45 said:


> Did you consider fitting a pit?


Yes, couple of reasons not to though. I didn't want to tie myself down to an interior layout too early (thinking about steering cars in to the space and lining them up, as the drive is quite narrow) - had I got it wrong it would have been not so easy to rectify! I've used them before and don't find them overly useful for much other than oil changes which I'll happily do off the floor - if you drop a gearbox or diff into one for example, it may be off the car but it's now underground which is a whole new problem. Finally (this was the deal breaker), we are very close to water and are a bit of a flood risk, so it would have needed tanking and probably would have filled up anyway. Maybe will get a scissor lift in there at some point. If I've been a good boy and not spent too much on car cleaning products.



luke-m-j said:


> Did you do the drawings yourself? What software did you use?
> How much detail did the building inspector want?
> 
> I have 2 'single garages' (kind of) adjacent to each other... Built maybe 20 years apart and all round a bit of an abortion... One leaks... So I am looking to build one single structure. Flat roofed. 5m x 6m to replace the originals, same overall footprint. Not something I imagine I'll need PP for although it is on the boundary.


Yep, I did the drawings - used SketchUp. It's free and pretty simple. I did the calculations for the angle in Excel first so that I could optimise the space around the car, as it would have been quite easy to do it at too steep an angle and end up with a pinch point in the corner.

The BI didn't want a lot of detail at the initial stages, I seem to recall he said a paper sketch would have been fundamentally OK, but of course it all depends on your particular BI. Mine was very helpful, it's worth rooting a good one out if you need one. He also needed a plan of the site (provided by searches from house purchase), which in my case had to include drainage plans. I sent him dimensioned drawings in plan and from each elevation. I can shoot them to you on a PM if you'd like.

If you're going for PP I reckon you'd get away with a decent SketchUp type drawing for outline permission; but detail would require either input from an architect or for you to start doing your homework.

A 5 x 6 with a flat roof on the boundary won't need building control or PP - provided that no part of the building exceeds 2.5m in height from the original ground level. If you want to go taller you need to be 2m from any boundary. You won't have an issue with building footprint so long as it replaces existing, but you'd have to check whether this also applies for height. If you want to go bigger, you have constraints on taking up a percentage of your plot. It's quite specifically worded and I can't remember the value. Best take a look at the Planning Portal. It will also be easier if you can bring it away from the boundary a bit - both in terms of building it and maintaining it in the future, but also for ease of dealing with the neighbours.

Anything over 30m2 (internal floor area) needs building control sign off, anything over 36m2 needs to have a cavity wall. Personally, and from my recent experience, I would recommend you both get a BI involved and make it 36m2 - if you have the space. It cost me around 10% extra for 20% more floor space, and the BI was a helpful chap to have around. Mine was happy to help me spec the roof and lintel, for example - and if nothing else simply offered opinion. Just be aware though that a lot of builders charge by the m2 - but of course making an empty box larger doesn't proportionally increase the materials used or the labour time. 'The cost is in digging the hole', I believe.



Paul08 said:


> Some people can't help but post negative comments. I took the photos down of my garage build and stopped updating it because of them. My garage has been signed off by building control and was fully built by myself and my dad who are not builders. The inspector and everyone else who has seen it said we've done a great job. However still not enough to please people online, I shared to inspire others that they could do the same but couldn't be bothered with the negativity


Strange isn't it, that people feel the need. It's a shame. Nonetheless, you get to enjoy your space safe in the knowledge that it's yours, and you can be proud of it. The others can go whistle...

So thanks again everyone. I've just put the final update up on the front page, which brings us up-to-date. I'm hoping to make a decent stab at wiring it up this weekend, might even find some time to clean the Porsche...

Stay safe, folks!
:detailer:


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## ttc6

Andyblue said:


> My first thought is why that corner and not the left hand side as you look down the drive, but what a space it'll be, should be loads of room to get round the car - kind of makes you wonder why not done more often .


Yes, you're right - would have been a lot easier that way! Reason is, we are an end terrace and the sewer that serves the whole row goes straight down the whole length of the plot, parallel to the drive. (Because sending it into the road would have been too easy...?) You can see the inspection covers in the photos. Because it serves more than just my house it's owned and maintained by Severn Trent, whose policy is basically to not approve any build-over requests for detached buildings - especially ones which can be moved elsewhere.

Got my head scratching for a while, until the triangular idea. I wasn't convinced I had got it right until I could get a car in there - but no worries! It worked a treat.

Cheers!


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## steelghost

ttc6 said:


> Measured up for an IBC this morning, reckon it's a bit too tight. The corner I want to site the water storage is only 600 from the boundary - I could put one down the far corner but that would mean getting the water down there and back up, could get messy. Ha, 'little Kraenzle'... you know I want one and Frankenwasher is only because I don't want to pony up the cash! Think my current washer rips at 4.5 lmin-1.


Lots of other shapes and sizes around although none _quite _so economical as the good old pre-used IBC, in £ paid per litre of storage.

It may seem I'm stressing the point but as an example, your generic 2x200l water butt setup only really gives you a capacity of 300 litres or so (you don't want to run the tank dry so there's a bit of a dead zone at the bottom of each butt). If we have a bit of a dry spell, that'll not last that long (especially if you'll be washing more than one car with any regularity). Plus with the size of roof you have, you will be losing a lot of rainfall into your soakaway that could be kept and used. If your tank runs dry then your PW is rendered useless unless you can run a long hose from the house...


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## Alan L

Looks great! How long from first hole in ground to where you are now? I've put mine off for the past year.


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## ttc6

steelghost said:


> Lots of other shapes and sizes around although none _quite _so economical as the good old pre-used IBC, in £ paid per litre of storage.
> 
> It may seem I'm stressing the point but as an example, your generic 2x200l water butt setup only really gives you a capacity of 300 litres or so (you don't want to run the tank dry so there's a bit of a dead zone at the bottom of each butt). If we have a bit of a dry spell, that'll not last that long (especially if you'll be washing more than one car with any regularity). Plus with the size of roof you have, you will be losing a lot of rainfall into your soakaway that could be kept and used. If your tank runs dry then your PW is rendered useless unless you can run a long hose from the house...


Not at all, I completely understand why - nothing worse than going to the trouble of doing something only to find you've fallen short. I should know! I had an idea tanks got that expensive but didn't want to know really. So on your thinking I've done some maths:


Downloaded the Met Office rainfall data. Average 450 l/wk off my roof. Nice. Roughly 30% chance it will rain on any given day, on any day it rains, roughly 200 l to store.
Timed myself on the PW today, 13 min trigger on per car (albeit with puny washer) makes 250 l/wk @ 7.7 l/min if I wash 2.5 cars/wk. Should be safe.
On average then, I need it to rain 1.3 days/week to cover my needs. Probability of this 40-75% depending on month. Required tank size therefore pretty seasonal.
Take the probability element, the rainfall per wet day, add 5% for the bottom of the tank and a ****up factor...
Largest tank requirement is in March, 650 litres. So if I could fit a 600 l IBC and a small filtration tank I'd probably be OK. Worst case I can easy run a hose. Problem is location, would probably have to pump it around the perimeter of the garage due to the way the gutters run. That'll mean level switches and problems. I'll have a think. 800 l would be nice.

All this talk of pressure washers and my Nilfisk has been listening. Sounds like the pump has started leaking internally today - not too bad yet and it's not weeing out the bottom but the pump runs quite often. Plus I drove over the lance twice but it's surprisingly tough!

On Frankenwasher, I saw the pump you posted in the other thread, makes sense to spend that bit extra on a brand. I'll try to root out a 2.2 kW motor with a 19mm shaft. I'll update here as and when...



Alan L said:


> Looks great! How long from first hole in ground to where you are now? I've put mine off for the past year.


Thanks! Middle of April we broke ground. Footings and walls up in a week. Roof went up end of June (about 6 weeks lost while we decided how to fix the pillar) and the floor went down early August. I could have gone a lot quicker had I simply pulled my finger out!

Used it for the intended purpose today, first wash of the Porsche. Satisfying. Some wiring tomorrow hopefully.
:detailer:


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## mechrepairs

Great build.

I know your 306 very well.

Carl


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## BrummyPete

Awesome man-cave you have there mate, Im looking for a property at the moment and would love that sort of space to build a garage


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## ttc6

mechrepairs said:


> Great build.
> 
> I know your 306 very well.
> 
> Carl


Hi Carl, good to hear from you again. How are you? It's Tom here - I could never have sold the 6! Too much blood invested. And too nice a colour.

It's still dead - ashamed to admit it's been standing for two years now. I have some good plans for it going into the new year though.

Are you still in the same place? Hopefully come and bring it for it's MOT and a catch up before too long.

Cheers


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## ttc6

BrummyPete said:


> Awesome man-cave you have there mate, Im looking for a property at the moment and would love that sort of space to build a garage


Cheers Pete, these old council houses are great. We bought ours as a project, couldn't have afforded to do it any other way, and it seems that there isn't much of a market for stuff which needs work at the moment - at least not round here. We jumped on this one when we saw the size of the plot but it took nearly a year to find. Good luck with your search - it's become an unnecessarily painful process in recent times.

Little more conduit up this weekend:


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## weedougall78

Awesome job there!
Will you be putting a ceiling up? 
I quite like how it is now tbh


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## ttc6

weedougall78 said:


> Awesome job there!
> Will you be putting a ceiling up?
> I quite like how it is now tbh


Cheers! No ceiling, for a few reasons. Mainly cost and effort, as it wouldn't have added functionality to the space (apart from reflecting a bit of light). But also because if you trap air up there there's always a possibility of damp accumulating. So if you board it you then have to ventilate it, then it's more difficult to keep the space warm. Plus, I think it looks cool as it is too. A bit like a trendy pop-up restaurant in Nottingham.


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## weedougall78

ttc6 said:


> Plus, I think it looks cool as it is too. A bit like a trendy pop-up restaurant in Nottingham.


Definitely, and you can 100% say you were there before it became cool


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## Gaffa22

And you can store things up there, not as much as if you'd had a pitched roof, but might still be useful


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## joe_con19

Very interesting thread enjoyed seeing the work bit by bit! Like the space you have and the shape


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## Kev_mk3

great build


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## manmaths31

Great thread and you have done an excellent job. For some reason I can't see the pictures in the 2nd half of the thread though!


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## Hasan1

Love the build. Would love something like this at home but house ain’t build for it


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## ttc6

manmaths31 said:


> Great thread and you have done an excellent job. For some reason I can't see the pictures in the 2nd half of the thread though!


Ah, strange one, I'll investigate this. Anyone else have the same problems?


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## Sam534

Can see it all fine on my phone

Sent from my STF-L09 using Tapatalk


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## ttc6

Thanks all for the kind comments.

Naff all progress to report but by means of keeping the thread fresh...

Emergency lighting, doubt it'll ever get used but nobody wants to be holding a grinder that's still spinning in the dark...










Some messing about to be done here as I've now found out that I need to provide for an EV charge point. Tied into some research they're doing at work, could be interesting...










All going to get a bit cosy on this wall with the CU, not a lot of places I could put it.


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## ttc6

Few more pipes up...


















A total faff, and I'm not over the moon with how it looks, but functional nonetheless:


























Plenty of room...










...'til next time.


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## ttc6

Nearing completion with the electrics now...

One bend I'm actually proud of. Speed and power, etc.










All the conduit now up:


























And the first faceplate now on, milestone and all that.










Many hours this weekend fishing cables through, good job done. All that remains now is to get the electrician in to sign it off and make it live.


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## ttc6

Small update, work has been getting in the way. We were having a small problem with damp, where rain was getting through the mortar joints on top of the pillars and soaking the walls. Took a while to notice as it's only just started pushing the paint off - even if obvious in retrospect.

Still, saving grace of a single skin - I probably wouldn't have noticed until it was a lot worse with a cavity.

The offending joint:










Warrants a good excuse for a little fabrication.


































Etch primed then overcoated with the same hydrophobic stuff as went on the fascias and soffits:










And fastened up last weekend, ready for the snow we were supposed to get this week.


























The boss is good enough to buy me tools for my birthday, she understands. A Ko-Ken Spinning Cross Handle and a couple of deep sockets for wheel duty. It's the first decent item of socketry I've had, prompted by the sad demise of my well abused Britool tee handle this week. The Britool set saw me through lots of spannering in the rain / in the road during my student days, but now is the time for a more 'grown up' collection. It really is lovely stuff and I hope to get a lot more of it. And possibly a second mortgage.


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## Starbuck88

Very nice, I'm Jealous of anyone having a garage wide enough to fit a proper car in these days let alone yours! That's it...I'm looking at rightmove!! :lol:


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## Cookies

Absolutely fantastic space you have there, bud. I'm loving the conduit work too! 

You could always paint/stain the roof timbers black to increase the pop-up shop feel. Just a thought lol. 

Fantastic work. 

Cooks


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## ttc6

Starbuck88 said:


> Very nice, I'm Jealous of anyone having a garage wide enough to fit a proper car in these days let alone yours! That's it...I'm looking at rightmove!! :lol:


Haha, sorry! Of course I can't be held responsible for any house moves that may occur, or indeed any holes that may end up in the garden of said new house...

It's taken a while. We started looking for a house early '16. Found one with a long workshop which fell through, but only one other with a garage anywhere big enough to take the E34. Conceded it was easier to build. Started 12 months ago this weekend, it wasn't without its problems but I'd do it again.



Cookies said:


> Absolutely fantastic space you have there, bud. I'm loving the conduit work too!
> 
> You could always paint/stain the roof timbers black to increase the pop-up shop feel. Just a thought lol.
> 
> Fantastic work.
> 
> Cooks


Thanks very much. Reckon I got just about enough sockets in...

Might have to take your advice on the timbers, they've broken out in mould where the damp was. Happened overnight almost.  Hopefully it'll just brush or steam off.

It'd look cool either way, plus I've loads of that grey left.

Next job is painting the floor, which I'm not really looking forward to. Then build up some timber racking and benches. Aiming to roughly split the space into two triangles, one dirty one clean, if all goes well.

Then I've a newly-powder-coated-but-old steel work bench to fit in, and a couple of old Record vices to restore. One with a quick release too.


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## fishy

I can see a lot of happy hours been spent in there mate, good work.


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## ttc6

Finally got the electrician in to sign off last week - no more extension lead out the kitchen window!

Had to make a couple of alterations, nothing too drastic:










Nice bit of wiring up:










Proof it finally works! Emergency light ready for emergencies.


















Outside socket installed for the eventual outdoor detailing bay / kitchen. More on that as it happens...










Treated myself to a couple of new toys. 3/4" Claber hosepipe: (bigger than it looked on ebay)










Some lovely Geka fittings:


























And a friend for Henry. More on this in another thread...










And finally, what's a stupid ugly oversized building without pretentious decorative lighting?


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## sbrocks

Really nice space. With some well thought out and implemented "design" touches that take it up a level from your normal run of the mill garage. 

Well photographed and thought process well explained too which makes this thread a superb read 

Cheers and enjoy your space


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## ttc6

Thanks chap, glad you've enjoyed reading along!


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## ttc6

A small, neatly packaged, perfectly crafted, slice of Japan arrived in a box today. I'll let the pictures do the talking...










































































































...perfection!


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## steelghost

Pure tool porn


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## ttc6

Have been heavily distracted with work recently. Have had little time to work on the garage, but have at least done some work in it.

Sourced this tank of a thing, we think early 80s, had no home. So I got it powder coated and gave it one. Not sure what i'm going to use as a sacrificial top yet.










Peugeots...


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## steelghost

Nice bench! Any sort of kitchen worktop offcut should do well if you can find one the right size, that stuff is tough as nails.


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## ttc6

I've considered all sorts to be honest - marine ply (with or without sheet steel over) hardboard, rubber, melamine. The concern with worktop is that if you spot it with a drill, moisture or whatever gets in, the top blows and the chipboard underneath loses all its integrity. A lot of temperature and humidity swing in my garage too. Warehouse seconds are dead cheap though, and it can be disposable.

I've scored some beefy ex-university laboratory benches which are a form of kitchen worktop but faced on all sides, which will be my 'clean' benches. This steel table is likely to be used for jobs requiring a bit of 'persuasion' - so whatever I use needs to be quite tough, and stiff in compression. I have a lovely big old Record quick-release vice in store too...

What I'd really like is Trespa. It's similar to melamine on the surface, but with a hard thermoplastic base. Proper lab stuff. They have loads of it at work, but getting hold of it isn't easy - they'd rather chuck it when it's spent or keep it as offcuts. Think I'll see how I get on with the worktop, and if it fails after a couple of years, suck up the cost and buy some.


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## Peter D

Great bench! I’ve got those allen keys- good set &#55357;&#56397;


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## ttc6

Peter D said:


> Great bench! I've got those allen keys- good set ��


I'm a total tool whore, and a total brand w*nker. Love Wera screw drivers / keys / bits, they're great value. They've branched off into sockets and spanners recently though, and I think, possibly hurt their brand a bit doing so. No doubt they are nice, but the range is limited and they're pricey. I like things which do one thing properly, and companies which have the balls to sell one product. Like Ko-ken sockets... :argie:


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## Beemerjohn

ttc6 said:


> A small, neatly packaged, perfectly crafted, slice of Japan arrived in a box today. I'll let the pictures do the talking...
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Koken ratchets

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## ttc6

I got another one!










...add it to the pile of crap to restore.


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## ttc6

And a rollcab.


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