# McC's garage renovation build



## McC (Apr 9, 2017)

Okay dokey...so...moved into our place in March 2019. And now that the big hitter jobs that needed done in and around the actual house are out the way with the next thing to sort out is the garage.

End goal is to be done up so that I can detail and work on cars all year round. The main things to tackle is reducing dust so sealing in the concrete, getting the walls coated, doing something with the roof (as it isn't breathing properly and there is a bit of damp present) and lighting.

First of jobs was to get the fuse box replaced as the one that was installed was...a bit dated to say the least

Old one:

















New one









Space to work with









































































































The next thing to tackle is the water that is seeping in through the walls. The walls seem to be just a single skin with some sort of rubber felt on the external with render on top. The rubber felt is starting to harden and along with the render is starting to come off in places.

As the garage is submerged into the driveway I attempted to tank the internal back wall to try and keep the water out. 
















It does work to a certain extent but there is still water that seeps through after a good rain shower. So not good enough to go ahead and paint things up.

So at the moment my concern is that with the water obviously coming in through the brickwork for some time and the mortar coming away in places is it worth digging up around the outside to coat the external with some bitumen and layer a plastic DPM sheet then backfilling in some drainage? Or could the entire thing be done with rebuilding?

Some close ups of the bad bits:

























In the far away future (unless we come into some money) would be to extend upwards on this building an have a garage opening from the roadside. There were plans / previous planning application that was granted a few years back for this. I will try and look out the plans at some point. So ideally I would like to prep for the future so I'm just doing things once and doing them right. So any advice on the structure would be greatly appreciated!

Looking at getting the driveway layout altered a bit so if we have a digger in about a anyway, it would be too much hassle to dig up around the garage as well right down to the foundation.

Cheers!

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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

The exterior needs clearing away from the walls I'd say. 
Repointing should then stop water ingress. It's either that or you spend a lot getting it tanked properly inside.
Clearing a metre away from the walls isn't too much but its almost up to roof level of garage so remaining drive would need supporting then!


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## woodycivic (Jun 4, 2015)

Wow, that's some space you have to work with there! 

Keep the updates and pictures coming.


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## Liambo-235 (Jul 14, 2009)

Definitely subscribing to this! Good luck!!


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

Did reply to this but its not appeared!
I think you'll need a clear space round the walls outside, issue then is supporting all that soil back. 
Or you spend a lot tanking it properly inside.


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## cossiecol (Jun 29, 2014)

Darlofan said:


> Did reply to this but its not appeared!
> I think you'll need a clear space round the walls outside, issue then is supporting all that soil back.
> Or you spend a lot tanking it properly inside.


Sorted


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

cossiecol said:


> Sorted


Ta, getting old is bad enough without things like that testing my sanity. :lol:


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## McC (Apr 9, 2017)

Darlofan said:


> The exterior needs clearing away from the walls I'd say.
> Repointing should then stop water ingress. It's either that or you spend a lot getting it tanked properly inside.
> Clearing a metre away from the walls isn't too much but its almost up to roof level of garage so remaining drive would need supporting then!


Thanks for the advice, I'm cautious that I can't afford to loose a metre on the side of the garage where the driveway come down...so I guess if I can't retain / hold back the earth then the next approach would be to divert the water? Or would a french drain idea work so that when I've backfilled the drain it could still be driven over?


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## ad_330_coupe (Apr 6, 2009)

I can offer some advice from an engineering perspective.... so although typically an architectural issue, I have some good knowledge.

There are a few ways to waterproof internally, but ultimately, the best solution will always be externally waterproofed. Basement structures should have two forms of waterproofing if a habitable space, but that may be over the top for your garage.

If you chose an internal solution, bear in mind that the 'structure' will always be wet, and you want to try to do what you can to prevent a head of water forming behind the wall - this would be detrimental to the walls.

Take a look here, you can play around with options...

https://www.riw.co.uk/waterproofing-by-application/internal-tanking

Typically a popular internal solution is to use an 'egg crate' style membrane which allows water to track down the face of the wall and into some form of drainage to take it away from the wall. You could then line over this membrane with ply or something similar and suitably robust for the environment.

Alternatively, you could tank the outside. You would need to excavate down the back of the wall, and bear in mind the masonry should step and be much thicker at the base than the top. You could then tank the back of the wall, and at the same time install a land drain wrapped in geotextile filter containing free draining material such as pea shingle - preferably angular not rounded at the base of the wall.

A drainage membrane up the back of the wall before backfilling will allow any ground water to drain to the land drain and to your discharge point away from the building, this will then help your water issues.

Hope this helps without information overload.


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## grunty-motor (Aug 11, 2016)

^ - some advice there!

How is your floor? that will be another consideration.....if you are getting damp coming up it will be another dig up and DPC activity. 

I think you are in the territory of knocking down and starting again.


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## McC (Apr 9, 2017)

ad_330_coupe...that's the info I'm needing, very much appreciated at the time taken for that! So, just so I've got it right in my head. At the moment as the water is allowed to come from the out side in then there shouldn't be concern over existing block work and it's strength? 

Then as even tanking the inside still would require external work to minimize the head of water I think I'm going to go for the external work first and see how well it holds back the water.

grunty-motor - floor seems alright, there is a section near the side wall where the drive come down behind where it's crumbling away...but its hard to tell weather it's just been patched before and just done badly or it's due to something else...


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## McC (Apr 9, 2017)

Plans drafted for getting quotes for sorting out the drive and whilst the digger is in about will get drainage sorted and get water to the garage. Saves running hose from the house.
















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## grunty-motor (Aug 11, 2016)

McC said:


> grunty-motor - floor seems alright, there is a section near the side wall where the drive come down behind where it's crumbling away...but its hard to tell weather it's just been patched before and just done badly or it's due to something else...


do you have that white powdery stuff on the floor? hard to see from pics.

get a bit of tarpaulin/plastic/rubber mat and put it down on the floor overnight. If the floor has DPC it will be dry. If it gets moisture underneath, floor will need to come up


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## ad_330_coupe (Apr 6, 2009)

McC said:


> ad_330_coupe...that's the info I'm needing, very much appreciated at the time taken for that! So, just so I've got it right in my head. At the moment as the water is allowed to come from the out side in then there shouldn't be concern over existing block work and it's strength?
> 
> Then as even tanking the inside still would require external work to minimize the head of water I think I'm going to go for the external work first and see how well it holds back the water.
> 
> grunty-motor - floor seems alright, there is a section near the side wall where the drive come down behind where it's crumbling away...but its hard to tell weather it's just been patched before and just done badly or it's due to something else...


Any water through a structure long term has the potential to casue problems, however, in the situation of a retaining wall, hydrostatic pressure behind the wall is much worse and creates a load that the wall is unlikely to have been designed for. So whilst it is good that it isn't building up (assuming all water is passing through), it is potentially causing mortar issues etc, especially in winters with freeze thaw action.

It looks as if the retaining wall is circa 2.0m, so I would expect the base of the wall to be around 900mm thick. This will then step several times and become thinner towards the top.

The blockwork should be repointed and made good, but I would focus on the water issue to start with.

What is your proposed finish, particularly to the high side?

With regard to your drainage, do you know which way the existing drainage falls, and where it discharges? You will want to pick your connection point carefully and be sure there is sufficient depth to have adequate falls from the garage and land drainage....

You may also want to consider works to the grass patch, as this could cause issues raised against the side assuming it has not been tanked already.


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## Del-GTi (Mar 31, 2007)

That is an amazing space. Looking forward to seeing your updates to this.

I can’t offer anything from a construction point of view but best of luck with it.


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## McC (Apr 9, 2017)

grunty-motor said:


> do you have that white powdery stuff on the floor? hard to see from pics.
> 
> get a bit of tarpaulin/plastic/rubber mat and put it down on the floor overnight. If the floor has DPC it will be dry. If it gets moisture underneath, floor will need to come up


Not so much on the floor be there are areas of the wall that do.

Work has been a bit manic the last week so havent had the brain capacity to do anything. But got a piece of cling film and duck taped to the floor tonight so will see what the results are tomorrow...blooming nervous now...but if there is moisture then so be it...not planning on moving for a long time yet so might as well get it sorted! It will just be the case that there will be very few updates until I build enough funds to have things rectified!


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## McC (Apr 9, 2017)

Okay ad_330_coupe, need to break this down abit!



ad_330_coupe said:


> Any water through a structure long term has the potential to casue problems, however, in the situation of a retaining wall, hydrostatic pressure behind the wall is much worse and creates a load that the wall is unlikely to have been designed for. So whilst it is good that it isn't building up (assuming all water is passing through), it is potentially causing mortar issues etc, especially in winters with freeze thaw action.
> 
> It looks as if the retaining wall is circa 2.0m, so I would expect the base of the wall to be around 900mm thick. This will then step several times and become thinner towards the top.


So if I am to dig up up the round the outside of the garage and I don't find that wall steps out then I should really be looking at a rebuild?



ad_330_coupe said:


> The blockwork should be repointed and made good, but I would focus on the water issue to start with.


And this will have to be done from the outside? I couldn't tank / rubber seal the outside then repoint from the inside?



ad_330_coupe said:


> What is your proposed finish, particularly to the high side?


Haven't got that far yet...ideally any exposed / above ground level wall would be replaced like for like so some sort of render...but to like the idea of going with some sort of wooden cladding.



ad_330_coupe said:


> With regard to your drainage, do you know which way the existing drainage falls, and where it discharges? You will want to pick your connection point carefully and be sure there is sufficient depth to have adequate falls from the garage and land drainage....


All drainage definitely falls in the direction of the slope of the drive. But one of the end goals of changing the layout of the drive to find out where and how all the sewage and rain water drainage ties in.



ad_330_coupe said:


> You may also want to consider works to the grass patch, as this could cause issues raised against the side assuming it has not been tanked already.


I will try and remember to get pictures but from the sections of the walls that are exposed the render seems to sit of some sort of felt that has become brittle and has come away from the brick work...but yes whilst the digger is in about I will get this area seen to also.


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## Tykebike (Mar 27, 2016)

I have a cellar which is prone to damp, I solved most of it by taking out the fall pipe that used to go into a soak away in the garden above the house and realign the gutter so the water went into the drain. The remaining damp is dealt with by continuous use of a dehumidifier to stop my tools from going rusty. It also has a secondary benefit of keeping the temperature up in winter. The unit is an Ebac/EIPL CD35 which I picked up off the bay.


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## vsideboy (Sep 1, 2006)

Good luck pal.


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## Tykebike (Mar 27, 2016)

I've just noticed on the proposed plan that you are removing the large pine tree, I should seek advice on this because it will be soaking up the moisture and evaporating it to the atmosphere (a bit like a dehumidifier in some respects!). If you remove it or any of the other trees you may exacerbate the problem.


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## McC (Apr 9, 2017)

Tykebike said:


> I have a cellar which is prone to damp, I solved most of it by taking out the fall pipe that used to go into a soak away in the garden above the house and realign the gutter so the water went into the drain. The remaining damp is dealt with by continuous use of a dehumidifier to stop my tools from going rusty. It also has a secondary benefit of keeping the temperature up in winter. The unit is an Ebac/EIPL CD35 which I picked up off the bay.


Thanks for your input on this Tykebike! Basically by redirecting the fall pipe it was getting the water away instantly rather than slowly disappating via the soak away? You could be onto something here, until we get the drive dug up we don't know where the pipes go...It could the case that any rain water drainage might be going to a soak away on the property...


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## McC (Apr 9, 2017)

Tykebike said:


> I've just noticed on the proposed plan that you are removing the large pine tree, I should seek advice on this because it will be soaking up the moisture and evaporating it to the atmosphere (a bit like a dehumidifier in some respects!). If you remove it or any of the other trees you may exacerbate the problem.


Jeez! I knew posting this would get some good advice! This make alot of sense...the reason why the tree is so big might be due to it being constantly fed by the water running down the drive...I guess as the driveway is coming up anyway especially in the area of the tree then I guess I would just have to make sure that there is some form of drainage to take the water away from the slope?


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## McC (Apr 9, 2017)

Well...first bit of positive news. No signs of moisture after 24hrs. Put this in the back room closest it to the wall that is mostly submerged by the driveway.























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## JordanE (Jun 26, 2013)

updates?


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