Pabbles

Connor/Peter - thank you both very much indeed for that - especially for the breakdown, that's just what I needed. Peter - you're quite right 21m3 not 27m3. I had been debating between 200 and 250mm thick as the info from the lift manufacturer specifies 200 for up to 4.2T or 250mm for 5T or higher, I think I'd worked out 27m3 based off the (unnecessary) 5T loading. The stage I'm at is: 1) decide between block built and steel for the building. Steel is coming in a bit cheaper (I think at the moment), with the cheapest supply-only quotes (ex.VAT) being between £17,250 (no insulation) and £21,785 (with walls and roof 40mm insulated) - excluding erection costs at circa £5k ex VAT. Done. 2) finalise/sharpen the best quotes and get drawings - in progress, pending rationalisation of all the quotes. 3) submit to Planning Authority for Lawful Development Certificate - not started 4) get the certificate and get formalised groundworks quotes - not started 5) pay for the building -not started 6) get groundworks done - not started 7) put up building - not started So far, the only pricing I've had back for the slab/groundworks is from two sources: One of the steel building suppliers included it on their quote at £19,440 plus VAT (that's the one I thought was bonkers) I've just called one local (larger) groundworks company to get a rough guide and he said £13,800. The insight from yourselves is invaluable as it already tells me that my gut was right and £19k+VAT is indeed nuts but that the quick quote from the local firm is probably at the upper end of what I might expect. For info the building is 12mx9m with a 4m ridge and 2.5m eaves (keeping it under PD regs). The span is 12m rather than 9m (the only way to fit my vehicle lift into the roof space).

I'm struggling a bit here and hoping for some rule of thumb guidance. I've had 5 formal quotes for a steel outbuilding (for a private workshop not for sleeping accommodation), which are OK. But only one company included a price for laying a slab and it seems bonkers - the rest want me to arrange it in advance. I'm not quite ready to go to a groundworks company for a formal quote (there's a load of unrelated work to do on the site and I'd want them to quote for the lot in one go) so wondered if anyone could give me a rough guide as to what to expect on the slab laying in isolation? The slab will be 12mx9m. 200mm thick C20/25 concrete with steel mesh (there's a vehicle lift going on it). The ground is untouched, perfectly flat lawn and there is >2.5m of free space all around. It is accessible for heavy plant and a mixer can back right up to it (over the grass). I know I'll need about 27m3 of concrete (plus wastage) and I had one price (haven't tried to get competitive yet) of £3225+VAT. I know there'll be the costs of the hardcore and mesh, shuttering, etc and that the labour involves digging out, disposal, hardcore base, compacting, shuttering, laying and float. I wouldn't expect anyone to try and work it out exactly but was hoping that someone with relevant experience could give me a very quick steer as to the sort of prices I should expect for the whole lot in NW England? Even if its only accurate to the tune of +/- 25% it would give me a good jumping off point while I do these early costings. Thank you.

Thanks both. I've recently learned of the major delays in Cheshire East planning that have been plaguing them for some years now, so any applications I make will need to be absolutely perfect before they go so sure I'll be asking plenty of questions.

Hi everyone. I'm getting ready to build a 12m x 9m garage. It will have two roller shutter doors, one personnel door and one window. The roof will be steel, vaulted beams with insulated corrugated sheet on top. So, nothing fancy - but quite large. I have been getting portal steel (insulated) building prices and they are very high. I'm about to employ a draftsperson to make some drawings so that I can get a rendered block-built quote (single skin with piers), which would be my preference over steel, but I know I will need to insulate it internally for both temperature and for noise (power tools). I thought I had a healthy budget, with a bit of careful management, at £30k. But the steel building prices have blown that budget out of the water and I suspect block built through a builder will be equally high. I would describe myself as being very handy. I build cars and fabricate as a hobby, I have renovated two houses in the past 5 years and have done the majority of work myself - but know my weaknesses: plastering, electrical work (legally) and neat joinery (while I fit my own kitchens, I prefer to have a joiner do my skirtings and doors). I have never laid blocks or bricks and wouldn't try it. So, I'm tentatively interested in ICF buildings. My understanding is that paying a builder to use block or ICF makes very little difference. But given the eave height of my new garage is only 2.5m and 4m peak at the gables - I keep coming back to the idea that doing the ICF walls myself might not be a daft idea. It would save me significant hassle in terms of building labour and high labour costs and I'd only need to use zip up scaffolding for the gable peaks. It also would be better insulated than a single skin wall. If the hype is true then laying the blocks between concrete pumps and curing times (depending on brand) could be a matter of days of relatively pain-free work. ICF has always struck me as a great idea that failed to take off, but now I'm rethinking. Am I mad? If not, is there a company that is more highly recommended than others these days? Durisol seem to have pros (good prices, training available and less rebar needed, if I've understood correctly) and cons (they were previously in administration and customer services seems iffy) but I haven't got much much further with other brands. My ideal would be a firm that could look at my block drawings and advise the products and processes needed to replicate this in ICF as well as being good value block-for-block/requiring sensible amounts of reinforcement. I'd be rendering it anyway, even if it is in block. Thank you.

Hi everyone. This is my first post after my intro, so here goes. We're completing on a new property in two weeks and we need to hit the ground running. The most urgent requirement is to build a large garage (as all our classic cars are going to be in storage at quite some cost until its complete). I've designed exactly what I want and have drawn it all out, to scale, in TinkerCAD (a basic 3D CAD package, meant for kids, but does the job here) and we have been and marked out the ground with canes. It is being placed in the corner of a very large (>0.5 acre) garden, 2m from each boundary. The ridge height is 4m and the eaves are 2.5m from natural ground level and the footprint is very large at 12m x 9m. I believe this will fall under Permitted Development with Building regs, surprisingly given the scale, but I'm not counting my chickens on that until I have applied for a certificate of lawfulness. I have heard mention of buildings >30m2 automatically needing planning permission (in addition to building regs) in some areas but this isn't mentioned on any council planning documents I've seen so far. I have two options: 1) Get a steel building with portal frame. This is easy - they do the designs for me and its quick to assemble. But where this used to be a cheap option, the quotes are coming back very high. 2) Build in block with steel rafters/roof beams. The steel beams are essential as I need to maximise the internal clear roof height under the ridge to let me install a car lift for maintenance, so traditional triangulated timber trusses are out. I would really prefer rendered block walls rather than a steel construction, both aesthetically and from longevity. The steel building prices are coming in at such a level (£28k supplied insulated + £10k erection + £? groundworks/slab + VAT) that I feel it could be comparable to a single skin breezeblock built building with piers. The problem is that I am in something of a catch-22. I can't get an accurate quotation from a builder (or if I split the works, from a groundworks firm, bricklayer, roofer and door/window supplier) without a set of drawings. Yes, I could use my childish 3D model to get a Certificate of Lawfulness and an outline quote, but I really need a firm price (plus contingency) before committing as the funds will need to be retained from my current place prior to completion. So, what I'd like to do is to get some inexpensive drawings made to let me accurately quote up the block-built option. I feel it would be overkill to employ an architect for such a simple construction - so would like to work with a technician to convert my sketch into a set of plans that could be used for quotation, planning and building controls. My gut instinct (as no site visit is needed - the new garage being placed in the corner of an open, flat piece of land) is to use an online draftsperson to produce the plans as inexpensively as possible. The first one I've found that will generate a clear price is called ArkiPlan. From them the prices quoted are: Planning drawings suitable for basic quote (including free local authority submission) - £799. Full building regs drawings - £1049. Just seeing if anyone knew of any alternative routes or a local (Cheshire East) one-person-band draftsperson? As I may end up backtracking and going with steel, I don't want to sink too much into the block building plans... but do want to be able to get detailed quotes (completely contradictory, I know). Thank you very much.

Hi everyone. New member here. We've just bought a large property near Nantwich in Cheshire and have some big plans for it - primarily concerning the construction of a very large garage and a separate guest chalet-come-garden-office as well as changing some hardstanding and access tracks. Small beans compared to most of the projects on here, but while we've done a number of renovations, this will be the first time we've built any structures so will be asking a number of questions on construction techniques, trades and confirming our planning research.