smart70 Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 (edited) Hi Everyone. I am just starting a garage build, and was wondering if the entrance is wide enough for a 213.4 cm garage door. The distance on either side of the garage door frame to the wall edge is 15.3 cm. Will this give the garage enough stability ? Or will I have to redesign the front so it is wide enough, say 8 ft 6 inches ? The garage will be constructed from wood on top of one course of concrete block. I've included a CAD drawing of the proposed garage and a photo of the location for the garage. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, cheers. Edited January 3, 2022 by smart70 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeSharp01 Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Can you brace the front end to the house, photo makes it look possible, this would give considerable stability. The stiffness is OK at the back but the front will be somewhat wobbly. You can probably sort this with diagonal bracing the rear wall down the side walls (high up at rear to low down on side walls), unless you have thick boarding 8x4 sheets as side cladding, and then relying on the stiffness of the roof and side walls to stiffen the front but I would not rely on it. Naturally the door can help but this will depend on door type and locking mechanism. Do you need the full height all the way down, 1.98m will get a discovery in but you won't get out with any ease / if at all? If not you can consider diagonal bracing inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smart70 Posted January 4, 2022 Author Share Posted January 4, 2022 (edited) Thank you for the reply. What I will do is extend the left edge of the garage front so it touches the neighbours wall as shown in the updated CAD drawing. There is also the possibility of reducing the width of the garage door from 7 ft to 6 ft 6 inches. This will make the front of the garage a lot more rigid. Edited January 4, 2022 by smart70 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smart70 Posted January 19, 2022 Author Share Posted January 19, 2022 Hi everyone. Started working on Stage 1 - laying 1 course of concrete block. All went well until the cold weather arrived, the mortar would not set. Apparently mortar does not set at temperatures below 5 degrees. Will have to wait until the weather improves. In the meantime I have started work on Stage 2 - the wooden framework. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElliotM Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 Any new photos? I am curious about the process Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smart70 Posted January 30, 2022 Author Share Posted January 30, 2022 Hello everyone. Just giving an update on the garage build project. Its still to cold (below 5 degrees at night) to lay anymore concrete blocks, so I've started work on the wooden frame. Its divided into 6 sections to make for easier installation, although I think the help of a friendly neighbour would come in handy when fixing the sections together. Finding the correct dimensions for the garage door opening has been rather complicated. You have to add 1 cm either side for length of the door frame, that's 2 cm altogether, and add 1 cm to the height off the door frame. A further inch has also been added to garage door height as the front of the garage is on a slight slope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpmiller Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 Are there requirements to fireproof this building? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smart70 Posted January 30, 2022 Author Share Posted January 30, 2022 Thats actually a very interesting question, I was not aware you could fireproof a wooden building. However after looking on the internet there are fire resistant paints you can use. Might be worth giving the garage at least one coating to help prevent a fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpmiller Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 ref. distances to boundaries, and garage (petrol storage) vs garden shed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smart70 Posted February 14, 2022 Author Share Posted February 14, 2022 On 30/01/2022 at 22:05, dpmiller said: ref. distances to boundaries, and garage (petrol storage) vs garden shed. The distance from the proposed garage to my property will be about 1.6 meters, however I've just realised the distance from the garage to the property next door is 300 mm ! Is there any type of fire retardant cladding that anybody could recommend so that the garage will pass building regulations please ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smart70 Posted February 24, 2022 Author Share Posted February 24, 2022 (edited) Hi Everyone Well after the cold weather and the storm I have finally been able to make progress on the garage build. Due to the storm I have decided to add some more bracing in case of further storms. The frames are now going up so its getting there eventually. Edited February 24, 2022 by smart70 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smart70 Posted March 17, 2022 Author Share Posted March 17, 2022 (edited) Hi everyone. Now making good progress with the garage build. The project is way ahead of schedule. I am now in the process of constructing the roof using 18 mm OSB boards. The major problem I had was the concrete foundations were not flat, there was a slight rise by 1 degree approx near the proposed garage entrance. To solve this problem I modified the concrete blocks using an angle grinder and the wooden stud frame using a basic hand saw. Edited March 17, 2022 by smart70 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliG Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 Sorry, I hadn't seen this before. Congratulations on your hard work. But are you actually planning to put a car in there? If it is just for storage then that's fine. A relatively modest VW Golf for example is 1800mm wide, but 2027 wide with the mirrors. A small SUV like a Tiguan is 2100mm with the mirrors. I used to have a door that was only maybe 100mm wider than my car at the mirrors and I had to get out of the car to line it up, I could only get out of the car as it was a double garage with two doors, so there was plenty of space once inside. Opening the doors inside the garage will be even more difficult, a three door car especially would be a nightmare. 53 minutes ago, smart70 said: The major problem I had was the concrete foundations were not flat, there was a slight rise by 1 degree approx near the proposed garage entrance. Be careful of this. If the floor runs down from the door, rain running down the door can run back into the garage. this happened in my last house. You can get a seal to put under the door and stop this, but ideally the floor should have a slight slope down towards the door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 Why are you building it narrower than the base it is standing on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smart70 Posted March 17, 2022 Author Share Posted March 17, 2022 2 hours ago, AliG said: But are you actually planning to put a car in there? If it is just for storage then that's fine. The garage will be used for storage. I would like to fit in a couple of sockets and a fluorescent light, however I'm not sure whether that would be legal or not due to the wooden construction. Maybe painting the garage with a fire retardant paint would solve the problem. 2 hours ago, AliG said: Be careful of this. If the floor runs down from the door, rain running down the door can run back into the garage. this happened in my last house. You can get a seal to put under the door and stop this, but ideally the floor should have a slight slope down towards the door. Thank you, I will look into this if it becomes a problem. 1 hour ago, ProDave said: Why are you building it narrower than the base it is standing on? The exterior concrete block wall around the base does not support the concrete foundations which are supported at each corner by concrete pillars and filled in with hardcore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smart70 Posted March 30, 2022 Author Share Posted March 30, 2022 Hi everyone. Just another update. The roof has now been completed. Building a flat roof is a lot easier than a apex roof. Feather edge boards have been used for cladding for the sides of the garage. The window and door will be installed later on. For the guttering I would like the down pipe to end in a green water butt, I think this would be a nice feature.The project has been a huge learning experience, it was only 2 1/2 years ago that I purchased my first cordless drill. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 Looking good. I must get the last of my sh-office wrapped up this summer. The winter has been miserable, so was lacking in inspiration. Solar PV and my battery system going in next hopefully 🤞 as the shed / office roof gets a lot of sunshine on it, that and the attached gazebo roof. Deffo going to add cheap rockwool insulation in though, gets too cold or too warm. Will this be a man-cave or just storage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpmiller Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 so back to the old distance to boundaries/ fire protection thingy. Have you got all the necessary facts lined up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smart70 Posted March 31, 2022 Author Share Posted March 31, 2022 3 hours ago, dpmiller said: so back to the old distance to boundaries/ fire protection thingy. Have you got all the necessary facts lined up? From research carried out, as long as the height of the garage is below 2.5 meters and that it will only be used for storage then I believe it will be legal. Saying that, in the future I would like to replace the wooden cladding on the neighbours side with corrugated steel cladding and also apply fire resistance paint to the garage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smart70 Posted April 28, 2022 Author Share Posted April 28, 2022 Hi everyone. Here's an update on the garage build. As you can see from the pictures it's almost complete. I'm having the garage door fitted in by professionals for reasons. As a response to comments by other members, the walls of the garage will be replaced with corrugated steel on the neighbours side and UPVC cladding on some if not all the other sides. This will make the garage more resistant to fire. I have also bought some Thermoguard Timbercoat fire protection paint which I intend to paint the framework with. When this has been done, it should be safe enough to fit any electrics inside. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevonKim Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 That's really smart! Can you post photo with doors in please? Are you going to render or paint the block work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smart70 Posted June 6, 2022 Author Share Posted June 6, 2022 The Garage is now complete, the garage door was installed by professionals for reasons. There will be future modifications made such as adding windows and doors, changing the exterior walls to corrugated steel on the neighbours side and perhaps PVCu cladding on the other sides. Once this has been done sockets and light fixtures can be installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smart70 Posted June 6, 2022 Author Share Posted June 6, 2022 Part underpinning of foundation for new garage I want to part underpin the end of garage foundations and also add concrete foundations to stand a water butt on. From the pics it is evident that the footing for the concrete foundations is exposed, which is why I want solve this problem by underpinning. I have already installed a wooden support and intend to use trench strut(s) to support the wall whilst digging. I won't be doing the whole wall, this would be a bad idea ! Just one section at the end that measures 600 mm. Once the hole has been dug, the form set in place, the concrete can be poured, the trench support will not be removed. So what do you think, is this a good idea ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan 1 Posted June 6, 2022 Share Posted June 6, 2022 Hi if you need to underpin by only a few hundred mm I'd ditch the trench prop, there is really no need at all. Just make sure you dig them in a hit and miss sequence. I personally do not like a top fill pin and much prefer to dry pack my pins but to be honest they are that shallow it won't really make much difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smart70 Posted June 15, 2022 Author Share Posted June 15, 2022 Thank you for the advice. Well, just completed the first concrete base/pin, just another 4 to go :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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