House renovation and garage build
Discussion
custardkid said:
I would put the bench on the wall with the door, this will give you more flexibility.
If you get a normal sized car, then you'll need the length of the garage
That's why I went for left wall, to make full use of the 5m length. The plan was to keep the right wall free for getting in and out of the car etc. If you get a normal sized car, then you'll need the length of the garage
Craikeybaby said:
SunsetZed said:
Craikeybaby said:
It looks like the workbench would be too close to the car if it was in front of the window, so I'll have it on the side of the garage, crucial to decide tonight as the electrician is going to be fitting extra sockets and lighting for the work bench!
If you aren't 100% sure (or even if you think you are it might be worth paying a bit extra now and getting sockets put in multiple locations just in case. It';ll stop you kicking yourself in the future and give you the opportunity to move things around the man cave in the future just because you can 
I haven't had a chance to upload photos yet, but the shed is built and half painted - hopefully the rain will hold of today so we can get a second coat on.
The electrician is back to finish of the lighting and sockets and I've ordered some shelving/boxes so I can start moving stuff into the garage, hopefully keeping it fairly tidy.
The electrician is back to finish of the lighting and sockets and I've ordered some shelving/boxes so I can start moving stuff into the garage, hopefully keeping it fairly tidy.
Electrics pretty much finished, just a bit of tidying up to do. It is great having lights in there, I was able to assemble the shelves this evening, hopefully soon I'll have some time to start the list of jobs on the MR2 
Annoyingly the shelves didn't fit next to the door, they shelves were about 5mm too wide. It was a coincidence that the gap between the door was about the same width as the shelves, so not the end of the world that they don't fit.
Annoyingly the shelves didn't fit next to the door, they shelves were about 5mm too wide. It was a coincidence that the gap between the door was about the same width as the shelves, so not the end of the world that they don't fit.
Still no photos sorry! With lights in there I don't have to head back into the house when it gets dark, which is when I was sorting most of the photos.
Made a bit of progress on finishing the shed last night and tidying the garage. Mail little jobs that stack up to a lot of time. The plan is to get the back room emptied into the garage/shed/tip and the wallpaper stripped by the end of this month!
With an eye on making a start on the back room we've had another quote for the French windows - over £2000!
We're obviously looking in the wrong place as I'm not sure how doors to fill a 1300 x 2300 gap can be significantly more expensive than a 3000 x 2000 insulated garage door with automation!
Made a bit of progress on finishing the shed last night and tidying the garage. Mail little jobs that stack up to a lot of time. The plan is to get the back room emptied into the garage/shed/tip and the wallpaper stripped by the end of this month!
With an eye on making a start on the back room we've had another quote for the French windows - over £2000!
We're obviously looking in the wrong place as I'm not sure how doors to fill a 1300 x 2300 gap can be significantly more expensive than a 3000 x 2000 insulated garage door with automation!
I've been looking for cheap glass every so often, about £1000 a metre seems to be the going rate for bifolds, with other options a bit cheaper. I've seen a few suitable things on eBay that were very cheap if you could collect though and I'd consider that if you want a more cost-effective solution. You'll need to be patient and a bit flexible, but the savings may be worth it.
I want to put a steel lintel in my workshop to open up a space for a either a 1.5 or a double roller door, but then fill it with some sort of glass with an opening I can get a car through. I won't be using the workshop for car storage, until I get another Mini to play with, but want to retain the option of a conventional door in the future while having some car access too. I'm basically planning on turning the space into a man-cave rather than a garage, but don't want to limit my options. For security reasons, I need to do the door before I take out the dividing wall, as the existing door is crap, so I need a cheap solution as the FD won't sign off on an expensive solution until the memory of the new kitchen costs have faded.
I want to put a steel lintel in my workshop to open up a space for a either a 1.5 or a double roller door, but then fill it with some sort of glass with an opening I can get a car through. I won't be using the workshop for car storage, until I get another Mini to play with, but want to retain the option of a conventional door in the future while having some car access too. I'm basically planning on turning the space into a man-cave rather than a garage, but don't want to limit my options. For security reasons, I need to do the door before I take out the dividing wall, as the existing door is crap, so I need a cheap solution as the FD won't sign off on an expensive solution until the memory of the new kitchen costs have faded.
A better picture of the garage from a few weeks back:
MR2 in the garage by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
There are now more wires running around the garage for lights and sockets and some shelves but I'll take a better picture when the workbench is in this week.
Last weekend, with help from some of my mates, we got the shed built, but with the rain last week we only got round to finishing painting it this weekend. I'm pretty pleased with the result (Jen chose the colour):
Shed finished! by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
MR2 in the garage by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
There are now more wires running around the garage for lights and sockets and some shelves but I'll take a better picture when the workbench is in this week.
Last weekend, with help from some of my mates, we got the shed built, but with the rain last week we only got round to finishing painting it this weekend. I'm pretty pleased with the result (Jen chose the colour):
Shed finished! by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
Edited by Craikeybaby on Tuesday 7th October 12:29
It's been a fair while since my last update, things have mostly been quiet due to holidays, business trips and getting engaged, but in between all of that we have managed to get a few things sorted.
The garage is being used as intended:
Lotus in the garage by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
Unfortunately it isn't my car, I've let my fried use it as he needed to do some work on his Elise, which is normally parked on the street. I still need to sort out linking the alarm and the garage door opener, sort my tools and get some posters sorted etc, but it is good to have somewhere dry and light to work in.
The main thing we have been working on is stripping the dining room, moving the contents of the garage/shed to their new homes and getting rid of all the stuff that the in laws wouldn't let us get rid of, but didn't want to keep themselves
We have now stripped the wallpaper, although I only have a work in progress shot:
Wallpaper stripped by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
Unfortunately we have found a couple of damp patches, one in the corner of the room on an outside wall, which looks like it may have been damp and repaired before and another patch on the internal wall to the kitchen. As the washing machine is directly behind the damp patch I thought it could be a leak from there, but on further investigation, the kitchen wall is dry. Another possible explanation is that the wall got wet when we took the radiator off, but that was 3 weeks ago now, so I would have expected the wall to dry in that time.
I was also surprised to find a large airgap above the french windows - I was expecting the lintel to be the full thickness of the wall, but it isn't:
Holes above door by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
Last week we had the original (1930's, single glazed) french windows replaced by a local company, they are wood grain effect UPVC, but look pretty good and will hopefully be a lot warmer and more secure:
New French doors by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
The last job I've had to do is re-attach the curtain rail that pulled out the night before I went to Japan for 2 weeks:
Not what you want to happen as you're about to go on holiday! by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
This was in our bedroom, I seem to remember that the plaster wasn't very thick there when we attached the rail to the wall originally, but this was done the last minute before we moved in. The pole was long enough that I could move the bracket a couple of inches outwards to a more solid part of the wall, although that leaves is slightly off centre, as I've left the other side alone as it is still attached.
The next steps for the dining room are to get the damp patches sorted, the fireplace knocked out and the plastering done.
The garage is being used as intended:
Lotus in the garage by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
Unfortunately it isn't my car, I've let my fried use it as he needed to do some work on his Elise, which is normally parked on the street. I still need to sort out linking the alarm and the garage door opener, sort my tools and get some posters sorted etc, but it is good to have somewhere dry and light to work in.
The main thing we have been working on is stripping the dining room, moving the contents of the garage/shed to their new homes and getting rid of all the stuff that the in laws wouldn't let us get rid of, but didn't want to keep themselves
We have now stripped the wallpaper, although I only have a work in progress shot:
Wallpaper stripped by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
Unfortunately we have found a couple of damp patches, one in the corner of the room on an outside wall, which looks like it may have been damp and repaired before and another patch on the internal wall to the kitchen. As the washing machine is directly behind the damp patch I thought it could be a leak from there, but on further investigation, the kitchen wall is dry. Another possible explanation is that the wall got wet when we took the radiator off, but that was 3 weeks ago now, so I would have expected the wall to dry in that time.
I was also surprised to find a large airgap above the french windows - I was expecting the lintel to be the full thickness of the wall, but it isn't:
Holes above door by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
Last week we had the original (1930's, single glazed) french windows replaced by a local company, they are wood grain effect UPVC, but look pretty good and will hopefully be a lot warmer and more secure:
New French doors by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
The last job I've had to do is re-attach the curtain rail that pulled out the night before I went to Japan for 2 weeks:
Not what you want to happen as you're about to go on holiday! by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
This was in our bedroom, I seem to remember that the plaster wasn't very thick there when we attached the rail to the wall originally, but this was done the last minute before we moved in. The pole was long enough that I could move the bracket a couple of inches outwards to a more solid part of the wall, although that leaves is slightly off centre, as I've left the other side alone as it is still attached.
The next steps for the dining room are to get the damp patches sorted, the fireplace knocked out and the plastering done.
Progress has been a bit slow on the house - so much so that I haven't even been able to get a photo of the damp patches in the dining room, or the new one which has popped up in the front room 
We had friends round, so the dining room went back to being a store room, and hasn't been emptied yet.
Having said that, we had a really productive day on Saturday, we boarded some more of the loft, so we can empty the dining room again. Annoyingly I'd got to the area of the loft where the joists were oddly spaced, so I had to cut the boards to fit, which also allowed me to straighten them up, after lining up the first board with a wonky joist. This job was made much easier by borrowing a jigsaw from Jen's cousin, who was working on his Elise in my garage.
Once we had that done we started on the garden as it was such a nice day, removed the chilli plants from the raised bed, topped it up with compost and planted garlic and onions, to go with the rhubarb and herbs already in there. We also planted some raspberry canes along the fence, so hoping for a good crop next year. Jen's auntie came round, so she helped us with a general garden tidy up, and I'm really pleased by how it looks at the moment!
Garden tidied up for winter by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
I've not had much chance to get into the garage, as Jen's cousin has had his Elise in there with the clam off, but I should be getting it back soon. In anticipation I'm making a start with art for the walls, I've got frames for posters from my 2 visits to Le Mans, although in typical French style they're in a size you can't buy easily over here, but I'm looking forward to getting them hung. In other garage news I've got the alarm and the garage door opener linked, so that the alarm disables when I open the garage door to drive in.
We're getting the fireplace in the dining room sorted out next weekend and just need to finalise dates with the damp man and plasterer, then we should be well on our way and hopefully ready for Xmas!
We had friends round, so the dining room went back to being a store room, and hasn't been emptied yet.Having said that, we had a really productive day on Saturday, we boarded some more of the loft, so we can empty the dining room again. Annoyingly I'd got to the area of the loft where the joists were oddly spaced, so I had to cut the boards to fit, which also allowed me to straighten them up, after lining up the first board with a wonky joist. This job was made much easier by borrowing a jigsaw from Jen's cousin, who was working on his Elise in my garage.
Once we had that done we started on the garden as it was such a nice day, removed the chilli plants from the raised bed, topped it up with compost and planted garlic and onions, to go with the rhubarb and herbs already in there. We also planted some raspberry canes along the fence, so hoping for a good crop next year. Jen's auntie came round, so she helped us with a general garden tidy up, and I'm really pleased by how it looks at the moment!
Garden tidied up for winter by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
I've not had much chance to get into the garage, as Jen's cousin has had his Elise in there with the clam off, but I should be getting it back soon. In anticipation I'm making a start with art for the walls, I've got frames for posters from my 2 visits to Le Mans, although in typical French style they're in a size you can't buy easily over here
, but I'm looking forward to getting them hung. In other garage news I've got the alarm and the garage door opener linked, so that the alarm disables when I open the garage door to drive in.We're getting the fireplace in the dining room sorted out next weekend and just need to finalise dates with the damp man and plasterer, then we should be well on our way and hopefully ready for Xmas!
Edited by Craikeybaby on Monday 27th October 17:46
We've now got a hole in the wall:
Hole in the wall by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
I've finally got round to taking some photos of the damp:
Damp patch by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
Damp patch by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
The patches have got slightly bigger over the month or so since we noticed them, but not by much. The damp man should be coming to chip the plaster away, inject the walls and replaster this week, then we can get the fireplace plastered and the rest of the room skimmed.
The garlic that we planted last weekend has already sprouted, which I wasn't expecting, it must be due to the unseasonably warm weather, hopefully they'll last through the winter now.
More importantly I should be getting my garage back tomorrow! The Elise has just been out for a test drive, but there are a few little niggles to sort. In other garage news, the electron has been round to sort out the outdoor lights, one of them had a faulty PIR, which was keeping them all on, but now they work as expected.
Hole in the wall by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
I've finally got round to taking some photos of the damp:
Damp patch by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
Damp patch by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
The patches have got slightly bigger over the month or so since we noticed them, but not by much. The damp man should be coming to chip the plaster away, inject the walls and replaster this week, then we can get the fireplace plastered and the rest of the room skimmed.
The garlic that we planted last weekend has already sprouted, which I wasn't expecting, it must be due to the unseasonably warm weather, hopefully they'll last through the winter now.
More importantly I should be getting my garage back tomorrow! The Elise has just been out for a test drive, but there are a few little niggles to sort. In other garage news, the electron has been round to sort out the outdoor lights, one of them had a faulty PIR, which was keeping them all on, but now they work as expected.
Craikeybaby said:
Thought I recognised that plate as it went b
king past me on the A46 on Saturday afternoon!Anyway, worth checking Ikea for the poster frames? Most of their stuff seems to be European sizes.
Busted! 
I forgot to look at Ikea, even though most of my frames in the house are from there.
I've got the garage back now - Rich's Elise is ready for the body shop, so I can get the MR2 in for some jobs.
The damp Man is starting tomorrow, so hopefully we can start to make more progress - Jen's trying to decide on a colour scheme now.
I forgot to look at Ikea, even though most of my frames in the house are from there.
I've got the garage back now - Rich's Elise is ready for the body shop, so I can get the MR2 in for some jobs.
The damp Man is starting tomorrow, so hopefully we can start to make more progress - Jen's trying to decide on a colour scheme now.
This is how the dining room looked this morning:
Plaster chipped off and damp proofing injected by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
It has now been plastered, but it is too dark to take a photo, so will get one posted in the next few days. We've got a plasterer booked to board the ceiling and skim the whole room in a couple of weeks, hopefully we'll be able to pull that forwards!
I've got my Le Mans posters framed, I should get them hung this week - any tips for drilling into a single skin brick wall?
Garage artwork by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
Plaster chipped off and damp proofing injected by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
It has now been plastered, but it is too dark to take a photo, so will get one posted in the next few days. We've got a plasterer booked to board the ceiling and skim the whole room in a couple of weeks, hopefully we'll be able to pull that forwards!
I've got my Le Mans posters framed, I should get them hung this week - any tips for drilling into a single skin brick wall?
Garage artwork by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
No, I stupidly didn't look there. These are Neilson Classic frames from eFrames, were expensive, but seem well made.
The walls have been rendered, so hopefully the plaster can crack on with the skim ASAP
Dining room walls rendered by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
The walls have been rendered, so hopefully the plaster can crack on with the skim ASAP
Dining room walls rendered by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
I hung the Le Mans posters in the garage, but it looks like they don't like the cold/moisture:
Le Mans poster hung in the garage by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
I'll have to rethink this, maybe trimming the posters down slightly so they have room to expand in the frames.
After 6 weeks with a Lotus in the garage I was looking forward to doing some of the jobs I've got lined up on the MR2, but after a call from Jen saying the brakes on her 500 were making "a funny" noise, the MR2 was moved back onto the drive and the 500 into the garage.
Disc & pad change on the 500 by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
I must say that even with the shelves/workbench etc theres plety of room to work around the car.
This will be why the brake were making a noise:
That would explain the grinding noise! by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
The Lotus which was in my garage for 6 weeks was seriously damaged at the weekend, possibly a write off, Rich was OK, but pretty gutting after all the work he'd been doing on it.
The dining room is coming along slowly, there hasn't been any news from the plasterer, so we've been sorting things like carpets, curtains and what colour we are going to paint the wall. It is looking increasingly like Jen wants to go for light blue walls, which along with the orange chairs (not as bad as they sound) should give us a Gulf liveried dining room. The next job to do is to source some slate for the hearth, which we'd kind of forgotten about - are we better off plastering to the floor, then fitting the slate, or installing the slate first?
Le Mans poster hung in the garage by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
I'll have to rethink this, maybe trimming the posters down slightly so they have room to expand in the frames.
After 6 weeks with a Lotus in the garage I was looking forward to doing some of the jobs I've got lined up on the MR2, but after a call from Jen saying the brakes on her 500 were making "a funny" noise, the MR2 was moved back onto the drive and the 500 into the garage.
Disc & pad change on the 500 by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
I must say that even with the shelves/workbench etc theres plety of room to work around the car.
This will be why the brake were making a noise:
That would explain the grinding noise! by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
The Lotus which was in my garage for 6 weeks was seriously damaged at the weekend, possibly a write off, Rich was OK, but pretty gutting after all the work he'd been doing on it.
The dining room is coming along slowly, there hasn't been any news from the plasterer, so we've been sorting things like carpets, curtains and what colour we are going to paint the wall. It is looking increasingly like Jen wants to go for light blue walls, which along with the orange chairs (not as bad as they sound) should give us a Gulf liveried dining room. The next job to do is to source some slate for the hearth, which we'd kind of forgotten about - are we better off plastering to the floor, then fitting the slate, or installing the slate first?
There has been little to no progress over the last few weeks, other than taking the dining room carpet to the tip. However, the plasterers are in today and planning on getting the ceiling/fireplace boarded and the whole room skimmed by 19:00. So we'll have to hope that dries quickly before we can crack on with painting. The missus still hasn't decided which shade of light blue she wants to use, but at least has chosen curtains now, so we can get them ordered after payday, with a 3 week lead time we are going to be tight for getting them by Christmas.
No pictures as I haven't been home in day light yet, but the dining room has been plastered - it looks really good. The guys finished at gone 20:30, so had a long day on it!
The plan is to start painting on 5/6/7/8th December, as we have a long weekend off, so fingers crossed the room dries out in time!
The plan is to start painting on 5/6/7/8th December, as we have a long weekend off, so fingers crossed the room dries out in time!
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff