Timber garaging / Passmores

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Discussion

EggsBenedict

Original Poster:

1,770 posts

173 months

Monday 1st September 2014
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Was looking at timber garaging. At our new place, we'd like 2 carriage house type things arranged in an L shape 3 bay with 2 bays with doors on one side of the L and 2 bay on the other.

We looked at Passmores in Kent at the weekend, and they seem reasonably priced, good quality units, and we liked the people there - they seemed switched on, helpful and flexible.

Does anybody have any thoughts on:

1) Timber garaging?

2) Passmores?

Thanks...

bucksmanuk

2,311 posts

169 months

Monday 1st September 2014
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I looked at a Passmores timber garage/workshop. I also looked at someone close to me, who does the same thing, but it seemed as though there was a postcode tax in operation of about £1k.
The people I went for were these:-
http://charttimberbuildings.co.uk/garage-workshops
They are in Kent, so you should be local-ish to them.

They had it built in a day. They did use a lot of the magic nail gun, so after they had finished I replaced as many as I could with coach screws. I think about 300 if I remember correctly.

Work out how much space you need, how, much space you want, and then add another 50%
Buy the biggest you can afford, and then go that bit bigger!

Timber workshops are a temporary construction, so in Aylesbury, I could have made it as big as I wanted, up to about 40% of the garden. This would have been a workshop of over 1800 sq.ft! Quite a lot more than the 500 sq.ft. installed.

Read your planning requirements as to what can be done and can’t be done on the lad. Some 4 miles away from me is a special development only land, and I know someone who had to take down a £24K conservatory…. Ouch!

I knew my neighbours would kick up a stink for mine being in the garden, so I asked them nicely, and both next doors were fine with it... next door but one was green with envy, and the other next door but one wasn’t sober enough to understand anyway…. I got my letter from the council saying I could build away, and if any of the neighbours had a problem; they would have to deal with the council, not with me. Next door but 2 kicked off and as she worked for the council, she expected to get some traction with her thoughts. She was seriously peed off when she realised she had already been beaten to it as it were….

Do you know what’s going in it the workshop? Big kit needs a nice big thick base. Someday I’ll get a decent lathe, so I went for a 12 inch concrete slab. That was rather expensive.

I treat mine every year with quality stain treatment. No rot anywhere yet – it costs about £40/year.

Lighting and power, I went mad with mine and have 10 double fluorescents in it, as well as 10 double sockets. There’s an air mains going in just before Christmas.

It always feels warm in there even in winter, IF you keep the door shut, and you fit draught excluders.
Don’t forget the cost of taking power to it. With the cable and the extra trench to be dug, I think another £5-600 went on the bill. Mine is 30m from the house though….
Anything else?


EggsBenedict

Original Poster:

1,770 posts

173 months

Monday 1st September 2014
quotequote all
This is going to sound a bit flash, but the new place has a workshop that i will put the lathe in. The garaging is for cars/bike and space to work. I'll kit out with leccy and so on, but I think 6" will be enough for the pad, but I will go more around the edges and fill with steel too.

Thanks for Chart - sounds like they were 'OK' - you didn't sound over the moon with them?

mad4amanda

2,410 posts

163 months

Monday 1st September 2014
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we had a passmores shed for many years at my old house absolutely brilliant need to get a space cleared for a new one! Guy that runs it also has a couple of very famous rally cars including Roger Clark`s 1970s safari Mk 2 escort

bucksmanuk

2,311 posts

169 months

Monday 1st September 2014
quotequote all
Hmm… Maybe that didn’t come across properly…
I thought Chart's were very good; it’s just that everyone uses the nail gun for speed. I would rather have coach screws in there. There was an issue with access from the road, they had to come through the garage, there’s an up and over door at each end though. I sent them photos of what they would expect on site, which the fitters certainly did appreciate, and I organised for a mate to turn up and give us a hand on carrying the sections up the garden.
I would recommend you know what the layout of the roof structure is going to be beforehand, as I would like mine to be rotated 90 degrees round. This would have meant I could get a 2 post in there, and drive straight onto it. Now I can’t. As I wasn’t expecting the roof to be so airy anyway, it’s the difference between…
“Ooh look lots of roof space which I wasn’t expecting – could I get a 2 post to work in here? – no…” smile
And
“Oh WOW, 2 post ramps here we come…” bounce
Just saving up for a scissor lift now though…


blade7

11,311 posts

215 months

Monday 1st September 2014
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The insurers of my car and bike would load the premium for a garage not constructed of block/brick.

EggsBenedict

Original Poster:

1,770 posts

173 months

Monday 1st September 2014
quotequote all
But the difference in price between building 5 bay blockwork garage and a similarly sized timber one would pay for that loading and more for the rest of my life I reckon!

markbigears

2,270 posts

268 months

Monday 1st September 2014
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and timber garages look nicer!

DocJock

8,341 posts

239 months

Monday 1st September 2014
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Really?

In all my years of insuring garaged cars I have never been asked about the construction of the garage.

jagracer

8,248 posts

235 months

Monday 1st September 2014
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bucksmanuk said:
I thought Chart's were very good; it’s just that everyone uses the nail gun for speed. I would rather have coach screws in there. There was an issue with access from the road, they had to come through the garage, there’s an up and over door at each end though. I sent them photos of what they would expect on site, which the fitters certainly did appreciate, and I organised for a mate to turn up and give us a hand on carrying the sections up the garden.
I bought a Chart workshop a few years ago and it's a very sturdy construction, mainly made out of 3X2 with 5 inch shiplap with an apex roof which I opted for ply board and Onduline. To save money and make sure it was constructed the way I wanted it done I collected and erected it myself and used coach type screws (they supplied) to bolt it all together. They supplied everything I needed apart from tools and they also throw in a lot of extra timber, roofing and fixings just to make sure you don't run out.
It took me a couple of days to get the sides and roof trusses on and a couple more days to do the roof. I did take my time and was working completely on my own but with help it would have been a lot easier and maybe quicker.
I can't recommend Chart enough although I have no idea on Passmore's quality and price so I would recommend the OP to check both out.

Oh, and here's an aviary I built from scratch, cost me about £600 all in.





Edited by jagracer on Monday 1st September 18:09

MH

1,239 posts

265 months

Monday 1st September 2014
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I've got a 20'x14' Passmores with reinforced roof trusses that I then reinforced again to take 2000+ Staffs blue clay tiles. Boarded it out and insulated. 40 degree pitch comes in at 3.9m high so just nicely under planning max height too.. I think it's pretty good for the money - I couldn't afford an oak framed garage at the time.

Hardest part was getting the concrete base sorted, cost quite a bit and wasn't even 'square'. I had to hire a diamond cutter to sort it out.

acme

2,971 posts

197 months

Wednesday 1st November 2017
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Just picking this thread up again to gain feedback on Passmore's and indeed whether the original OP went with a Passmores one in the end?

Thanks