5.5m x 5.4m garage. Too small?

[Blib]

Supplementary question.

We begin laying the raft foundation in early January. Roughly how long does it take until it has set and we can begin building the structure on top?

Thanks.

[dhutch]

Blib said:

Supplementary question.

We begin laying the raft foundation in early January. Roughly how long does it take until it has set and we can begin building the structure on top?

Thanks.

I am no expert, but one of the main risks with early Jan is the temperature, unless we get a warm week I would have thought you would have a significant risk of it freezing. Rain is also bad in the first day or so, doesnt affect overall slab strength but causes the top 2-5mm or so of surface to break up.

There is a well trodden '28days to full cure' rule of thumb, but most appear to crack on after about a week. The cure is exponential, so it will be hard enough for the dog to walk on after 24h, pretty ruddy hard the day after that, but might not like you driving on it gouging in the first week.


Daniel

[Blib]

Thank you.

[Spurry]

It might be a little late now, but would suggest to have the doors as wide as possible. Mine are 2.60m and even with those, there is not much room to spare outside of the car door mirrors. The Volvo V70 mentioned above, demonstrates the difficulty of even getting to escape if the car is stopped in the doorway.
I find 5.90m deep x 8.60wide does not cause too many headaches.

[Blib]

Thanks for that.

Each doorway is 2.3m wide. I dont plan to change anything. So, I shall report back when the thing's built and the cars are in.

[Pamoothican]

Good news on the foundations.

My garage is 6.9 x 6.5, it's huge! I have a Mk2 Golf and a Mk6 golf in regularly. Lots of space to walk around but also lots of space for junk from the house. We're moving though and going to a pretty standard double 5.6 x 5 so this thread has been great to get an idea of what i'll have to contend with.

Will we be seeing this on the best garages thread in the future?

[Blib]

Ha!

I plan to post some photos of the completed garage on here, as and when. However, I doubt it will be of a standard to take its place amongst some of the palaces on that thread.

[Wozy68]

Blib said:

Thanks for that.

Each doorway is 2.3m wide. I dont plan to change anything. So, I shall report back when the thing's built and the cars are in.

Are you having hinged doors or something like a roller door?

If the former, 2.3 metres really isnt wide enough .... unless your really careful IMO.

[Blib]

We are planning on standard doors, rather than rollers.

There is a 740cm gap between each set.

[Blib]

This is Mrs B's Forester, with a 2.3m rule in front. Although Foresters are not large SUVs, it looks doable for our initial requirement to house 2 classics, along with some future-proofing.

[Wozy68]

Blib said:

This is Mrs B's Forester, with a 2.3m rule in front. Although Foresters are not large SUVs, it looks doable for our initial requirement to house 2 classics, along with some future-proofing.

2.3 mt opening .... is that less frame? then when doors are open that will reduce the width 100mm just for the doors ..... So what will the width finish allowing for all this ... ? Just a heads up as people’s forget the reduction when the doors are open.

[Blib]

Ah. I see what you mean. I believe it will be OK. However, I'll revisit it in January, if need be.

Thank you.

[zippyonline]

Hi Blib,

I don’t frequent this part of the forum that regularly, but pop in time to time and spotted this thread. I’m a Suffolk local too. My dayjob is also as a Civil Engineer. I expect if I spotted this earlier I could have offered a bit more advice, but skimming through it seems you’ve come to a reasonable conclusion. Structural Engineers are an inherently conservative bunch (which isn’t a bad thing really if you consider the ramifications if it goes wrong, but can mean you end up with some costly solutions which may not strictly be necessary in reality).

Blib said:

Supplementary question.

We begin laying the raft foundation in early January. Roughly how long does it take until it has set and we can begin building the structure on top?

Thanks.

In terms of concrete – designs are based on the concrete strength at 28 days. Cube tests are normally done at 7 and 28 days (and often 3 and 14 days too on bigger projects) which verifies the strength of the concrete. Bear in mind though that the concrete is designed for the full load, and during construction when you get started, you won’t be at full load – so depending on what you’re doing, you normally get building as soon as the concrete has set. If it’s over January, this may take a bit longer than summer, but would expect under normal circumstances you’d probably be able to get building properly a few days later – timing the power float etc. may be a bit trickier in winter due to the slower curing times – the guys doing the work should have the experience for this though.

In short, a few days – if it were me, I’d probably plan a pour for a Thursday and plan to start building on it on the Monday if all seems OK.

[Spurry]

Ref my earlier comment about the 2.60m wide doors, I have to admit my initial requirement was to be able to drive through with 2440 x 1220 panels on a pallet. This can be done....carefully . It is surprising how little room there is (outside of the mirrors) when backing in with the car.

[Blib]

Thank you both.

I really appreciate the efforts of everyone who has taken the time and effort to post on this thread.

Pistonheads is a terrific resource for these kind of issues and many others.

It's a very special place.

[Blib]

The work begins.





ETA flipping PH photo editor

Edited by Blib on Wednesday 8th January 12:11

[geeks]

[Blib]

Rubbish photo......

[AJLintern]

Looking forward to updates What depth do you have to dig for the raft foundation?

[Blib]

AJLintern said:

Looking forward to updates What depth do you have to dig for the raft foundation?

600 mm deep reinforced edge strips and spine with a
150 mm slab.