Garage build

[GSDGPW]

Nothing happened today due to the torrential rain that we experienced in Essex. The bricklayers turned up but after an hour they decided to call it a day. The good news is that they are working tomorrow so between the three of us hopefully we will be up to damp and the block and beam will be finished.
In answer to your questions re the block and beam floor, time was a consideration, it’s much quicker to install. My ground is really unstable so I didn’t want to take a chance on my slab cracking. The ground level drops by a metre front to back so I would have to excavate and make up the ground. The last reason was a building control condition that I need a methane barrier Or a ventilated floor slab, hence the block and beam floor. With regard to loading s I have used 7 Newton blocks and there is going to be 5 inches of concrete with road mesh in it. I really can’t see there being an issue with loadings.

[KnackeredOldBanger]

GSDGPW said:

Nothing happened today due to the torrential rain that we experienced in Essex. The bricklayers turned up but after an hour they decided to call it a day. The good news is that they are working tomorrow so between the three of us hopefully we will be up to damp and the block and beam will be finished.
In answer to your questions re the block and beam floor, time was a consideration, it’s much quicker to install. My ground is really unstable so I didn’t want to take a chance on my slab cracking. The ground level drops by a metre front to back so I would have to excavate and make up the ground. The last reason was a building control condition that I need a methane barrier Or a ventilated floor slab, hence the block and beam floor. With regard to loading s I have used 7 Newton blocks and there is going to be 5 inches of concrete with road mesh in it. I really can’t see there being an issue with loadings.

Interesting stuff. I've not done much block and beam to be honest and it's always been with a comparatively thin screed rather than 125mm of reinforced concrete. All makes sense, I just hadn't considered it as an option.

[Fat hippo]

Lord Marylebone said:

Looks fantastic! Good luck with the build.

Very interesting, as I’m just finishing a remarkably similar 3 car garage, which appears to be almost identical to yours in size and design. Mine is 10.7m wide by 6.5m deep, with dormer accommodation above.

The only notable difference is that my staircase to upstairs is external so that it doesn’t take up any of the room inside. I wanted as much room as possible for my cars, ignoring the advantages of an internal staircase

Here’s the upstairs of mine, to give you an idea of what sort of space you might end up with. It’s huge. You’ll love it.

If you don't mind me asking, what is the height of the garage and the ceiling height upstairs?
I’m looking to build something similar but probably a touch smaller so as mot to encroach too much into the garden, say 9m x 5.5m for a double plus downstairs room plus cinema/games room above.
Problem is planning and so wondering if i can get away with 4m flat roof, with low garage ceiling and loft ceiling - does it matter if it is to be used as a cinema as I ll be sitting down?

Also, how much should I be budgeting for this? Is 40k realistic? Mine is in clay soil very clise ti a large willow

[GSDGPW]

Externally the garage part is 2.4m high, and the upper storey is 3.5.m to achieve the ceiling heights. With regard to budgets I think that 40k may be a little optimistic. It all really comes down to the unknown costs of ground works. I spent about a third more under the ground than I had envisaged. The prices of everything has rocketed recently and it is difficult to work out how many grab lorries you need. Again I thought it would be about 10 lorry loads away it was actually 16 or 17 which at £260 a load soon mount up. Concrete as well is so expensive and of course how much of the work you do yourself is a big cost factor. The one thing I would say is don’t bother with boreholes soil sampling and structural engineers drawings for the footings. Maybe get a trial pit dug and speak to building control. I went for the first option at vast cost, building control however wanted 2.5m all the way round rather than the designed stepped footing. I feel I could have just gone dug the deeper option straight away, still live and learn.

[anonymous-user]

Fat hippo said:

If you don't mind me asking, what is the height of the garage and the ceiling height upstairs?
I’m looking to build something similar but probably a touch smaller so as mot to encroach too much into the garden, say 9m x 5.5m for a double plus downstairs room plus cinema/games room above.
Problem is planning and so wondering if i can get away with 4m flat roof, with low garage ceiling and loft ceiling - does it matter if it is to be used as a cinema as I ll be sitting down?

Also, how much should I be budgeting for this? Is 40k realistic? Mine is in clay soil very clise ti a large willow

I’ll get some actual internal ceiling height measurements for you today.

With regards to your budget, I think £40k is too light.

Mine has cost me around £60k, and was over 95% finished just before the prices went crazy for materials.

As an example, wood has gone up nearly 180%, so floor joists and roof trusses are now more than double over last year.

Insulation has rocketed as well, and you’ll need quite a lot of it. 50mm thick sheets of cavity wall insulation, rock wool stuffed in behind all the upstairs boarding, and then all the plasterboard itself will have to be insulated plasterboard.

It depends how much you will do yourself, but if you are mostly leaving it to a friendly builder who won’t overcharge, then I would budget around £70k with materials prices as they are.

I went over the top with a couple of things, mostly the garage doors which are all Accoya wood (looks almost exactly like oak but massively more suited to UK weather. Costs the same as oak).

[Fat hippo]

Lord Marylebone said:

Fat hippo said:

If you don't mind me asking, what is the height of the garage and the ceiling height upstairs?
I’m looking to build something similar but probably a touch smaller so as mot to encroach too much into the garden, say 9m x 5.5m for a double plus downstairs room plus cinema/games room above.
Problem is planning and so wondering if i can get away with 4m flat roof, with low garage ceiling and loft ceiling - does it matter if it is to be used as a cinema as I ll be sitting down?

Also, how much should I be budgeting for this? Is 40k realistic? Mine is in clay soil very clise ti a large willow

I’ll get some actual internal ceiling height measurements for you today.

With regards to your budget, I think £40k is too light.

Mine has cost me around £60k, and was over 95% finished just before the prices went crazy for materials.

As an example, wood has gone up nearly 180%, so floor joists and roof trusses are now more than double over last year.

Insulation has rocketed as well, and you’ll need quite a lot of it. 50mm thick sheets of cavity wall insulation, rock wool stuffed in behind all the upstairs boarding, and then all the plasterboard itself will have to be insulated plasterboard.

It depends how much you will do yourself, but if you are mostly leaving it to a friendly builder who won’t overcharge, then I would budget around £70k with materials prices as they are.

I went over the top with a couple of things, mostly the garage doors which are all Accoya wood (looks almost exactly like oak but massively more suited to UK weather. Costs the same as oak).

Cheers. I’m assuming you are based in London too (looking at the pics on your profile)?
What sort of groundwork did you have? Strip, pads, piles? Were you on clay or have any other groundwork ‘headaches’?

[anonymous-user]

Fat hippo said:

Cheers. I’m assuming you are based in London too (looking at the pics on your profile)?
What sort of groundwork did you have? Strip, pads, piles? Were you on clay or have any other groundwork ‘headaches’?

The upstairs ceiling height is 2.4m, so same as a standard ceiling height in a house. I would say that around 80% of the floor space could be stood in by an ‘average person’ before they got close to banging their head on the sloping ceiling.

The garage doors are 2.5m wide and 2.13m tall. The ceiling height inside the garage is almost 2.5m

For scale, you could drive a full fat Range Rover into each bay with around 50cm width and 20cm height to spare going through the doors.

My work/office is mostly in London (or was until Covid) but my new house is in the Lake District/Cumbria. Materials costs won’t be any different to London, but labour may be slightly cheaper here.

Groundwork was bog standard poured concrete foundations for blockwork to sit on, and the floor of the garage was poured concrete with reinforcing mesh in it. Nothing out of the ordinary and no issues.

Construction was block cavity walls with insulation, rendered outside, yellow stonework quoins and headers. The roof trusses were designed to be the entire room upstairs including floor joists, sides, and roof trusses as one piece and lowered in. Saved having to build in separate floor joists and roof trusses.

I’ve added this pic so you can see what I mean. The whole upstairs was lowered down into the blockwork shell so the floor of the upstairs kind of hangs down inside the blockwork construction. I am happy with it because it made the build faster and easier, gave more space upstairs, and also added a few extra block courses to the outside which looked a bit better.

I won’t derail the thread anymore, but thought that info might be useful

[Fat hippo]

Lord Marylebone said:

Fat hippo said:

Cheers. I’m assuming you are based in London too (looking at the pics on your profile)?
What sort of groundwork did you have? Strip, pads, piles? Were you on clay or have any other groundwork ‘headaches’?

The upstairs ceiling height is 2.4m, so same as a standard ceiling height in a house. I would say that around 80% of the floor space could be stood in by an ‘average person’ before they got close to banging their head on the sloping ceiling.

The garage doors are 2.5m wide and 2.13m tall. The ceiling height inside the garage is almost 2.5m

For scale, you could drive a full fat Range Rover into each bay with around 50cm width and 20cm height to spare going through the doors.

My work/office is mostly in London (or was until Covid) but my new house is in the Lake District/Cumbria. Materials costs won’t be any different to London, but labour may be slightly cheaper here.

Groundwork was bog standard poured concrete foundations for blockwork to sit on, and the floor of the garage was poured concrete with reinforcing mesh in it. Nothing out of the ordinary and no issues.

Construction was block cavity walls with insulation, rendered outside, yellow stonework quoins and headers. The roof trusses were designed to be the entire room upstairs including floor joists, sides, and roof trusses as one piece and lowered in. Saved having to build in separate floor joists and roof trusses.

I’ve added this pic so you can see what I mean. The whole upstairs was lowered down into the blockwork shell so the floor of the upstairs kind of hangs down inside the blockwork construction. I am happy with it because it made the build faster and easier, gave more space upstairs, and also added a few extra block courses to the outside which looked a bit better.

I won’t derail the thread anymore, but thought that info might be useful

Very useful, appreciated

[GSDGPW]

Apologies for lack of posting, garage build has been plodding along slowly, the bricklayers finished up to plate at the end of June or thereabouts. Things then went on hold for a few months. I was probably a bit exhausted with it all, if I’m honest. Quite stressful trying to get materials on site, and work out measurements etc. I had notice of a break from work for a few weeks so the trusses were duly ordered. They arrived and a few favours were called in, a friend with a lorry mounted crane and a few mates saw all the trusses sitting on the plate strapped together.

[GSDGPW]

[GSDGPW]

[GSDGPW]

Two weeks of long days and a lot of stress and hard work, me and a mate had all the trusses up and dormers cut. I have to confess I was more of a labourer than skilled carpenter but but due tomy friends skill and hard work we had a roof formed.

[GSDGPW]

[GSDGPW]

With the roof timbers all in place, the bricklayers took a few days from their busy schedule and came and constructed the gables. It was now really starting to look like a building. Autumn was coming to an end and the need to get watertight became a real priority. I met a couple of roofers on a job and they agreed to come and tile it on day work. The next problem manifested itself almost immediately. I wanted to match the tiles on the main house, but you’ve guessed it 7 to 9 month lead time.

[GSDGPW]

Lots of ringing around and same story everywhere, no concrete Redland tiles. A local builders merchant fortuitously had a delivery of clay tiles and fittings so that’s was what me went with. Velux windows were also a problem with the plastic ones being virtually unobtainable. Painted wood was the only option so that was what I had to go for. The roofers were starting on the Monday so I had to get a good start on the fascia and soffit so that they could make a start. All working round each other we managed to get the fascia finished so it was all systems go for the roofers.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

That's looking good.

Don't answer this if it's impertinent, but I'm genuinely interested in the answer. When you call in favours from pals in the trades, do you pay them or it is more of a favour bank and you'll reciprocate when they need work doing? If you do pay, is it mate's rates or the full whack?

[GSDGPW]

Happy to answer, it all depends really, if it’s just labouring then I have a lot of mates mostly firefighters who I have served with that I can call on. We all help each other out so labour is reciprocated for free. Ground workers I have known for years so day rate, but a Most reasonable daily rate when you consider he supplied a jcb and mini digger. Bricklayers were full price, but did a great job, when you work out their daily rate it was expensive but they worked like dogs and hardly stopped in the day. Me and a mate put all the trusses up and cut the rest of the roof. I paid him day rate but again a reasonable Rate when you consider what trades are charging. The roofers were on day rate, I’ve known them for years and one is an on call firefighter so again reasonable rates. All the way along I have been most amenable to their schedules so there was a bit of coming and going but it’s got there in the end.
The scaffolding was supplied by an ex firefighter, definitely at
mates rates. Crane to lift trusses was a freebie by a mate.
I have certainly benefited from the good relationships that I have with people, I’m always happy to help others,and do. This has certainly been reciprocated.
My biggest savings has been materials, I’ve picked up loads on Facebook market place, 1500 footing bricks free, roofing membrane a tenth of shop price, dpm £10 roll, building sand picked up from sand pit. This is to name but a few, there have been load of other bits picked up out of skips on jobs and car boot sales. All the wall ties came from a boot sale £5 a box instead of £40.;
It all adds up, obviously there is a fixed cost to lots of things but I’m sort of where I expected to be budget wise, any other questions feel free to ask.

[GSDGPW]

[GSDGPW]

[GSDGPW]