considerations for building a garage -

red67 · Post by **red67** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 9:18 am

to cut a long story short, i decided to move and am currently going over the rough plans for building a house with a double garage.

i want to keep 2 porsches in the double garage and do minor amateur work on them, and build up my non exisitent mechanical skills along the way. working on them may mean stripping one down for an out of house professional painting though.

what things do i need to think about with the garage for the future? any of you out there with garages - are there things you miss or things you're happy you have?

my first thoughts were plenty of space around the cars (i dont know how much), 'oil proof' wipeable-paint on the floors (whats that stuff called?), and a fridge for beers! so obviously i havent considered a lot.

i think building an under-car pit or ramp or anything in that league is going too far but any thoughts would be gladly recieved on the whole project.

thanks in advance.

Mick Cliff · Post by **Mick Cliff** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 11:06 am

A 'standard' double garage is 6m x 6m - not enough room to work when 2 cars are in there.
Leave at least 1.5m around the cars - this equates to around 8m wide (cars side-by-side). Make room for a bench/storage. So now you're looking at 8m x 8m
Pit? Make it long enough so that you can get in and out whilst the car is in position. Brick/block pits are notoriously difficult to keep watertight. There are preformed plasic pits available (£1500+?). If you have the height go for a two post lift
Power and lighting essential. Multiple socket outlets (double socket every 2m along each side wall plus end wall) will get rid of traling cables. If welding you need plenty of power, preferably on its' own Dist Board.
Water supply useful but then you may need to put drainage in the floor.
Plenty of info on this site about floor paints.
Paint the walls white - much brighter.
And always remember - the amout of crap you accumulate is directly proportional to the space available. Don't ask how I know!!

jtparr · Post by **jtparr** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:42 am

make it staggeringly thermally efficient, will serve you well in the winters
a small heater should be enough if you also detail garage doors with draft proof edges
double glaze any openings
add rooflights, they are much more effective than windows

jp

duka · Post by **duka** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 1:38 pm

I had similar dilema a few years ago eventually went for 8m x 13.5m, I have a 4 bay 2 x 2 layout for the cars and a separate workshop 8 x 2.8m (under same footprint) with separate doors so if I'm in there I only need to heat smaller space. I was a bit restricted with local planning on roof height, but have managed to floor the 'upstairs' which is approx 2m into apex of roof (it's ideal storage). I have ring main for sockets which are spaced every 3 metres, also have hard piping from compressor with QC/QD for air lines etc. The pit is a bit small in length TBH, can't quite get some larger cars across pit and get full access, so the earleir point on length is improtanat. The pit is 'tanked' to stop water ingress and it's been dry for 8 years now. Make sure you get plenty fluoresecent light strips, I have them on 3 separate switches dependent on what I'm doing. Floor is painted with 3 coats of expoy paint and wall are painted white directly onto the blockwork. Didn't bother with independent water as I have an outside tap at the back of the garage (but still worth considering).

I can send some photos if req'd?

Excellent project in the making!

Steve

JB-L · Post by **JB-L** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 2:27 pm

A few further ideas for your consideration:

Go for a double width door, not 2 singles, (trust me the first time you scrape a car you will regret the 2 singles forever!).

Even if you don't choose to go for a pit straight off, you will save a lot of time and bother by having a seperate pit sized block cast into the floor.

Also worth considering a bloody big RSJ acros the centre to use as a hoist point.

I second the following: good insulation, plenty of lights & sockets, light walls and ceiling (if you have one).

red67 · Post by **red67** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 3:49 pm

thanks fellas much much appreciated
we go over stage 2 with the arkitect tomorrow about firming up on sizes and applying for permissions etc, gutter types, and all kinds of dullness.
i have some limitations with 'land coverage' in the contract so i cant go too big but i'm aiming in an ideal world at an 8x8 now (and also a room behind it with bikes and kajaks and junk in it.) windows i think will be good for natural light and ventilation and the heat/thermal stuff above is good advice for this climate in winter. epoxy paint is just what i'm after also.
thinking about dark cobbles for the driveway so they hide oil from my girlfriend as i hate black tarmac. definately double door. i have a height restriction in the laws so i cant put a lift in - and the pit i'm trying to convince my girlfriend we need -but that is facing some seriously stiff opposition and almost certainly being bombed.
yeah light sockets i need millions of them maybe near a work bench also and i was thinking of running a strips of low watt spot lights along the ceiling (out of the way of the door runners) so that the lights are directional and changeable for different jobs. yeah steve can you post up some pics thanks?
will keep you up to date on the adventure. spending more time on my garage thoughts than the house

duka · Post by **duka** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:46 pm

Don't have much photos here Paul,

if there is anything specific let me know and I'll forward

double door

bit of the pit on left

pit getting used (for a change!) - note I wish I'd integrated lights into the pit walls

I have a double door going into the workshop at the back

richkaz · Post by **richkaz** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 8:05 pm

After taking advice from various classic car magazines I decided to have a timber garage built at the bottom of my garden approximately 4 years ago. To disguise the fact that it was a garage I designed it with a gable front with an entrance door and windows to give it a summer house look when viewed from the front.
The timber prevents condensation and the car is always bone dry in the summer and winter.
The inside is lined with plywood and could be cavity insulated if a change of use was required in the future.
Warwick garages built and installed it and it took 4 men approximately 7 hours to erect on a pre prepared reinforced concrete base.
The total cost including the base and the stain was approx. £ 6500 inc.vat
I later had the electrics fitted
It was worth every penny !!

hot66 · Post by **hot66** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 8:20 pm

richkaz ... how have you 'sealed' the doors on your garage?

I have just got a new timber framed garage just like yours, but the doors are located within the frame with no overlap. I'm about to modify the door frame areas

richkaz · Post by **richkaz** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 9:28 pm

hot66 wrote:richkaz ... how have you 'sealed' the doors on your garage?

I have just got a new timber framed garage just like yours, but the doors are located within the frame with no overlap. I'm about to modify the door frame areas

I took the advice from classic car magazines and Warwick garages not to seal the doors. They each have at least one inch gaps on the bottom. It is these gaps that help circulate fresh air and prevent condensation after a long run.
The only downside being that you occasionally have to sweep up a few leaves and the occasional snail. But the car always remains bone dry.

red67 · Post by **red67** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 12:31 am

i like the costs compared to brick - but even with future cavity is it viable as a workshop in the winter? do you need a building permit to authorities to erect it in the uk?

jamie · Post by **jamie** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:33 am

duka wrote:

Pffft!

silver911 · Post by **silver911** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 7:25 am

Sounds like you are not going to get the height for a full two post lift and the pit is going to be 'lost' as well... which means lots of jacks and axle stands on the floor...

Be wary of epoxy paints and floor finishes in that case... wet epoxy floors and trolley jacks do not go together well at all...not that I would know....

If you do go down that route then the finish on the concrete before you apply the paint is crucial...too smooth and it becomes a skating rink... too rough and the jacks and axle stands will not like it to say nothing of the 'creeper' you will need.

If you are going to do lots of work to the car you may want to investigate something like this....

http://www.vehicle-lifts.co.uk/carlifts.html

And scroll down to Mobile HKB20 (PLX).

This could be fixed to the floor in a more permanent fashion...and hey presto you can work underneath in a degree of comfort.

red67 · Post by **red67** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 7:59 am

[quote="duka"]Don't have much photos here Paul,

if there is anything specific let me know and I'll forward

is that the 8m width we're looking at duka? 8 is smaller than i thought. guess porkers are smaller though
nice skyline by the way!

duka · Post by **duka** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:13 am

Paul - to the internal walls it 7.6 metres, not sure the door size must be about 6.75m or 7m?

Richkaz - that timber garage looks the part, were about to move house and planning are dictating a timber garage - do yo have any more pics you could post?

Thanks
Steve