Building a garage ?

[Schakal]

I am toying with the idea of building a garage at the end of the garden which is about 60 foot long. I have been to the local planning office and been informed up to the height of 2.5 metres tall I would not need any planning permission as long as the garage space is not taking more than %50 of the total garden area. I am only thinking of 20-25 foot long max so its all good.

Any builders etc in the club that give me a few pointers as to where to start with this and roughly how much it would cost to build a 16ft x 24ft garage ,What material to build it with and whether it is diyable or not ?

Attached a photo of my garden in question ,a garage similar to my neighbour`s on the left would be ideal.

thanks a lot in advance all

garden.jpg

[Ian S]

The floor will possibly be the most expensive part if you do it right.

You could just put a shack on the grass. Or you could dig down 12 inches, pour in about 7 inches of material, some builders use a dry mix of the right type of shale, sand, gravel and cement. Then five inches of concrete in a single pour on top of that, tamped and smoothed.

That will than stay there, without cracking, dropping, sagging, falling apart, for probably decades and will take the weight of cars and heavy items of jacks and cranes, etc.

It will also cost maybe £4000 depending of size and who does it. A proper construction company, with JCB, skip dumper, organised deliveries and collections and ready mix concrete will complete that in two days.

A properly built structure on top with a lined roof, will go some way to keeping in the noise you make at all hours from annoying the neighbours.

[Schakal]

Ian thanks for the info

Are you saying the £4000 cost is for the whole thing (garage) or just the base ?
I have asked a few builders and they all give quotes in the region of 10k for a finished brick garage

Obviously i want to diy as much as i can with this to keep it within the budget.

[Ian S]

Just the base.

I had a 'mates rate' quote from a pals brother for an approx 7m x 4m base a few years ago and that was about £2500. That was just for parking on. He said I could park on it by the end of the second day after work commenced.

For a garage there might also be a damp course. When builders did the neighbours one they laid plastic sheet across the base and up the inside of the walls a bit, then I think maybe have poured more concrete. I seem to have forgotten exactly. But you won't want puddles forming on your floor, but the floor will have to be thick and solid, ie, no thin layer over plastic.

Maybe 15 years ago my sister paid about £2000 for a concrete base over an existing base as that had badly cracked and formed a deep 'crevasse'. My dad then constructed the brick walls and proper sloping clay tiled roof. That was for a single car garage.