Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rich5ltr]

I know I should talk to architects etc. but I'm also aware that a few people on here have built their own garages. I'm looking at moving house and there is room to demolish some rotten sheds/stores/single garage and build a decent triple garage. I am thinking of a low brick built plinth then thermalite blocks clad in timber to blend in with the rural style. What do people reckon a very rough cost £20k? £25k I have no idea. Rich...

[ukdave2002]

Hi Rich

Somewhere on this forum I have posted the costs of my own garage which is a 8M * 6M double skinned brick (block on the inside Cheshire brick on the outside) with a traditional tiled roof, and a large storage area upstairs, from memory the materials were about £6K, I built it my self. if I had had it built it would have been about £15K. Cladding rather than traditional brickwork for the outer skin should greatly reduce the costs.
Dave

[Rich5ltr]

Thanks Dave that's encouraging! I found this thread http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3989&highlight=brick and it looks impressive.

[47p2]

The cheapest quote I had from a local builder for a 10.2 metre x 6.7 metre garage was £35k. That is the reason I am doing as much as I can myself.


Here is a short movie of the work so far
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ROVER
One of Britain's Fine Cars

[Brian M]

In 2006, having been saving up for several years, I created my dream garage, this post does go on a bit but some of you may find my experiences of interest.

I previously had a 20 foot square double garage, with two small rooms behind it, my office and a utility room. It had a flat roof that had seen better days and was in need of new boards and felt that would have cost £4k.



At the side of it I had a 10 ft sideway.



So we pulled the garage down





And built this: (unfortunately the shots of it under construction were lost when the card in my camera broke in half)








It comfortably takes three cars, and in front of the Volvo is another area that would take another car but I use it as my workshop area. There are doors on the back so I can still drive into the back garden! I extended by office by four feet into the space. It has a 30ft by 20ft loft with full head room that has rapidly filled up with car spares.







The wall of number plates has been featured before on this forum when it was used as a backdrop to a feature in Intersection Magazine.



I had an Architect draw up the plans, and the foundation calculations were rejected by the Council, and he told me that they required it to be piled. at a cost of £350 I had all the piling designed and then the best quote was just over £20k just to get back to floor level. I went to the Council myself and was told that they didn't require piling, just an extra three feet on the depth of the foundations. I sacked the Architect, modifed the plans myself and resubmitted them and they were immediately passed!

I sent the drawings to several local builders and had quotes for £42k, £61k and an astonishing £72k.

So I decided on a self build. Travis Perkins offer a service for £45 where they provide a detailed bill of quantities covering everything. This meant I had estimated costs for the demolition, the groundwork and foundations, the brickwork, the roof timbers and tiles, electrics and so on. Armed with these figures I was able to find individual tradesmen whose fixed price quotes came close to the estimates. The whole build only took 8 weeks and the total cost was £23,500.

An estate agent reckoned the new garage block added over £60k to the value of my house, so even the OH accepted it was a good idea!!
_________________
Brian
1970 Volvo Amazon and 1978 Safari 15-4 Caravan
Classic Safari Forum: www.classicsafaris.co.uk

[Rich5ltr]

Brian, that's really interesting, if I do go ahead would you mind if I e-mail you for a few pointers.

[Brian M]

Rich

I would be pleased to help you or anyone else with info on my build.
_________________
Brian
1970 Volvo Amazon and 1978 Safari 15-4 Caravan
Classic Safari Forum: www.classicsafaris.co.uk

[pigtin]

As an alternative, have you considered a wooden garage? My one measures 16' x 25' (old money). It has room for three small cars, motorcycle, workbench lathe etc'.
I know a bigger one would be needed by many but that should be no problem if it is specially made by a local manufacturer, as mine was.

I laid the membrane and concrete base myself (readymix).and the garage was erected in a day. It has now been up for about four years and there has never been any damp or leaks, and seems warmer than a brick-built one. The total cost was under £5000.
I have stained it dark green to blend in with the surrounding foliage.

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Due to the onset of my mid eighties I'm no longer sprightly and rarely seen in my Austin special. I have written a book though. https://amzn.eu/d/7rwRRqL

[wrinx]

[wrinx]

[pigtin]

With the recession hitting the building industry such quotes may well be a thing of the past. I know for a fact that some of our local builders are desperate for work. This year could be a good time to build a garage.
_________________
Due to the onset of my mid eighties I'm no longer sprightly and rarely seen in my Austin special. I have written a book though. https://amzn.eu/d/7rwRRqL

[Keith D]

Bearing in mind that I do not live in the UK, nor am I familiar with UK building requirements, but does nobody in Britain build steel garages? They are the cheapest garages in Australia and I have not heard of anybody having problems with them.

I have a 9m x 6m x 2.4m high (30' X 20' X 8' high) steel garage with twin roller doors finished in cream coloured colorbond profiled sheeting. (There are dozens of colours available) The roofs are gabled with a shallow angle. These are by far the cheapest garages to erect in Australia and last for many, many years. The concrete slab and electrical wiring costs would be the same as for any other type of garage. My garage is an economy one, without major roof joists. It is perfectly adequate for car storage, but not for hauling engines out.

I also have a steel workshop 9m x 6m x 3m high (30' X 20' X 9' high) that is similar to look at but has a heavy duty, engineered open web joist type roof truss that enables me to hang a winch below and to lift V8 and vintage cast iron engines complete with gearbox with no visible deflection. There are two large sliding doors. The cost of the heavy duty workshop would be about 60% greater than for the lightweight garage.

Keith D

[Greeney in France]

[pigtin]

[Brian M]