Sheds and stuff

[Robster]

Recently moved house and was looking at having a brick/block built shed put up at the end of my garden to store my various skis, boards, bits and bobs, tools and possible even squeeze in my greenlaner.

The garden is narrow, but I could fit a 12' wide "shed" across the back, effectively replacing the rear fence, and afford to lose 6' or so from the garden to give the shed a decent depth.

I've had "ballpark" figures of around £3k to build such a beast from blocks, fit a door and run in some elastictrickery from the house. I don't really know what I was expecting, but that sounded outrageously expensive to me. Perhaps I was being naiive.

So I reverted to looking at timber sheds, but I have security fears as even the sturdy ones seem quite flimsy. Even then, a shed of that kind of size works out not much short of £1k.

So option 3 appears to be a pre-fab Concrete shed, the prices of which are not much more than a wooden affair but include delivery and (no sniggering at the back thank you) erection. I would just have to have a "suitable" concrete base in place upon which it would sit. Compton even offer a specific Motorcycle Garage which looks like it might do the job nicely.

Does anyone have any experience of these things? I remember my folks had a pre-fab concrete garage many moons ago and it seemed ok. Or alternatively, do we have any builders amongst us....does that quote sound right? I worked the materials out to only be about £500 or £600. I'm not Bob the Builder by any means otherwise I'd be tempted to try it myself.

Any advice welcome...

[Zenarchy]

I can't really help with building advice etc, but it might be worth spending a couple of weeks keeping an eye on the adtrader website (and the other couple that are like it). You know the local free ads papers that they have in the newsagents - most of them have websites and if you keep an eye on them once or twice each day (or more) you can often pick up bargains before they appear in print.

I bought a well made 8x6 shed for £80, almost new, very good condition. It would have cost me £500 or so if I was to have bought one new. While looking for that I saw bigger sheds that were being offered for peanuts or free to good home (people just wanting them out of the way and were happy for someone to dismantle them and take them away).

There were also those bolt together concrete panel garages etc. I can't remember what the prices were like for those, but they'd undoubtedly be cheaper than buying new, and these are also the sorts of things that people might have on their property and just want rid of with the minimum of fuss so you might if you keep an eye out for a while, and ring up as soon as the advert appears online before anyone else snaps them up, get a bargain.

My grandfather has a garage like that and it's made from kind of modular concrete slabs with drilled lipped edges, that just bolt together. I'd imagine that if you can get your hands on a suitably sized one of those it wouldn't be too much trouble to dismantle it then reassemble it at the exact size you want, then build a roof. You'd probably need to lay foundations for it I guess, but wouldn't have thought that would cost that much, and a corrugated or felted roof could be built pretty easily and cheaply I expect.

Not sure where you would stand with planning permission, but as it's bolt-together, perhaps it could be considered a temporary construction like a shed?

Transporting it might be a pain, but if I remember the size of the concrete slabs in my grandfathers garage I don't think they'd be that hard to lift onto the back of a truck, particularly if there's two of you.

Just had a quick look for example:

http://www.adtrader.co.uk/classhome....h_words=garage

second ad down is:

CONCRETE PANEL GARAGE - Tonypandy

Concrete panel garage approx 28x8ft, free to anyone willing to dismantle and take away....

If you decide to give adtrader etc. a try, it's best to keep an eye on it regularly then the moment one pops up that you want, get on the phone within minutes and arrange to view it as soon as possible, telling the person that you'll be bringing along a deposit for it if it's suitable.


When I got my shed, by the time I'd got there to view it the guy was looking sick of people ringing by the looks of things (had over a dozen calls and it hadn't been in a day).

[Zenarchy]

P.S. It might not look as nice as a brick built garage, but if you skimmed it once it was erected it'd probably look OK. You might be able to face it off with false brick face or something if you wanted it to look better still (though not sure how much that would cost).

[Wee Bro]

How handy are you with a trowel and a saw? You can now get a cement/mortar giude from DIY stores to lay cement for block work.

Hire a cement mixer, dig your foundation, get sand,cement(and ballast for foundation and floor concrete) and blocks delivered. Lay your foundation, lay your duct for leccy and water, lay your damp proof course and block work.
Get your timber delivered and measure and cut your roof trusses. Put up the roof trusses and vapour membrane,then tile, tin or felt your roof.

My mate built his garage for 3 grand but its 40ft x 25 ft!

Just think of the challange and satisfaction!!
Price the materials from your local building suppies and compare.

[Robster]

How handy are you with a trowel and a saw? You can now get a cement/mortar giude from DIY stores to lay cement for block work.

Hire a cement mixer, dig your foundation, get sand,cement(and ballast for foundation and floor concrete) and blocks delivered. Lay your foundation, lay your duct for leccy and water, lay your damp proof course and block work.
Get your timber delivered and measure and cut your roof trusses. Put up the roof trusses and vapour membrane,then tile, tin or felt your roof.

My mate built his garage for 3 grand but its 40ft x 25 ft!

Just think of the challange and satisfaction!!
Price the materials from your local building suppies and compare.

Sounds so easy! And looks so easy with that mortar tool thing....I saw that on TV last weekend and was almost inspired to have a go...it's the rest of it that scares the bejesus out of me though to be honest!

[krisg]

Im sure chad could advise when he gets back.

[piguglyshandydrinker]

There does seem to be a certain 'stigma' attached to prefab or sectional garages, but they do offer a real building with good value for money, not sure how much a concrete base would be - £500 tops? maybe a bit less if you do your own shovel work?

Remember, a brick/block building will be subject to building regs/planning permission which will slow the job and add to costs. Sectional buildings are classed as 'temporary' so are not subject to the same regulations.

At least that was the case when I looked into it a couple of years back.

Phil

[Robster]

There does seem to be a certain 'stigma' attached to prefab or sectional garages, but they do offer a real building with good value for money, not sure how much a concrete base would be - £500 tops? maybe a bit less if you do your own shovel work?

Remember, a brick/block building will be subject to building regs/planning permission which will slow the job and add to costs. Sectional buildings are classed as 'temporary' so are not subject to the same regulations.

At least that was the case when I looked into it a couple of years back.

Phil

All very true yeah...they're not the most attractive looking structures, but I had planned on possibly rendering it once it was up in which case it'd be much the same as a block built one.

I'd probably be happy to have a go at the base myself, at least that couldn't fall down on top of someone!

[Lord Vader]

Just give me a shout if you need help.I also know nothing about a lot of things
Just ask pigugly,i am real good at standing around opening beer while others do the hard work

[blue skies]

Try these people - metal sheds, free delivery, self assembly and not too pricey!!

www.shedstore.co.uk