So I've decided to stay put and not move house, so the money I would have spent moving, is being ploughed back into the house.

Part of this will involve me building some more 'garage' space.

I've currently got a nice double garage but I will be constructing a workshop/garage of at least the same size in addition to the one I've already got. I have a number of hobbies so intend to clear out the non car hobbies from the current garage and use the new garage/workshop more as a hobby workshop/den/man cave etc

I know a number of people on here have built garages over the years so just wanted to get a list of things which a workshop shouldn't be without and also work out just how useful it is to have things like a sink in the workshop. So your ideas please around must have features. Also what things you wish you'd included and any other tips/tricks/hints would be much appreciated.

Finally, does anyone know a good source for plans for such a structure?

I was thinking timber construction using a 4 x 2 frame with ply outer, then featheredge or other weatherproof over the ply. Fill between the gaps in the frame with insulation, then plaster board over the top. What's the best way to roof such a structure?

Thanks in advance chaps!

two post car lift
Toilet
Wash area
Bench
TV for when your favorite program is on
Kettle etc
Lots of lighting

quote:

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Originally posted by jacko
two post car lift
Toilet
Wash area
Bench
TV for when your favorite program is on
Kettle etc
Lots of lighting

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Hot and cold water and a sink will make a big difference and include a small fridge for beer and milk.

Storage is vital, if you can get good eaves height, make use of it.

Also think about doors. Someone on here mentioned recently how they had replaced an up and over door with side hung doors opening outwards. Doors open with a tarpaulin across them then makes an excellent semi out door work area and rain cover.

Building from scratch, you could also consider a wood burner for winter heat.

get one of the thetford toilets it saves plumbing. I have a cartridge one. Not great emptying it but better than plumbing in a bog.

You can have a toilet in a garage without planning you just need to keep to the size.

You can also put a stove in there like I had in the last house. as long as it is "not" a living space.

lots of power points.

if you make it of flamable material it needs to be a distance from the boundary (technically) if you make the boundary side out of brick and the roof tile it can be on the boundary

Some of the nicer things you'd want you need to be careful about fitting. Any new connection to a main drain should be inspected by the BCO. Once I had my sink in place I managed to get hold of an under sink electric water heater. Having mains hot and cold water is such a benefit, both for use out in the garage and to prevent me dragging dirt into the house! Even if it was of little use, the extra brownie points/lack of being told off was worth it.

Lights and power. You almost can not have too many lights or sockets. I've posted this pic before of what I now consider to be a reasonable level. Before I had a chance to build my own workshop I had five 4' strip lights in a single garage and I thought that was enough. The main thing to do is not to have loads of light, but to avoid shadows. That's why my lights are laid out as they are, to give as much sideways light as I could get. White ceilings help massively with this.



I also have 8 double sockets in there, or roughly one for every 1.5m of long wall and one in the centre of my workbench on the back wall. There's nothing worse than having to faff about with extension leads or turning round and tripping over cables every 5 minutes! As my walls are insulated and boarded out, I've recessed the sockets and switches as well so they don't stick out. As nice and clean as it looks, I'm not sure I'd bother with that again though. If you need to run any new cabling, allow for future expansion where you can. My garage is fed by a 3 core, 10mm SWA cable, which is the same size as that which supplies the mains into the house! Ebay often provides with offcuts from large reels of SWA if you only need a bit. My 22 metres of cable cost me £70 delivered.

If you have a chance and the budget allows, I'd recommend insulating the walls as much as possible. I've got 140mm wide block walls, a 2" air gap and then 100mm of Rockwool RWA45. It's toasty warm with just a 1KW fan heater on! And I can even be cutting up steel sheet and the Mrs can't hear what I'm doing. Again, worth quite a lot in brownie/neighbour points if they can't hear all the noise. It also means you need less heating/can keep the space at a more constant temperature. I find I can work in the cold as long as there's no draughts.

Other than that, I'd just suggest overbuilding where you can afford to. My ceiling space doubles as storage, but is also strong enough to do this:

Have a look at "tommy walsh ultimate workshop", some good ideas.

Some great advice there, please keep it coming!

Thanks

+1 for DIY Si - I too have a massive amount of light, and have vertically mounted strips as well for removal of shadows.

I have a rubber floor (tiles from machine-mart) - they make a massive difference to your comfort when kneeling, etc as well as providing insulation. The bonus is that parts that get dropped don't necessarily break any more. However, small parts that get dropped do go BOING and vanish sometimes. I laid the floor just down without bonding it and the tiles expanded up and lifted everywhere. Not a problem - it was stripped back to the floor and pink-gripped down. Never had an issue since. That was definitely my fault rather than machine-marts.

Air-tools. Plumb in a compressor. I use the retractable lines and I have them mounted from the ceiling - brilliant. Air-tools are far cheaper than their powered equivalent and can do all sorts of jobs - for instance I've just discovered how great air-chisels are

Space is at a premium, so think long and hard about storage. I have oddment bins and tool-chests and they're actually more useful if you also invest in a labeller. I have everything stacked in the bins in size order for bolts, etc. and I know which drawer has screwdrivers, sockets, etc. in. Tool chests don't necessarily heave well around the workshop on rubber floors, so that's a compromise I live with - far better the floor and scooting the chest around.

If budget stretches, then definitely ramps, or hydraulic scissor lifts. I compromised and made mine from pallet risers - for a 600kg car, they're fine and safe enough.

Loads of good ideas in this thread.

Insulation , plenty of light and heating . The best organised shop is still no fun if your cold . Central heating is well worth doing at around £500 with a used boiler and cheap rads . I built my garage to the same spec as a house so it takes no time to warm up and Keeps the heat as there are no windows apart from the velux in the roof .