Self-build brick garage?

House_Hunter

How feasible do people think it would be to self-build a brick garage?

Wanting to build a wide single detached garage of brick construction. Plan is for it to be a good car storage as well as workshop/storage...my thoughts are along the lines of;

- Will probably be block inner with a brick outer skin, haven't decided whether to make it of solid wall or cavity wall (never built a cavity wall before)
- Insulation wise; if build with cavity will insulate, otherwise insulated plasterboard on inside.
- garage door: sectional insulated electric automation.
- Garden side....single window and pedestrian door...or french doors.
- Concrete base... (can you insulate this and still be able to take weight of a car?)
- Pitched roof is preference...

Anyone built one themselves? Any useful links?

ormus

very feasible. but get a brickie in to do the laying. quicker and neater. he did it in 1 week.
last extension we did, i paid the brickie 900 quid for labour only. cavity walls etc...
all materials supplied by us.
the rest we did ourselves.
3 sides, flat roof. total costs c5000 quid.

themacster

Will you be installing heating? If not, what's the point of insulating, unless you want a controlled environment for the car storage - classic car etc? You'd have to insulate the roof too. You can insulate the floor - you would need to use either a reinforced slab over rigid insulation board, or a reinforced screed over rigid insulation board over insitu slab. You will need to consider where you provide the damp-proof membrane in either case and will need a separating layer between insulation and screed.

House_Hunter

Heating would be electric only and used on a non-routine basis.....was thinking along the lines of a few workshop style halogen heaters. Just thought having insulation would make it a more usable space.

re roof...was planning on making this nice a neat...hang a plasterboard "ceiling" hiding away the mechanism for the garage door; so insulating that won't be too big a problem...

themacster

Guess insulating would sort of "future-proof" the room and make it more comfortable in cold weather - I was just flagging it up thinking about the cost of incorporating insulation and whether it makes financial sense. Have you thought about Planning and Building Regs?

House_Hunter

Plannign is not required as is covered under permitted development....but obviosuly building regs will be.

Kiran

I know you have asked about brick built, but I am just about to complete a tiomber frame garage. Don't think shed though, think timber frame house, dry lined, insulated and glad. Very quick, it has only taken me 8 days working completely on my own and including odd trips out to pick up materials I had forgotten

House_Hunter

Hmmm...interesting...do you have a link to your supplier?

themacster

Permitted development requires, inter alia, the external materials to match the existing house, so be aware of this if going down the timber frame route - you would still have to clad in brick (if that's what the house walls are finished in)

Kiran

House_Hunter wrote: »

Hmmm...interesting...do you have a link to your supplier?

I built it all from the individual timber components, so I don't have a kit supplier. For anything single storey, anyone with some reasonable carpentry skills and a drawing should be fine constructing.

The macster has a fair point about the permitted development requiring the materials to be in keeping, I would say that the money you save on timber frame would be worth a planning app for the use of different materials. A quick call to your local planers would probably point you in the right direction. What is the existing facade of your house? Just be sympathetic in your choice (nothing to say you can't paint it bright green at a later date, lol).

Purple-flower

ormus wrote: »

very feasible. but get a brickie in to do the laying. quicker and neater. he did it in 1 week.
last extension we did, i paid the brickie 900 quid for labour only. cavity walls etc...
all materials supplied by us.
the rest we did ourselves.
3 sides, flat roof. total costs c5000 quid.

I agree with this. Just to add on, I would also get a professional to do alot of the work for the purposes of insurance if you are going to put your car in there. These insurance companies can be tricky at times