Concrete shed to office conversion

Lennys_Shinpad

Hi,

I would like to convert a sectional concrete shed to an office to make it easier for me to work from home. I have a photo of the shed here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bwu_3Xv8tLx-b2diY3pHNi1qc3Vzdkp6T0JOVjRqRWtIZW8w/view

The shed was here when we moved in last October so I don't know much about it. It seems well built to me but, as a bit of a novice DIY-er, I wanted to ask a few questions to see if it was worth attempting:

- Do you know what material the roof is made of and whether I can cut it? Ideally I would like to add a skylight. I saw a video on doing it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XCpKfeD00I) but I am not sure if it will be possible on the corrugated pattern.

- Do you think that such a structure will ever be easy to keep warm during the winter months? Obviously I will be adding insulation to help with this. I will also be getting it wired up.

- Are there any other things I need to consider before deciding if this project is worth doing? I am really keen to do the conversion but don't want to start if there are obvious problems.

Thanks,

James.

SplanK

Roof looks like it could contain asbestos... If it does, you can forget about cutting/drilling into it!


It wont keep in the heat without a lot of insulation on all sides, including the floor so you will probably run out of sensible headroom. That door will also need to be swapped as it just allow heat to easily escape.

Doozergirl

It looks very much like an asbestos roof.

Lennys_Shinpad

Thanks folks.

Sounds like it is a non-starter.

It's good to knock the idea on the head before I get too carried away.

beaker141

Lennys_Shinpad wrote: »

Thanks folks.

Sounds like it is a non-starter.

It's good to knock the idea on the head before I get too carried away.

It depends on how far you go with it, what you want to spend and how much you do yourself.

I estimated a friends garage that was similar, he wanted to split it into 2 sections, one half as a shed, the other half a decent insulated utility room that he could use basically as a kitchen extension. Roughly I reckoned 2k would have got what he wanted.

e.g. the walls :-
Glue on vapour barrier
3*2 tanalised wooden studs
infill with 40/50mm celotex
Board over with plasterboard
Fill and tape edges

His roof was leaking, I suggested replacement and build up a bit of insulation on the outside to keep the heat in :-

wooden beams across top
osb or ply
EDPM rubber felt
infill with 100mm celotex
Lay vapour barrier


Like I say, work through what you'd have to do and cost up the materials assuming you can DIY?

With regard insulation and heating, it would mainly be the core of winter where you're potentially suffering high heat usage - its a balance to be had between the cost of heating and the amount of insulation you'd need vs the space lost installing it.

Apodemus

While the roof could well be asbestos/cement sheets, the overall structure looks pretty new and nothing built after 2000 should have asbestos in it. As a sectional product, does it not have a maker's name-plate somewhere that might allow you to find out more about its age and construction?

While it might be difficult to insulate to an acceptable standard, I would be more concerned about condensation, cold concrete buildings are never as dry as cold wooden buildings, and when you warm it up inside, the condensation will form on these cold concrete walls.

Doozergirl

I didn't think anybody pebble dashed anything after about 1985?

Apodemus

Doozergirl wrote: »

I didn't think anybody pebble dashed anything after about 1985?

Lol! You can still buy these, although the roof tends to be profiled metal sheeting now.

SplanK

My sectional garage, built circa 2008 by the previous owner of the house has pebble dashed exterior as well... although thankfully has metal roof supports with a modern tiled roof rather than sheeting!