rusty Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 I'm just about to move into a new place and it's got it's own garage Sadly, the garage isn't all that good I need some suggestions as to what I can do to improve the garage. The obvious one would be to knock it down and get a new one built in it's place but sadly I can't afford to do that. The garage is asbestos concrete sheeting, both walls and roof. There's a couple of bits of damage to the roof which I plan on patching up with corrugated bitumen sheets and I'm gonna repair the smashed windows with some plastic sheeting. I was thinking along the lines of sheeting the inside of the walls with some chipboard, painting the concrete floor and fitting some better lighting. The garage is only for my bike and tools, no lawnmowers or gardening shit is allowed in there! Anyone got any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fran9r Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Will the planned roof repair involve drilling into the existing sheets? If so, I'd be tempted to fibreglass the whole lot instead. Good project though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty Posted October 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 No drilling mate, I'm planning on sealing the sheeting on with the bitumen glue stuff that they sell at Wickes. I never actually thought about fibreglass, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomfoolery Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Insulate it! Wi be much much better to work in in all weathers. Do something better than plastic sheeting for the windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuelline Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 No matter what it looks like at the moment, I have pangs of large garage jealousy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorenzo Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 If you line it, then chip board will swell and rot to nothing, avoid it. Ply would be a better idea as it's tougher, more weather resistant (esp if you paint the back of it before it goes up) and providing it's not too heavy you can fix things to it, like lights. Talking of which, lighting is the key to all good garages, I've decided. Paint the inside of the boards white and then get a handful of strip lights and spread them about so you get as few shadows as possible. The white will make the light much more efficient, so you'll get away with 3 good strip lights I'd have though, but put 4 in just to be sure. It's difficult to see from the photos, but what's the floor like? If it's fundamentally sound then paint it with some of that floor paint, it'll cut the dust and dirt down loads and make it a much nicer place to work in. I can also see bits of light coing through the sides of the V part above the door; I'd get them sorted out too, just to keep the draughts down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty Posted October 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 If you line it, then chip board will swell and rot to nothing, avoid it. Ply would be a better idea as it's tougher, more weather resistant (esp if you paint the back of it before it goes up) and providing it's not too heavy you can fix things to it, like lights. Talking of which, lighting is the key to all good garages, I've decided. Paint the inside of the boards white and then get a handful of strip lights and spread them about so you get as few shadows as possible. The white will make the light much more efficient, so you'll get away with 3 good strip lights I'd have though, but put 4 in just to be sure. It's difficult to see from the photos, but what's the floor like? If it's fundamentally sound then paint it with some of that floor paint, it'll cut the dust and dirt down loads and make it a much nicer place to work in. I can also see bits of light coing through the sides of the V part above the door; I'd get them sorted out too, just to keep the draughts down. The floor is pretty good, concrete with no cracks or suchlike. I've got some Johnstone floor sealant and some grey floor paint to go over the top of that. I was looking at building a 3-sided frame out of 3x3 or similar for the walls to cover both long sides and the back end of the garage, I was hoping that I could then use OSB boards(like they use for boarding up broken windows) as this is suitable for external use. I could probably manage to get some of the Space Blanket insulation stuff that the DIY shops are all selling off and stick this between the current walls and the wood sheets. Hopefully this would help keep some heat in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexp5 Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 I would recommend a sledge hammer and a skip, but as this isn't an option we'll have to go with what's available! That prefab sheet can sweat like a fat lass running for the bus so I'd be inclined to build a stud frame inside the existing building, and sheet it with polythene damp proof membrane before insulating and boarding with marine or exterior grade ply. A quick fix to seal all the gaps in the shell would be expanding foam applied from the outside, unless you want a building that appears to be covered in wasps nests! As Lorenzo says: white walls and plenty of light makes a happy workspace, put plenty of power points in too. For the windows, you could use clear heavy duty styrene sheet. This is available in a frosted finish to allow the light but stop prying eyes, and although not pikey-proof on it's own, you could back it with steel mesh. A cold night followed by a mild day will have that 'asbestos' roof sheet sweating too. My old garage was like walking into a shower sometimes but I used bitumastic paint to seal first, then boarded over it. It worked, then I moved to somewhere with a brick garage so can't comment on if this is still the case. If the floor is sound, just get is as clean and dust free as you can, seal it with tile primer, and something like Johnsons Garage Floor Paint over the top will do the trick. Sorry for the long post, but my old 'shed' was just like what you have, and these fixes worked for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1bazza Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Just a quick aside;that old kitchen unit you have in there,don't bin it! These are worth putting on ebay or in a local auction if you have one. Here's some examples; http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trk...-All-Categories Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty Posted October 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 I would recommend a sledge hammer and a skip, but as this isn't an option we'll have to go with what's available! That prefab sheet can sweat like a fat lass running for the bus so I'd be inclined to build a stud frame inside the existing building, and sheet it with polythene damp proof membrane before insulating and boarding with marine or exterior grade ply. A quick fix to seal all the gaps in the shell would be expanding foam applied from the outside, unless you want a building that appears to be covered in wasps nests! As Lorenzo says: white walls and plenty of light makes a happy workspace, put plenty of power points in too. For the windows, you could use clear heavy duty styrene sheet. This is available in a frosted finish to allow the light but stop prying eyes, and although not pikey-proof on it's own, you could back it with steel mesh. A cold night followed by a mild day will have that 'asbestos' roof sheet sweating too. My old garage was like walking into a shower sometimes but I used bitumastic paint to seal first, then boarded over it. It worked, then I moved to somewhere with a brick garage so can't comment on if this is still the case. If the floor is sound, just get is as clean and dust free as you can, seal it with tile primer, and something like Johnsons Garage Floor Paint over the top will do the trick. Sorry for the long post, but my old 'shed' was just like what you have, and these fixes worked for me. Don't apologise mate, it's much appreciated The stud frame is the kind of thing I was aiming for. I take it that you mean using polythene sheeting like this stuff on one side of the stud frame and the ply on the other side? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexp5 Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Don't apologise mate, it's much appreciated The stud frame is the kind of thing I was aiming for. I take it that you mean using polythene sheeting like this stuff on one side of the stud frame and the ply on the other side? Thats the Daddy. The stuff I used was blue though. As I said previously, my old shed was similar in construction and condition to what you have now. I had to have a week off work in which to just sort the shell of mine out, and it helped having a neighbour who was a sales manager at Buildbase! Depends if you want a quick fix or something pleasant to work in and to last a few years. I also scrubbed the interior of mine out with anti-fungicidal wash as there was a fair bit of moss and green shit growing on the walls, and wire brushed the steel frame off and painted it with cold galv zinc paint. Maybe a bit too anal but it was a sound place to tinker in when I completed it all. In hindsight, it was a far better garage than what I have now. Although my 'now' garage is secure, dry, and brick-built, it has no natural light unless the door's open, and it's only just big enough for 2 bikes, a workbench, and a lot of shite... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty Posted October 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Just a quick aside;that old kitchen unit you have in there,don't bin it! These are worth putting on ebay or in a local auction if you have one. Here's some examples; http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trk...-All-Categories Nice one....I was just planning on binning it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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