Old Garage

[WaveyDave]

The house I'm buying has a detached garage at the bottom of the garden.

Its constructed from a wooden frame, sitting atop a concrete base. The roof is made from corrugated asbestos cement, and has been clad with stainless steel around the outside.

I need the garage, but the surveyor has recommended that the asbestos has been holding water, and may now be unsafe, so it has to go. My local council will accept them at the tip, so I can dispose of it safely. I don't want to keep the corrugated cladding either, so I'll get rid of that.

This leaves me with a timber frame. What I'd thought of doing, was cladding in shiplap or loglap. The problem is, the garage has been dig into the ground, as the garden slopes up slightly, so the back of the garage is approx 2 feet below ground level. Will this cause damp? The other problem, the garage leads out to a lane. There is a brick wall bordeing the lane and garden, which is approx 7 feet high, but only single brick thicknes with no peers. Its starting to bow outward (the mortar has deteriorated too. The garage doesn't actually attach to the wall, so it's got a bit of a gap between the first sheet and the brick wall. This means that the roof is about 6 inches back from the wall, letting in a load of rain. What can I do to make it more water tight?

Or should I just knock the whole lot down and get a compton?

Cheers

Dave

 

[marksson]

Re the 'asbestos' roofing, when you take it off keep it in large sections. Don't break it up, (I believe (but don't quote me) that they only contain around 4% asbestos).
If you do demolish it then you will probably need planning permission even to rebuild on the same footprint.
Photos would help with the other points.

 

[sandwell]

It seems to me that you need a new base and a new garage, I do not see how you can avoid damp in those circumstances.

I have got a Compton, but before ordering one, I should check what else
is available, consider all the alternatives.

That does not mean to say I am not recommending a Compton.

But, I read all the literature, and was impressed with the specification and it had reinforcing rods in the concrete. I thought this was a good thing, but found out afterwards, that these reinforcing rods will rust if they are near to the surface and will show through the finish as rust marks.
Marley do not have these rods, or at least they did not when we purchased our garage about 15 years ago. May be different now.

Have you considered having a garage built with blocks. You might find it more satisfactory, and not much more expensive. It would have the added advantage that you can easily erect shelves in it, which can be a little bit tricky with a concrete garage.

 

[Deluks]

You probably won't need any planning if you keep the frame and just reroof/reclad it. You will need to check for and replace any damaged/rotting timber if present.

You could dismantle it, keep the decent timber and use it in the rebuild. Then build it to same size and height and cheekily call it 'maintenance to the shed'. Voila, no PP required.

You don't want any wood at ground level. That higher ground at the back should be dug out and held back somehow (concrete blocks or railway sleepers? ) Then dig a french drain all round, essentially a small trench filled with gravel.

If not already raised up, you should rebuild the structure on a couple of courses of bricks and dpc.

I didn't quite understand that last bit but when you reroof, make sure it goes over the wall itself, eliminating the gap. Probably have to rebuild that wall too, depending on how bad it is.

 

[Nige F]

bugger the garage , get that wall down and fencing in it`s place .....walls fall on people

 

[WaveyDave]

Thanks for all of the replies.

The reason I'm looking to use as much of the garage as possible is to try and keep costs down, as I need to spend the money elsewhere.

I haven't had a quote for building a new garage yet, but I don't have the confidence/skill to do it myself, so I've no idea how much it might cost.

I plan on knocking the wall down when I can, and to be honest, if I end up having a new block garage built, I'd probably get the new wall done at the same time.

Thanks for replies, certainly gives me food for thought.