Musings on building a workshop and a new machine...

[i2i]

Precast concrete Sectional Garage - Marley Major - 6.65m x 3.25m (21ft x 10ft) | eBay

[i2i]

Large Concrete Garage With Electric Roller Garage Door | eBay

[WandrinAndy]

Precast concrete Sectional Garage - Marley Major - 6.65m x 3.25m (21ft x 10ft) | eBay

Less than £90 and only 2 bids so far... Probably because the seller's not prepared to post the item...

[irving2008]

Precast concrete Sectional Garage - Marley Major - 6.65m x 3.25m (21ft x 10ft) | eBay

Yes I was looking at that one and some others... apart from it being a long way away (7h+ drive) that design with 400mm panels is very old and there aren't enough of them for the size I want since I dont want the up n over door either. There are several others on ebay but none quite suitable for my needs but I'll keep looking.

In the meantime I've done some calcs etc and reckon thats its perfectly feasible to create some timber moulds and cast one's own panels relatively simply and its cheaper by a long stretch, about £2000 less than the ready made workshop in its basic uninsulated state. Also it'll be exactly the size I want with the windows and door i want and not the nearest similar size. And I can incorporate fixings for wall battens to hold insulation and wall boarding etc. at no cost whereas all these options start adding up when you spec them!

I've come up with a modular mould arrangement that'll allow me to cast 6 panels at the same time and 3 different heights and 2 widths of panel to accomodate the windows & door. Once the base is laid and can be used as a work area it'll take me 6 days to cast all the necessary panels assuming each panel can be turned out of the mould after 24hr and left to set.

What I'll probably do is make one mould then cast a couple of test pieces and if that works make the rest of the mould sections...

[m_c]

Are you going to reinforce your panels?
And how are you going to deaerat the concrete in the moulds?


I'll admit it's something I know very little about, but I've seen one of my dad's mates cast a step many years ago, and he spend ages tapping the mould to get rid of air (vibrating pokers exist for this purpose), then you have to make sure it doesn't dry out too quickly.

[irving2008]

reinforcement using rebar rods and 20mm glass fibre strands in the mix

yes, can get a vibrating poker quite cheap, or another idea I read about was to make a vibrating table

[ptjw7uk]

The slabs are made using a vibrating table.
Also upside down, inside surface down and outside up so as the finish can be applied, the opposite to paving slabs.
You would also have to gauge the mix well with the right amount of water etc.
I knew someone who tried the paving slabs for a living and almost went broke till he got the mix right!
Is a wooden workshop a no no.
I made mine out of 22mm ply and 4x2 timber, even bought anail gun to make it all easier.

Peter

[irving2008]

Peter,

Still looking at wooden option as well, had a look at some examples. Main objections to wood is the permiability, its hard to control moisture and everything I've read suggests machine tools in a wooden workshop is the least desirable route to go. Also there's the maintenance. And its hard to make it as soundproof as a concrete or brick structure and thats important. Finally you can't site a wooden workshop within 2m of the boundary because its not non-combustible, so I'd have to make it smaller. Not that sure its much cheaper either! So while its still an option, its least preferable.

Another opton is timber frame but plastic coated metal box cladding over OSB as used on the roof. Again the soundproofing might be an issue unless I use a lot thicker foam.

[irving2008]

Just an update...

Found 2 companies on the web (not one of the big two suppliers) who will sell me just the panels and fixing bolts and am waiting on their quotes. I'm also in a long email conversation with one of the big garage manufacturers who are close to agreeing the same thing, though its not something they normally do. But their price is only £24 inc VAT for a standard panel 2m x 0.6m... that means the whole workshop will be under £800 for the walls (by comparison the other major manufacturer will only supply 'a limited number of spare panels' at £70 + VAT). All in I'm looking at under £3500 fully insulated and ready to use.... ok I have to build it myself but hey, how hard can that be?

I've looked at acquiring an existing garage... even one thats close to me and is big enough to make it worth considering (arbitrarily set as the number of panels I need to add is no more than 1/2 of what's there already) will need a 3.5tonne van to shift it and thats going to cost me £150+ to rent for the day so I'm looking in total at getting on for £750 to a £1000 second hand... might as well buy new and avoid the hassle and effort of carting it over...

[Jonathan]

My shed/workshop is wood and it's clear that moisture penetrates it from the amount the de-humidifier collects when it's damp outside. With the de-humidifier and heater (thermostat set very very low) I've never had problems with corrosion, unless you count the time a bottle of ferric chloride dripped on the lathe!

Soundproofing is an issue when the router's running, but the other machines are quiet enough. For that reason I try not to run the router after 9pm, though it's been known for me to still be up there well past midnight...

I wasn't aware of this within 2m of the boundary regulation. Mine is less than that as it's only about 0.4m from the hedge. I think the 20*10' structure cost about £2000 with delivery and installation, plus the cost of the concrete base and insulating it. Maybe it's worth asking some suppliers what they can offer?