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

[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...