Making garage habitable

[Wideboy]

Originally Posted by Paul the 6th

When can u start yc? How do I take the asbestos stuff away? Is that Only dangerous when it turns to dust? Guessing that'll be a contracted job?

you will get less jail time for murder

but if you want to risk it, its safe unless it breaks, then run

[squirrel_hunter]

Originally Posted by specialone

Are you gonna brick up the door?
If not dont waste your money on insulating the walls cos it will be wasted.

This is something that I've been thinking about. Garage doors being just a thin bit of metal doesn't do much for insulation. What would you recommend to enable the garage to be habitable in winter whist still having a working door?

[yorkie_chris]

Our garage has one of them rolling electric doors, it's probably 2" of insulation but you can never seal up completely around, that keeps the place above freezing though it is part of the house so probably gets some waste heat through the walls.

Councils down this way will let you dispose of asbestos sheeting free of charge, you call them and they send you a certificate and the place to take it.

You soak the boards with water and keep them wet, get heavy plastic clear bags, while wearing a disposable suit and mask, put all the sheeting into the bags and tape up the bags so they are sealed.

Take them to the place where council have told you to go and they will have a special skip away from the rest which is normally locked, dump in there, job done.
Finally, bin mask and suit.

[Paul the 6th]

Originally Posted by specialone

Paul, i convert garages, amongst other things for a living, depends on your budget, do you wanna leave it as a converted room? do you wanna be able to sell it as a converted room? etc etc.

Dont DIY the roof mate it wont last and will be false economy, by all means frame and board it yourself, but get the felt torched on by a roofer as it will last.

Are you gonna brick up the door?
If not dont waste your money on insulating the walls cos it will be wasted.

What the building control want these days is foiled backed cellotex of at least 100mm then plasterboarded over the top of them, 150mm of celotex or similar in the roof.
The floor will need some insulation as well, which can be done by putting 60mm celotex on the floor tight, then lay 22mm flooring grade chipboard over it with glue joints so this creates a floating floor which will work well.

I can advise how to do pretty much everything you need, i can give you my moby if you get stuck as long as i dont get calls at 3am

Smooth Philadelphia, cheers buddy I might just take you up on that tbh I should probably set a budget and then see how far that'll take us rather than envisaging a fully decorated cream walled laminated flooring room with halogen down-lighters a good friend mentioned he knows a guy who replaced all the felt on his roof for £500 - and his garage is around 6-8ft longer than mine = is that a fairly realistic price? For good quality torched roofing?

In terms of spec:

• keeping the big garage door since I still want to be able to get a trackbike in there later on - and also ideal for getting stock in and out easily (plus would be nice to have the garage door open on hot days)
• Ideally laminate or lino flooring, hardwearing, easier to keep clean
• Insulation - the door on there is a motorised roller door with a big 6-8" gap above it, so no point insulating
• Do the building control regs about insulation only apply if you're making the garage into a proper living space? I guess I was a bit over zealous with the title for making the garage 'habitable' - just want to make it dry, clean, leak proof, spider free and a nice place to work
• Would there be any issues with damp getting in? if it's not fully sealed and insulated?

Originally Posted by Wideboy

don't forget to visit your local building seconds/recycling yard, often overlooked and you can find some good cheap materials that only need a bit of a tart up. I built a shed down the side of house for my dad that's got all his vinyl cutters and printers and the garage mapped out for the engraving and manual machines. Did what YC said for the roof with some inch birch ply, joining the boards with drainpipe sealant, then felted. Put a second hand velux in the roof for daytime light. been up nearly three years now and all is still pukka, no leaks and best of all it cost feck all as i salvaged the boards off of a job i ripped out

and utilise under bench space with compressors ect

Nice one gavinski - I'll have a look around to find out if there's anyway where near here.. we got a recycling centre up the road but its always full of old washing machines & garden waste.

Originally Posted by Wideboy

you will get less jail time for murder

but if you want to risk it, its safe unless it breaks, then run

fair play, but these days copyright theft usually carries greater sentences than murder as well nah in all seriousness I'll find a local firm to do the job safely and dispose of it in the correct manner..

[yorkie_chris]

You probably won't get it to be that damp and spider free with a 6" gap over the door.

[Paul the 6th]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

You probably won't get it to be that damp and spider free with a 6" gap over the door.

I'm expecting the odd spider but as it stands there's hundreds in there because of a breeze vent built into the brick and gaps under the corrugated roofing (plus the Ivy is starting to grow in)..

It's not so bad for damp at the moment but come to think of it, even a little bit of damp would quickly knacker vinyl stock and make box fresh clothing stinky and mouldy over time

What's the options for still being able get a bike in there but with a reduced-down door?

Paul, single skin walls are prone to damp tbh as you get moisture coming through and theres no thermal break.
Don't ever dab plasterboard straight on the walls as it will go mouldy in no time.

Average price down here for torch-on felt is around £30-£35 a square metre, I'd make sure they have at least two layers, one undercoat, one top layer and it's torched right into the wall chase and pointed up.

[dizzyblonde]

Originally Posted by Paul the 6th

tbh I should probably set a budget and then see how far that'll take us rather than envisaging a fully decorated cream walled laminated flooring room with halogen down-lighters ..

Well its what was in my parents garage by the time my bro finished with it, apart from his wasn't cream it was some nad orange colour. Can't remember what he did with the garage door, but it ain't on the inside....but its sure as hell there on the outside

[yorkie_chris]

A friend of mine did that, at some point some scroats had basically demolished the door to get in. Would have loved to have seen their faces when they had destroyed the door only to be faced with a brick wall!