Apologies if this is considered too off-topic but since workshop related topics do appear this mechanical engineering forum from time to time, I thought I'd try my luck here in the hope of availing myself of others' experience in the matter of setting up a garage based workshop in the UK.
I'd like to rebuild in concrete or brick, a garage that I can use as a workshop for fabricating electronic enclosures and so on. The existing corrugated iron garage, which had looked like it may have been erected some 20 to 30 years before we moved into the property almost 40 years ago, was never really fit for such use.
The main reason being the lack of a properly laid concrete base, so it had landed up as a repository for two motorbikes and junk (some of it electronic surplus but mostly motor bike and car parts). The only use it ever saw, beyond storing gardening tools and patio furniture during the winter months, was as a "car repair workshop" by my two stepsons who have now long since left home.
As you might imagine, it became a rather disorganised storage space over the past four decades. I have only recently managed to clear it all out in readiness for an identically sized (22 by 10 foot) new garage to be erected in its place. It's taken this long to get around to doing this since I simply couldn't afford to replace it when we first moved in. There were other more mundane projects associated with moving house that took priority which meant sorting out the garage was left on the 'back burner' for all of this time until I could, at long last, finally afford to shell out the money.
We (the missus and I) had started looking to downsize in our old age a couple of years ago but couldn't really find anything that 'ticked all the boxes' (such as inclusion of suitable garage/workshop/outbuildings in good state of repair), so we finally decided to stay put and make the best of it (better the devil you know) and avoid feeding the sharks (estate agents and solicitors). I had rather hoped to leave the garage issue for someone else to deal with but since that ploy has failed, that particular ball is now back in my court.
I'm seeking advice from UK based members on how best to make good the badly laid concrete base and recommendations on suppliers of garages along with choice of construction. I'm currently favouring concrete sectional over the more expensive brick built construction. Both types are strong and durable but the concrete sectional option is both cheaper and more convenient since the the supplier I'm looking at, Nucrete (
https://nucrete.co.uk) includes free delivery and erection the same day onto a suitably prepared concrete base in their VAT inclusive pricing. It looks like I'll be spending some 3 to 4k, depending on which options I go for (sloping or apex roof, personnel door, window and facia etc), plus, of course, whatever it costs to bring the concrete base up to standard (somewhere in the region of another £1000 or so).
My first question is: has anyone dealt with Nucrete or know of a better supplier they could recommend who can deliver to the Merseyside area, preferably one that includes delivery and same day erection at a similar price point?
The second question is in regard of preparing the concrete base which looks ok in the back half but consists of a thin skim of cement laid directly onto soil in the front half that abuts the top end of the drive (photos attached). My thinking on this is simply to pour another 7 inches of concrete on top to both save the cost of digging out the bad parts and also raise the floor level to that of the garden to minimise the risk of water ingress during heavy downpours. This option does mean I'll have to ramp the top 6 or 7 feet of the drive up to meet the raised edge of the slab.
Other issues of interest are in regard of planning permission but since this is essentially a like for like replacement of an outbuilding that already falls within the scope of permitted development rights, I'm not anticipating any problems (we're not in a 'protected' area). However, I did notice that the garage is only 22 inches away from our neighbour's fence at the front which widens out to a 27 inch clearance at the back end which I believe may be in contravention of the specified three foot minimum separation rule.
However, since the garage needs to align with the drive, it's possible the original builder may have obtained planning consent to build a foot closer than the rules of permitted development rights normally allow. In this case, it's probably best to let this sleeping dog to lay where it is and just get on with my new for old refurbishment project.
If anything is ever questioned afterwards, I've got plenty of photographic evidence (even movie footage!) of daughter and SiL holding a tape measure against the old garage as well as the more recent photos of the decluttered interior, some of which I've attached to this post.
The pictures show the state of the concrete base, a side view, the space to the rear (just over 8 feet), front view from drive (showing the 22 inch gap to fence) and a side view between a manhole cover and the garage entrance with just over 11 feet in which to add a ramp.