Fresh garage build, 5x10m, £10k

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I've got electrics fixed vertically, but left spare cable below (sort of in the void for want of a better term, so they call pull up if needed, I used metal boxes as well. So extra earthing was needed. Ours are only 1 log up, mounted on 2nd log up in effect

I havent mounted anything that spans so no. I do have one piece where I did rigidly fix two together, its right above the door by the window in ours. That particular log naturally wants to bend up, and its got very limited weight on top. No amount of wacking and settling made it stay down. But its only fixed in one place so there is plenty of expansion in every other direction. I kept very close eyes on it for the first year and its been fine

Yeah unpacking and sorting takes ages as I mentioned to someone else on another thread.
 
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I've got electrics fixed vertically, but left spare cable below (sort of in the void for want of a better term, so they call pull up if needed, I used metal boxes as well. So extra earthing was needed. Ours are only 1 log up, mounted on 2nd log up in effect

I havent mounted anything that spans so no. I do have one piece where I did rigidly fix two together, its right above the door by the window in ours. That particular log naturally wants to bend up, and its got very limited weight on top. No amount of wacking and settling made it stay down. But its only fixed in one place so there is plenty of expansion in every other direction. I kept very close eyes on it for the first year and its been fine

Yeah unpacking and sorting takes ages as I mentioned to someone else on another thread.

I didn’t even consider the extra earth for the sockets but I was planning on putting in a 4ft earth rod, would that be enough do you think?

I assumed they’d just be earthed off the cable but my dad advised me to get an earth rod in - would that be why?
 
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I didn’t even consider the extra earth for the sockets but I was planning on putting in a 4ft earth rod, would that be enough do you think?

I assumed they’d just be earthed off the cable but my dad advised me to get an earth rod in - would that be why?

You do earth the socket to the cable, its so the socket itself is earthed.
If you have armoured going to the cabin you earth the sheath (at both ends). Adding an earth rod just means you are not reliant on that as well. Its really belt and braces from what I can tell.
But its relatively low cost and if somehow the sheath and earth to the armoured were compromised you could end up with limited earthing.

Our works electrical manager said to me when I did my works on the cabin that the one thing to ensure was earth continuity.
 
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You do earth the socket to the cable, its so the socket itself is earthed.
If you have armoured going to the cabin you earth the sheath (at both ends). Adding an earth rod just means you are not reliant on that as well. Its really belt and braces from what I can tell.
But its relatively low cost and if somehow the sheath and earth to the armoured were compromised you could end up with limited earthing.

Our works electrical manager said to me when I did my works on the cabin that the one thing to ensure was earth continuity.

that makes good sense. As you say it’s about £8 to do so not a cost issue. We do need to confirm where the power comes from, I have a suspicion it’s off the back of a plug socket as I haven’t seen a likely fused spur for it but we will work it out and make sure it’s done properly before I start running heaters and stuff off it! It’s the power that was already run to the old workshop but there’s no guarantee it was done well in the first place.
 
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I just noticed you mention a CU. When I was looking to do that my works electrician said not to as i was taking a spur off the back of a plug like you suspect yours is.
He said fused spur at point leaving house so you protect the downstream cable to 13amp. (Cable was rated to 26amp or so iirc)
Then everything was serial off that same cable, so total current could only be 13amp. It goes through quite a long chain but he said thats no issue its just the combined loading as its not a direct cable back to the supply.
IIRC I also added a fused spur in the cabin but may have been a simple switch (on entry), just to be able to isolate say if a major leak happened or similar. Then the sockets are serial and at the end is a fused spur down to 3amp for the lighting.
 
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I'll run it by my dad, see what he reckons. I've got the consumer unit already though. Need to follow that power cable back as well - but I was talking to my neighbour earlier who knew the previous owner, and when I mentioned that he said he was the kind of person who would have done it properly so it might even go back to the fuse box - although I don't recall pulling a fuse that matched up with the garage, easy enough to find out though!

Thanks for the advice :) Picked up the earth rod and clamp today and some other bits.

Did you treat your roof before fitting the shingles? A couple of my mates are badgering me to do it but I don't really see the point. However I do see what they're driving at as I won't be able to do it later once the shingles are down.
 
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Got some daylight outside pictures today.

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Put my toolbox in there.

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Just kidding :cool:

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So nice to get that stuff out of the house. It's been there since day one. Also moved a load of the other stuff that's been clagging the house up, the garage is now temporarily a total bomb site but not so much I won't be able to work around it.

I fitted the storm braces today and fitted a better bolt on the bottom.

List of stuff still to do is still very long.

Consumer unit, conduit, electrics, lighting inside and out. I also need to adjust a couple of the rafters, there are galvanised saddles that hold them in place that we forgot all about and there's a bit of a gap between some of the rafters and the roof boards. It'll be a faff to sort out as I'll need to take out the screws, jack up the rafter, and then put the screws back in and fit the saddle. Don't imagine it will be difficult but it'll be awkward to do. Paint inside and out, shingles, better/additional locks, more substantial bolt on the top. Blinds. Ramp. Floor paint when it's cured enough. It goes on!

The main bits, the ones that are stressing me out, is the shingles and the exterior treatment. Will see how much I can get done on the shingles this weekend. The rest I can do as and when, there is power out there and I've got a nice big work light that's bright enough.
 
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I'll run it by my dad, see what he reckons. I've got the consumer unit already though. Need to follow that power cable back as well - but I was talking to my neighbour earlier who knew the previous owner, and when I mentioned that he said he was the kind of person who would have done it properly so it might even go back to the fuse box - although I don't recall pulling a fuse that matched up with the garage, easy enough to find out though!

Thanks for the advice :) Picked up the earth rod and clamp today and some other bits.

Did you treat your roof before fitting the shingles? A couple of my mates are badgering me to do it but I don't really see the point. However I do see what they're driving at as I won't be able to do it later once the shingles are down.

No, not got shingles. we have one of the very shallow roof incline ones, as we have it right in the corner of our garden we didnt want to risk any complaint about height. As such we are "not allowed" shingles as we don't have enough angle.
We do actually have a leak if its really heavy rain, i think it can run back under the edge of the felt.
Plan was always to add another later to the roof with 25-50mm of insulation. Then go rubber over the top of that, its a job for 2020 now.
Will be quickly treating it with preserver when i do the roof though

If you have the CU and it makes wiring easier then I guess it doesnt hurt, for me our guy said it wouldn't actually do anything since it was always going to be higher rated than the spur so he just recomended switches to be able to isolate seeing as i was limited on the 13amp basically.
 

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LiE

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What you will find is that anything metal will condense water a lot and create puddles on the floor. You may want to look at keeping the inside at a sensible temperature during the colder months.
 
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Don't forget to put gutters on your list. Also how will you stop water seeping along the concrete slab and under the base batten.

Ugh I'd forgotten all about gutters! I will get some on there. We've several water butts scattered around the place from the previous owners so when I fit them I'll use one of them. My wife waters the garden every time I turn my back so hopefully it'll help with the water bill!

As for stopping water.. well you can't entirely, can you. The slab is just about the right size and fits within the overhangs on the roof (just) on three corners at least, possibly the front as well.. but there will be a ramp on the front. Gutters will help with this.

There's also a very very slight slope to all four edges, the bearers actually sit on this slightly sloped bit on all edges, so water should run off that quite well. I plan to put a ventilation grille at each end of the cabin at some point as well, because while you can't stop moisture getting in, you can help it to not get trapped in there. It's a timber building so it's going to soak up and release moisture throughout the days and throughout the year. Timber buildings do do this well though so I'm not too worried.

What you will find is that anything metal will condense water a lot and create puddles on the floor. You may want to look at keeping the inside at a sensible temperature during the colder months.

Probably going to go with an oil filled radiator for this, also considering the little 60w tube heaters but I don't think they will make any difference due to the size of the room. We had longer tube heaters at a previous house, but they were pretty hungry electricity wise and we found the oil filled rads were better.

After this winter I might look into insulating the roof from inside if I think I need to.

Stared painting the roof tonight, got a first coat on half. I got some satin black Bedec for it.. it's really nice paint.
 
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Ugh I'd forgotten all about gutters! I will get some on there. We've several water butts scattered around the place from the previous owners so when I fit them I'll use one of them. My wife waters the garden every time I turn my back so hopefully it'll help with the water bill!

As for stopping water.. well you can't entirely, can you. The slab is just about the right size and fits within the overhangs on the roof (just) on three corners at least, possibly the front as well.. but there will be a ramp on the front. Gutters will help with this.
There's also a very very slight slope to all four edges, the bearers actually sit on this slightly sloped bit on all edges, so water should run off that quite well. I plan to put a ventilation grille at each end of the cabin at some point as well, because while you can't stop moisture getting in, you can help it to not get trapped in there. It's a timber building so it's going to soak up and release moisture throughout the days and throughout the year. Timber buildings do do this well though so I'm not too worried.

Of course you can, it depends if you want it to leak or not lol :) Simplest thing i can think of would be for you to wait for a dry spell so slab nice and dry. Grab a few tubes of bitumen mastic sealant, put a nice bead in the gap between the bearers and the concrete. Grab a tin of bitumen paint, and then paint the edge, gap of the bearers and top surface of the concrete. That will stop water getting in.


Probably going to go with an oil filled radiator for this, also considering the little 60w tube heaters but I don't think they will make any difference due to the size of the room. We had longer tube heaters at a previous house, but they were pretty hungry electricity wise and we found the oil filled rads were better.

Go for a desiccant dehumidifier and fun it on a timer. These kick out upto 5degrees over the surrounding air. So it will very gently keep the temp above freezing and keep the inside nicely dry. If you insulate as well...

After this winter I might look into insulating the roof from inside if I think I need to.

Stared painting the roof tonight, got a first coat on half. I got some satin black Bedec for it.. it's really nice paint.
 
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Of course you can, it depends if you want it to leak or not lol :) Simplest thing i can think of would be for you to wait for a dry spell so slab nice and dry. Grab a few tubes of bitumen mastic sealant, put a nice bead in the gap between the bearers and the concrete. Grab a tin of bitumen paint, and then paint the edge, gap of the bearers and top surface of the concrete. That will stop water getting in.

I get your gist but I can't help but feel that's only going to cause issues - it's going to keep water out, yes. Also keep it in. The bearers will just rot inside this bitumen sarcophagus. Timber buildings suck up moisture and let it out, trying to seal them 100% from water will only make them rot quicker imo. Otherwise everyone would paint their sheds with bitumen. I may take your advice on the bead around the very base though.

I may pin a skirt onto them to deflect splashback, or maybe even a little flap of DPC but mostly I'm going to treat them with engine oil periodically as it will still let them breathe as well as keeping rot at bay. There fall around the edge of the slab will help to keep standing water from gathering.

When the bearers eventually give up in hopefully 10 years, I'll jack the building up and put a course of bricks under it! Kind of wish I had done that in the first place, but hindsight is 20/20 isn't it :( Still, we live and learn.

I'm not worried about water getting into the building, as there's really no gap to speak off, plus the fall on the slab helps, bear in mind the bearers have a lot of weight on them and the slab is very smooth at the edges, but do want to keep the bearers in good condition for as long as possible.

I will look into the humidifiers, thanks - but it is a garage not a room, so I hope it will be sufficient. We had a similar building when I lived with my parents that was full of motorbikes and we didn't have any issues, although that building had a plywood floor and sat on slightly raised bearers. The concrete will obviously be as cold as anything during winter, but there is a DPC under the concrete, and I am going to seal and paint the concrete once it's totally cured - probably in spring to be fair due to weather.

The building is whole now, the roof is finished also and I got a coat of treatment on one side of it today. Hope to do more tomorrow if the weather holds.

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I think I have to agree with Dublove - seal the joint between concrete and bearer with a good sealant - Stiksall adhesive and mastic is good - then paint concrete with quality waterproof paint.

my first thought when you posted pictures of the bearers was go round it with spray marker paint and get a bricky in to put one layer of bricks down then build on top but I understand time was against you.
Those pictures of my garage I put up doesn't show I had two courses of brick down first and to the day I left, that garage was totally waterproof. I don't agree that wooden buildings get wet.
If you leave it and water does seep in then keep spraying your tools with WD 40.

When I was your age I would have probably done it the same way but I have seen a number of wooden building put onto concrete or soil that have rotted from ground up. I do find it very easy to say these things with experience. I watched my brothers shed collapse around him ruining his big lathe and other large tools. I know yours won't go the same way because more thought has gone into it - but now is the time to put prevention in action.

Saying all that I wish it was in my garden now.

ps - do not use plastic damp course - it has a tendency to curl up - I know this because I have done it on my summer house - use thick roofing felt or something else as a flap.
 
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I don't agree that wooden buildings get wet.

sorry when I say suck up moisture I mean timber has a moisture content to it and goes through cycles of being more and less moist, it will take moisture out of the air and it will let it out when it’s warmer and drier. It’s why you don’t paint timber buildings with waterproof paint, doing that just traps moisture in the timber and makes it rot.

our previous timber cabin was never damp inside and I’m hoping this one will be the same as I’m going to keep it ventilated and warm.
 
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Ahh ! Odd that as the paint recommended for my summer house is rubberised so I presume it's waterproof. Saying that in the winter the gaps in T&G cladding close up tight and come summer the wood shrinks again and gaps widen - That I understand but it is water tight. - To trap water wouldn't you have to paint both sides ?
 
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Well I'm no expert, but as you do I've been reading and just trying to follow my best guess on recommendations etc, the repeat thing I see is to allow the wood to do what it wants to do which is take in and release moisture naturally. I do want the building itself to be watertight but water's not about to soak through 44mm of wood just from a bit of rain.

With the bearers for example, there shouldn't be any issue due to the fall on the slab directing water away from it, the slab is raised from the ground also, and with the overhang and gutters there should hopefully be minimal splashback. The bearers are fine to get wet as they are treated but shouldn't stand in water. The concrete sits on a DPC and has drainage to all sides also so there shouldn't be any rising damp, and if the concrete is 'dry' it shouldn't be much worse than it sitting on a course of regular bricks, and not even much worse than proper engineering bricks.

Obviously a course of bricks would be better but these buildings are designed to sit on these bearers and they're guaranteed for 10 years. If they start to let go in 5-10 years I'm ok with it and will rectify, it will be a headache but it'll be fine. I reckon we could probably get bricks under it if the bearers were shot and needed replacing by supporting the building and placing bricks or composite bearers, and if not I guess I would take it down and put it back up! Getting a headache just thinking about that though!

With this whole thing I've found so many conflicting opinions stated very confidently, and I've just tried to choose what I feel is best at each stage, compromises due to money are always involved obviously. That's the problem with the internet, too much information! Ignorance is bliss sometimes...
 
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That's a lovely looking garage and spacious as well. I wouldn't be able to sleep though without putting some roller blinds on the windows. All those lovely tools and cabinets on view will prove tempting for some lowlife.

They're coming! Lots to do, going to get it all done as soon as I can. I want to beef the security up a bit as well, nice bigger lock on the barn doors, the doors and windows fit in such a way that you can actually unscrew them but I think I can help that with some coach bolts. There's a PIR floodlight to go on as well, and we're getting CCTV soon. I think I will fit a door bar on the side door as well.

Edit: She's in :)

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