Things To Think About When Building A Garage

If you have the technical know-how, time and patience then building your own garage can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience. Better yet, by being in charge of the design and planning, you can build a custom structure that is directly suited to your needs whether this is to store cars, gardening equipment/tools or for use as a gym or home office space. Recent trends are seeing the use of garages shift from vehicle storage to extra lifestyle activity space. The building of any permanent structure must be done with absolute attention to detail and thorough planning to make sure that nothing is left out that could potentially hinder your project.

In the early stages, before you even put pen to paper or buy a single brick, you need to establish exactly what purpose your garage is going to serve and start to plan specifics around it. For example, if you are set on building a garage to be used purely as a gym then this will inform certain things like lighting fixtures, plug points and even building width/size depending on how big you want the space to be.

You should decide whether you want your garage to be detached to the house or separate. There’s an endless list of pros & cons relating to each option and this in its self is a post for another day. At a glance, an attached garage can be more convenient for access and is probably more suited to things like screening rooms, living spaces and gyms. On the other hand, the possibilities for expansion are very limited. Conversely, if you wanted to start a workshop or home business that has the potential to expand, then basing it in a detached garage is probably best as they can accommodate more additions and expansions.

It is absolutely vital that before starting any kind of work you make sure that proper planning permission has been received from the local authority and council in which your property resides. For this to be granted you will have submitted detailed blueprints to your local authorities planning department. Technically you don’t need permission required for building a garage as this counts as an “outbuilding” but you will need formal planning permission if:

 

• The garage is going to be used as a living space

• The floor of the garage is going to be more than 15 square metres if freestanding

• The floor of the garage is going to be more than 30 square metres if attached to the house

Weatherproofing is a basic necessity required in all garages especially those being used for things like offices & leisure rooms etc. There are a number of ways to prevent damp & weather ingress by using things like tanking slurry and damp proofing courses. Another great way of ensuring a weatherproof garage is to fit high-quality garage doors such as roller shutter, side hinged, sectional and up & over models. At Access Garage Doors our products are made to order and installed using highly experienced specialists so no matter the size, shape or colour of your garage, we can fit bespoke garage doors that will act as a security and weather barrier for years to come.

 

Building your own garage can be the project of a lifetime if done correctly and with tight attention to detail, your dream can soon become a reality! Part of maintaining your dream garage set up is securing it from harm whether this comes from intruders, rain or the cold. For high-quality garage doors in South Wales call Access Garage Doors today on 029 2061 4858