Rob's New Workshop - I've Got Walls

[ratkinsonuk]

Well, since my last post (https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... hp?t=10203), lots has happened on my workshop, so I thought it's about time I shared the high's and lows so far.

Where I got to last time

Lots of wood arrived

And more

And some more!

First job was to get the floor built

Then I started on the walls

Quite a span to handle

The weather turned

But we had some sun

Time for the tarp to come off for the roof

Starting to come together

Ridge Beam up and rafters starting to go on

Framing finally complete

Time to add a skin, oh, and a roof

Feels cosy already

My workbench seems a bit lonely

Not bad going on the wasteage

And then the BIG problem

At this point, it was down tools for about 5 months. One of my neighbours wasn't too happy with their new view, so the council got involved. Although I'd gone to some length to check the regs (cheers for the help Dave), they got me on one of them, so I had to go through the whole nine yards.

Although they 'normally wouldn't have passed the plans', as I'd already got the structure up, they were willing to allow me to continue, as long as I adhere to a few requisites regarding materials, colours, etc.

Anyway, off we go again - now early 2006, btw

So, with frame up and vapor barrier on, cladding was next.

And from the road

Now it's water tight, time to add some temporary electrics

And lighting

Ran out of cladding

But got some doors instead

Went with felt shingles for the roof

Facias and soffets ready to go on

Did I mention the double glazing - £100 for this lot

And £42 for this leaded one - Berty Bargain!

Oh, and got that last bit of cladding up

Time to put in some drainage shingle

And make it look a bit better

Turning to the inside, first a shiny new Consumer Unit

Starting the 1st fit electrics

Well, that brings everything up to date.

Still quite a bit to do on the outside, including 2nd coat of Cuprinol on entire skin, facias and soffets still to be made, then guttering.

The good news is that I should be ready for heating to be installed in the next few months, which means I can finally transfer my cast iron power tools into the new shop.

There's a few more pics at http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/ ... /workshop/ if you'd like to see more.

 

[PowerTool]

Looks very good,Rob

Out of curiosity,what objection did they get you on ? (Guessing within 1 metre of boundary and not non-combustible materials ?)

Andrew

 

[ratkinsonuk]

No, that's a fairly easy one to spot coming.

I got pulled on "The structure is closer to the boundary than any existing structure", as my house is about 5 meters away from the side wall, and the shop is obviously quite a bit closer.

Rob.

 

[Paul.J]

Rob that looks brill.
Just hope the said neighbour doesn't start to complain about the noise
Paul.J.

 

[Paul Chapman]

That's looking very nice, Rob.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Slim]

Looking good.

I do envy these people with insulation in their workshop. :mrgreen:

 

[Waka]

Now thats a posh WS, very nice indeed.

 

[mel]

looks very good rob
had a simular problem with my workshop {20years ago}
councillor sticking her nose in :evil:
out of interest my w/s is built as part of the boundry / fence
rules i had to comply with were
1 must be below a certain height
2 must be a certain distance from the house
3 must not take up more than 1/3rd of the garden
rules have moved on since
where its built is not in a residential area , backing on to feilds

luckily the complainer, and councillor moved to scotland
after sending a letter to the council , i never heard anymore of it

 

[OLD]

You may be aware of this but because you have vapour barrier on the out side of the wall instead of breathing material moisture over time could build up in your insulation one fix but not perfect one is to put v/b on the inside also .

 

[ratkinsonuk]

Cheers Old.

Heating and condensation are very much on my mind. What is 'enough' ventilation anyway.

I've already noticed quite a build up of moisture between the cladding and the plastic VB, and now wished I'd installed some narrow shims to mount the cladding on, allowing air flow behind it. I guess the worst thing that can happen is the cladding rots in the next 5 years, and I have to replace it properly.

To tackle the problem, I've already 'negotiated' a new de-humidifier from a work colleague. Once the shell is airtight, I'll take a reading and then see what I can get the humidity levels down to. My real worry was rusting tools, rather than soggy insulation.

For heating, I'm going for 2 oil-filled radiators to keep the overnight chill off. Also, a wood burning stove to warm the place up properly. Although the stove may be complete overkill, I need a) to get rid of my waste, and b) just love the idea of it crackling away in the corner

The doors, although hardwood, are actually for internal use (a mate didn't like the style after buying them). That means they're a thin single pane of glass, and need dealing with. At the moment, I'm thinking of a sheet of plastic sealed to the inside of the door, with a wood trim round the outside for asthetics and to keep it in place. This will create a small air gap, and although it's not exactly double-glazing, should help to reduce the heat loss.

Rob.

 

[Freetochat]

Just out of curiosity, what are the dimensions of your workshop! By the way, looking good!

 

[ratkinsonuk]

> ...what are the dimensions of your workshop

Approx 20' x 12'

 

[ProShop]

Nice workshop, sorry to mention this but as Old mentions I can see problems storing up later on with the plastic VB imho. Building paper would have been much better or roofing underfelt or nothing at all on the outside. Plastic sheet attracts, traps & draws moisture more than most other materials.

 

[ratkinsonuk]

One might ask why it's listed as Vapor Barrier at ScrewFix, if it's a bad use of the product. Obviously I went down the cheap route - proper breathable membrane was much more expensive.

My intention is to stay where I am for about another 5 years, then move the whole thing to another house, so the cladding would need renewing at the point anyway (he says hastily :wink: )

 

[Jake]

That sort of vapour barrier is for the inside of the walls, to stop the warm moist air in your workshop from getting into the walls and condensing when it hits cold outside stuff like the outside of the insulation, or the cladding, or in your case the plastic sheet.

The ideal is to have that stuff on the inside, to stop 95% of the moisture getting into the walls in the first place, the pricey breathable stuff on the outside, to allow the other 5% to move out of the wall and through to the outside while it is still in vapour phase, then it can condense on the out side of the breathable stuff, which should be well ventilated by allowing air gap between it and the cladding.

It would be a lot of work to get to that stage now, but it would be well worth while buying another lot of the green vapour barrier and putting it up on the inside of your walls to stop the moisture getting into the wall to condense on the inside face of your current plastic. I would also try to make sure that the insulation is spaced off your outer green sheet, and try to get the bottom edge of the outer green sheet is tugged away from the soleplate of your studs if possible, so that the condensation can run down the inside face of the plastic and onto the ground as much as possible, rather than onto the soleplate where it risks causing rot.

 

[ratkinsonuk]

Thanks. Will certainly try that.

To be honest, my original thinking was that it's not worth putting anything on the inside, as it's going to end up with holes all over it, i.e. screws, cabling, etc.

Given the cost, I'll still put it up anyway, and it'll kill 2 birds with one stone, re my droopy insulation problem.

What would be really superb (Moderators listening :lol: ) is a WIKI where we could build up (parden the pun) a list of topics from start to finish on how to build the ideal workshop.

This could then be expanded to other topics, such as looking after your table saw.

What do people think?

Rob.

 

[Adam]

Although they 'normally wouldn't have passed the plans', as I'd already got the structure up, they were willing to allow me to continue, as long as I adhere to a few requisites regarding materials, colours, etc.

Interestingly, it seems they didn't pull you up on flammability of the structure, given its 1 meter from the boundary. I've deliberately sited mine 1m from the boundary to avoid any difficulties, but did they not mind? Not remember?

Also, do you have worries about people climbing up the wall and looking in through the windows? From a security point of view? I think the white windows on the dark background rather attract attention from the road views?

How deep were the foundations? How much mix did they swallow?

Have they (the council) got involved with signing off the electrics? Under Part P?

How tall is it to the apex?

I'm seriously impressed - its looking great so far - a decent size which should give you plenty of room to work in I guess.

Adam

 

[Fizzy]

Hi ratkinsonuk

Superb build and a really comprehensive set of pics but after reading Adams comment on people climbing the wall I noticed that in one your pics that there is the address name on the wall of the house opposite. Maybe best to redo the pic with a paint program just to hide it as putting it and your profile address together would make it an easy target for someone

Just something that I would have done to the pic but it's up to you.

Cheers Steve

 

[ratkinsonuk]

Cheers Adam - glad you like it.

Interestingly, it seems they didn't pull you up on flammability of the structure, given its 1 meter from the boundary.

I think the 1 meter law is basically so you don't set fire to your neighbours property. As my shed is next to the road, this doesn't really come into play.

Also, do you have worries about people climbing up the wall and looking in through the windows

Yes, but one of the covenants in the agreement with the council is that I errect a trellis fence along the wall, basically covering the whole of the front of the workshop. As well as that, I'll be added a plastic frosting to the glass to keep out prying eyes.

How deep were the foundations? How much mix did they swallow?

That was the one part I didn't physically do myself, due to lack of time. My 2 builders dug out a 4'-5' trench, and backfilled with about 2' of concrete.

Have they (the council) got involved with signing off the electrics? Under Part P?

No. The electrics, although installed by me, will be signed off by my electrician cousin, so the council shouldn't get involved.

How tall is it to the apex?

It was about 3.5m, so well under the 4m limit. I'd like to add a small coupola, which will also help with the ventilation.

a decent size which should give you plenty of room to work in

I delibertately designed it to allow me to swing an 8' sheet around without any problems. As you can see, there's also room for a small loft, which I'll use for storing 'stick' lumber.

Rob.

 

[ratkinsonuk]

I see what you mean Steve.

When I uploaded the pics, I was trying to be carefull about what was shown, including car registrations, etc.

Given the likelyhood of someone malicious coming across the picture, and the fact that it's there now, I'll leave it this time but thanks for the heads-up anyway.

Rob.