sectional concrete workshops

[Matt@]

having spent what seems like an eternity mulling over options for putting up a workshop at home in order to downsize from a rented premises, I'm nearing the poiint where I need to make a decision on what to buy as the concrete slab goes down next week!

I've narrowed it down to one of these concrete sectional things with apex roof, a couple of plastic opening windows etc

Theres a few suppliers out there like Lidget, Hanson, Nucrete and I have spoken with all of them. Prices vary quite a bit with Nucrete being cheapest.

For a size 20' x 10' base model ... nucrete £3184. hanson £3644 Lidget £3929

Nucrete are really helpful on the phone so am inclined toward them but one thing that puts me off is the wall panels are butted, bolted with mastic whereas the others have interlocking panels.

Anyone work inside in of these buidlings? Do they sweat much? any other issues? who did you buy from and who would you recommend?

any other observations on concrete sectional buildings??

thanks

 

[marcros]

Matt,

I have one of these as a workshop.

First the disclaimers- It is only used some evenings and weekends, and is old. I would guess maybe 10 years old. The roof has a leak and is awaiting repair. In the meantime it has a taupaulin over it. It is a hobby workshop, not used for professional use etc.

I am not sure of its construction, but overlapped or bolted together, either should be watertight.

If I had £3500+ to spend on a workshop, and the freedom of an empty space (ie not a workshop full of equipment to have to re-build around) I wouldn't go for one of these. I have been in it about 18 months. In that time I have gripfilled some celotex insulation to the walls. That has helped, but it is still cold in the winter. It would benefit from being clad in a sheet material afterwards so that you can both paint it and you dont have the profile of the panels on the places that you want to fix things to. This is really just making the best of a non ideal situation. The roof height is about 8ft and I have a corrogated flat roof on mine- an apex would be better, which you are proposing. I dont have an issue with condensation in mine. My father has a similar one, but with a pitched roof and has had issues with roofing splitting. Again, it is a few years old, and a couple of roofing sheets every few years are probably fair wear and tear. But it is still a cold building- he uses it for storage.

Personally I am looking at rebuilding the thing using a timber framed construction. The cavity in the wall will be insulated for thermal and sound purposes, and I would probably clad it with either shingles or tongue and groved board. It might be worth getting a price for a premade wooden structure, a price from a builder for a brick built one, and looking for threads on here for various self build ones that have been made. It is a reasonable project to do, but they do seem to go up quite quickly from what I have seen. A nail gun speeds the job up!

You pays your money, you takes your choice, but I wouldnt recommend a concrete sectional garage as a work shop given any other option.

hth
Mark

 

[Eric The Viking]

I have one too (Marley). I'm with Mark entirely.

Mine now has a double skin roof with 3" of insulation between, but it is still freezing in winter, and it still rains condensation on the inside. To add to the nuisance, you can't fix anything directly to the walls, inside or out - it has to be either fixed with the bolts holding the panels together (Marley do custom shelf brackets), or free standing. Although reinforced, the panels are extremely thin (around 1/2"), and rawlplugs go straight through - I tried to fix a trellis on the ugliest bit, and it wasn't very successful. Neither were vine eyes.

It also has a low. sloping ceiling, and that's a PITA when assembling things on the bench.

I replaced the window frames a few years ago. It was a nightmare because of the tongue and groove arrangements on the concrete panels. The original windows had rebates, BUT were inserted as the building was constructed. It was never intended they should be replaced in situ. had to grind off the tongues with diamond tools. The panels have a flint-gravel core - it's really, really tough, and any attempt with a bolster or chisel risked cracking the bits I didn't want to damage. It took over a day just to do that!

If I had the choice, or it burned down, etc. the replacement would be rendered blocks, preferably double skinned or cavity. I know it costs more to do that, but there's no comparison regarding utility.

You don't need to start from concrete panel. My advice is don't.

 

[bodge]

I would pretty much agree with the two replies above. I had mine built around 4 years ago and with hindsight, wish I had gone another route. Freezing in winter, condensation like you wouldn't believe (roof is un-insulated steel sheets), roasting in summer and a right nightmare to attach anything to the walls.
Of course we are all trying to use these structures for something that they weren't intended to be used for.
I suspect a decent timber structure could be erected for a similar cost, or perhaps a little more which is probably the route I would go if I had the choice again, mainly because blocks and render or brick is cost prohibitive for me.
As Eric the Viking says above, my advice would be, if you don't HAVE to start with sectional concrete, don't!

 

[Paul Chapman]

I agree with the others. Had a concrete sectional garage in a previous house. Awful. Cold, wet, leaks all over the place depending which way the wind was blowing. Possibly the worst of all the available options. Don't go there.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I, too, was considering.........WAS.
Phil

 

[marcros]

this is not a recommendation of this company, but i had a quick google for timber workshop (to avoid a thousand budget shed sites) and came up with http://www.timberworkshopcompany.co.uk/sale_range

assuming that your budget is the concrete sectional prices, you still have a fair chunk for insulation and for lining the inside.

I dont know if it includes VAT, erection (which you may or may not want) etc.

 

[MickCheese]

I too had one at a previous house, basically a large garage with a corrugated roof.

It was cold in the winter as already stated, after working in there for a few hours the condensation was dreadful and water leaked under the wall panels despite copious amounts of sealant.

I think the only way to use a building like this would be to create a wooden insulated room within the structure.

Also the windows were small, the plastic became opaque very quickly and the space was dark most of the time.

If you have an alternative then go for that instead.

Mick

 

[loz]

I have one, from these guys

http://www.irishconcretebuildings.ie/st ... rages.html

but without the garage door, that end is just wall.

No leaks etc, but i do agree with the difficulty of hanging off the walls, you have to add sheeting to the "betweenpanelpinestrips" if you want to wall mount anything, or drill into the concrete,

No issues with roof or walls, and its on a 5" reinforced floor, that was done on day 1 of the 3 day build.

it does get cold, but i have an 8inch extractor on the wall for dust removal, so im sucking in cold air from the door all the time

It has a pitched roof, full of beans, but i made these into storage.

mine cost 2k euros including the floor - that was around 4 years ago.

I'd get the same again, but get it internally paneled before i moved in !!!!

 

[loz]

just to add, the same size from blockwork was gonna cost me 15k -

 

[Eric The Viking]

:shock: :shock: :shock:

I think you need to get a few more quotes for a blockwork version !

E.

 

[loz]

:shock: :shock: :shock:

I think you need to get a few more quotes for a blockwork version !

E.

Lol - probably cheaper now, this was just at the end of the so called celtic tiger period, just before the downturn............

 

[pip1954]

i have concrete garage workshop and i WOULD very happy to recommend it BUT i had steel trusses supplied instead of there roof and tiled the roof myself with proper tiles ,no condensation at all, i have since put a stud walls inside with loft lagging in them and boarded the ceiling and lagged i put a small fan heater on for five minutes and i am sweating .
no fixing probs studs to fix to, i bought lagging from b&q last year £3-00 for a big roll.
they ask you to make base bigger than the garage so i went round with mastik round the outside base to wall joint then put ramp of cement as a fillet .
it works for me i use it most days not every day hobby not pro.
all the best
pip

 

[Matt@]

wow, not very popular then

Thanks for the info and if I seem to be picking the advice apart its really not intentional as I do want to make the right decision....

Coldness in winter - any single skin building is going to be cold unless heated?
condensing - one of the suppliers told me the roof sheets won't sweat
(also using a dehumidifier will get over this issue anyway?)
fixing stuff to walls - I can get over that using a stud wall.
rain blowing in etc - hopefully it wont be too bad as its in a sheltered spot.

I do see the main probs as cold and the condensing...

re. a timber building - wouldnt work as the building is butted up to boundray wall ie combustibles

Its good to hear theres at least one vote for these concrete things lol perhaps back to drawing board then.....

 

[SawdustMaker]

I too have one of these sectional concrete garages which came with the house. As others point out condensation is a big issue and they are either really hot or very very cold.
I have made mine more habitable by sticking insulation to the walls and celing and then covering the walls with reclamed 18mm ply and putting 6mm ply on the celing. This keeps the condensation issues down to the bare minimum now.

 

[Eric The Viking]

In my experience it's not the walls but the roof that causes condensation.

The problem is that the concrete is perpetually damp. You can't get rid of it. In the autumn and early winter (i.e. now), the RH shoots up, and the sky gets cold at night. This causes amazing condensation on a thin roof.

A dehumidifier is a fridge running backwards (sort-of). They're very expensive to run, if they work properly, and it's a matter of physics, so I very much doubt you'll find a low running cost one. You'll probably do better with a simple heater. I now have a 30W heater under my main tool storage. As long as it keeps the ambient temp above the dew point you won't get condensation.

Hope that helps.

E.