Workshop Build

[celston]

Not to be rude or nosey but how much would you say the build has cost you if you don't mind saying?
How big is it?

Sorry, I missed your questions earlier Paul.

Internal size is 2.8m x 4.8m.

If I'm honest, I wish that I had tracked costs a bit better. I could have sworn that I was keeping receipts, but I can't find them now

The building work was ~£1000. That included building the new walls and some drainage work too - installing a drain for water from the top patio (and eventually from the workshop roof / water butts)
I think the rest of it was ~£3500 in materials. Things like insulation and cladding were more than I expected.

While designing and building I've tried to consider what potential future purchasers of our house might see value in. So it's well insulated and solidly built - which I think elevates it above "shed" and into "comfy and well-lit garden office" territory. After all, not everyone wants a workshop I could have built it for less, but ended up with something only of use as a workshop or storage shed. Since the biggest cost (which no-one ever counts!) was my own time, it didn't seem to make sense to go for lighter construction or cheaper materials.

 

[celston]

hi celston
very nice job should be cosy in there.
where did you get the marley cedral from and what price did you pay am thinking of doing outside of my bungalow with it was it easy to find
pip

Not difficult to get hold of. I rang around a few places near me for the best price and went with FGF Ltd, in Birmingham. Who were about 10% cheaper than Vivalda (the other Birmingham stockist). FGF did free delivery to Leicester as well. I can't remember off hand how much the individual boards were - and to be honest, I'm sure the price has changed since!

Stockists here: http://www.marleyeternit.co.uk/MyHouse/ ... ckist.aspx

It's definitely worth ringing around to compare prices.

 

[Wizard9999]

I priced up the materials for torch-on felt roofing and EPDM (rubber) roof. Rubber roof came out cheaper, and it seemed like it would be easier to get right for a novice. I'm really pleased with how it turned out - it's water-tight and it doesn't look awful. The process is pretty simple: the rubber is just laid in place, pull back half, apply glue, roll back half onto glue, pull back other half, apply glue, roll back onto glue. Then knock in some edge trim and you're done.

Chris

Thanks for the answer re roof lights, very helpful - and I'm impressed you did the maths rather than just saying that "it looks like they are below the highest part of the roof!"

Having been through your post in more detail again it made me think I need to consider the rubber roofing option, where I had originally assumed I would use felt. Having looked on line I found myself at a site called roofing warehouse where they had a nice video from firestone showing the installation process - your post sums it up perfectly. I had a questions re the EDPM system and wondered if you had any thoughts...

...in the plans for my workshop I had assumed a 5 deg pitch for the roof, which is again limited to 2.5m max due to not wanting to have to go for planning consent. The workshop will be about 4m square, so over that distance and taking account of the depth of the roof structure it means the low end ends up with headroom of only about 1.85m, which is lower than I would ideally like. On the Firestone video it looks as though they are working on a completely flat roof. Did you decide on the 7 deg pitch before you selected the roofing material and if not was there a reason for going for 7 degs?

Also, apart from cost, did you see EDPM and felt as broadly equivalent, or were there any respective pros and cons you identified for EDPM?

Many thanks for any thoughts,
Terry.

 

[celston]

On the Firestone video it looks as though they are working on a completely flat roof. Did you decide on the 7 deg pitch before you selected the roofing material and if not was there a reason for going for 7 degs?

Spot on there, chap! I'd designed the pitch before settling on the roofing material. I think it's advisable to have *some* pitch to avoid standing water. That said, I'm not aware of any reason why EPDM can't be used on a completely flat roof - it is also used as a pond/swimming pool liner...

Also, apart from cost, did you see EDPM and felt as broadly equivalent, or were there any respective pros and cons you identified for EDPM?

The pros for me were the claimed lifespan and the simpler fitting process.

One nit I've realised that I didn't mention is that I was disappointed with the adhesion of the EPDM to the water-based adhesive. It's stuck down, but heat expansion causes the surface to develop wrinkles (i.e.: in the morning it's nice and tight, after a day in hot sun it's a bit undulating). I have been advised by the supplier that this won't affect the functionality or lifespan. Were I to do it again, I'd experiment first with a small section and the glue to determine what the issue was (perhaps I needed more glue, or needed to work quicker).

 

[RobinBHM]

I think EPDM is an ideal roofing material for diy application. Im planning on a shed build soon and I am aiming to use a fall of 1:60 which I believe will allow water to drain off without puddling. It will alliw me to have a decent headroon inside but keep under the 2.5m planning rule.

 

[Wizard9999]

Spot on there, chap! I'd designed the pitch before settling on the roofing material. I think it's advisable to have *some* pitch to avoid standing water. That said, I'm not aware of any reason why EPDM can't be used on a completely flat roof - it is also used as a pond/swimming pool liner...

Thanks Chris. I think I am going to look into EDPM seriously, as the benefit of a very slight pitch and the additional headroom is an attractive prospect. Noted on the point re adhesion and I'll try and bottom that out if I do o for EDPM. Of course a very low pitch wold mean pretty much no scope for the boxes necessary to give a 15% pitch for roof lights, so I would need to make a choice between more headroom and more natural light :-k

Terry.

 

[Mainman]

I have just read through this thread. What a great workshop this will be. I am very jealous and very inspired. I love the look of the cladding. I am hoping to be building my own workshop in the near future and can see I will be copying a lot from this thread. Many thanks

 

[Matt B]

Excellent build ( although I am now feeling a little envious of the space ): )