Afternoon all.

Nearly completed on the move and the house comes with this monstrosity of a double garage shed type thing..

The back

The Front

Inside

There is a side door opposite the new fence which will need replacing along with the two windows you can see at the back.(going to get second hand UPVC)

The structure seems sound and the brick work ok.

The garage door is about 3 years old but is quite thin.

It looks like one of the previous owners was a home mechanic as there seems to be a half a*sed attempt at a ‘pit’ which will be filled in.

The garage has been spilt with a plaster board wall (half done) which covers a third of the garage.

The current plan is to park my car in the garage bit, have an internal door into the other part where the tumble dryer, freezer, bikes tools will be.

I don’t have to park the car in there as there is space at the front with the wifes car…. so that got me thinking about blocking up the garage door and making it into an open plan massive brick type shed….

i was thinking of getting the brickwork rendered and painted but the father in law reckons thats a waste of time and money.

anyone done the same, either kept it as it is or blocked it up, i did think of automating the garage door but again waste of money possibly?

cheers

Yikes…. ain’t pretty but certainly useful.
If you don’t need to park in there then the existing garage door is a security nightmare. How about leaving it there but building a block wall inside to secure it?
After that it depends how much you want to spend on it.

cheers

yeah ive seen a few people on here leave the garage door and brick up on the inside.

thats the thing, work out exactly what we want to do with it, limited funds to start off with. would be nice to have a man cave, pool table etc haha but would have to spend a fair bit on security.

I fail to see how painting it would be a waste of time and money, for the cost of your time and a can of masonry paint it’s negligible really. That’s unless you were going to dry line it of course.

If it was me I’d sort the pit and get a couple of heavy, insulated doors which gives you the option of working on the car (if you are the type who would). The result being something like this:

http://www.petrolicious.com/12-gauge-garage?rel=1234567

holy sh*T!

that garage is cool, that car is on my wish list aswell ironically!

i do fettle with our cars, nothing major just servicing, but i would like a fixer upper one day.

Hmmmmm

I have a similar garage at the side of the house. Pi decided not to put a wall between the garage door side and the other side but built a bench and some shelves that sort of divided the garage while still allowing easy movement around.

What advantage does putting a solid wall up give you?

Racking of shelving gives you the visual divide but can be rearranged as you need to.

I will try and find some pics of mine if you like.

cool cheers

What advantage does putting a solid wall up give you?

Segregates clean / dirty areas, or storage from workshop, or garage from gyms or games room. Lots of reasons why a wall could work. All depends on the intended use of the areas.

Lots of potential there, you could put in a Steel Roller shutter door for much better security.

Personally, I’d get rid of the garage door. It’ll let the cold in and provide easy access for thieves.
Brick that up and fit a double glazed door. Forget putting a car in there. Unless you’re doing a car project it seems pointless to me.

Split it in half as you say, but make one side bike orientated and the other side all that other nonsense you were talking about like tumble driers and freezers.

So a double glazed door is more secure and insulated than a well built wooden door? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen how long it takes a PVCu door to get battered down but glazing is a security (and insulation) weak point.

Point about car was a warm, dry place to service it in the winter, I’d kill for somewhere I could work on my car that didn’t involve lying on a freezing road covered in dog shit in the pissing rain! Doesn’t have to be a permanent thing, just having the facility would be enough.

TL:DR keeping the door gives the option for car fettling open and a well built door will be just as secure as a wall.

I fitted a RSD behind a double glazed french door set for the workshop, insulation + security.

So a double glazed door is more secure and insulated than a well built wooden door?

Definitely more secure. Watch one of them police programs where they break down someone’s front door. Some 18 stone copper hammering away with a big battering ram on a cheap, crappy door and he’s there for ages.

edit: oops. sorry. 😉 Just read the bit on the end.

I think that’s the same garage door i’ve got.

There are now two large shoot bolts in to the concrete in the ground and a fairly significant barricade behind the door (washing machines, work benches etc)

Next step is a couple of brackets bolted to the walls and some nice box section braces going across the top and bottom of the door.

When the little shits broke in last time they caved the top right of the door in and then pulled up the bottom left, shoot bolts should prevent that sort of attack but i’m worried about them caving in the whole top of the door.

What other hobbies do you have apart from biking?

Losing the garage door doesn’t sound like a brilliant idea, but securing and insulating it properly does. Having proper access into a building like that is very useful

cheers all,

some good ideas, especially the box section across the inside of the garage door.

the garage does have a crap wooden door to the side which walks out onto the path where the new wooden fence is but its in hell of a state. again i know a chap who can get half decent secondhand upvc doors and windows but i know the door panels can be kicked in.

i guess in part it comes down to what we need the space for, i dont think im going to go full hog an insualte and have a mancave etc.

i do fettle with th ecars so it would be nice to drive in and do it in comfort and i do want to get a track day/fixer upper one day (not that the wife knows)

the garage does have a crap wooden door to the side which walks out onto the path where the new wooden fence is but its in hell of a state. again i know a chap who can get half decent secondhand upvc doors and windows but i know the door panels can be kicked in.

You can get a steel security door on Ebay for about £250.

Don’t underestimate the value of a n off-the road parking space. I’d just tidy up an secure what’s there. I’d consider giveing more space to the utility portion – remember – you only have to be able to open the drivers door…