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So we're looking at a house which has a rather shabby but giant garage that we'll never need and a bit small garden. One obvious answer to this is to knock the garage down and replace it with a good sized shed, big enough to store the bikes (three adult and two kids) and lawnmower and small workbench - a bit smaller than a standard single garage seems ideal. Does anyone have any useful suggestions or advice?
Leave the garage and build the shed as well? You can never have too many sheds.
"[i]...a bit smaller than a standard single garage seems ideal[/i]"
You'll regret it and wish you'd built something bigger. At the very least design it so you can extend it if/when necessary.
I have a single garage and 7'x5' shed and have just ordered a 8'x6' shed. Couple bikes, workbench, mower etc fairly takes up the spaces...
I built an 8m x 4m workshop a few years back. Still too small!
A previous house of ours had a single garage and it was fine for a work bench, shelves, and five bikes hanging from the walls. As much as a double garage as a workshop is awesome, having a bit more garden is more important!
As much as a double garage as a workshop is awesome, having a bit more garden is more important!
Are you sure you're on the right forum?
Put a climbing wall in the garage along with the workshop.
Its what I did and its great
I will admit to wondering if the hive mind of STW would be useful ("here's a great shed I got last year") or useless ("MORE SHEDS"). Clearly this is trending towards the latter.
I'll rephrase my question: does anyone have any advice on what shed to buy that is solid and spacious enough to be used as a store and occasional workshop?
A climbing wall is an amazing idea!
I replaced a falling down shed with a 20' x 12' garage/workshop/dadcave. Got a bit of a row for how big it was but we'll worth it. Go big or go home.
My advice would be to find a house with a rather shabby but giant garage and use that as a store and occasional workshop.
And then turf the flat roof ala Grand Designs for the kids to play on.
My last garage was just a single, but double height - walk-in loft.
My current workshop is 12m x 4.5m, and the garage (never put the cars in though) is the same size. Both are also tall enough that I need a proper ladder to get to the rafters 🙂
You can NEVER have too big workshop/garage.
Making it smaller likely means removing concrete flooring and foundations. This is a major pain in the ass. Hard to do unless you hire the right tools and loads of rubble to get rid off.
I have a single garage with about the same amount of stuff in. I wish it was bigger. It's OK when it's super tidy, but as soon as I need to do anything like service a bike or chop a sheet of ply it feels cramped.
I think you would be mad to knock down a big garage and build a shed. Not least because it'll cost a bomb to get rid of the existing garage. If the garage is unsightly grow a few climbing roses/clematis/climbers over it.
I moved house specifically to get a big shed, so can be of no use here. Shed>garden, don't do it!
That's not a workshop, THIS is a workshop! [url= http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=50298139&sale=19974508&country=scotland&referrer=soldPriceResults ]WORKSHOP!!!!![/url]
As to cost, part of the works will involve building a new drive way and putting a patio and the new shed on the land where the garage is currently, so this isn't just a matter of swapping garage for shed.
Never have enough 'mech' storage space, two garages, three bays in a barn and two normal sheds and one decent one - still short!! Moral, build bigger than you think need.