"Adrian" wrote in message
.4...
All,

In the back of any of the classic car mags, there's a selection of ads for
flat-pack timber garages.

As the timber single garage we currently have is rather past tense, I'm
currently thinking about alternatives.

The current garage is roughly 18' x 12', rough clad on a square section
frame, with a steeply pitched tiled roof.

The whole thing is fairly knackered - the cladding's dead, the frame is
not
great, and the roof tiles are very, erm, wobbly. The door aperture isn't
square, and the windows don't shut.

To my mind, this isn't going to be sensible to repair, and replacement is
the obvious answer.

Sounds reasonable

Does anybody have any experience, recommendations or dis-recommendations
of
any of the various suppliers?

Haven't used a supplier for ages, I built a new wooden garage from scratch a
few years back though. If possible get one made from tanalised timber, it
will take much longer to get into the state that your existing one is in.

One thing that I think I'm going to have to do is increase the size of the
concrete base - the current garage seems to measure about 3100mm wide, but
the new ones all seem to be 3400mm. Is slapping a 300mm wide strip of
concrete to the side of the existing slab an option, or do I have to
consider replacing the whole bloody lot? eeeek

If your existing floor is in passable nick, putting a foot wide strip of
concrete down one side shouldn't present any problems, apart perhaps from a
stiff back if you don't hire a mixer. It might be an idea to put a row of
bricks around the edge to sit the wood on rather than have it direct on the
floor. Some kits might even have some sort of base for the walls to achieve
this. You might have to extend the doors down a bit if you raise the
building more than its designer reckoned on. Whatever, don't forget a
damp-proof membrane for it to sit on.

To complicate it, external access to one whole side and to the lower
section of the back is not possible, due to a neighbour's garage and to a
low wall.

Shouldn't be a problem, bolting the panels together is done from the inside.
You'll just have to be careful not to knock the bolts out of the corner when
you bring the panels together. Might be best to build that bit first so
that you don't have to dismantle too much if you do. There is usually a thin
strip of wood that is nailed on the outside to hide the join, but if it's
right up against another building, then you can't see the join anyway and
the other building will stop rain being driven sideways at the wall. Some
way of sealing the join might be an idea though.

Final question - Power! To my mind, it seems easiest to take power down
some external conduit to the garage - it'd be easy to take the feed from
fusebox (MCB, but I just can't bear to call it a "consumer unit"..) out,
and along several external walls fairly unobtrusively. Feasible? Or do I
have to bury the soddin' thing underground - which is going to involve
lifting a lot of brick paving.

If you have to take the power feed underground, try to find your local
moler. Not a mis-spelt tooth but a guy who digs a small hole either end and
then launches a little device that burrows from one to t'other. Our local
one (Mid Warwickshire) calls himself Mr. Mole, so I suspect it might be a
franchise operation. Your local phone book may help, or a local builder or
someone similar.

Good luck

Ron Robinson