Multiple garage problems...

[AndyMcCall]

Hi,

I bought my current house around 3 years ago, and one of the things that really sold the house to me is the large external detached new-ish garage. Its not a double-size garage but its long and can easily fit my car and my motorbike in with no issues.

The garage is a sectional concrete garage with a corrugated asbestos roof.

I would love to be able to use the garage as a workshop for motobike mechanics, but it seems to have multiple problems that I don't know how to fix.

Firstly the roof leaks with drips between the overlaps in the corrugated sheets and where the screws fix the roof to the joists.

Secondly the joins between the concrete sections seem to leek. They seem sealed, but when the rain and wind are blowing against them, they start to look damp and eventually water builds up near the floor. There is also a window in the garage that seems to leak.

The house is located towards the bottom of a gentle incline nothing major but I do get water running into my property from the houses at the back, this isn't a problem in the garden or house and its not water like a stream, in fact the only reason why I know I get water is due to the final problem:

Water seems to come in from the back left of the garage and towards right hand side of the garage, I *think* this is water creeping in through the joints at the bottom of the concrete sections, or even worse, through the ground.

So, I am thinking that I need to do the following to really make my garage useful as a workshop:

1) For the roof I use some sort of liquid rubber and coat the whole thing two or three times.

2) I don't really know what to do about re-sealing the joins between the concrete sections and around the window, but I know I need to do something

3) Some sort of gutter/drain around the back and right hand side of the garage to stop ground and low-level leaks.

4) Finally I was thinking of sealing the inside of the garage floor with some red or blue garage-like floor paint to make oil clean ups easier and to stop water getting in.

5) Sealing the walls with something stop damp getting in and to paint white to increase light reflection

My concerns are I don't really know what I am doing and I am worried about sealing water *inside* the garage and I am on a limited budget of around £500 so I think I will have to do the work myself.

I can take photo's and upload them if people need more information.

Please can people give me some advice on what to do?

 

[foxhole]

I had one of those, same problems, knocked it down and built a new one , but before that I made a temp repair, painted the roof with http://www.online-buildingproducts.co.uk/p/814250/permaroof-fibretex-500---20kg.html Not cheap but one tin did the lot and also painted inside and out, up to 300mm on walls , installed guttering all round as there was none.The permaroof will seal the gaps and holes in the roof, it's a bit like painting with fibreglass as it contains strands that help bridge gaps.
Being asbestos I removed all the moss on roof with a jet washer to avoid dust before painting.This repair lasted for the 6-7 years I needed to save up my pennies for a new garage.You could buy a couple of tins and paint the entire garage and still have change out of you budget.

 

[AndyMcCall]

Ah this seems like the kind of fix I was thinking of

If I buy two of these, I could paint the roof (after jet-washing) and the walls and floor inside the garage.

Would I be able to paint over this with masonry paint or something so I could get the white walls and blue floor I want? Or do they do different colours?

Actually what colour is this?

With the money that's left I could dig a drainage around the sides too.

If I did this, what happens if I *did* get a leak somehow, wouldn't the water be trapped in then?

 

[foxhole]

It comes in grey or grey and can be over painted, if you get a leak then you missed a bit, just go over it again.You will still get drips from the ceiling as condensation will form, keeping the garage ventilated [drafty] will help avoid this.

 

[Burnerman]

This is so close to my own establishment its almost eerie.....I replaced my Big 6 asbestos roof with second hand plastic coated corrugated steel sheets from a local reclaimer, replacing the steel supports with 4"x2" timber rafters.....I couldn't stop the water coming in (sloping drive) so I laid a 1 1/2" concrete screed on the top of the original concrete. The gaps between the concrete slabs I sealed with silicone, outside and in, and to prevent condensation on the roof, one end of the garage has the ceiling lined with 9mm WBP ply. This prevents condensation from dripping on the mighty Blackbird.....The cars and vans? They can stop outside....!
Cheers John

 

[AndyMcCall]

Wow! I know its been a long time since this was originally posted, but I have an update.

With it being so hot in June, the garage totally dried out, then with the recent rain I noticed for the first time that the water *was* actually dripping from the roof!

It looks like moss had built up in the dips on the corrugated roof, causing water to back up and then come in through the overlap points. The areas where the roofing is bolted to the beams also have water marks around them. Finally at the back of the garage, the water just runs off, some is able to creep back up the sheets and runs down the back of the garage, its also building up on the floor at the back and eventually making its way in somehow near the floor.

I've cleared the moss, and got some roof-seal and gave some big dabs to the bolts on the outside that I could reach, and almost poured it on thickly over where the sheets overlap. Inside I sealed the bolts and gave the overlaps some thick coats of roof seal too.

The areas I could reach are dry and free from drips!

I'm fitting a gutter to the back and going to divert the run-off to a french drain thats nearby, and I want to cover the rest of the overlaps and bolts.

My only stumbling point now is - where can I stand on the roof? I can't get access to it from the left hand side as its next to another garage. So I've only done the bits I can reach. How much weight can the sheets take? Can I stand on/near the beams?

If it stays dry I will then string up some insulation and plasterboard on the roof to help stop condensation and then my bikes will stay dry all year round

 

[foxhole]

I used scaffold planks along the roof where it crosses the walls to walk on and distribute my weight and found I could reach up to the appex by leaning on another board half way down the roof, together with a brush on a stick managed to reach all, the roof coatings are coarse and can be slapped on without finesse.
You could always rebuild

Untitled

• foxhole
• 19 Feb 2009
• 3