Information on Concrete Sectional Garages

This page contains information that we think you should know if your thinking about buying a concrete sectional garage;

Concrete Garages as an Alternative to Conventional Brick Construction

Since the total cost of a concrete garage is usually about one third of that for a comparable brick built structure, many homeowners have chosen the sectional concrete approach to enable them to save money and time. Erection time for a sectional concrete garage is generally one day, whereas brick construction which requires deep foundations, will mean a minimum of four to six weeks at best.

With the sectional garage, groundwork's are cheaper, as the depth required for the footings is about a third of that required for brick construction (about a metre), and the earth removal costs, now running at about ninety pounds per skip (in part due to the new landfill tax), are drastically reduced.

As an additional bonus concrete garages can be extended very easily at a later date, with door and window arrangements changeable at any time. They can even be removed and re-sited elsewhere.

Garage Appearance

Where the exterior finish of the dwelling is rendered, interlocking panels can be rendered to match the existing house without the prospect of the seal between the panels opening up with time. All the Leofric range panel garages feature the exclusive tongue-and-groove construction system originally developed by Marley.

Where the property is of brick construction, the front pillars either side of the garage door can be finished in either real brick or mock brick.

With home buyers being aware of appearance, a good quality garage helps to sell a house. Estate agents have said that a cheap looking garage can hold the price of a property down, however the Heritage with it's side-to-side roof ridge, can add as much as three times it's cost in many locations.

Construction Time

Garages, even double models, can easily be erected in one day, weather permitting. Whereas a conventional brick or block build can be affected by weather conditions and usually requires deep, concrete foundations which takes time to harden before any building can be done. A typical build time for a conventionally-built double garage can take four to six weeks.

Did you know that the builder you select to build a conventional garage is required to notify the Health & Safety Executive (H&SE) of the project, that is if the construction time, including preparation of the site, extends beyond thirty days. As the current legislation stands, you are not responsible for complying with H&SE requirements, but your builder is. If your builder fails to comply your project could be stopped. If you employ a competent, professional builder then you should have no problems providing the local authority with all the certifications presently required. Certificates include matters such as First Aid, any scaffolding tower erection that may be necessary, mechanical plant, especially for any engine-driven units, etc. Anyone carrying out building work without the correct training certifications, which includes scaffolding, would be stopped. All this could delay your project, or possibly necessitate the appointment of a new builder.

The Base

When buying a sectional concrete garage you are responsible to provide a concrete base. It is always best to note that it is possibility that the garage erector may reject the base if it is has not been laid correctly and not erect the garage, thus incurring a return fee. The salesman you buy the garage from should provide you with the correct sizes required for your garage.

The concrete base must be flat; with the exception of the outer edge which needs a tapered roll-off profile to make sure that rainwater drains away from the garage, and not attracted into the building. It is always important to note that an uneven base may be rejected by the erectors if the garage cannot be erected or if they feel that rain will run back into the building. The Leofric range provide a fillet of sand and cement on th inside, but water laying up against the outside garage wall will eventually gain ingress and frost will break the seal.

The Concrete

The chief ingredient of concrete and aggregate, there are many grades of aggregates, there are also many grades of cement. Components need to be carefully selected for making cement, and the hardness of the finished concrete demonstrates the quality of the mix.

Not all local materials make the best concrete, it may well be necessary for the manufacturers to buy their materials from a distant quarry. The hardest material available is carboniferous limestone, the stone needs to be hard and sharp edged to bond properly. Some aggregate coming from sandstone regions (sometimes called jurassic limestone) is said to be not hard enough, some manufacturers use river stone which is rounded by the water flowing over it. If the concrete is not vibrated (Shook) enough to settle it and make it bind together it will be brital and crack and break easily and when viewing a broken panel edgeways it will look similar to a that famous chocolate treat that has more holes than chocolate

Most manufacturers should be able to provide the hardness/strength of their product which should reach a hardness of 41KN per m2 after 35 days and the concrete is free of metal particles especially iron, which will gradually weep, creating a red rust stain that will run down the panel.

Steel reinforcing of the concrete panels are vital. The garage industry use a variety of different reinforcing materials mostly in the form of rods, mostly either 6mm or 8mm, some use smooth wire rods others a barley-twist type rod, which which allows the cement to bind to it better. The Leofric range use the 8mm barley-twist type for their garages.

Construction

There are two systems, the post and panel and the panel only versions.

The Post and Panel Garage.

With the post and panel system, either a garage or shed, uses vertical posts at 4' centers, with horizontal fill-in panels, each panel is about 2' height. With different lengths of building this can be achieved with as many 4' or 2' add-on panels, as required. These panels usually fit to the posts with a tapered groove joint and a metal clip that clamps the panel to the post.

If you wish to select a building of this type we suggest that you check the following:

Thickness of the Panel - Panels in the Leofric range are not less than 1.5" at any point and over 2.5" around the panel edge.
Steel Reinforcement of Panel - needed for strength. See above.
Post Section Size - The Leofric range Post and Panel corner cross section post is 4.5" by 8" and the interposts measure 7.5" by 5.5".
Steel Reinforcement of Post - The Leofric range Post and Panel posts are reinforced with 8mm knurled rods
Finishes Available - The Leofric range offer Rockwall, Shiplap, and stone covered panels in six finishes.
Can You Build it Yourself? - D.I.Y. is available with the Leofric range. This can save several hundred pounds if you are purchasing a large garage.

The Panel Garage

Panel garages have a thickened edge and the panels are bolted or clipped together. There are different types of mould used in the garage industry. Some moulds have a tapered edge facilitating easy removal of the finished panel. The Leofric (and Mayfair) Garage panels are not tapered, instead the mould has four hinged sides that require manual release and fold down before the panel can be removed. The special tongue and groove profile around the edge of the panel makes for a strong, weatherproof panel-to-panel joints. These are some of the many factors to be aware of::

1. Thickness of the Panel - The Leofric/Mayfair panels are just under 2" in the center and about 4" around the edge.
2. Steel Reinforcement of Panel - This is needed for strength and 8mm knurled bar is used in the Leofric panels.
3. Finishes Available - Five stone finishes are available plus the advantage of rendering.
4. Can you D.I.Y. it? - Yes the Leofric range also offers D.I.Y. - this could save you several hundred pounds on a large garage.

The Roof

The choice of roof can be made from corrugated iron, fibre cement, tiles or one of the many other fibre materials on the market. Corrugated iron sheets are usually galvanised and are the cheapest, steel sheets can be purchased to look like tile and plastic laminated, lasting for many years without maintenance. Fibre cement sheets are the favourites within the industry and replace the old asbestos sheets which are now ilegal to use and are less likely to generate condensation. The use of tiles is available on some models, this could be plasitic coated metal formed tiles or genuine house roof tiles, such as those made by Marley, these are used exclusively in the Leofric and Mayfair Garage ranges. The warranty period for Marley Tiles this is fifty years.

You should take note that In some parts of the country there are Planning Restrictions that require roofing must be in accordance with local requirements. Most manufacturers will provide garages without roofs where local slate or stone tiles are mandatory they can be fitted. Should this requirement affect you, be certain that the roof supports of the garage will carry the heavier load of the concrete tiles.

Guttering

Most manufacturers offer guttering as an optional extra. Guttering is essential for garages where the water needs to be drained into a soak-away, never allow the water to drain out of the end of the down pipe without either directing it into a soak-away, drain or dyke.

Most of the maintenance free garages and garages such as the Mayfair Heritage model come complete with guttering and downpipes.

Planning & Building Regulations

In most cases concrete sectional garages and sheds below 30 m2 and more than 5m away from your house and more than 20m from the highway or public foot path may not require Planning Consent Approval or building regulations, whereas most brick structures will be subject to Building Regulations even if they do not require Planning Consent. If Planning Consent is required most manufacturers will provide, free of charge a plan suitable for the purpose.

The vast range of products on the market today may look very similar but there are important differences. A good looking and well-styled garage that blends in well with your property should add value greater than the direct cost. A maintenance free garage should add more value than a standard one and a Mayfair Heritage should add twice it's purchase price to the overall property value, or even more depending upon location.

Security

There are basically two types of concrete panels used in the manufacture of sectional concrete garages.

The panels that butt together and are sealed with mastic on the inside, the main advantage with these are that they are the same thickness and mostly do not taper off giveing a neat and clean finish, although it is said that it is possible to pass a blade between the panels and cut the retaining bolts and gain entry by removing the panel. This would take quite a long time to do apart from all the noise the thieves would have to make in the process, usually they would prefer to use other quicker and more silent methods of gaining entry
The panels that overlap each other giving a watertight joint with no need to seal with mastic, although you could do so if you wanted to..
The "Tongue and Groove" type, with their coupling detail between the wall panels, again with these there is no need to use mastic between the joints unless you wanted to.

Leofric range post and panel garages can be fitted with anchor bolts in the posts so that no bolt head can be sawn off. This is offered as an optional extra to their normal specification and carries a slight extra cost.