98WTK: Carport extension and conversion

[98kellrs]

Morning all,

I currently have about 20% of my carport adjoining the house, with the rest open-walled with a double garage door at the front. The roof of the carport is part of the roof of the house. I would like to brick up the whole garage area for security reasons, and to extend the carport, and carport roof laterally into an empty paved area next to it to create a workshop/storage area which is secure and under cover.

Does anyone have any idea firstly on approximate costs, and secondly how close you can normally build a permanent structure to the boundary fence? My neighbour is very friendly so it won't be an issue with him.

Here is the situation, the orange line is the area I want bricking up, and paved area A is the area I would like the roof extending to cover:


Any advice or info greatly appreciated, I've done a fair bit of googling but can't find much on costs without "ring us for a quote" type situations.

[Heretic]

as i understand it, you can build basically to the edge of the block of land "zero lotline" ( ?), you can build about to about 9 metres on the boundary. neighbour would need to sign it off
otherwise you can build up to 1 metre away from boundary ( that might work better )
you would need a building permit and it would have to comply with building regs ( construction, fireproof etc) and local government stuff, so you'd have to get it drawn up.
you might have to concrete the paving part also
You'll need electrics too
and guttering etc
maybe a window for natural lighting
dont forget access to the rear of the block, you could sub some of the rear facing brickwork with a roller door.
matching the extension into the existing roofline might be awkward

if you have to get someone to draw it up you could ask them how on suggestions to make it asthetic and fit in with the rest of the house, that way it will add more value to your house

10-12k ballpark

unless the missus finds out, she will want to redo the kitchen and bathroom so it will be closer to 40k

[98kellrs]

oh that's within the ballpark I was hoping for...just sold my second car so thinking that adding value to the house is better than having the cash sat in an account earning fuck all interest.

The current carport is paved so ideally I think the whole lot would need ripping up and slabbing. Not sure if they're able to transport those ready made concrete floor pads in there though with the roof already being up.

Any idea's on decent companies to look at for the project? Or would it be best to find my own contractors individually to save costs? This is my first home so I'd rather not f**k it up!

[Heretic]

a concreter would knock that off pretty quick in 1 morning, add another 3k ish for the carport slab

work out exactly what you want then get it drawn up
i reckon go individual contractors if your comfortable dealing with trades and the building process


just as an alternate idea, if i may?
concrete carport floor
brick up to carport only
roller door at rear, perhaps window at side?
a door at side for access from front door of house

get brickies to put a brick wall across the front from bricked in carport to the fence line at the same time ( back from the front brick pier a little )
buy suitable colourbond shed and put securely on pavers behind wall with access to rear paved area for a hard stand

plant little trees in front of wall to soften and disguise shed roofline

half the cost, still gets lock up garage and second shed area, adds value and secures back yard

leaving money for a rainy day

edit - *** oh wait, if you dont already a have a garage door( i htought you did) theres another 2.5k ontop ****

[98kellrs]

Yeah had something similar to your suggestion quoted up excluding the bricking, electricity etc, and that came to $4k. So I figured around $5k all up.

Would really like to go all out and get the perfect workshop built, I'll have a google and see who can draw some plans up for me, then take them round for quotes and report back.

Thanks for the advice, money for a rainy day sounds good, money for a third bike sounds better though

[Stephan]

First thing you need to do is go to your shire website and get some info regarding your local requirements. It varies from shire to shire. It will be a pain in the butt to have a seperate structure adjoining the existing carport. If you do it now, do it right and you'll have less dramas in the future.

Ask yourself some questions first:

What do I want to achive?
What do I want/need the workshop for?
How secure do I need to make the shed?
Do I need access to the backyard?

And for the love of god, do not plant trees close to your house!

[boeman]

I would say $15k at a guess, including the margin the builder is going to put on it. For the submission to council for the building licence you will need full plans and engineers.

You can build essentially "on" the boundary, provided your gutter has a z-flashing behind it protecting your rafters from catching alight should the neighbours house burn down.

Also, is your neighbour higher/lower than you? May need retaining if you go close the boundary which could be costly.

I might be interested in doing it for you as I do projects on the side (renovations, fit outs etc).

Ill speak to the other bloke I do it with and shoot you a PM.

[98kellrs]

Cheers, guys!

Stephan:
What do I want to achive? - Closed off workspace/storage area which has easy access from the house and is comfortable enough to work in regardless of pouring rain or hot weather. Must have good power and lighting.
What do I want/need the workshop for? - I'm restoring two classic bikes at the moment, so I want somewhere light, spaceous and away from wind and rain to rebuild the engine/frame/forks etc
How secure do I need to make the shed? Im in a nice neighbourhood, so it doesn't need to be fort knox, keeping everything bricked in would be ideal with a side entry door from the front of the house as Heretic suggested.
Do I need access to the backyard? Access would be nice, accomplished via a rollerdoor as Heretic suggested seems the best way to go.

Mr Boeman, very glad you posted! I was hoping you would see this thread as I know you're in the industry. My neighbour is level with me, both houses sit on level ground approx 1.5m-2m above the road with gently sloping driveways. He has the same empty space on the other side of the fence, with an enclosed garage so I wouldn't be blocking a view or anything from him. I await your pm

[Arwon]

If you go to the council and speak to the building department it will save a lot of expense and heartache later.

They will bring up your house plans, the satelite image fom Nearmap and you can ask all the questions that are worrying you now, and get accurate answers.

[Stephan]

Cheers, guys!

Stephan:
What do I want to achive? - Closed off workspace/storage area which has easy access from the house and is comfortable enough to work in regardless of pouring rain or hot weather. Must have good power and lighting.
What do I want/need the workshop for? - I'm restoring two classic bikes at the moment, so I want somewhere light, spaceous and away from wind and rain to rebuild the engine/frame/forks etc
How secure do I need to make the shed? Im in a nice neighbourhood, so it doesn't need to be fort knox, keeping everything bricked in would be ideal with a side entry door from the front of the house as Heretic suggested.
Do I need access to the backyard? Access would be nice, accomplished via a rollerdoor as Heretic suggested seems the best way to go.

Mr Boeman, very glad you posted! I was hoping you would see this thread as I know you're in the industry. My neighbour is level with me, both houses sit on level ground approx 1.5m-2m above the road with gently sloping driveways. He has the same empty space on the other side of the fence, with an enclosed garage so I wouldn't be blocking a view or anything from him. I await your pm

It was in no way meant to be negative. The question for me was, when I started my shed, do I go brick or tin. I went for brick, as I think it is more sturdy, ties in with the house very nicely and it does contain noise a lot better than tin. I have build on the boundry and replaced the fence with the brick wall. I even used the same bricks as my neighbours house, so it looks like the wall belongs to his property.

I would go brick judging by what you are discribing. It may cost a bit more, but it does add a lot more value to your house than a tin shed would. The city of Swan has got a check list for what is required when adding a shed to a property, maybe your shire has got the same...