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Workshop on a slope

P

ptomharper

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Name
Patrick
LOCATION
Greater London
Hi all, New member here 👋🏻

Looking to build a 10x3m workshop in our garden. I knew it was on a slope but only after measuring did I realise the fall from highest to lowest point over 10m would be 850mm. Add in the finished floor height and the thing will be off the floor over a metre down the bottom!

The garden is one long slope (I have tried to pick the flattest part) so I did think about excavating a section at the high end of the workshop and adding a retaining wall/steps to level out the ground. After more thought it's not as easy as just removing the ground level as there is a fence on either side of the garden I cannot go below.

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!

Patrick
 

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Hi there.

It all depends on budget, I suppose. While my garden isn't as large or as long as yours, I still had it slope in two direction; looking from my house, down toward the house and down left to right.

I was planning on building to permitted development and visited the council to ask where the datum would be for the height of the building. I was told that they couldn't advise without a site visit, and they couldn't visit without a planning application.

So, it occurred to me that I could raise the rood apex if they wanted a planning application without changing anything else, and I'd get more height inside. I also designed as if the datum was the lowest point of the footprint.

They approved it!

So, I then got in a local farmer who did a bit of earthmoving on the side to level the site to 1m more each side, and built the rest myself, and as I was more than a metre from any boundary (1.1m from two of them), Building Regs didn't want to know, but I built as close to regs as I could.

My build is on this forum back in 2016/17.
 
Patrick, welcome to the forum.

There are lots of factors to consider with this issue. Is your planned workshop trying to fit within the scope of Permitted Development? Are you proposing a suspended timber floor (which is what it sounds like to me)? Why can't you go below the level of the fences? Whereabouts on the slope is your proposed door? Do you have access for a digger, and to get spoil away? Does the slope carry on down past the end of your proposed building location?

Ten metres by 3 is an unusual proportion. Are you confident a long narrow building would work for you?
 
Welcome to the forum.

Things are a little different here in that pickup trucks are popular. To that end I would make the the floor start on the high side and not dig into the slope. That would let me have a small deck on the downhill end where a truck/van can be backed up to. Great thing to have for machines and supplies. It also has the benefit of keeping the floor dry unlike a dug in floor that can become an instant pond.

I had my shop in the basement of my last house and it was close to the same dimensions as you propose. Once you have tools, shelves, cabinets, and so on along the walls it becomes difficult to turn a board or sheet of plywood. I agree with Mike G if at all possible square up the dimensions a bit more, even if only another metre wide.

Pete
 
Could you make it 6 x 5m if your garden was wide enough? Or 5 x 6m to get approximately ½m instead of the 1m at the low point?
 
I have nothing useful to contribute, but I noticed that your dimensions aren’t far off those of a three horse stable block (about 10.8 m x 3.6 m). Should be an interesting project.
 
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My workshop is about 12m by 3.5m and it is too narrow. As Pete says, once you've got machines, benches and storage cabinets in, space is quite limited for handling sheet goods.

Is it not feasible to extract 425mm from the high end and add it back to the low end, with a tanked retaining wall where it has ground against it? No spoil to dispose of and less intrusive in the landscape.
 
Thanks for all the replies!

The reason for the proposed dimensions were to appease my other half, to avoid making an eye sore across the garden. Good news though, I've talked her round. I'll now rotate the workshop 90 degrees where it will sit on a much flatter area. I can change the dimensions and square it up too. Had to compromise by moving it to the very end of the 75 metre long garden though... I might be asking if anyone has any experience installing zip wires next.
 
Now that sounds a lot more like it. With very long gardens like that I’ve seen them divided by hedges etc, in fact some very long ones where I lived in England the last chunk was just left to go fallow, not suggesting you do that but you could appease your other half with a hedge to hide your new workshop?
 
Cabinetman said:
Now that sounds a lot more like it. With very long gardens like that I’ve seen them divided by hedges etc, in fact some very long ones where I lived in England the last chunk was just left to go fallow, not suggesting you do that but you could appease your other half with a hedge to hide your new workshop?
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There is in fact a hedge a third of the way down, I did suggest putting a tree or something in front too. When it's all said and done I doubt it will be very visible.
 
I still have my reservations about building (the workshop) so far away from the house. For one, getting power down there will be costly.

Ill have another measure up and see how much wider I could go in order to shorten it and reduce the drop. Like Accipiter and AJB Temple said.
 
Running lecky down there need not be too costly. You need to check regs of course but hiring a ditch witch might make short work of making the trench.
 
Remember if you put it a long way down your garden you will have to lug all your materials that far as well, and probably any finished items back up the garden.

ptomharper said:
For one, getting power down there will be costly.
Click to expand...
Why ? You will be digging out footings so just dig a trench and lay a duct. You will need more cable but 10mm 2 core SWA is about a fiver per metre .
 
The downside to the shop being far away from the house or hidden behind hedges and trees is you can't see or hear if anyone is breaking in.
 
AndyP said:
Running lecky down there need not be too costly. You need to check regs of course but hiring a ditch witch might make short work of making the trench.
Click to expand...
This ditch witch you speak of sounds great
 
Inspector said:
The downside to the shop being far away from the house or hidden behind hedges and trees is you can't see or hear if anyone is breaking in.
Click to expand...
Spectric said:
Remember if you put it a long way down your garden you will have to lug all your materials that far as well, and probably any finished items back up the garden.


Why ? You will be digging out footings so just dig a trench and lay a duct. You will need more cable but 10mm 2 core SWA is about a fiver per metre .
Click to expand...
It backs onto horse fields so hopefully be alright for security.

My sparky said I might need a bigger cable because of the distance, I have to admit electrics goes over my head.
 
Inspector said:
The downside to the shop being far away from the house or hidden behind hedges and trees is you can't see or hear if anyone is breaking in.
Click to expand...
Well, there's that, but much more importantly......it's a long way to the loo! I'd certainly have a handbasin (which means a water supply and a drain) if I was that far away, because washing your hands after sharpening a chisel or plane iron necessarily means a long walk otherwise.
 
ptomharper said:
My sparky said I might need a bigger cable because of the distance, I have to admit electrics goes over my head.
Click to expand...
Several reasons why, volt drop is the obvious one. There is no such thing as say 30 amp cable, the longer the run then you have to increase the CSA so the correct size for a 10 metre run will probably be way to small for a 100 metre run. Your sparky will probably run just a two core cable from the main property with the steel wire armour just connected to ground at one end, then fit an earth rod at the workshop to provide you with the means of earthing. This is often the easiest way when most properties use a TN-C-S supply and the only way if you are on a TT supply.
 
ptomharper said:
It backs onto horse fields so hopefully be alright for security.
Click to expand...
Unless there is a big stallion 🐎 watching over his mares I doubt that will be much of a deterrent. Four wheel drive overcomes the terrain. 🛻

Pete
 
Spectric said:
Several reasons why, volt drop is the obvious one. There is no such thing as say 30 amp cable, the longer the run then you have to increase the CSA so the correct size for a 10 metre run will probably be way to small for a 100 metre run. Your sparky will probably run just a two core cable from the main property with the steel wire armour just connected to ground at one end, then fit an earth rod at the workshop to provide you with the means of earthing. This is often the easiest way when most properties use a TN-C-S supply and the only way if you are on a TT supply.
Click to expand...
Volt drop, that was it. I'll leave him to it. Doesn't sound as expensive as I thought though.
 
Just a thought... sunken workshop.
Bring it closer to the house and use a flat roof level to the patio.
Said flat roof with railings across the end to create nice place to sit and take in the views.
Yes, so much more work but has advantages like being closer and not seen from the house also warmer with less noise.
Shipping containers?
Cheers, Andy
 
toolsntat said:
Just a thought... sunken workshop.
Bring it closer to the house and use a flat roof level to the patio.
Said flat roof with railings across the end to create nice place to sit and take in the views.
Yes, so much more work but has advantages like being closer and not seen from the house also warmer with less noise.
Shipping containers?
Cheers, Andy
Click to expand...

Epic. Might take some convincing though
 
Inspector said:
Unless there is a big stallion 🐎 watching over his mares I doubt that will be much of a deterrent. Four wheel drive overcomes the terrain. 🛻

Pete
Click to expand...
There are many very good camera systems available these days that will alert you in many ways of your choosing should anyone appear uninvited.
 
Spectric said:
You would need to address the damp issues and no natural light.
Click to expand...
Correct building techniques would stop any damp before it became an issue and for natural light you have windows as it emerges from the gradient, doors and flat roof/pavement fenestration options.
Cheers, Andy
 
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toolsntat said:
Correct building techniques would stop any damp before it became an issue and for natural light you have windows as it emerges from the gradient, doors and flat roof/pavement fenestration options.
Cheers, Andy
Click to expand...
In theory, Yes. In reality building below ground is expensive and not always successful even when specialists are involved.
 
I suppose building it into the ground like an anderson shelter will help security, just a door to make secure and no prying eyes.
 
On the subject of doors/security. What doors do people have on their workshops? I have a single upvc door set I planned to use. It's pretty wide with an opening of 880mm when the door is fully open. I think most woodworking machines for a small shop would fit through. Although it would be nice to open a set of double doors in the summer the new uPVC door set would be air tight.
 
I have double wooden doors, giving an opening of 1500. A number of things I have made have required almost every mm of that width to get out. Your necessary door width is probably going to depend on what you make, rather than on your machines. uPVC door frames can have an incredibly annoying upstand at the threshold, and this would be very inconvenient in a workshop.
 
Six foot double doors, steel, insulated, to the outside and a three foot steel, insulated, fire rated, into the house. Shop is above the double garage.

Pete
 
I've got three doors, middle opens on hinges from left door. Each are approx 1100mm wide. The Left and Right can be opened for complete access, very rarely used. Also middle door is stable door like, originally done to keep children outside. All doors are faced with (old) Corby iroko school desk tops. (remember them). The doors are internally bolted shut and middle has couple of deadlocks.

Sometime this year I'll be getting a welder and making up some new frames for the Iroko to fit to. Currently having to cope with seasonal movement in the timber frames.
Alex.
 
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