Building My Dream Workshop!

Have you always wanted to build yourself to place to work in, make stuff or just be some extra space to hang out in? Well I have and I've finally go around to making my own workshop. I took pictures of the process, filmed a youtube video about it and shared every stage on my instagram- https://www.instagram.com/ruthamos/ just so I could share it with you!

I am building my workshop on a spot in my garden that used to house two little sheds. The first step was to move the sheds, take up the grass, lay some wood (to retain our concrete) and they lay a beautiful concrete base. We then finished up by setting down a row of bricks for the workshop to stand on. Then we were ready to start on the structure!

Usually you would build the frame by:

- framing up the walls and ceiling using CLS

- attaching ply to the frame

- applying a damp proof membrane to the ply

- add feather board to finish.

Unfortunately two of our walls were going to end up being quite close to a fence so we built two of our wall panels completely (be careful they get quite heavy) and then finished the rest of the structure as above. We added some framing for the doors before putting the feather board around the entrance. The frame was fastened to the row of bricks, sandwiching a damp proof membrane in between.

The frame of the roof and cross beam were put in while making the workshop frame. Design wise we wanted an overhang so that you keep nice and dry as you go in and out of the workshop. Sheets of ply were then attached to the CLS frame. As the workshop was built in winter the roof was covered with a tarp until we had a few nice days or weather to complete it. The ply was then covered in damp proof membrane and felt (my long term plan is to add wooden shingle tiles but that probably won't be this year).

So the frame for the door was already in place (see step 2) but we needed to build some doors. The doors were framed up, then we added ply to one side of them, filled all gaps with insulation (we used the polystyrene sheets) and then added ply to the other side before fitting them and adding the feather board.

The wiring was done before the insulation (polystyrene sheet) and ply boards were added to the inside. this meant the wires could be hidden in the walls. You can see the full process of insulating the workshop in the video. Once the walls were finished it was time to add some paint before starting on the work benches.

Using the CLS, fence posts and ply we created work benches to fit the space. The two along the sides are 650 deep and the one at the back is 750. Down one side I added some shelves to store big tools like the plasma cutter and the chop saw, I then left a section in the middle open and added shelves down either end. The work top was made by layering two sheets of 18ml ply and staggering the join. The workbenches are very solid!

I left giving the workshop power to the professionals. The workshop has 3 ring mains- 2 x 32's and a 16 (for the lights). I have A LOT of sockets in there (14 double sockets!).

So the workshop is usable, ready for you to build, tinker and create!