How to Build a Workshop – It’s Much Easier Than You Think

Never mind the dog, a workshop is a man’s best friend. Every male on the planet has the need to escape everyday life on occasion and the workshop is a great place to hide. If you don’t have one it’s about time you built one, it’s a lot easier than you think.

Regardless of the size of the workshop you are looking to build you will need a concrete base. There are no shortcuts, if you take any easy options at this crucial phase of your workshop build you will almost certainly pay the price at a later date. 120mm of hardcore as a sub base and at the very least 120mm of mixed concrete is a standard requirement for a good strong base. If you are going to have any kind of substantial weight in your workshop you might want to think about adding steel bar reinforcing sheets as you pour your concrete. If you have an area of more than 3 metres in either direction don’t forget to add an expansion joint using 10mm fibre board which will stop your base from cracking.

Using the concrete as the floor for your workshop is a better option than constructing a timber one especially if you have any heavy equipment going in. Next comes the floor plate, remember to staple some damp proof membrane to the underside of your floor plate and make sure you have coated the timber in a suitable preservative, preferably creosote. Make sure your floor plate is absolutely square before you start any timber stud work, a good way of doing this is to use the 3, 4, 5 triangle method. An example of this is to measure 3m along one plate and then 4m along the plate that is at a right angle and the diagonal measurement between the two points should be 5m. This method will work in either metric or imperial.

If you are trying to keep costs down, salvage and reclamation yards are a great place to find used doors, windows, metalwork, fittings and anything else you need for your workshop. Buying all these things new can be expensive so buying second hand can save you plenty of cash.

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