Garages

Answer the second half first, because it decides everything else. A garage for a car and a lawnmower needs a slab, walls, a roof and a door. A garage that will hold a workshop, a gym or a home office needs insulation, a damp proof layer under and behind, ventilation, proper wiring and a floor you can stand on in February. Building it as the first and converting it later costs far more than building it as the second from the start, and the difference at the outset is smaller than people expect. On the structure: blockwork is heavier, quieter, and it matches most Irish houses without argument. It takes longer and needs a wider foundation. A timber frame on a concrete slab goes up faster, insulates more easily and suits a clad finish, and it is the better answer where access is tight or the ground is awkward. Both last if the detailing is right, and both fail early if the base is wrong. Which brings it back to the ground. The slab wants a proper sub base, a damp proof membrane, and a fall to the door so water runs out rather than in. Where the garage sits below the house or against a bank, land drainage matters more than the walls do. Doors are the part people choose by picture. An up and over door is cheapest. A sectional door lifts vertically and lets you park close. Roller doors suit narrow driveways. Any of them can be automated, and running the power while the walls are open costs a fraction of retrofitting it. Planning is usually straightforward: a domestic garage or shed to the rear or side can be exempt within limits on floor area, on height, and on how much open space is left around the house, and those limits are eaten into by anything else already built. Anything in front of the house line, or over the size limits, needs permission. We check it at the survey and tell you which one applies to your site.

Can it match the house?

Usually close, rarely exact. We match the roof covering, the render finish and the fascia colour, and that is enough for it to read as part of the house. Blocks and tiles made twenty years ago are not the same as the ones made now, and weathering finishes the difference. On a visible elevation we will show you the sample against the existing wall before ordering.