Raising the height of a sectional garage roof

scottduffy

scottduffy

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Guy's i converted my garage into a studio and removed the door, added heating, flooring electrics etc but i left the height as it was. This was a mistake. I am now looking to increase the height and wondered if anyone has did this.

I am willing to remove the existing flat roof and replace it but how do i raise the height of the sectional walls? Is there a way to rest a beam along them to increase the height? I really don't know. If it was brick we could obviously just add a few courses but it's concrete sections so not sure that would work.

Lowering the floor won't work as I'd have to dig out reinforced foundations and that would not be something i could do.

Looked online but really not found anything practical.
 
I would think take the roof off and put a frame on top of the concrete so to add 8" screw and glue 2 4x2 together or 5x2 if you want 10" tantalize wood is best
to fix it some thin steel flat bar type screwed to the concrete and into the frame will secure it .
Best to have a nice fall on the roof so say a 2x2 fixed 1 side to give a slope .
I'm not a builder but this is how i would do it.

Rob.
 
First step would be to check with local planning authority to check that it's allowed.

TBH, it's possibly easier to take it down and rebuild in brick/block or with a new, higher sectional building.
 
There's no issue with planning other than the building cannot exceed 8ft in height as it's within one metre of my boundary. I cant still angle it higher but 8 ft would probably work out fine.
 
Change of use etc.?
 
scottduffy said:
Guy's i have converted a garage into a studio at the rear of my house and after 1 year i have mould forming high on the walls. I put electric radiators inside it but the roof was asbestos sheets and the joiner advised leaving it as it was and painting it rather than replacing it due to danger of breaking asbestos and disposal. I called him recently and he said either to knock a couple of vents in the walls or place a dehumidifier in there. Any of you had similar problems and how did you solve the issue?
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Assuming the garage is the same one as in my quote, I'd be very wary of using it as a studio without dealing with the asbestos.
 
Nod said:
Assuming the garage is the same one as in my quote, I'd be very wary of using it as a studio without dealing with the asbestos.
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Corrugated asbestos sheets are an asbestos cement based product. It's perfectly safe if it's left alone...
 
The structural strength will need the original roof to be maintained or it could collapse. Think dominoes! What is holding the walls vertical?
 
Nod said:
Assuming the garage is the same one as in my quote, I'd be very wary of using it as a studio without dealing with the asbestos.
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The asbestos is completely fine as long as it's left as it is. Only when broken up is it dangerous. The change of use was dealt with last year as i informed the council that I'd be using it for a business eventually and they said I'd be fine as long as parking didn't cause an issue for neighbours and i had the relevant insurance.
 
Pixbarmy said:
The structural strength will need the original roof to be maintained or it could collapse. Think dominoes! What is holding the walls vertical?
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I assume the roof is holding them up just now. It has a metal frame that sits on top of the sides which are bolted together.
 
@scottduffy if your existing garage has asbestos roofing that will completely change how you go about this and from my experience with asbestos material at work it will sadly increase the cost too.

You’re right asbestos is perfectly fine if it’s not damaged and is left undisturbed. Your joiner is right to say leave it alone if you can. If you’re raising the roof or replacing the building you will be disturbing the asbestos sheeting so it will need to be properly dealt with.

I’d get a properly qualified contractor (one that’s licenced) to do the work. I personally wouldn’t touch asbestos material myself. You need to have the certificates to show it’s been properly disposed of and not fly tipped somewhere. I think by law you can be held responsible for selecting a qualified company so don’t cut corners as it could come back to bite you, especially if it’s fly tipped. The reason for this is to stop people ‘employing’ the bloke from the pub who says he can do it for £50 but ends up fly tipping it.

There are likely a few companies that could help. A quick google search come up this company who seem to do asbestos garage roof replacement (I’ve no experience of them so make sure you do your due diligence checks).

[/URL]
 
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rob-nikon said:
You’re right asbestos is perfectly fine if it’s not damaged and is left undisturbed. Your joiner is right to say leave it alone if you can. If you’re raising the roof or replacing the building you will be disturbing the asbestos sheeting so it will need to be properly dealt with.
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Pretty hard to raise a roof without disturbing it.
 
You ought to get a local builder in for a quote and advice/ideas £100 or so for that would be invaluable.
Usually there's a few local lads with good practical knowledge and you could physically work with them to keep costs down.
There will be ways to drive secure fixings into what you have there, for a smallish roof you want to take the whole thing off and renew with proper insulation IMO.
Any kind of bodgery will come back to haunt you.
 
I couldn't see if it has been mentioned of high much higher you require the roof to be raised?
If you build a Pitched Roof then the wall height will not need to be extended, but a Flat Roof design will need to have extra courses of bricks or possibly just the wall plate height changed.
It may be that just the wall plate can be changed and depending on how much height is required then steel might be the preferred option.
You really need advice of a structural engineer or at least an experienced builder.
With regard to the damp problem i would 100% agree with your Joiner that you need to fit air vents to ensure constant ventilation.
 
Check with your local authority re the asbestos.
Ours takes asbestos sheets double wrapped, but they police that quite heavily.

But that is for householders and not businesses. For me it was a no brainer to remove a garage roof and take it to the tip for free rather than paying a contractor thousands.

As others have said though, you’ll probably find the only thing holding the walls steady is the roof frame.

So your first job might be temporary strengthening of the garage whilst you remove the roof before adding your new structure which should easily re stabilise the existing structure.

It’s a fairly straightforward job as long as you do it logically and don’t try to rush.
 
We replaced our shed roof this year. We had corrugated asbestos sheets, and after notifying our local tip we were able to dispose of it officially without charge or difficulty. It had to be double-wrapped in 1000 gauge polythene and sealed with tape. Disposal was limited to 6 sheets of 6x3 per occasion, and we did 2 trips.
 
rob-nikon said:
@scottduffy if your existing garage has asbestos roofing that will completely change how you go about this and from my experience with asbestos material at work it will sadly increase the cost too.

You’re right asbestos is perfectly fine if it’s not damaged and is left undisturbed. Your joiner is right to say leave it alone if you can. If you’re raising the roof or replacing the building you will be disturbing the asbestos sheeting so it will need to be properly dealt with.

I’d get a properly qualified contractor (one that’s licenced) to do the work. I personally wouldn’t touch asbestos material myself. You need to have the certificates to show it’s been properly disposed of and not fly tipped somewhere. I think by law you can be held responsible for selecting a qualified company so don’t cut corners as it could come back to bite you, especially if it’s fly tipped. The reason for this is to stop people ‘employing’ the bloke from the pub who says he can do it for £50 but ends up fly tipping it.

There are likely a few companies that could help. A quick google search come up this company who seem to do asbestos garage roof replacement (I’ve no experience of them so make sure you do your due diligence checks).

[/URL]
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The reason it wasn't touched last year was because of the asbestos roof sheets but the height just makes things awkward so yes if the roof is being removed then replaced it probably would be getting sent to landfill somewhere. I had an interesting chat with someone today who said we might be able to raise the roof as it is using acros then build the frame and set it back down. Waiting on a joiner coming tomorrow who will no doubt tell me that wont work. Haha. I'll get there.
 
Nod said:
Pretty hard to raise a roof without disturbing it.
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It's on top of the metal frame for the roof so possible it won't need touched although I'd rather replace it.
 
NorfolkAndy said:
I couldn't see if it has been mentioned of high much higher you require the roof to be raised?
If you build a Pitched Roof then the wall height will not need to be extended, but a Flat Roof design will need to have extra courses of bricks or possibly just the wall plate height changed.
It may be that just the wall plate can be changed and depending on how much height is required then steel might be the preferred option.
You really need advice of a structural engineer or at least an experienced builder.
With regard to the damp problem i would 100% agree with your Joiner that you need to fit air vents to ensure constant ventilation.
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Vents are now in and heating back on so hopefully that'll stop any increase in damp and i can deal with what's already there.
 
So I've had a total rethink of this and decided to get rid of the full sectional garage walls and roof and build a new one with block and a new flat roof. That way i can have the walls at the desired height and not have to worry whether the extended parts will compromise the strength. Also the roof is much easier on the block walls that the sectional walls as we know they won't move when heavy timbers are placed upon them. Just need to speak to planning to see if there is anything i have to do since it will be block and not sections. Fingers crossed all will go well. Vents of course will be reinstalled and I'll move the door to the side to give me two ends to shoot into. One with a brick wallpapered background like now with a bar across it for my other backdrops. The other can have a different wallpaper and my hilite set up.
 
scottduffy said:
There's no issue with planning other than the building cannot exceed 8ft in height as it's within one metre of my boundary. I cant still angle it higher but 8 ft would probably work out fine.
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Not sure if it the same elsewhere but in Scotland pitched roof buildings can be higher. As long as you can create a frame on top of the sectional garage then you might be able to make a pitched roof with an a frame structure giving some storage too
 
wookie6262 said:
Not sure if it the same elsewhere but in Scotland pitched roof buildings can be higher. As long as you can create a frame on top of the sectional garage then you might be able to make a pitched roof with an a frame structure giving some storage too
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Yes mate it can rise in height as long as any part within one metre of the boundary doesn't exceed 8 feet high. I'm in North Lanarkshire.
 
Any single skin wall will draw in dampness (capillary attraction). Either build a cavity wall with a damp course or line it with a moisture barrier. Don't forget that moisture will rise through a concrete floor with no damp course. A layer of asphalt tanking or a waterproofed screed may also help.
 
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