I have a garage at the bottom of the garden, its a reasonable size, approx 23feet long by 14 foot wide, along with another room off the main area that is approx 7feet by 10 feet

The garage is built of single block, rendered on the outside with a tiled pitched roof

Now it does get a bit damp in there over the winter months, and I put this down the drop in temperatures mainly, as I sorted out the small area of damp (roof tile compromised, and felt had gone) a few years back, and had one of the large windows bricked up (with blockwork)

There is a loft space in there too

It does have a sink (cold water only) and its own Consumer Unit

But it doesnt have any heating, now if I were to use battens, and dry line all the walls, replace the main window with a double glazed one, and replace the door for something a bit better, and brick up the main garage door (single up and over) I would leave this in place and block around it so from the outside it would still look like a garage

How would I best heating the garage, or would it be a case of getting a small boiler to run one or two radiators in

And would this help with the damp, that only seems to occur over the winter ?

I would like to use the garage as a small recording studio, mainly for all my gear, but I don;t want it ruined by the damp, or the drop in temperatures during the winter

Steve

Steve,

Re:- your garage door, change it for an insulated roller shutter (for neatness) or a insulated sectional (quality, but obstructs usable space inside garage) , that way, you have the opening insulated + you can still use the garage as a garage with the added benefit of having a large opening for the possibility of getting large items in and out.

I think what you have said with regards to having it heated, would ease the damp a bit, but the damp is always going to be there, you may also need a dehumidifier to take the moisture out of the air.

Just my take on things :)

I have had a dehumidifier in there, for two days and there was virtually no water in it :eek:

Had the same dehumidifier in the house for a few hours and it was nearly full lol

Didnt know if there would be an easier way of controlling the heating other than the cost/installation of a small boiler with rad's

If I dry line it with insulation behind the plasterboard I assume that this will help retain 'some' heat, but may also assist retaining the cold during the winter, if I dont have any kind of heating

I can't run a rad from the house boiler as it is too far away from the house and the water would be cold by the time it got to the garage, plus I would have to dig the garden up LOL

You would be best off just getting a couple of oil filled electric radiators from electrical store? You can also get air con/heater units which just plug in! They will cost more to run than a boiler/rads but cost a lot less to install. Also, something that is easy to disconnect would be better should you wish to remove + use as garage again.

nate's comments on the shutter are worth considering IMHO
i have a couple of electric tube type wall mounted heaters in my garage. i use it to store a car, beer fridge and tumble drier (+beer, wine etc in cupboards) and it houses my tv distribution and network cabinet so no real need for proper heating - just to take the edge off the cold so the fridge can cope in the winter months

they may be to small for your requirement, but there are likely to be plenty of other potentially suitable electric rads/heaters about

If you really want to run off Gas....we had one of these installed in the hallway at my Aunt's old place:

Wall Heaters (http://www.valor.co.uk/valor/website.nsf/allwallheaters?readform&nav1=consumer&nav2=product&count=-1)

Not sure on the running costs and if you can still fit the things, but an alternative idea to a boiler/electric heating

edit: fixed the link (blonde moment :rolleyes: )

get an oil filled radiator from screw fix, about £35
a bit more money gets you a timer on it :)

If your getting rid of your garage door mate give me a shout - if its the right size and in better condition than mine (fed up of welding it up)! ha! I will buy it off you. Oh yeah I will come and get thoses wheels I lent you so they are out of your way - keep forgetting about them:)

before you board the garage out, tank the floor and walls this will keep moisture out and keep it dry.

tank the floor & walls ????

how do you mean 'tank'

Ayde they are still there LOl, looked at the doors mentioned, sounds like what I could do with, but a bit pricey atm

tank generally refers to 'making a tank' ie sealing all the surrounds of an area, in the same way that a fish tank is sealed all around - no leaks. tanking would seem a little excessive for a garage.

a moisture barrier is probably more suitable - fix suitable grade plastic to walls, battens over (obviously screws will need to go through battens to fix into wall and will pierce the mositure barrier at these positions, but that's acceptable). consider whether you want to insulate in between battens or whether you want to leave this as a void for some level of air circulation in between the plasterboard/moisture barrier. i have seen air grilled installed in this type of situation although i wouldn't have thought it's worth going that far in a garage.
alternative to moisture barrier is painting some kind of brick/blockwork sealant onto the inside face of the wall. not sure of the difference in levels of performance, but in theory the physical barrier and the "paint" should do the same thing.
getting rid of damp is not just about sealing or heating; you do need the right level of ventilation - just bear that in mind

Cheers Richard, see what you mean now

I was thinking along the lines of painting the walls with some kind of barrier, they are painted at the moment but just standard white emulsion, it was a complete bitch to paint as it is blockwork and quite rough,in the end I used a spray gun as it was the only way of getting proper coverage in all the nooks n crannies

I was also looking at insulation/sound proofing behind the plasterboard, ventilation wise there are windows in the garage, but nothing other than that

Steve