DIY frame garage

Recommendation points

• The advantages of a frame garage
• Foundation and floor
• How to assemble a wall frame
• Roof and slab construction
• Installation of doors, windows, gates
• Warming, sheathing, finishing

There is not always a need for a capital garage. Often, the safety of the car can be ensured by the simplest structure, which will require less labor and money. We have prepared step-by-step instructions for building a frame-type garage, indicating all the necessary steps.

The advantages of a frame garage

Avoiding frame buildings is most often due to their low burglar resistance. But if the garage is not in a cooperative, but on an inhabited site and under supervision, low penetration protection no longer looks like such a weighty argument. In the end, the difficulty of breaking is determined by the most vulnerable element of protection, which is almost always a gate, window or front door..

A frame building requires much less resources – both monetary and labor. A wooden frame can be easily assembled with a couple of assistants in just one day; in terms of capital investments, such a structure will cost at least a third less than masonry.

In addition, such construction is an excellent opportunity to rationally utilize the lumber left over after assembling the scaffolding for building a house. For garages up to six meters wide, boards of 50×100-150 mm are perfect, you only have to buy materials for flooring and wall cladding.

Foundation and floor

For a light frame structure, it is recommended to arrange a shallow or shallow strip foundation with a width of 250 mm with a backfill of 30–40 cm of non-porous material (sand, gravel). If in the future it is planned to build a viewing pit, there is nothing to be done, you will have to take as a basis the foundation with a sole below the freezing depth and provide its high-quality waterproofing.

From the side of the entrance, a lowered part should be made in the tape, the upper plane of which is displayed flush with the zero floor mark. The rest of the foundation is carried out 200-250 mm above the ground level in the adjacent territory, regardless of the degree of deepening.

1. Sand preparation. 2. Strip foundation. 3. Concrete floor. 4. Sand preparation under the screed. 5. Compacted soil

Reinforcement of the tape is standard: four rods of 12 or 14 mm, connected by structural reinforcement every 60–80 mm. Thinning from the entrance side is reinforced by the same scheme, but denser. You should immediately decide on the issue of laying the studs and linking them to the working fittings. You can leave the anchoring after 100-120 cm, or use the anchoring bolts provided there is sufficient concrete cover at the top edge.

The floor in a frame garage can be arranged in bulk, monolithic concrete or wood, there is no fundamental difference. We only note that when constructing a wooden floor, it makes sense to cast a foundation with a ledge of 5–6 cm in order to support the logs on it. It is better to excavate and fill gravel immediately, but it is advisable to postpone the final flooring until the end of the roofing work..

How to assemble a wall frame

The garage frame system consists of four sections. It is recommended to make the side walls first, then the back and front walls. Before assembly, the wood must be impregnated with an antiseptic and dried in natural conditions.

Each of the walls initially gets confused in the form of a rectangular frame. For the upper and lower bases, only solid boards should be taken, vertical elements can be spliced ​​with a hem with a bandage.

For assembling the frame, it is better to use ready-made steel corners and scarves.

If you have laid anchor rods in the foundation, first try on the plank of the lower base and drill the required number of holes. Position the wall frame so that the foundation protrudes 25–30 mm from the outside. On a flat area, lay out two longitudinal boards in parallel, add two racks between them at the edges. Knock down the corners, line up the diagonals and secure the corner joints with gussets.

Next, add vertical posts to the frame in 60 cm increments. It is possible that the step of installing the racks will have to be recalculated so that they are not located in the places where the embedded studs pass. Before installing the walls, roll out 2-3 layers of roofing material on the foundation tape.

For fastening, use rough nails 100–120 mm long. When one section is knocked down, it is lifted and installed on the foundation, then attached to it by means of embedded studs or anchor bolts. Fasteners are not fully tightened until all four sections are assembled..

After installing the side walls, they must be supported from the ground by bevels nailed to the frame with one nail for free regulation of verticality. When both sections are set on a plumb line, and the distance between them is verified in several places, you need to throw 3-4 boards on top for temporary fastening.

The back wall of the garage is usually deaf and assembled according to the same principle as the side ones. After lifting and installing it, it is necessary to temporarily fasten the corners with braces. The opening in the front wall of the garage requires a reinforced headroom. Usually the front wall is assembled from two narrow sections, located on the sides of the gate. Their height is lower than the rest, so that on top you can lay a powerful beam, assembled from 3-4 boards 50 mm thick, placed on the edge and tightened with bolts.

After assembling the main frame, you need to adjust its geometry: check the diagonals in the upper and lower planes, achieve verticality of the walls. Further, adjacent sections are fastened together with braces nailed at least a meter to the corner, then the final tightening of the fasteners to the foundation is carried out.

Roof and slab construction

After assembling the wall frame, an almost finished Mauerlat for the rafter system is formed. First, on the outer edges of the upper bases of the side walls, you need to install it on the edge and screw it down with self-tapping screws one longitudinal edge in order to give the Mauerlat an L-shaped profile. After that, between the ribs, they are inserted on the rib and attached to both parts of the Mauerlat boards with a thickness of at least 50 mm, which act as floor beams.

Instead of boards, pre-assembled trusses can be immediately inserted and fastened if the garage does not have a habitable room on the second floor. Trusses should be assembled according to a pattern in the shape of a narrow rectangular trapezoid. The upper boards of the trusses that form the slope (or slopes) of the roof should be at an angle of at least 15? and have an overhang of 30–40 cm for the formation of eaves. At the base of the truss there are two right angles, which are inserted exactly between the ribs of the Mauerlat. It is recommended to fasten beams and boards for trusses with a tongue-and-groove connection, reinforced with studded plates on the sides.

For such a frame garage, it is possible to arrange an uninsulated attic. When the ceilings are installed, L-shaped assemblies rise to the Mauerlat, knocked down by a jumper 50-60 cm from the upper interface. The tails of the rafters should have a projection of 30–35 cm behind the Mauerlat and have an undercut for quick and easy fastening. In total, each tail of the rafters rests with a groove against the edge of the Mauerlat, is attached with two self-tapping screws to its horizontal bar and the floor beam.

To protect the frame from getting wet, the rafters are temporarily fastened from the inside with several longitudinal boards. Next, on the slopes, you need to stretch a plastic wrap and to fix it, fill the counter-lattice with 15–20 mm thick strips. When it comes to roofing, fill in the horizontal battens and install any suitable type of covering.

For soft roofs, the sheathing is made with a wide board (including unedged) with small gaps of 2-3 cm

Installation of doors, windows, gates

There will be no difficulties with window openings. For natural light, a 60 cm width between the uprights is sufficient, just add two horizontal beams and insert a window frame.

If an additional door is required in the back or side wall, one of the pillars will have to be cut out, and then the top lintel is made from it. In this case, to decorate the opening under the door, you can either add two pillars on the sides, or open the door block inside the existing opening with 15-20 cm blocks.

The greatest difficulty is the device of the opening for the gate. It should be framed with at least a double upright on each side and, as mentioned, a reinforced horizontal beam on top. This is enough for the installation of up-and-over or rolling shutters. With swing doors, it becomes difficult to perceive the load when the doors are open. To the double pillars of the opening, two beams must be added, which continue under the floor system to about the middle of the garage length.

Warming, sheathing, finishing

Final construction – frame cladding and finishing. Instead of the common chipboard cladding, it is quite possible to use moisture-resistant gypsum board or gypsum board from the inside. Gypsum boards will lighten the construction budget and remove the need to comply with temperature gaps. Additional difficulties include adding horizontal crossbars between the posts for joining sheets and stuffing additional strips for corner joints.

Preparing a frame garage for cladding: 1. Wind protection. 2. Sheathing. 3. Pediment

From the outside, the frame racks will serve as an excellent basis for siding, you just need to pre-fill the windproof membrane. The transition from the walls to the basement of the cladding is performed with a simple corner profile, which prevents moisture from infiltrating inside.

Outside, it is also possible to install a continuous cladding made of OSB or LSU for painting, plastering or brickwork. So even a frame garage can be decorated in a single style solution with the rest of the buildings on the site.

There is no need to insulate such a garage. After the car is parked, the residual heat of the engine will heat up the air and cause moisture condensation on the body, therefore, the faster the air cools inside, the longer the stored equipment will last.