...just as you mentioned the weather - guess what happened!

Pre-winter workshop update
 

Things have not been going to plan. I wanted this done by April 2020

Still I'm almost ready for the winter - just need to fit my self made window frames (took too long to make) and then three of the four sides will be wind and water proof.

Front elevation =>

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/attac...1&d=1603014692

The big doors are a bit on the heavy side and I haven't got the insulation fitted in them yet. I need to figure out a strong hinge solution to make sure they survive that unexpected gust of wind...

...the eight windows give a fair amount of light but I will need to add in a load of LED lighting for working. Roof lights were planned but I've run out of money.

It is a bit like every episode of "Grand Designs" here with the exception of the imminent arrival of a baby (!)

Rear elevation =>

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/attac...1&d=1603014694

I've got an emergency exit and two church windows. Not a warm side of the building here so I haven't gone for too much glass here.

The little square covers near to the lower corners of the roof are for a ventilation system so I don't gas myself when spraying paint or welding.

The drip ledges above doors and the window sills are all folded aluminium =>

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/attac...1&d=1603014694

This took longer than expected...

Nice work. I'm not surprised it's taking longer. Maybe April 2021.

I hope it won't take that long - really want to stop paying rent for storage

If you don't mind me asking, I assume that you planning on being able to drive cars in/out of this, but there is a step up in to it.

As you built the ground up originally, could you not have built the entrance at ground level to enable access / egress ?

Might something to do with the sea level.....🛳⚓️⛴🚤🛥😜

I don't mind folks asking questions - that's why I'm posting all this stuff on a forum - all about discussion isn't it?

(Perhaps that reaction was too literal - but I think it is worth mentioning just in case)

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Bit of a long story about the raised level I'm sorry to say (!)

Where I'm living here in the Netherlands it is on reclaimed ground (well old fen land). I'm just a bit higher than sea level but quite close to a canal and a huge waterway network where I think it is possible that despite the excellent Dutch attitude towards water managment flooding is a possibility.

My house is slightly raised (by about 50cm) too. I figured because I want to fill my new workshop with things I'd rather not get wet it was worth raising it up a bit.

Whilst some people might call this structure a garage it won't be used in the conventional "garage" way. I'm going to build an at-ground-level car port for more frequent ins and outs.

I will have at least one vehicle in the workshop at a time but any vehicle that makes it inside is unlikely to come out for several years. (Just look at the dismal Volvo progress in this thread!)

I'll be making a couple of ramps that will allow vehicles to be pushed inside. I'm conisdering one of those cheapo electric winches to help pull it up the slope (like a beached whale)...

...but already have a hand winch (that gets used for pulling out tree stumps) so might not bother...

I have a friend in Zaandam who when he had his garage built, actually more of an industrial unit, he had to have piles put in for stability and support. It was a requirement of the planning permission. That was adjacent to a canal too but I don't know if it was reclaimed land. After a few years a house developement company made him an offer he couldn't refuse so that they could add his land to theirs for a big project. He did mange to find another house that he could transfer his 4 post lift to so all was well.

I don't know that part of the Netherlands particularly well. If you look at old maps of the country that is a part that has, in modern geological tmes, always been there. I guess there it is more about sea defences rather than pumping out boggy ground.

It is now quite a pricy part of the country - but then - house prices have gone absolutely mental in the last few years. When I first moved here the housing market seemed quire sober when compared to the UK house price escalations of the time.

Apparently house prices have increased by 10% since the summer putting the national average at about 330K. I guess that hike wasn't due to the buy to let explosion that has forced up prices in recent years. At 330K I can't see anyone making more than 5% before tax on that unless the trick is to convert everything to a HMO...

...the Dutch tax authorities did admit a few years back that they can't do their work properly any more; so perhaps there's a trick I've not heard about. To be honest since I've been building this shed I've been shocked at how many people selling stuff ask if I need a receipt. It has added an irritating element of "well how much will it be with VAT applied then?" - which means I have to restart the bargaining procedure to get a good legal deal.

One of these days the Dutch tax man will wake up - I think there could be a fair amount of people in hot water - but then again there's usually a deal to be made in the world of business (much like the discrepancy between the tax paid being self employed in the UK and being on PAYE)

Jumping back significantly, I have a query about the car's bodywork. (I hadn't read your thread at the time it was posted).

I read that you had to remove mm's of filler from all over the body work, but are going for an exposed finish, showing the metal off.

Was the filler not there for a reason, ie to fill dents. Did you have to do a significant amount of repair to the bodywork to be able to do the exposed finish you wanted. It wasn't apparent from the posts that much in the way in dent repair was carried out. You documented the replacement sections for the corrosion, but I didn't see anything related to this, but may have missed it.

I haven't any experience of this sort of thing, but if the panel was damaged to the extent that it had plenty of filler on it, I would have thought it difficult to return it to a state that you would want to show off ?