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amazing, almost on topic
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if one were considering building a purpose-built bike garage,
including some sort of "hitching post" built into the walls, what
material would suit?
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Breeze blocks I'd suggest. You could build the hitching post into the
pillars (you'd need one or so in the long wall) or, failing that just
sink it in the concrete floor when you laid it.
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Steel shipping container ;-)
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believe me, I've considered it - however, in this case it wouldn't
fit.
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Wouldn't you fit the device into the floor? You can take a few bricks
out of a wall in moments as mortar isn't that soft.
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you could be right - I still want to DIY it rather than buy a purpose
built ground anchor, because I'll be building the structure almost
from scratch, and it'll be a purpose built bike-storage space rather
than a general purpose garage.
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Oops, I meant not that hard, at least not the lime mortar that real walls use.
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Also consider fitting a drain in the floor. It will save hours in the
long run searching for circlips and small screws.
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you seem to be implying that I'd be doing some sort of maintenance
work on my bikes myself - how odd.
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For ease of sourcing it I'd say stainless angle section. You should be
able to buy some large section stuff and actually build it into the
wall. Stainless is horrible to hacksaw through, takes longer to grind
through and can't be cut with an oxy-acetylene set. Not many bike
thieves have plasma cutters so you should be safe.
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The chains you use to attach the bike to the post will be the weakest link
any determined thief goes for.
You may as well use a material that is going to be easy to look after so
Andy's suggestion of SS makes sense: it won't rust or need painting
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If you go down this route and have the garage built to your own specs
then get the electrician to wire in a hidden isolator so nobody can
plug a grinder into your supply and cut through chains.
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He should know Darsy. While you are putting in the isolater get the
bracket wired into a separate mains supply. Great idea until *you*
forget :o)
I didn't know you couldn't cut SS with an OA Torch??
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IANAE but... Some alloys maybe (duplex), but stainless doesn't support
the burning needed for normal flame cutting - you need carbon in it.
You could prolly reduce it to a lump of molten metal.
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Again, sound advice as protection against the inexperienced.
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this is in connection with one of the two properties I'm considering
buying[1]. It's already got a mains-equipped 10x16 shed at the bottom
of the back garden, but I don't really want to have to put a sloped
path the whole way to the front of the house.
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DR-Z 400.
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well, yes, but less applicable to Z1000.
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While on that subject (DRZs), I've found a slightly more local place
doing them for £4199, and cba with two round-trips to bromley if I can
help it. Time to start haggling.
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I was thinking much the same.
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Shouldn't be impossible to knock them down 200 sovs.
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Found anywhere with a demo bike yet?
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haven't been looking. Gotta choose a new house first.
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Ah. My impulse buy glands are throbbing. I give it a week, maybe two.
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The house has an fairly wide gap (around 2.5m) between the side of the
property and the building line. There's currently a brick wall at the
front with inset wrought-iron gate, and a 6 foot wooden fence running
right along side the house to the shed at the bottom of the garden.
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This is similar to where mine is situated, i.e gap between my house an next
door, otherwise a pretty useless piece of garden.
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What I want to do is, build up a brick wall along the building line
for 3 metres or so, build a back wall to the bike storage area (with a
lockable door in it), replace the wrought iron gate with another
lockable door (maybe double doors, but in any case wide enough for a
bike), then roof this over with sloped corrugated clear plastic (and a
bit of guttering, natch). I don't need electricity (at least
initially).
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I did consider a similar approach, i.e building a "lean to" effort off the
side of the house. However, my brick work skills are dubious, and I really
didn't want the hassle of finding out if such a structure required planning
permission. A shed, to me, seemed far more innocuous, and less likely to
incur any objections from neighbours. Also, dicking about with wood is a
whole lot easier. [1]
Don't forget, electricity is a good thing for optimates, theft deterrents
lighting and heating (I have an electric tube heater in mine to keep the
chill off the bike in winter). My prime aim was to make the "Bike House" as
hassle free as possible in use (and a useful little bolt hole when
necessary).
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You might want to have an anonymous word with your friendly local
council planning officer first. I can spot a couple of problems with your
scheme that might run foul of planning permission/building regs (e.g.
having a garage attached to a residence is a big no-no these days, there
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[snip]
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how would they know whether or not the wiring was done before or after
the date change, if you had a bunch of old wire kicking around?
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You wouldn't. Want to buy a reel of 2.5mm in the old colours?
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So, in practise it's never checked, yes?
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My experience isn't wide enough to say "never" but the only time I've
had anything in a house checked to see if it meets building regs was
when I was doing a loft conversion which automatically attracts the
attention of the building control officer.
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but it clearly won't be a /garage/ as a car won't fit in it. It's a
brick shed.
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are rules about how high the door-sill must be to prevent petrol spills
escaping, and burn resistance of the door, etc -- possibly only of
relevance if the door is between the garage and the residence, but it
might be safest to check first).
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In the building of the above, I'd set in some ground anchors, made out
of some kind of metal. My original question is: what sort of metal.
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Steel, as thick as possible.
Jeremy
Ireland
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I bought a purpose made item from M&P, and sunk it into the concrete base so
that it wasn't protruding (less of a trip hazard). It's a fairly sturdy
steel ring, with lateral bars which extend under the concrete base.
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[1] I know the "right" answer is to buy a house with a garage, but the
one I'm considering with a garage doesn't have enough room/an ensuite
(see other post)
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If there is an alternative, not having a garage is not really reason enough
to reject an otherwise suitable house.
If you like, I can send pics of my set up, to give you some idea of what
it's like.
[1] Feedlines R us.
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