When your car doesn't fit in the garage
As handy as a garage is, you’ll probably be aware that most modern cars struggle to fit in a garage made over 50 years ago. Sometimes you can squeeze in if you’re careful but you may fit little else in there and struggle to get out the door once parked. So, if you’ve had enough of that struggle, then you may like to remove that tight garage and benefit from a bit more space to park in a drive way. We did just that, and this article documents the removal of a garage with an asbestos roof.
As a landlord, under specific asbestos regulations, you have a duty to safely manage the risks presented. If you have a survey and you find your garage roof is made from asbestos, the surveyor may recommend you replace it, or have them survey it every year (at your expense) to regularly comment on the condition. So it may be best just to get rid of it.
Do NOT try and remove the roof yourself. If you suspect it’s asbestos, get a survey, and if confirmed get a registered asbestos removal company to do it.
Here’s how we removed ours:
1. We hired an asbestos garage roof removal firm to remove the roof
2. We hired a skip for the concrete garage panels
3. We unbolted and cut the panels free
4. We removed the door
5. We took the metal supports and door panels to the scrap yard
6. We used our Tetris experience to fit it all in a skip
Here is a walk-through of it all…
Phase 1 - removing the asbestos roof
This is a job you do must not do yourself.
There are various companies that offer wildly different prices for this so shop around.
Our roof was removed and disposed of safely and securely in less than a day.
You’ll receive a certificate of mandatory hazardous waste disposal, so you know it has been removed and will be disposed of safely.
Phase 2 - removing the panels
This is a fairly fun job.
The panels will probably be held in by rusty bolts so it’s as simple as unscrewing the bolts. Some may snap off, others need the persuasion of a grinder, but this is not too hard a task.
You will need to remove the steel roof frame/supports as you remove the first layer of panels and a grinder comes in handy here.
As with most jobs, apply some common sense and see what parts are supporting each other and remove the top panels first.
When you come to the final row you’ll need support with the supporting panels that are pretty heavy for 1 person.
Phase 3 - filling the skip
Ideally the skip will be there to put the panels in directly but ours arrived in the afternoon.
This was not a bad thing though as we had piled up all the parts so could place them in the skip strategically like a game of Tetris.
This was important as the largest skip we could get was a 4 yard skip for rubble only, so we were limited for space.
We were pretty impressed that we fit the whole garage in such a small skip which was then taken away the next morning for such a good price.
The metal garage door and rusty steel supports went to the local recycling site.
Phase 4 - cleaning up
It’s very satisfying finishing a job like this as the space you create has a big impact. The removal of a garage with an asbestos roof has been a success.
There were a few bags of rubbish that we had to take to the local recycling site and some spare materials to re-home but it was worth it.
We now have an additional car parking space that is much easier to access. The added benefit is the extended driveway now allows a car to turn to leave the house in a forward gear.
Phase 5 - adding a fence surround
To add a little privacy to the garden area, we added a fence around the parking space. More on this when we report on the the reclamation of the garden space.
Progress pictures
money spent
The costs for the removal of a garage with an asbestos roof included:
- Asbestos roof removal from Hazmove £560
- Hire of a 4 yard skip for Rubble only from Reading Recycling £150
- Removal work completed in 1 day by 2x people £150 a day each
Total cost – £1,010 – inc vat and delivery charges (excluding the fence work)
you will need
- Safety equipment, glasses, gloves mask
- A grinder to cut metal
- A step ladder
- 2 people – and sufficient refreshments
- Spanners and grips
- Hammer and chisel
- Broom, dust pan and brush
- Rubble sacks
- Skip, a 4 yard was just enough