Tembok Carpenter & Building Services
Oak framed garages in Kent
An oak framed garage is a permanent building, not a kit. We design and build bespoke oak garages and cart lodges that sit properly next to period and rural houses.
Bespoke oak framing versus kit garages
Most oak garages sold in this country are kits: standard bay sizes, standard roof pitches, delivered for assembly. A bespoke oak framed garage is designed for the site and the house it stands beside, so the bay widths fit your cars, the roof pitch matches the buildings around it and the whole thing looks as though it has always been there.
Green oak is the traditional material and the right one. Frames are cut from freshly felled oak and joined with pegged mortise and tenon joints; as the timber dries it shrinks and the joints tighten, which is why a green oak frame grows stronger over its first years. Surface cracks, called shakes, are a normal part of that process and do not affect the structure.
Planning needs thought on rural plots. A garage within the curtilage of a house is often permitted development, but listed buildings, conservation areas, the High Weald National Landscape and plots where rights have been removed all change the position, and a room above the garage can tip a building into needing an application. We check the route before design starts.
Layouts range from open fronted cart lodges, which suit period houses and keep planners happy, to fully enclosed garages with workshop space, stores or a room above. Doors, weatherboarding and roofing are matched to the house, and the whole building, from groundworks to the final ironmongery, is built by our own team.
- Bespoke frames, not standard kit bays
- Green oak with pegged traditional joints
- Cart lodge, enclosed and room above layouts
- Planning route checked before design
- Groundworks, doors and roofing included
What's Included
Oak Framed Garages — The Tembok Way
An oak framed garage is a permanent building, not a kit. We design and build bespoke oak garages and cart lodges that sit properly next to period and rural houses. Every project is designed around the space, the property and the way you live — not a catalogue.
- Bespoke green oak frames
- Cart lodge and enclosed layouts
- Planning advice for rural plots
- Matching doors and joinery
Areas covered
Oak Framed Garages across Kent & East Sussex
FAQs
Oak Framed Garages — frequently asked
Does an oak framed garage need planning permission?
Often not: outbuildings within the garden of a house can be permitted development within height and position limits. Listed buildings, conservation areas and rooms above the garage change that, so we confirm the position before designing.
Will green oak crack as it dries?
Yes, and it is meant to. Surface shakes appear as the oak seasons, while the pegged joints tighten and the frame gains strength. It is the behaviour traditional oak framing has always had.
Can there be a room above the garage?
Yes. An upper floor works well as a studio, office or guest space. It usually means a full planning application rather than permitted development, and the staircase, insulation and services are designed in from the start.
Do you build the base and groundworks as well?
Yes. The frame sits on a properly engineered slab or strip foundations with a brick or stone plinth, and we build the whole thing, so the frame is not left waiting on another contractor.
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