[Closed] Shed build – things I’m learning.

Hora, a log cabin style summer house is really quick and easy to build. Not logs but shaped planks that slot together. Not cheap, but as long as the base is level you don't even need a saw as everything is perfectly cut to size. Can be put up in two days.
Is there a part 2 to this thread yet? Charred larch sounds good.

Part two coming soon.
I thought I'd get slightly ahead of the thread for a change!
This sunny weather has been a great time for progress - especially when a roof is involved.

Hora - that's worth starting a thread of your own - you'll probably get more help as old threads tend not have as much life.

We're still following this one 🙂

I have never built ANYTHING before but I can visualise sawing wood, nailing it and levelling with a spirit level etc.

Just have a go, the whole thing will be a great learning experience and just accept that you're first construction is unlikely to be perfect!

footflaps - Member
I have never built ANYTHING before but I can visualise sawing wood, nailing it and levelling with a spirit level etc.
Just have a go, the whole thing will be a great learning experience and just accept that you're first construction is unlikely to be perfect!

I had not done much more and I built this.... It's still standing quite a few years later 😀 .......A shed won't kill yeah 😀

[img] [/img]

^^^want.

Don't you go coming into my thread with your large, complete and sturdy-looking fancy-ass structures! 🙂

Well, if you would finish your shed there would be no reason for people to taunt you with their erections ......

ok - I'll stick to this thread for now.

It took ages to choose a roof and save up for it, so while we were doing that, I started charring the larch for the window frames.

This was a really fun thing to do.
I used a hose to connect a torch to my patio gas bottle and everything went really smoothly.
Time will tell if it retains it's lustre, and whether it protects, but I'm really happy with how it looks.

(apologies about the photos - I've only been using the iPhone as selling my other cameras)

Video of some of the stages (best seen on youtube):

A couple of images of the frame on the shed.

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As you can see in the photo above, we eventually chose to keep as much natural light as possible by going for box-section polycarbonate.

It's a proper faff to install - especially with our non-rectangular build. Lots of processes for each sheet and fitting has to allow for expansion. It was boiling hot as we fitted it, so we allowed only a little (normally 3mm/m - we did 1.5mm/m)

I much prefer working with wood - everything with this seemed so critical!

It's a recycled product (from new offcuts) and a little cheaper than some.
http://www.cabp.co.uk/acatalog/16mm-Haze-Reform-Polycarbonate.html

Total cost for sheets, tape (to seal ends), glazing bars, sheet enclosure (goes around the perimeter), foam fillers to stick under the eaves between bars, etc was £360.
We bought the rest of the glazing and guttering at the same time to save a bit of money - whole lot was £440 (due to a £40 off £400 discount).

We worked from one end - calculated the overhang we wanted at the gutter end and worked our way across:

You have to tape the ends up - aluminium tape at the top end, vent tape at the gutter end. Sheets weren't all the same width which threw us on the rafter spacing.

I'll add noggings after.

This hot weather (after a wet spring) is warping all the timber so I had to buy a couple of replacements as these are fairly critical.

Rafters are the same 2x4 tanilised as the rest of the frame.

Just screwed up from under the top of the wall frame - 2 150mm screws per end.

Used a fine handsaw for cutting the polycarbonate - it's actually quote nice stuff to machine - not as splintery as I would have thought.

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Hmm, I was thinking about PC sheets for [url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/how-much-for-timber-framed-extension-with-glazed-roof-panels ]my proposed 'indoor/outdoor extension'[/url] but wasn't sure if the quality/longevity would be up to the job.

What's your opinion of them so far AlexSimon?

And what timbers are you using? If our house purchase completes then this is defo something we want to add, but no way are we going to budget for full on oak and double glazing. More likely half decent timbers and PC.

These are just bog standard 2x4 studs.
If I were doing it proper, I'd have used 2x8 planed softwood probably.

I keep having to remind myself it's 'just a shed'.
But I'm kind of just playing and learning. I'm enjoying it.

Re: PC - I'm worried like you about longevity - there are a lot of nasty-looking ones I can see around our village - yellow and containing 'stuff' in the cells. Having said that, most of the bad looking ones have been here as long as I've lived here - so that's over 13 years.

Time will tell. I'm not sure I could bring myself to attach it permanently to a house. (on the other hand it's cheap compared to the other options).

BTW - this is 16mm. I wouldn't use less than 25mm for a house.

BTW2 - we're currently at £1600 and counting. Still to buy are interior fittings (including a bench) and various Osmo products for exterior and floor.

Oh and a door 🙁
I think I might hang around the tip for that 🙁

Cheers AS.

What's the light like in there? We'd like to let in as much as possible so any significant loss might make it a no go. We're not overlooked on that side from the street or any other property so we've no need to create a tint effect from the outside.

It's basically feels like all the light but none of the sun.
Hard to describe.
Obviously mine is an enclosed shed, so some drop-off in heat is welcome.
If your having an open side and not storing much in it, then perhaps clear will be better.

No idea if anyone's following this thread still, but I'll carry on regardless 🙂

Put the guttering on and a freecycled water butt. It's a large one, but I have a feeling that 15sqm of roof is going to quickly overwhelm it.
What am I supposed to do with overflow?

[img] [/img]
Does my butt look big in this?

you need another pipe coming out the butt into a soakaway (hole in the ground filled with gravel).

I think it's considered a 'bad thing' to discharge rain water from extensions/sheds into a standard sewage pipe via an existing drain.

We're still following, so keep posting the updates.

Very impressed with your work. Looking forward to seeing it finished.

Nice build AlexSimon .

Waiting to see if I can get some recycled flooring ( old school classroom )to finish off my super shed .

On the Beeb site this morning.
I would really like a [url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-23036096 ]Woodland hut[/url]

Yeah great build, very inspiring. Will be setting off on a build next spring so will certainly be looking back here for ideas/tips. Keep posting!

wwaswas - Member

you need another pipe coming out the butt into a soakaway (hole in the ground filled with gravel).

I think it's considered a 'bad thing' to discharge rain water from extensions/sheds into a standard sewage pipe via an existing drain.

If I'd thought this through, I might have just put a full-height downpipe into a pre-dug soakaway at the corner then run the butt off a filter junction (there's probably a proper name) half way up it. Ah well.
I keep having to remind myself that this is a learning process as much as a building one 🙂

fasthaggis - Member

Nice build AlexSimon .

Waiting to see if I can get some recycled flooring ( old school classroom )to finish off my super shed .

On the Beeb site this morning.
I would really like a Woodland hut

My next project will be more creative - a very small garden office up in the corner where that sheet is hanging in the above photo.

Possibly the dullest question on the thread but what pitch have you got on that roof?

you can run a pipe to elsewhere in the garden to take it away from the house.

I suspect there's all sorts of regs on what's allowed so I'd check or wait for someone who knows more than me to give you the details 🙂

muppetWrangler - Member

Possibly the dullest question on the thread but what pitch have you got on that roof?

Even the buttons we've used around the edge of the roof say they are supposed to be used above 10-degrees. We've taken a chance on that one.

The reason is to a) get standing room for me at the back wall (gutter wall) and not exceeding 2.5m overall height (due to planning).

wwaswas - Member

you can run a pipe to elsewhere in the garden to take it away from the house.

I suspect there's all sorts of regs on what's allowed so I'd check or wait for someone who knows more than me to give you the details

Can you not use some of the water from the butt for bike washing, garden watering etc? Probably still have an overflow issue but be nice to use a bit of it for free.

Soakaways need to be a minimum of 5m from Buildings AIUI.

Can you not use some of the water from the butt for bike washing, garden watering etc? Probably still have an overflow issue but be nice to use a bit of it for free.

Couple of things:
I'd have more than one water butt, ours is about the same size, collecting from roughly 140 sqft of roof and is permanently overflowing during rainy periods and permanently empty during dry spells.

Karcher (and maybe other brands of) pressure washers can work straight from the water butt, which makes it pretty handy for bike wash duties

Soakaways need to be a minimum of 5m from Buildings AIUI.

How about filtering some of it off to feed any trees/shrubs etc in the garden?

I HAve a 330L water butt fed from my shed Roof, and I use this hooked up to the Karcher for car washing duties 😉
Rain water doesn't leave watermarks which is great.
I could do with another one hooked up too, and then overflow from that to leaky hose around the garden beds, if you T the overfolw into the outlet, it automatically overflows into the garden, and you can just turn the tap on to water when its drier.

If it were practical, I`d filter and store all of the water from the house roof and use a pump to supply this to all the toilet sisterns and possibly the washing machine.
That way we would save doubly on our water bill, reduced mains water usage, and huge reduction on the waste water / surface water run off charges too

It's just a shed... sob... sniff.

I had not done much more and I built this.... It's still standing quite a few years later .......A shed won't kill yeah

Righog, is that close to Druridge bay? I think I've rented one of those. Very nice.

Righog, is that close to Druridge bay? I think I've rented one of those. Very nice.

Yes Crell, If you click my user name you can see more pics, I was just checking this thread to see how the Alex's shed was coming on, and you have given a good reason for a Bump 🙂

So how does it look now Alex ? ( I will hopefully be building a shed soon and I am just stealing your ideas 😀 )

So how does it look now Alex ?

I missed the update earlier. It looks great with all the light.

Cheers mcmoonter. Can't wait to organise all my stuff into it.
Just trying to get all my work invoice-able now so that I can afford windows and a door!

Noggins in the roof.
I'm thinking of painting the horizontals white, so that the visual effect is to see the long verticals, because I preferred the way it looked before I installed these (but thought it best to guard against the rafters twisting).

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crikey, I wish I'd thought of a translucent roof. My shed (12x14) is always v dark...

Ref waterbutt, I think it may of been said already but how about having another running next to the first to take the overflow

Oh and keep up the good work

THis was covered in another thread, but if you want a waterbutt, consider an IBC tank - much bigger

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/water-butts-rainwater-harvesting-worth-it

Thanks nbt - we hadn't thought of that. It would just about in the space, although it would need disguising (visible from the front of 2 houses).

The main problem is that we really don't have much of a use for the water outside the 2 or 3 really hot weeks of the year.

I wonder if you can bury an IBC, not the smallest of thing to leave lying around.

It's been a while since I posted, but here is an update on the shed build. I took a bit of a break from it over the summer as we wanted to make the most of the good weather so went cycling/canoeing/walking/on holiday on weekends instead.

Anyway - thought I should bring anyone up to speed who was following it previously.

First thing to do was an expensive mistake.
I ordered toughened glass at the same size as the openings. Then realised I should have a 3mm gap all around. Oops. I now have 4-panes of glass for my next project! Couldn't afford toughened second time around, so just put normal glass in. It's high enough for regs, but where it is on the slope, I'm still slightly worried by balls/rocks/etc bouncing down the banking.

Anyway - nailed (hidden where possible) in some simple beading from the larch and siliconed the glass in. (I used stainless nails outside).

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Then finished cladding the window wall up to the roof:

[img] [/img]

At some point, I need to make some capping pieces to cover the window beading. I'll keep them natural colour.

Nice work Alex.

Should be able to start the cladding on my shed tomorrow .

[i]is excited[/i] 🙂

Cheers fashaggis! After the framing, the cladding is the most rewarding (i.e. fast and productive) bit!

Then it was on to the door.
I was a bit scared of this.

We decided to go for a plain external firedoor as it's cheap and I didn't like most door mouldings for this project. Pretty heavy things though!

Our opening was bigger than the door size, so I hung the door on the stud at the hinge-side and built the frame around the lock and top (actually the top is still to do).

So with some help from my youngest son, it took a day to chisel out the hinges, lock, handles, etc:

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.

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.

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Next day we fitted a threshold (which is a bit of a shame as it means I can't sweep out the door any more).

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It looks great. The man who never made a mistake, never learned anything. Keep the updates coming.

Loving this thread. Been great to see all the build elements.

I'm firming up the plans for my shed (although see-sawing between Pent or Apex roof) and was wondering which tools you used the most.

I have a full range of hand tools but wondered if it was worth getting a circular saw and/or a nail gun (then do I need a compressor?). Is there anything else that has been invaluable?

I've an existing slab, but it's a little low so I'm going to build a single block mini wall to raise the weather board up and away from the ground. Then 2x4 walls with 2x6 rafters, using breather felt instead of house wrap and OSB lined (I want it for storing homebrew as well as shed stuff). No idea on the roof material or cladding as of yet. Barrel board appeals along with something a bit sexier as it'll be right in view of the house all the time. I'll be lighting from the backside (sunside) I think, local salvage place has a massive selection of thin double glazing I'm going to use.

I do like the contrast on the charred wood - local woods has a charred monument that looks a bit green with mould be still tough as after 8 years or so.

Could you clad the fire door the same as the rest of the shed so it disappears a little?

[b]Saccades[/b] - I ummed and ahhed over the nailgun too. In the end I screwed all the 2x4 and predrilled/nailed all the cladding. I'm glad I went this route. The nailgun would have been a faff and expensive.

It would have probably saved me a day, but would have potentially lead to splits in the timber over time.

The circular saw is a complete must though. Obviously I have an angled wall, and custom lengths, but I'd recommend one even with a standard shed. Mine has been brilliant:
http://www.screwfix.com/p/evolution-rage3-s-210mm-sliding-compound-mitre-saw-240v/60839

Just had to get it all square before I started (lots of adjustment available on this model).

robdob - Member

Could you clad the fire door the same as the rest of the shed so it disappears a little?

After the door, came the front cladding.

I'll add the jamb later - as a separate piece.
Still deciding on whether the door jamb should be charred or not. Leaning towards doing it - I think I still have just enough gas!

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Those white things under the roof at the right are how I'm going to fill in the eaves. It's the roofing material. I think I'll just silicone them in. These are just test pieces placed in.

Isn't that normal glass a bit more of a security risk? Great shed, though - wish I could build something like that!

mogrim - Member

Isn't that normal glass a bit more of a security risk? Great shed, though - wish I could build something like that!

My house is pretty tiny (70sqm for family of 4), but at least we've got a little bit of outdoor space (albeit a bit gloomy).

Right, that's the Xmas pressie off the missus sorted and there appears to be a screwfix 2 minutes walk from my old mans place.

Result.

Time isn't really an issue with my build, I'm to be made redundent and I've loads of holiday to use up, so I'm roughly planning either this coming summer or 2015 to get a quality shed built whilst money isn't an immeadiate issue. Then cycle ireland top to bottom, then panic.

I'll use the mitre on future stuff, whereas I doubt I'd need a nail gun again but like you umming a bit.

Maybe - although my understanding it that toughened is still smashable - it just doesn't create sharp edges. I haven't direct experience though.

Good point, hadn't thought of that!

I'm roughly planning either this coming summer or 2015 to get a quality shed built whilst money isn't an immeadiate issue. Then cycle ireland top to bottom, then panic.

Last update for now (hopefully a little more progress over the weekend).

We want to destroy the old shed as it's taking up room and everything in it is getting damp now, so we switched focus to getting the floor done so we could put some shelves in.

Sanding half the floor at a time so we can put a couple of coats of OSMO Polyx oil on it.
A friend mentioned that he didn't think it would be the best floor finish for a shed, but we've got some. Any other opinions?

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Just done this with my build ( summerhouse ) and will put a hard-wearing clear-coat on afterwards.

Instead of pre-drilling my external cladding I used some [url= http://www.spax.com/uk/handymen/screw-finder/products/deck/spax-decking-screw-a2-bright/ ]these[/url], super quick and you can fix close to the end without fear of splitting the wood.

Picture of the floor...sanded - osmo -sanded Osmo....awaiting hardcoat.

[URL= http://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac50/tymbian/IMAG0529_zps053d1d0a.jp g" target="_blank">http://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac50/tymbian/IMAG0529_zps053d1d0a.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

I love spax stuff, their general purpose 4" screws are ace.

I'd put a hard coat over the oil to reduce stains sticking, ronseal diamondcoat works well on the steps/handy surface height thing I have.

So even though OSMO is a wax finish, other things go over the top ok?

should do. I'll let you know on monday.

I might have to do it tomorrow anyway.
BTW - that's an impressive khazi tymbian 😉

Such a awsome project I have one summerhouse that was here when we first moved in and a basic shed that's falling apart I'd love to build another larger shed in the space given when it collapses but I'm in a rented flat prob going to be here for another few years yet so may take project under way

Thanks for the nice comments folks. I think the end is in sight!
(maybe)
(already thinking of next project)

Remember reading this months and months ago. It looks great! Well done!

faz083 - Member

Remember reading this months and months ago. It looks great! Well done!

Funny thing is I can see the next project taking even longer!

Not read this thread for a while, good work sir!
Good effort with the roof, how much do those panels work out at?

granny_ring - Member

Not read this thread for a while, good work sir!
Good effort with the roof, how much do those panels work out at?

The actual sheets were £242.

3 off 4m x 1045mm
1 off 3m x 1045mm
1 off 2.5m x 1045mm

Glazing bars £81

All from www.capb.co.uk

You sure it's from there? 😉

Have gone with ply and felt for mine but will give this a thought next time round.

oops http://cabp.co.uk/

I can see why everyone goes with ply and felt. Plastic was a complete pain to install. It's still causing minor problems now (we installed on a hot day and it's now about 4mm shrunk per m width). The main joints are fine (designed to allow for it), but some of the capping has opened up to reveal ugliness.

It also took us 3 days in install (including rafters) - whereas felt would have taken 1-1.5. A lot of this was due to the angled wall though.

Now it's in I know I'd miss the light though.

You could always apply a security film to the glass. It'll hold the pieces together if a pane is smashed and should slow down the removal of the glass.

Yes, st - that's worth exploring. How transparent are they?

Some help required.
Wondering about ventilation/airflow/etc.

Do I need to actively create some vents?
I have the ability to completely seal the shed, but I don't know if this is a wise thing to do.
Obviously at times, there will be wet bikes in there.

What to do?
Is the bare timber cladding enough 'breathing' to mean I don't need anything?

I haven't got that far with mine yet, managed to cock up the felt roof somewhere and have a small leak which is delaying the inside from moving on with painting/varnishing the floor and insulating until that's fixed. 🙄

Get what you're saying about ventilation, not sure what's the best thing to do. After asking on here I used a breathable membrane with one inch batten to leave an air gap behind the feather edge boarding so plenty of ventilation there but inside the shed is pretty much draught free.
Interested in what those in the know suggest on what's needed too.

Bump - any help on ventilation?

Bump
I might get chance to work on the shed tomorrow, so any pointers on the ventilation thing would be great, ta.