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

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).

[img] [/img]

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).

[img] [/img]

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:

[img] [/img]

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[img] [/img]

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[img] [/img]

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).

[img] [/img]

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!

[img] [/img]

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?

[img] [/img]

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.