anyone know anything about sheds?

mudcow007

i need a shed for the garden for a place to store things (escape from the mrs etc etc) just been looking through a few websites an there are so many options to choose from

waney paney

tounge & groove

featheredge

ship lap

whats the best material?

anyone know?

if it aint got wires i dont understand

UndercoverElephant

Ship lap is the Daddy. 8)

mudcow007

sweet cheers thanks

gtvlusso

Proper preparation prevents pi$$ poor performance with sheds.....

For my 9 x 9 workshop:

Built a base of 9' 10" sq stabilised with scalpings and laid paving slaps, did not cement the slabs as the shed needs to breath underneath - the floor rots otherwise.

Get it nice and level with a big spirit level - shed base should be around a foot bigger than the shed!

Tongue and Groove is the way forward. Stronger by design and less prone to water ingress. Get it built on your base and immidiately coat it in a timbercare product - assuming it is a lovely sunny day.

if you plan on sticking something heavy in their, line the floor with shipboard for strength. If you have any trees overhanging the shed, before you put the felt on, put a layer of waterproof sheeting (garden sheeting) - will protect the roof for longer.

My little workshop is now 7 years old, has no water ingress, has not rotted and is under a tree. I will re-paint it this year for the first time.

If you are planning to put power in their. Use SWA cable of an adequate diameter for the distance - either bury to 6ft or simply tack it to a fence or something!

Security:

Hinges and stuff, make sure you use those one way screws (the ones that cannot be undone). If their are windows, board them up from the inside with chipboard. Any outside fittings like bolts - I would back them on the inside with chipboard, i.e. screw through the pine with long screws or bolts into chipboard behind. - very easy to prize a bolt off with a jemmy bar through pine.

I also have 2 iron bars across the doors so that the doors cannot be removed without serious hassle.

Most insurers insist on 5 lever padlocks.

mudcow007

gtvlusso wrote:

Proper preparation prevents pi$$ poor performance with sheds.....

For my 9 x 9 workshop:

Built a base of 9' 10" sq stabilised with scalpings and laid paving slaps, did not cement the slabs as the shed needs to breath underneath - the floor rots otherwise.

Get it nice and level with a big spirit level - shed base should be around a foot bigger than the shed!

Tongue and Groove is the way forward. Stronger by design and less prone to water ingress. Get it built on your base and immidiately coat it in a timbercare product - assuming it is a lovely sunny day.

if you plan on sticking something heavy in their, line the floor with shipboard for strength. If you have any trees overhanging the shed, before you put the felt on, put a layer of waterproof sheeting (garden sheeting) - will protect the roof for longer.

My little workshop is now 7 years old, has no water ingress, has not rotted and is under a tree. I will re-paint it this year for the first time.

If you are planning to put power in their. Use SWA cable of an adequate diameter for the distance - either bury to 6ft or simply tack it to a fence or something!

Security:

Hinges and stuff, make sure you use those one way screws (the ones that cannot be undone). If their are windows, board them up from the inside with chipboard. Any outside fittings like bolts - I would back them on the inside with chipboard, i.e. screw through the pine with long screws or bolts into chipboard behind. - very easy to prize a bolt off with a jemmy bar through pine.

I also have 2 iron bars across the doors so that the doors cannot be removed without serious hassle.

Most insurers insist on 5 lever padlocks.

muchas gracias!

fantastic info i havent been able to find anything thats says "this is stronger" whilst "this is cheaper" type thing

i dont think i will be running power to it but will be running a PIR so i can alarm it with my house alarm (makes me feel a bit reassured should some scrote try to break in during the night)

the iron bars you have do that go across the door frame so you cant open it? i see them somewhere an im going to get them aswell i think. i understadn that you can never stop soemone getting in but you can make it as hard as possible

rjsterry

gtvlusso wrote:

Proper preparation prevents pi$$ poor performance with sheds.....

For my 9 x 9 workshop:

Built a base of 9' 10" sq stabilised with scalpings and laid paving slaps, did not cement the slabs as the shed needs to breath underneath - the floor rots otherwise.

Get it nice and level with a big spirit level - shed base should be around a foot bigger than the shed!

Tongue and Groove is the way forward. Stronger by design and less prone to water ingress. Get it built on your base and immidiately coat it in a timbercare product - assuming it is a lovely sunny day.

if you plan on sticking something heavy in their, line the floor with shipboard for strength. If you have any trees overhanging the shed, before you put the felt on, put a layer of waterproof sheeting (garden sheeting) - will protect the roof for longer.

My little workshop is now 7 years old, has no water ingress, has not rotted and is under a tree. I will re-paint it this year for the first time.

If you are planning to put power in their. Use SWA cable of an adequate diameter for the distance - either bury to 6ft or simply tack it to a fence or something!

Security:

Hinges and stuff, make sure you use those one way screws (the ones that cannot be undone). If their are windows, board them up from the inside with chipboard. Any outside fittings like bolts - I would back them on the inside with chipboard, i.e. screw through the pine with long screws or bolts into chipboard behind. - very easy to prize a bolt off with a jemmy bar through pine.

I also have 2 iron bars across the doors so that the doors cannot be removed without serious hassle.

Most insurers insist on 5 lever padlocks.

On the locking front, better still get one with a proper lock fitted to the inside of the door (i.e. like a normal front door) rather than an exposed padlock. Also, I think most decent sheds are now designed so that all the fixings are on the inside, so no exposed bolt/nail heads (bar the odd bit of trim).

SimonAH

I like shiplap. Built my daughter's treehouse from tannelised shiplap and it's still perfect four years on.

However, I also suggest lining any shed that is to be used to hide in with foil backed Jabolite (expanded polystyrene),

davis

SimonAH wrote:

However, I also suggest lining any shed that is to be used to hide in with foil backed Jabolite (expanded polystyrene),

+1. Nicer temperature all year round.

UndercoverElephant

mudcow007 wrote:

fantastic info i havent been able to find anything thats says "this is stronger" whilst "this is cheaper" type thing

Feather-edge and waney paney are probably the same things, thin layers of pine which overlap like so:



The wood is thin and there's nothing to stop the water getting in if the wind blows. Suitable only for cheap SSOs (shed-shaped objects).

Tongue and groove is like a floorboard, the planks have a notch in one edge and a groove in the other, so they fit together. Both the tongue and the groove are in the centre of the edge. This is better as the wood is thicker, but for outdoor applications, it's prone to decay as the water finds it harder to escape when it stops raining.



Ship lap is like a one-sided tongue and groove, as the rebate and the edge are at the inner edge of the plank, this keeps the water out but has better ventilation than T&G.

gtvlusso

Couple of other suggestions:

For added security.

Pre drill the slabs and mount threaded bars set into concrete - when you build the shed, drill holes in the floor to allow the threaded bars through. Then bolt down a cycle stand - the thing is completely immovable and allows you to safely stand your bikes up and chain them to the stand.

Your insurers will state that the bike must be locked to an immovable object - a shed is considered moveable. However, if you bolt the cycle rack to concrete, there is nothing they can do.

For the iron bars that I have (doors are always the vulnerable point) - I used ground anchors mounted each side of the door, screwed into chipboard backing - the screws are not visible. 2 big iron bars with a hole drilled in each end and a padlock through the hole.

Shiplap is as good as tongue and groove to be honest....Not much in it.

Like I said, preparation is everything.

flimflam_machine

You can avoid the hassle of laying a concrete base by getting one of these:

http://www.ecobase.biz/

Just scalp the lawn and flatten it out, then put the ecobase together and (if you want to) fill it with gravel. Dead easy and saves you having to mix concrete and haul slabs around. You can also use them on an existing concrete slab to aid drainage and stop your shed rotting from the bottom up. My 8 x 6 is dead solid and shows no sign of damp problems. I highly recommend them!

My vote is for T&G, seems to be good and strong and T&G floors and ceilings give a nice feeling of solidity over the usual chipboard/OSB stuff.

For security I bought a standard oxford bike chain with the nice long oval links. I cut a hole in the floor exactly width of a link next to one of the floor joists. I then poked the end link through and bolted it to the adjacent joist ( I think M12 fitted through the chain link). To get anything that is locked to the chain out I figure that the toerag in question will either have to cut the lock or chain, or cut a hole in the floor either side of the joist (while the bikes are on top of it) to cut or unscrew the bolt. You could perhaps do something even more secure with a long piece of threaded rod.

Preparation is indeed everything. Get your base decently flat, paint anything that needs painting and then make sure you know what goes where before starting out. An electric screwdriver/drill will make life much easier and a hand plane is also useful for smoothing edges and making sure that everything fits and the doors close nice and cleanly.

Edit: you could also improvise gtvlusso's suggestion with an ecobase by laying a large metal plate or single slab below the ecobase and bolting a threaded rod through it. That way a thief would have to cut the rod or pull the plate/slab clean through the base. Ultimately you only have to make it harder to defeat than your D-lock.

Jay dubbleU

Sooner or later everything will be invented by men in sheds