replying to Adrian, Brian wrote:
adrian wrote:

Hi All
We bought ourselves a Yardmaster steel garage kit, more as a shed than
a garage, to house 'stuff' while we get ourselves sorted out after the
move to the South-West of Ireland.
In short - it's been a bit of a pain.
The thing is 10ft x 17ft when erected, but has been 'engineered' to
fit into 'courier-friendly' packagaing - so nothing's longer than
about 6ft. This means that many parts of the structure have to be
fabricated from smaller parts - everything held together by tiny
self-tapping screws.
The instructions made the cryptic crossword look simple g
Many of the panels and metal 'girders' were missing their punched
holes, and the holes for the self-tappers to 'bite' into were somewhat
variable in their size - so some screws were difficult to tighten
effectively. Water sealing is achieved (or not !) by plastic washers
under the self-tappers. Most of the holes didn't line up, and required
some effort to 'pull' the metal panels into place so that the screw
could be inserted. To add insult to injury - the kit came with three
time more plastic washers than you actuall need - but short by about
150 self-tapping screws ! Bah !
Anyway - finally got the thing together, and lined out inside with
polystyrene slabs to prevent condensation. Sadly - condensation isn't
an issue - the darn thing actually leaks like a sieve.
I've added some split-in-half foam insulation either side under the
apex, in case the rain's getting blown up the roof - but this doesn't
seem to have cured it.
So far, the only solution I can think of is to remove each of the tiny
self-tappers in the roof one by one and put them back with a dab of
clear mastic - as I can't see where else the rain can be getting in.
Not looking forward to this as a way of spending a day - but if that's
what it takes.....
Just wondered of anybody else has had the misfortune to buy one of
these things - and if they managed to make theirs watertight ??
Thanks in anticipation
Adrian


Hi Adrian. I've just erected a 10 x 6 Yardmaster shed and it's not bad. I
can suggest two reasons why your holes don't align - it's not the fault of
the manufacture. Firstly, as you know, the screws go through the large
hole into the small hole where they bite into the panel. But because the
large hole is larger than the screw shank you can put the panel a few
millimteres off the hole centre in any direction. This actually aids
assembly because it allows for some adjustment. The second reason is
distortion or twisting in any plane. If any strut or panel is not "square"
to its neighbours, or if the shed corners are not square or if the walls
are not vertical, then you will find that things get more and more out of
alignment as you continue with the assembly. That's why the large holes
are useful - to allow for some distortion. I found it best to fit the
screws loosely into each panel and then tighten them afterwards. That way
I had little difficulty with alignment. There were only a couple of design
mistakes where the large hole lined up over another large hole, so I used
the screw plates supplied for these.
Re the leaking, yes I have this problem in two places. I agree the plastic
washers do not sit flat on some of the roof panels and so water can get
beneath. This is made worse because it is possible for the two panels
being joined to end up in different parts of the screw thread, so their
surfaces aren't clamped tightly together and water can get in between and
down the screws.The screws have a deep thread so this is quite likely.
Machine screws would be better but they need nuts. I agree, sealant
required! I am also putting sealant around the inside of the base to
prevent water seeping in from outside. Do you have that problem?
Regards.

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