Thanks to an excellent suggestion by Andy (Hall) I now have a fairly
good idea of the garden shed I'm looking to invest in - it's the
Malvern Bewdley Apex 8x6 or something close to it:

http://tinyurl.com/l53z

Berkshire Buildings (http://www.berkshirebuildings.ltd.uk/) have a
special deal on at the moment for this shed - £380 including delivery
and erection. Looking around the web that seems like a fair deal.

And as Andy advised, I would highly recommend Berkshire Buildings at
the Wyevale nursery east of Reading - they've got a fair sized area
with many different products available for inspection.

My previous experience of garden sheds is limited, and I am concerned
that being a wooden shed it will get damp in winter, which wouldn't be
good for garden tools, bicycles and what have you. So I'm looking for
suggestions about what I should and shouldn't be considering as the
shed is made habitable.

My initial thoughts are to have this shed installed on top of paving
slabs - we have a firm flat area of garden where the shed is going to
go, so the amount of ground preparation should be minimal (we are on
top of a hill so it never gets waterlogged in our garden). On top of
the paving slabs would be wooden bearers which have been treated, then
the shed on top of those. Just as an aside, we've got an adjacent
section of garden which has had paving slabs on for a good couple of
years, no sign whatsoever of movement.

BTW, the purpose of the paving slabs is primarily to keep the wooden
bearers out of the wet stuff - if the bearers were laid straight onto
turf then they would rot that much quicker (IMHO). I know bearers are
generally considered to be sacrificial in terms of re-usability.

Once the shed is up I would then be tempted to give it a damn good
dose of creosote substitute on the outside, so as to repel water. Not
sure if this is appropriate or not - I'm always suspicious of
pre-treated fencing and tend to take the attitude that you can't throw
too much preserver at something which is going to be open to all the
elements.

Have I missed anything obvious in getting the shed ready for use?
Obviously if applying treatment to the inside were recommended this
would be a lot easier when it is initially installed as it would be
completely empty, but I'm not considering that option presently.

Andrew

http://www.handymac.co.uk

In message , Andy Hall
writes
On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 20:36:15 +0100, Andrew McKay
wrote:

Thanks to an excellent suggestion by Andy (Hall) I now have a fairly
good idea of the garden shed I'm looking to invest in - it's the
Malvern Bewdley Apex 8x6 or something close to it:

http://tinyurl.com/l53z

Berkshire Buildings (http://www.berkshirebuildings.ltd.uk/) have a
special deal on at the moment for this shed - £380 including delivery
and erection. Looking around the web that seems like a fair deal.

It's getting towards the end of the season, I guess - that seems like
a reasonable deal as you say.

Yeah sounds fair to me, we paid 400 and a bit for a 10x6 a few years
ago.


My previous experience of garden sheds is limited, and I am concerned
that being a wooden shed it will get damp in winter, which wouldn't be
good for garden tools, bicycles and what have you.

You could insulate it inside.
This would make it feasible to use something like a small greenhouse
tubular heater with a thermostat to keep it dry.


We have garden hand tools in ours I can't say I've noticed any ill
effects on them. I know store be in the garage, but I once built a
little shed-let to store a bike for a couple of years - it didn't seem
to suffer any rusting etc. in those years - on modern bikes there isn't
actually that much that does rust really anyway. I think as long as it
is weathertight, off the ground and with a modicum of ventilation (not
hard with a shed...) then things are fine

My initial thoughts are to have this shed installed on top of paving
slabs -
On top of
the paving slabs would be wooden bearers which have been treated, then
the shed on top of those.

I did this for a lean-to shed that I made myself about 10 years ago.

I did similar, with the bearers resting on some concrete blocks. Has
lasted well so far

Once the shed is up I would then be tempted to give it a damn good
dose of creosote substitute on the outside, so as to repel water. Not
sure if this is appropriate or not - I'm always suspicious of
pre-treated fencing and tend to take the attitude that you can't throw
too much preserver at something which is going to be open to all the
elements.

I would tend to do the same and would use a solvent based product like
Cuprinol.


Yeah, I think the 'treatment' they give to sheds in next to worthless,
they all seem to recommend further treatment on site anyway. I used a
solvent based Cuprinol preserver, possibly the 'Decorative wood
Preserver' certainly the water-based ones aren't any use from the
preservative POV. I used a green one to go with the rest of the garden
woodwork - the colour has worn well and the shed hasn't rotted away yet
:-) If I had had the chance I would have treated the underside of the
floor

We also painted the inside of the shed white (with emulsion paint). It's
a much lighter and more pleasant place because of this.

If I was buying a shed again, I would try to erect it myself, even if I
paid the same price as for erecting. The quality of the shed was fine
(in terms of garden sheds anyway) but the erection let it down. Nothing
major, but little niggles - things easier to sort out than go to the
effort of getting them back to sort it. I

And on the topic of felt, the stuff they used was of fairly cheap
quality. And a couple of years later part came off in the wind. Next
time I would cover it with a better quality felt over the top to prempt
this. - because of course if the felt is going to go it will do it in
the middle of a wet winter period of course......
--
Chris French, Leeds

Andrew McKay wrote:

Hello Andrew

AM| BTW, the purpose of the paving slabs is primarily to keep
AM| the wooden bearers out of the wet stuff - if the bearers
AM| were laid straight onto turf then they would rot that much
AM| quicker (IMHO). I know bearers are generally considered to
AM| be sacrificial in terms of re-usability.

Just a thought, and what I've done with my wooden sheds, is to tack a
layer of DPM along the underside of the tanalised bearer so that even
if the blocks/paving gets wet then the wood doesn't soak up any of the
water and induce rot, or even transfer it to the shed itself. The
slabs have the added benefit of being able to get a level easier, too.

Also, ensuring any neighbouring vegetation doesn't block the sides
means that it keeps good airflow and things underneath stay a lot
drier.

AM| Once the shed is up I would then be tempted to give it a
AM| damn good dose of creosote substitute on the outside, so as
AM| to repel water. Not sure if this is appropriate or not - I'm
AM| always suspicious of pre-treated fencing and tend to take
AM| the attitude that you can't throw too much preserver at
AM| something which is going to be open to all the elements.

I agree.

AM| Have I missed anything obvious in getting the shed ready for
AM| use? Obviously if applying treatment to the inside were
AM| recommended this would be a lot easier when it is initially
AM| installed as it would be completely empty, but I'm not
AM| considering that option presently.

No point doing the inside, and if you're using creosote it won't be a
pleasant place to spend any time in for ages.

--
Simon Avery, Dartmoor, UK
uk.d-i-y FAQ: http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/

Arg wrote:

Yeah I agree with the idea of waterproofing the bearers by lying them on
something waterproof - I put mine on strips of roofing felt

How is the shed held down? Thinking of high winds.


[...] Also make sure
you do no block off access for air under the shed to prevent moisture and
damp problems.

Yup - the previous incumbent of my shed had paved and concreted right up to the
wood. Now the shed floor's knackered. Some of the bearers are nothing more than
a pile of crumbs.

Edwin
Bath.