On Mon, 01 Sep 2003 12:07:08 +0100, PoP wrote:

Anyone built a shed from scratch? How'd it stack up price wise?

I recently costed the timber to make a good quality 8 X 6 shed. Timber from
timber merchant - not a DIY place. I was shocked when it came to approx.
£300. I decided to buy one instead - delivered and erected for not much
more than that. BTW the sheds in the likes of B&Q etc. are *not* good
quality - the cost of timber for one of those would probably be
considerably less.

HTH.
--
Regards,

Troy the Black Lab.

On Mon, 01 Sep 2003 12:07:08 +0100, PoP
wrote:

Took a trip to the local DIY sheds this morning. Whilst there I
decided to take a look at the prices for raw materials for building a
8x6 shed. Was slightly surprised at how cheap the planks they sell for
cladding are (about a fiver for five). The tongue and grooved cladding
seemed fairly thin (can't recall now - 9mm?), but presumably okay for
domestic shed use.

A very quick calculation suggests that I might be able to build a
half-decent 8x6 shed for under 150 quid. The going price of a ready
made shed is 200-300 quid (or more).

Anyone built a shed from scratch? How'd it stack up price wise?

PoP


Yes I have. I probably spent a little more on materials, but then I
made it using far more subtantial materials for both the framing and
the cladding.

For example

-100x50mm for framing rather than 38x38 or 38x25 as is typical for
bought products.

- 18mm TGV for cladding on top of 18mm ply

- 22mm flooring

If you have suitable tools, the assembly time can be quite fast as
well.




..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Yes I have. I probably spent a little more on materials, but then I
made it using far more subtantial materials for both the framing and
the cladding.

I am looking to buy a largish apex shed, about 3.5m x 2.4m (12ft x 8ft),
with the gable end being on an 8ft wall and double doors on the 12ft
section. Given that a decent quality bought one is over £1000, do you think
it is worth building one from scratch? What do you do for the roof
structure? I don't think I want ceiling joists, so how is the strength
obtained? (I am currently presuming that you just build the frame strong
enough that the rafters don't exert too much of a outwards load on the walls
anyway). I will be insulating and plasterboarding the interior.

How do you joint the framing? Skew nails? Timber connectors? Coach bolts? If
building myself, I'd probably use 18mm T&G cladding, 50x75mm studs with 50mm
Celotex or Jablite, 18mm plywood, 9.5/12.5mm vapour check plasterboard. The
interior plywood is so that I can screw anything to the wall through the
plasterboard without worries. It'd probably seriously stiffen the structure,
too. The plasterboard is because it looks nicer and I'm not too fond of
spiders and it is much easier to clean the cobwebs off!

I haven't been to a builder's merchant to price up yet, but I bet there
would be change from a grand (especially as insulation and interior boarding
is extra with the bought shed). What do you think?

Christian.

Christian McArdle wrote:

section. Given that a decent quality bought one is over ?1000, do you think
it is worth building one from scratch? What do you do for the roof

I looked into this and came to the conclusion that self building from
scratch was more appropriate for my needs. YMMV!

I did not think much of the quality of the ready made ones (especially
as I was looking for a room I could work in comfortably all year round
rather than a storage space). Also to make best use of the space I had
available for it, I needed a non standard shape. The final problem with
most ready made sheds I found was lack of height - I wanted something at
least 7'6 at the eves so as to accommodate my 6'3" of bulk, and still
let me handle 8' long materials without having to take them outside to
turn them round!

The whole story is recorded for your amusement he-

http://www.internode.ltd.uk/workshop/phase3.htm

(you can find links to plans and a list of materials there as well -
feel free to adapt/adopt/improve if you want!)

structure? I don't think I want ceiling joists, so how is the strength
obtained? (I am currently presuming that you just build the frame strong
enough that the rafters don't exert too much of a outwards load on the walls
anyway). I will be insulating and plasterboarding the interior.

I had six rafters (if you include those on the gable wall), and only
added cross members on two of these. I also placed them high into the
apex of the roof space so as to minimise the loss of working height.
This seemed to work very well since it gave an ideal place to mount two
of the strip lights I installed, while at the same time adding enough
strength to remove any outward thrust on the sides of the shed. As a
test of this theory it was quite able to support the weight of all the
(heavy) roofing materials and me -- which together I estimate exceeds
1/4 tonne! -- without any noticeable outward deflection of the sides.

How do you joint the framing? Skew nails? Timber connectors? Coach bolts? If

I created a butt joint and drilled through the uprights, level with each
noggin. I then used 4" x 12 Twinthread Quickscrews (screwfix) through
the upright into the end grain of the noggin (this was with 2x3 sawn
kiln dried framing timber). Two screws for each joint.

The addition of a triangulated bracing strut somewhere in each stud
wall, ensured the whole assembly was nice and rigid. (you will note that
I decided the original plans I drew were a bit over engineered in this
respect -- and used less cross members in actual construction)

building myself, I'd probably use 18mm T&G cladding, 50x75mm studs with 50mm
Celotex or Jablite, 18mm plywood, 9.5/12.5mm vapour check plasterboard. The

Pretty close to what I used - except I used 19mm shiplap in place of the
T&G. I did not bother with a vapour shield since the jablite seemed to
do the job well enough.

interior plywood is so that I can screw anything to the wall through the
plasterboard without worries. It'd probably seriously stiffen the structure,
too. The plasterboard is because it looks nicer and I'm not too fond of
spiders and it is much easier to clean the cobwebs off!

Might help keep noise in/out better as well! Must admit that the
interior ply I used looks quite nice now its had a couple of coats of
emulsion.

I haven't been to a builder's merchant to price up yet, but I bet there
would be change from a grand (especially as insulation and interior boarding
is extra with the bought shed). What do you think?

I think my one came out at a bit over that - but then there was probably
300 quids worth of electrics by the time you include the SWA cable to
the building, consumer unit, lights, dozen sockets, heating, extractor
fan (with hindsight - good idea!) etc. Don't underestimate the cost of
thing like wood preserver - that caught me out as I must have got
through 60 quids worth of that alone.

I found that going to a local builders merchant (Jewsons) with a big
list of parts also saved money because they gave various extra discounts
just because it was a large order.

Note that if you do the roof well that will cost a bit (although it will
far exceed the quality of a bought shed in that respect).


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/