In article ,
Mary Fisher wrote:

Unfortunately many sheds DO evolve from slime and leftovers but they are
usually inefficient and ugly. I wish you well in your ambition to build a
shed and do stick around. There are some extremely knowedgeable people here,
and helpful and friendly ones. Peter is usually one such ...

And to slime they return ....

When we moved in, we had three sheds: the good, the bad and the ugly.

The last was an old chicken shed with a "foundation" of a single
layer of loose bricks - we demolished it with our bare hands, including
tearing the corrugated iron apart.

The second we used for years, as it leant over, yearning for the slime,
and burnt it a few years back. Its foundations were two layers of
loose bricks.

The third we moved, resoaked with creosote, reroofed and laid on paving
slabs and tanalised bearers. It was originally on poor-grade concrete,
which I broke up. At a guess, it is 50 years old and should last for
at least another 25, perhaps 50.

Because of this, I can't advise on buying sheds, but I can say that
not skimping on the foundations, preservative and roofing will make
a major difference to the life of a shed. Note that a foundation's
main purpose is to keep the ground wet away from the shed, and so
need only be a single layer of paving slabs and some 4"x2" heavily
treated bearers (yes, tanalised or equally toxic).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren,
University of Cambridge Computing Service,
New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QH, England.
Email:
Tel.: +44 1223 334761 Fax: +44 1223 334679