On 26/01/2012 16:31, Rod wrote:
On Jan 26, 1:56 pm, wrote:
Time has come to put a shed in our small garden for storage and
occasional whittling. 8x6 should do it nicely and this style looks just
the job:

http://www.tigersheds.com/product_de...d=7&option=428

Couple of questions:

There seems to be quite a range in price and specification. Local garden
centres (Derbyshire) are roughly double, for example, although these
include assembly. On which:

How difficult are these to assemble? All looks quite straightforward to
me from the guides.

Thanks, Rob

How handy are you?

Fairly - bit slow nowadays but get there eventually.
How long do you want it to last?

10 years I suppose, more would be a bonus.

Can you afford more?

Well, we'd budgeted £500, but money's a bit tight so any savings on the
budget ill find a home.


The reason I ask is that most commercially made sheds are of very
light construction, not very secure and aren't made to last. I've just
helped to move one from a neighbours house and at 7 years old the
floor was starting to rot.
Floors and roofs are often made of chipboard or osb board and they
will not tolerate any wetness at all. (I replaced an old one I
inherited when we moved here and the roof literally fell apart around
my head when I was dismantling it to the extent that I just shovelled
up the shreds into waste bags - there was nothing solid left at all)

Yes - the floor is something I've looked at. The one linked to has
'thick tongue and grooved floorboard in the floor and roof sections and
contains NO cheap sheet materials such as OSB or chipboard'.

So - If you are reasonably competent with a handsaw, tape measure,
spirit level and cordless screwdriver (use Spax screws instead of
nails) and you can double your budget then make your own. That size
shouldn't take more than about a week to build.

Ah - don't really have that amount of time to commit.

You'll be using better heavier materials like heavier roofing felt,
building paper or 'Tyvec' membrane lining. The roof and floor will be
solid wood tongued and grooved boards, the main structural components
will be 3"x2" tanalised timber and you should be able to get tanalised
shiplap for the cladding.
You need a good firm base of concrete flags or concrete, and sit the
shed floor on 3x2 tanalised bearers to keep the base of the shed well
away from any water.

Yes, good thinking. I'll spend some time on the foundation. But as I
say,cost and time are factors right now. The immediate need is storage -
bikes and tools and bits of wood and . . . it goes on!

For the design, just go round the showgrounds with a tape and notebook
but upgrade the timbers as I have described.
Your local builders' merchants will sell all you need but take the
same shopping list around at least a couple of merchants.
You will get a much better shed that will be more secure, more
weatherproof and last for very many years.

Agreed, can't argue; parsomony, pragmatism, time and laziness I'm
afraid. But food for thought. Thanks for the insight.

Rob