Hello Newbie Question

[virtualmeuk]

Hi all, Found this forum whilst searching for shed ideas and decided to join in the hope i can get some useful advice on building my ultimate man cave.

Bit of background about me and the idea. I am a structural steel fabricator and thus have access to cheap steel! Any fab work will be done by me in our workshop so again free labor. We also have access to Timber panel companies as we use a lot on our jobs.

The idea started when we ran out of room at home and i decided i wanted a bit of 'ME' space. I have a lot of hobbies (Drones, Bikes etc and at the moment i have everything stored at work and would like to get it home so i can work on it at the weekends.

The shed will be roughly 5.8m x 2.4m internal and 6 x 3 External (Small deck area out front) I have so far been through a number of ideas trying to keep costs down.
The latest incarnation is:-
Base
12 no. Concrete Blocks (6 no pads 2 blocks high) for the foundations.
Steel UB's (I sections) as a ring beam round all 4 sides
Steel Purlins (Joists)
Timber screwed to the underside of the purlins and the gaps filled in with rockwool

Floor
Visqueen Polythene Damp Proof Membrane
OSB 3 Standard Oriented Strand Board 11mm
3mm Combat Foam Underlay with Moisture Barrier
38mm High Density Particle Board (We buy an artic load monthly)

Walls (Unsure on this part)
Insulated Cladding Panels 100mm Thick with 60x60x6mm Angle in the corners and roof joints
Sawn Softwood Carcassing Treated Green 25mm x 50mm Inside and outside
Teckwood Composite cladding outside
12.5mm taper edge Plasterboard inside
Doors are recycled Patio doors from a mate who is a window fitter

Roof (Unsure on this part)
Insulated Cladding Panels 100mm Thick

Thats about where i am now. I am holding back on the walls and roof as i am unsure and have no experience with this stuff so not sure if it will do the job and if it will need more supports. I spoke to a cladding company and they say it will be fine but would rather get some advice from someone who is not trying to sell me something.

Any advice or experience from people would be great before i spend my hard earned cash on something that does not perform. I need this to be as dry as possible and as low maintenance as possible as there will be electronic devices in there.

Cheers

 

[RobinBHM]

I built a shed of similar size. For the base, I laid steel I beams on concrete pads. The pads comprise of holes dug in the ground deep enough to get down to firm ground. I actually made the pads about 450mm square and formed shuttering for each one for a level top.

Be careful to arrange the steelwork so there are no areas of thermal bridging or you may suffer from condensation.

 

[virtualmeuk]

Hi and thanks for the reply.

'Thermal Bridging' is something i know very little about. The walls will be built on top of the steel (Ring beam) I plan to attach some 3x1 onto the top of the beams and scoop out the Insulated panels so the 'slot' onto it and i can get a fixing into the timber on both sides. The floor will start about 30mm up the panels so the join will be under the lath and plasterboard.