To shed or not to shed, that is the question...

[LancsRick]

I'm really starting to struggle with having my workshop confined to a small single garage, so I've been looking at options to expand. I don't want to go down the extension route as my house layout would make it very complicated, so I've been looking at sheds.

My current thinking is to put a shed (probably 12'x8') behind the garage, on a base built by myself, insulate with polystyrene blocks and cover with OSB, and run power to it via a short (<3m) catenary setup (regs permitting, haven't checked them yet).

So in the course of shed shopping, I've found the link below - does anyone have any experience of these guys?

http://www.shedstore.co.uk/garden-sheds ... ed-12-by-8

Any comments on my scheme and/or the supplier I've found would be gratefully received.

Cheers,

Rick

 

[RobinBHM]

The frame section at 28mm x 28mm seems small, but then its a very good price for the size. You could always add some bigger studs if you find it a bit too creaky.

 

[transatlantic]

My advice :

Do not order a shed you have not seen in person!!! ... a lot of the cheap stuff is utter rubbish and you'll absolutely regret not spending an extra few hundred and getting something decent. Not saying the one you linked is poor, but to me it looks like more of a garden storage shed than solid workshop. The sort of thing you see in your local box stores.

Take the time to visit your local show room and get a feel for it.

If you have the budget, also seriously consider going all out and getting a log cabin.
https://www.quick-garden.co.uk/log-cabi ... -34mm.html

 

[heimlaga]

28x28mm frame :shock:
I would not frame a shed like that with anything less than rough sawn 2x3" just because thinner sections cannot hold all the necsessary nails without cracking. Softwood siding that is going to last has to be minimum 7/8" thick and nailed with 3" galvanized nails.

Up here we get a lot more snow so we must build solid frames to carry the snow load...... but even without snow loads your insulation will weigh a bit and you need walls strong enough to carry your tools and some shelves......and keep thieves out.

To me that shed looks awfully cheap. You can hardly get more than half the necsessary timber for a shed at that price point so no wonder they take shortcuts.

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

Stud work needs to be at least 2x3 really or it won't last. Can you not build it yourself from scratch?

 

[owsnap]

I hate sheds with pasion, mostly because of the way they look, sure it's just meh looking once it's brand new, let it weather for a few months and you got a pile of ugly looking wood in your yard.. those log cabins do look Ok however and are much sturdy.
btw it's 2.37x3.50m can you even turn around comfortably in such a small space?

why not go all out and make one of those proper ''sheds'' -garden offices?

not even that expensive to build nor really hard if you can source some reclaimed/cheaper materials and used cheap/free patio doors etc..

 

[LancsRick]

Thanks guys.

@ComfortablyNumb - Yes I can, but before I start designing and pricing something up myself I wanted to see what the market had to offer.

Sounds like I might be needing to design and price up a shed of my own I guess. Simple idea might not be the quick fix I had planned .

As always, thanks for the advice.

 

[owsnap]

btw I visited someone who has a ''shed'' like that few months ago, really liked how they had done it.
Priced it up myself how much it would cost me in materials and it was around £2.2k for a 20m2 one.
more or less identical to something like this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/7m-x-4m-Cedar ... Sw7ThUprQQ

that is.. If I sourced used patio doors/windows off ebay for couple hundred £ & used rockwoll as insulation between the stunds instead of the crazy expensive Panel stuff.
If you finish it good enough you will be sad to even use it as a workshop but will want to move in to live in there

get some used air-air heat pump and you can use it as a normal house in winter as well, except you don't need planing permissions to build one as it's a ''shed''

 

[transatlantic]

£2.2k?

Seems a tad low.

 

[heimlaga]

When I needed a storage shed with good ventilation on a super tight budget this was what I ended up with.

The total cost was somewhere around 300 euros....... it is 4x4 metres.

Unfortunately you live in a country where standing timber is neither cheap nor plentiful so you cannot follow this route..... but I just want to illustrate how money can be stretched to go further than you think.

 

[owsnap]

When I needed a storage shed with good ventilation on a super tight budget this was what I ended up with.

The total cost was somewhere around 300 euros....... it is 4x4 metres.

Unfortunately you live in a country where standing timber is neither cheap nor plentiful so you cannot follow this route..... but I just want to illustrate how money can be stretched to go further than you think.

Now that's a proper shed! =D>

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Finland, Finland, Finland, that's where I want to be, not far from Norway, quite far from ... :lol:
(Sorry - absolutely no insult intended )

 

[owsnap]

£2.2k?

Seems a tad low.

Fairly positive I did calculations to the last screw as I want to build one when I will have a couple of months free time to do it.
as previously mentioned that is with cheaply sourced/ some 2nd hand materials, If you wanted to go to b&poo and buy the materials on the spot it would probably be 3x the price just in the materials.
Also you have to put some kind of value in about 2months of your time to build&finish such a ''shed'' as well hence people charge nearly £20k to build it for you. The only thing that's expensive in that ''shed'' are the windows/doors and your time to do it, if you can take care of those 2 you can do it fairly cheap.


Edit. Just found where I had written down the rough costs for a 20m2 build.


200mm loft roll insulation/vapour barrier - £180
6x2 timber for all frame -£550
base - £200
plasterboard/plastering- £200
shiplap for outside/roofing material/small deck - £600
osb for floor base x2 and average laminate flooring/underlay -£450
used patio doors/windows- £200
paint/electricity/screws/fixings-£400
petrol/some other stuff-£250

total close to £3k ,not sure why I remembered £2.2k but that's with extra materials calculated inside and could shave some more somewhere and that's the max i would spend on each position,however most likely it would cost less in the end depending how/where I source the materials and would come closer to the £2.2k than the 3k.


of course it's way way way more than the £450 budget for the OP and way way way more work to do, but you get something totally different for that.

 

[Ttrees]

Have a look at car ports with arched polycarbonate roofing .
We have also put in walls and windows and it makes a really lovely environment to work in
And does not seem cold , although I haven't spent any time working in it at winter .
Sounds like its gonna be dark ,even at a standard 10' x 13' .
'

 

[lurker]

, except you don't need planing permissions to build one as it's a ''shed''

Don’t go making statements about stuff you don’t understand, even a rough old 6 X 4 shed from B&Q has to comply to the building regulations.
In the UK most of us have little land to play with and it’s a pretty lucky person who could build a “shed” like that, not because of the cost but because of the footprint and distance from the boundary, and that one would certainly need approval by the building control officer if not planning permission.
You are in the UK (evident from your forays into sainsburys, morrisons screwfix etc), you have to abide by the UK laws same as the rest of us.
Obviously things in the land of make believe it might be a whole lot different.

 

[morfa]

That shed will be complete carp. I think my shed was £1200. And tbh it's not the best. Wish I'd built it myself, but at the time I was in a rush and 'needed' a shed.

 

[lurker]

OP,

What about getting a basic shed as a simple storage area to free up space in your (I assume brick built) garage.
then spend any dosh on making the garage comfortable.

 

[Benchwayze]

My advice :

Do not order a shed you have not seen in person!!! ... a lot of the cheap stuff is utter rubbish and you'll absolutely regret not spending an extra few hundred and getting something decent. Not saying the one you linked is poor, but to me it looks like more of a garden storage shed than solid workshop. The sort of thing you see in your local box stores.

Take the time to visit your local show room and get a feel for it.

If you have the budget, also seriously consider going all out and getting a log cabin.
https://www.quick-garden.co.uk/log-cabi ... -34mm.html

+1

It doesn't look very good, even in the photograph. The framing does need to be meatier for a 12 x 8 shed. The bigger the area of the shed walls, the more wind pressure you're going to have; like fences; even when regularly maintained with preservative, the constant wind pressure over the years is the thing that eventually does for a shed. Cost it out for timber, making it yourself. You might as well do that if you find you need reinforcement after purchase!

HTH

 

[owsnap]

, except you don't need planing permissions to build one as it's a ''shed''

Don’t go making statements about stuff you don’t understand, even a rough old 6 X 4 shed from B&Q has to comply to the building regulations.
In the UK most of us have little land to play with and it’s a pretty lucky person who could build a “shed” like that, not because of the cost but because of the footprint and distance from the boundary, and that one would certainly need approval by the building control officer if not planning permission.
You are in the UK (evident from your forays into sainsburys, morrisons screwfix etc), you have to abide by the UK laws same as the rest of us.
Obviously things in the land of make believe it might be a whole lot different.

I meant as in the building regs are all met and you have plenty of land do actually do it! #-o
& Yes it's just criminal how little land everyone here has

 

[Benchwayze]

I can't speak for where you live, but here in the West Mids, it's just a case of going online and checking out the regulations for a shed.
In my case it has to be at least 15 metres from my house, (if it's a wooden shed) and 5 metres from my boundary walls. Also it must be no more than 2.2 metres in height at its highest.

If I obeyed all the distances I couldn't have a shed at all. Even my fair sized garden isn't big enough to put a shed at all compliant distances from boundaries! Who wants a shed right in the middle of their garden? :mrgreen: