Building a shed in Finland

[DennisCA]

OK I am working of the roof now. Been having rain on and off recently and one incredible downpour. Really puts a crimp in working outdoors.

The material I have is not long enough to make one single purlin and the first attempt I made to extend it was kinda clumsly, so instead I decided to use my pantorouter, once set up it's quite fast to make a box joint, with polyurethane glue that should be stronger than the wood. One thing to keep in mind is try and get the joints at different places.

 

[pe2dave]

The 'pantorouter' looks quite ingenious!
Are you following a hand made example?

 

[DennisCA]

You haven't heard of the pantorouter? I built it from plans I bought at woodgears.ca - bought the plans in 2017 and promptly never built it.

Good thing I finally shaped up in 2020 and built it, the plans had gotten updated then too and everyone who buys the plans gets the updates free.

I made a template that you cannot see on the photo that is 2x the real size and also takes in the size of the follower. It's a bit tricky but once the template is done, then it's forever ready. Just a bunch of plywood pieces glued & screwed together.

Can make all sorts of crazy shapes if you want to, like a tenon and mortise in the shape of your name if you really wanted to go crazy with it.

 

[pe2dave]

Based on Pantograph?
Twice real size for your joinery? The joint does look good.
Saw this (and a C13 precursor) which impressed me.
I hope yours lasts as well as the C13 one
Building is coming on nicely. Think you will finish it before winter?

 

[DennisCA]

The pantograph is the central mechanism yeah, here's a video from the creator


The cool thing about the 2x factor is that it means any errors in your template are also reduced by 2x.

I plan to have the roof finished and then I will put up sheeting (bitumen impregnated, cheap and will last a winter or longer), that's how far I believe I can get before winter. Then I will have time to breathe and figure out how to source the material for the paneling. It's real expensive.

 

[pe2dave]

An excellent video @DennisCA - worthwhile for the techniques used, if not the entire design.
Thank you.

 

[DennisCA]

Fiance just sent this picture. Got the roof materials and sheet materials for the walls. I am in a hurry to get everything up because the material is developing black mold. I am wondering if I need to prioritize the roof or the walls.

The plastic I got now is keeping the inside relatively dry but I have no eaves for the gables yet so they are still exposed and get wet. So I could put on the roof first and the gables would be better protected. Or I put up the walls first, they are water proof bitumen impregnated sheets so they would also protect the walls from rain and splashing.

I want to treat the structure with mold killer, preferrably something that soaks into the wood and prevents it coming back. I am not sure what to use, there is copper sulfate, iron vitriol (used on wooden paneling a lot here) and commercial solutions, pine tar also kills mold well, but it makes the surface sticky until it dries, which at this time of year is never. There are also some silicate based stuff.

I suppose if I want to clean off the existing mold I should go for the roof first so I can scrub the wood with mold cleaning agent, would be harder with the sheeting in place. So I am leaning towards the roof first.

 

[pe2dave]

Logically get the roof on first? If needed you could hang polythene down the sides to give some protection.
I've no experience with black mold.

 

[clogs]

Dennis,
I was always tought get the roof done first ....after that nothing matters.....
plus thanks for the Pantorouter vid......might never make one tho.....
2 things from the vid...
1, how much do I miss my bandsaw...
2, glad there are people out there with the time to make utube vids......

 

[DennisCA]

Put up the roof panels today, still gotta work on the "drop lists" or edge panels or what one calls them. Got the back up but I found I need to take them down and adjust. I will get that as ready as possible before it's time to attach the ridge panel. I am not sure, I might need to return it, test fits make it look pretty narrow, I might need a wider model.

 

[pe2dave]

That will keep a lot of rain off the wood work.Need a ridge covering too?

 

[DennisCA]

I started putting up the sheeting today, can't really proceed with the ridge plate just yet so I might as well do this until I get on to that stage of the project.

Didn't get everything up but most of it. I will be laying a puzzle with the smaller bits for the stuff high up later on. Ideally you should use as large sheets as possible, but it's not an ideal situation I am working from. At least now I think the structure is mostly protected.

 

[pe2dave]

You do work quickly!

 

[DennisCA]

Slowed down a lot because I had to wait for the ridge plate to be made. I also made a ladder that hooks over the ridge, which I used to get up there and screw it in place.

A few screws left but I have to move the whole scaffold so I can reach it safely.

 

[clogs]

nearly ready for winter......good show....

 

[MARK.B.]

Looking great,liking your work ethic ,need a scaffold- just knock one up from a few off cuts-need a roof ladder and hey presto one appears.3 questions for you the first two are related, Ice cream in Finland and i think i saw a swimming pool in one picture, does is get warm enough for both on a regular basis?. The third one is you say you bought impregnated 2x4 timbers and i was wondering when they will give birth and what size would you expect the little timbers to be

 

[DennisCA]

Sure we have one, maybe two months on a hot year. In june temperatures begin to climb to 20-25C and in July we've had several days over 30C. Once august hit though temperature plummets sharply and we're happy for a day over 20C. Last morning it was 2C and today a warmer 10C. Soon we'll have regular night frosts.

The impregnated stuff was bitumen sheets and that I guess is a direct translation of what we call stuff that's been treated with something, like timber. Bitumen treated sheets perhaps?

 

[DennisCA]

Progress again after winter! Finally got some facade boards, 200 meters of mixed 125x22mm and 150x22mm. That's 5 and 6 inch wide boards by 7/8". It's not enough but what I was able to get at the local sawmill, 1€/m.

Good thing I bought a trailer. And yes it's well balanced, removed the trailer from the car and with a little force I was able to balance it with one hand.

Unloaded, this weekend I'll start putting them up.

I will be mixing 125 and 150 widths randomly for a more living appearance. That's how they used to do it, boards placed vertically with a rib covering the joins. This is called a "lockläkt" facade, some examples:

I wil be using a matching color to my other buildings though.

 

[davethebb]

Dennis, I have just read your full thread. What a great project. I like the way you think things through - I have a bad back and like you have to be very careful in what I do and also consider the amount of work each day. I am mid-way through my build and find I spend more time working out the easiest way of doing things (re my back) than sometimes doing the task. The cladding will look great.

 

[DennisCA]

I bought a full sheet today of 19mm MDF (plywood was too expensive, 75€ for a 15mm sheet, 18mm construction was out of stock) and I am going to be doing some prep work, since I have a lot of cutting to be doing I decided it was time to finally buy a miter saw. And I found a decent one, an ELU PS-174:

Yeah I'm not one to buy new tools for the most part...

So that's what I am gonna do with the MDF, a basic miter saw stand so I get some support for the boards I will be cutting up. MDF is not very weather resistant though, but it can be oiled to help with that. And of course today it finally rained and a lot and I don't have a cover for my trailer so I had to buy a tarp and wrap it up, then be very quick getting it in the shop. Some drops got on it, fortunately the rain stopped almost completely once home, so I hope no damage done. So I'll be doing this before doing any facade work.