Shed/Garden store WIP - Comp entry

[CWatters]

My oak posts and beam have arrived. Went to move a post today and found this on the pile..

 

[Digit]

Very nice picture.

Roy.

 

[TheTiddles]

Oh, I knew I left him somewhere...

Aidan

 

[RogerM]

Have now constructed two brick plynths to keep the front posts off the ground...

Hey - this is all a bit posh. This is looking like a really interesting project, and one from which I may shamelessly pinch some ideas, in addition to splitting a few infinitives!. Please keep the piccies rolling - great thread.

 

[CWatters]

Was asked elsewhere why the brick plynth is so tall. It's because the ground slopes. The one the other end is only three courses out of the ground.

There will eventually be a very low wall (more like edging) between the two brick plynths and a small India stone paved area under the overhang.

 

[CWatters]

The pressure treated softwood frame is going up. It's basically a box made from 4 x 4 with 4 x 2 studs. Will have a ply skin to stop racking before being clad. I decided to do half lapped mortice and tenon joints at the top corners (hope thats the right name). Probably shouldn't have bothered but it made it possible for me to assemble it on my own as the bits just slotted together. Photo shows a bottom joint:

 

[CWatters]

The 8 x 6 oak beam for the front eaves had quite a bend in it when delivered. (I believe the technical term is "sprung"). Anyway I decided it would stand being trimmed so the bottom was straight. Problem is my CS only has a 2.5" deep cut and the beam is 6" wide. Had to cut it from both sides and then run a hand saw down the middle to get the middle inch. I can't easily lift this beam which meant using a short saw borrowed from my wife. Finishing up with a hand plane took an hour. The cut might not look square in the photos but it is. Two wedge shaped bits were removed, one from each end. This was the first.

 

[TrimTheKing]

I'm enjoying this Colin, keep up the pics

Once question though, with such a lovely big beam I would have been tempted to leave the curve in to give it that 'rustic' look. Any reason why you wanted to cut it off, other than aesthetics, or would it have compromised your joinery?

 

[CWatters]

I have quite a lot of oak on my house and it's all "clean cut" rather than "rustic". The beam was actually curved in both planes. I've only straightened what will be the bottom face. The top and other faces will still be curved. Todays photos to follow in a few mins.

 

[CWatters]

Cutting the first mortice. It's 4"x2" and about 5" deep...

Rolling the beam over is a bit of a struggle. Have to keep reminding myself it will hurt if it falls on my toes.

It fits...

PS: No I didn't make the gate.

 

[DaveL]

Rolling the beam over is a bit of a struggle. Have to keep reminding myself it will hurt if it falls on my toes.

I think that is a big understatement of the issue. :shock:

 

[barbyndave]

Hi Colin,

How jealous am I!!!!!!!!

I Think I will need to re-think my current design... OMG...not again!

Only joking! It looks superb and you are a man after my own heart. I just wish my trouble & strife would see my vision for a workshop like yours.

Love the pics, please keep them coming!

Dave

 

[CWatters]

Discovered my first error today. I was originally going to space the studs at 600mm centers but at the last moment changed to 450mm to make it stronger. Now I've come to fix the WBP I've remembered why I was going to use 600mm....

Sheets of WPB are 4ft wide but 4ft is not a multiple of 450mm (4ft is roughly 1200mm). Means to get the joins to line up with a stud I'll need more sheets and possibly have more waste if I can't use the offcuts.

Boy was it hot today!

 

[CWatters]

I've been somewhat at the mercy of the weather for the past two weeks but have made a little progress.

The bulk of the frame has been completed and noggins added. The outside has been clad in 12mm WBP plywood and battens to space off the membrane installed. I will still need to do the gable ends the same way once the rafters go up.

I ended up screwing both the WPB and battens to the frame to keep the noise down. I tried using nails but the noise produced by the hammering was incredible. The WBP acts like a sounding board. Over 500 screws have been used so far! Later once the membrane has been fixed another lot of battens will be added to form an air gap behind the cladding.

This photo shows the water pipes that I installed when the slab was laid. One will be for the electric and the other for water probably. I got the position slightly wrong - a bit too far to the outside - but the end result will be fine. They come up in the air gap between the cladding and the WBP.

Finally holes have been drilled in the oak posts to take the stainless steel locating pins in the brick plynth. See earlier photos.

What I really need now is a favorable 5 day forecast so I can hire a roust-about or similar to lift the big beam into place. I want to try and install it, clean it up and get it painted with Danish Oil before it gets rained on.

 

[CWatters]

I went to buy a ridge board today. I believe they are normally around 6" x 1" or 7" x 1.25" but all the timber that sort of size locally was either banana shape or twisted. Decided to make life easier and go for 7" x 2" (actually 175 x 47mm) as they had some that was dead straight. The longest I can get on the car roof is about 4.6 meters and I need something like 6 meters so two bits and a splice it is. Managed to get this far before the rain and hail came down. Luckilly I discovered the tent I'm using as a workshop is just over 4.6 meters on the diagonal

 

[CWatters]

Today was the day of the big lift. My wife and I "walked" the big beam about 30 yards across the lawn and used a Genie Lift Advantage from Speedy Hire to lift it into place. It would probably have been slightly easier and safer had we used two (one on each end) but we took our time to get the beam balanced carefully before lifting and there were no problems.

I calculated the weight of the beam at under 200Kg based on the max density of oak and the known volume. It certainly felt heavy moving it across the lawn!. The Genie can lift 400Kg but that reduces to 180kg if the load is near the end of the standard forks so some care required. One minor problem is that the Genie doesn't quite lift straight up so it was a bit tricky to position it. I wasn't about to try moving it with that much weight up in the air.

As soon as the beam was lowered onto the posts some temporary blocks were screwed into place using Timberdrive screws.

A wall plate (of sorts) will be fixed to the top of the beam so that most of the beam will be exposed. The top of the beam has quite a curve to it so I will probably use short lengths of different thicknesses to level it and make it easier to cut the rafters.

With the oak nice and dry and rain forecast again I was keen to get it sealed so have already got two coats of Danish Oil on it. The first coat is normally diluted with white spirit to help it penetrate but I'm experimenting with using clear wood preserver instead at about 50:50. Subsequent coats on oak elsewhere on my house I've done at about 10:1 (eg 5L of Danish Oil to 0.5L wood preserver). The jury is still out but I'm hopeful this will help stop the mold spores coming back to life. More coats will follow over next few days hopefully.

and then there are the pegs to make.

 

[oddsocks]

Colin - first time I've seen this thread and am really impressed with the project and how you are tracking the progress - I have a nagging suspicion ( and she is getting louder) that I need to replace a shed - not as grand as yours but i'm now watching this with great interest to get ideas.

If you are able, can you give an indication of costs - e.g for the base, the tool hire, timber etc.

Also, did you find out why the planning office wanted those extra drawings?

Dave

 

[CWatters]

The extra drawings of the windows and doors are presumably to ensure I didn't put naff uPVC windows and doors with fake leaded lights in it!

 

[CWatters]

So far approx costs work out as follows. I've included VAT and Delivery.

Base

Digger, dumper, wacker plate and skip hire - £350
Hardcore, sand, DPM - £150
Concrete - £350
Formwork timber and sundaries (eg SS studs to fix frame down) - £50

Brick Pillars

Concrete included above.
Bricks, cut plynth bricks, lime mortar, tools, lead - £130

Frame

Frame, stud work, WBP plywood, rafters, joists, ridge beam, tile and wall battens - £875
Screws, nails, builders metalwork - £45
VP400 Permeable Membrane (1.5 x 50m) - £97

Oak

6000 x 200 x 150 structural oak beam
2000 x 150 x 150 structural oak posts (2) - Total £ 245
Genie lift hire - £88
Rustins 5L Danish oil - £40

Total to date £2420

Still to come

Oak cladding and fixings
Oak for windows and doors, glass
Roof tiles
Roof membrane
Guttering
India stone paving

 

[CWatters]

A wall plate (of sorts) will be fixed to the top of the beam so that most of the beam will be exposed. The top of the beam has quite a curve to it so I will probably use short lengths of different thicknesses to level it and make it easier to cut the rafters.

Proposed section something like...