Starting a workshop
- Thread starter The Gent
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The Gent
Established Member
I had to go back to the wood yard first thing this morning as we were a little short, thankfully now that I am a regular he will open up for me.
We started pretty well but had some problems keeping the roof in square after the second sheet of ply went up. Given that I bought a mixture of new and reclaimed ply we had to modify the tongue and grooves which slowed us down quite a bit.
There are a couple of little gaps in the ply some of the front frames but they will be covered up with some timber strips. The whole thing is about a foot off the floor at the front which is good to keep some air flowing around to stop anything rotting, but it looks a little bit oppressive at the moment. I guess once I get some timber stain on there it will sit a little bit more comfortably.
We even had some sun at one point.
Does anyone have any knowledge about getting some electricity out here. The structure is around 5 meters away from the kitchen and even further away from the main fuse box. I was planning on calling a sparky in the next week or so but I was wondering if there was anything I could do to prepare to keep the costs down, however thinking rationally this is far too important to get wrong.
Any advice?
p.s. nobody spotted the Spongebob Squarepants mug in yesterdays photo's
We started pretty well but had some problems keeping the roof in square after the second sheet of ply went up. Given that I bought a mixture of new and reclaimed ply we had to modify the tongue and grooves which slowed us down quite a bit.
There are a couple of little gaps in the ply some of the front frames but they will be covered up with some timber strips. The whole thing is about a foot off the floor at the front which is good to keep some air flowing around to stop anything rotting, but it looks a little bit oppressive at the moment. I guess once I get some timber stain on there it will sit a little bit more comfortably.
We even had some sun at one point.
Does anyone have any knowledge about getting some electricity out here. The structure is around 5 meters away from the kitchen and even further away from the main fuse box. I was planning on calling a sparky in the next week or so but I was wondering if there was anything I could do to prepare to keep the costs down, however thinking rationally this is far too important to get wrong.
Any advice?
p.s. nobody spotted the Spongebob Squarepants mug in yesterdays photo's
The Gent
Established Member
Underground is my preference.
Ateallthepies
Established Member
Usual way would be to run an armoured cable from the fuseboard to the shed either underground or clipped to a wall/fence or a combination of the two.
The cable will need to be 600mm deep if buried.
Then you need to think what kind of load you will be drawing to determine the size of armoured needed. As the run is not far you won't need to worry about volt drop.
From memory so I may be a little out, 2.5mm 3 core armoured will take 30 Amps and 4mm 3 core will take 40 Amps.
The shed supply will need to be protected by a 30mA RCD. If your fuseboard does not already have an RCD then one will need to be provided at the supply end. The shed will need to be on it's own MCB, 2.5mm cable will be a 30 A breaker, 4mm cable will need a 40 A breaker. If there is no spare ways in your fuseboard then a seperate switch-fuse will be needed.
In the shed, a small fuseboard with however many ways would be best with lighting, sockets and heaters on their own MCB's, 6,32 and 20 A respectively.
However, if your not planning on needing much power then spuring off an existing socket is fine but you will be limited to 13 Amps.
HTH,
Steve.
The cable will need to be 600mm deep if buried.
Then you need to think what kind of load you will be drawing to determine the size of armoured needed. As the run is not far you won't need to worry about volt drop.
From memory so I may be a little out, 2.5mm 3 core armoured will take 30 Amps and 4mm 3 core will take 40 Amps.
The shed supply will need to be protected by a 30mA RCD. If your fuseboard does not already have an RCD then one will need to be provided at the supply end. The shed will need to be on it's own MCB, 2.5mm cable will be a 30 A breaker, 4mm cable will need a 40 A breaker. If there is no spare ways in your fuseboard then a seperate switch-fuse will be needed.
In the shed, a small fuseboard with however many ways would be best with lighting, sockets and heaters on their own MCB's, 6,32 and 20 A respectively.
However, if your not planning on needing much power then spuring off an existing socket is fine but you will be limited to 13 Amps.
HTH,
Steve.
devonwoody
Established Member
Steve, your suggestion of using a 2.5 or 4 amp cable. (or is that single core cable?)
How many bits of equipment could be run at the same time using that cable?
How many bits of equipment could be run at the same time using that cable?
Ateallthepies
Established Member
It's 2.5 and 4 mm square cable not Amp cable. Both would be a three core cable.
The 2.5mm cable will take 7 KW and the 4 mm will take a little over 9 KW.
If you wanted to draw these kinds of power constantly with whatever cable you choose and the run to the shed was long like over 20-30 yards or more, you would have to start thinking of going to the next size cable up so if you wanted to draw 30 Amps (7 KW) I would put in a 4mm cable and if you wanted 40 Amps (9 KW) I would go to a 6mm cable.
This is to allow for volt drop along the run but really only concerns us on longer runs like a shed supply at the end of a long garden that will have lots of power used.
There are calculations that can be done to correctly determine the right size of cable needed for a particular situation but is only really needed if the run gets very long. For short runs just find out the power you will be using and match to a cable rating. There is never any harm in going to the next size up cable except cost as this gives future uprating capabilities if needed.
HTH,
Steve.
The 2.5mm cable will take 7 KW and the 4 mm will take a little over 9 KW.
If you wanted to draw these kinds of power constantly with whatever cable you choose and the run to the shed was long like over 20-30 yards or more, you would have to start thinking of going to the next size cable up so if you wanted to draw 30 Amps (7 KW) I would put in a 4mm cable and if you wanted 40 Amps (9 KW) I would go to a 6mm cable.
This is to allow for volt drop along the run but really only concerns us on longer runs like a shed supply at the end of a long garden that will have lots of power used.
There are calculations that can be done to correctly determine the right size of cable needed for a particular situation but is only really needed if the run gets very long. For short runs just find out the power you will be using and match to a cable rating. There is never any harm in going to the next size up cable except cost as this gives future uprating capabilities if needed.
HTH,
Steve.
When memory fails Gent, well I am old, this is my ref.
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source ... SQ&cad=rja
If you bury the cable you should put marker tape above so that any deep digging exposed the tape.
Roy.
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source ... SQ&cad=rja
If you bury the cable you should put marker tape above so that any deep digging exposed the tape.
Roy.
The Gent
Established Member
Luck would have it that my step daughters friend in a qualified electrician so that sorts that one.
I just wanted to ask some advice on insulation.
I have 3" x 2" studs but the timber has been planed so it is only 68mm deep. I have got my eye on some 50mm rockwool, how would I best use this space and what else if anything would I put in there. On the outside of the shop I have got some 3/8ths ply, what would you advise that I use to put on the inside.
I am just want to make sure that I do everything I can to make sure that the noise levels are controlled as much as possible as I don't want any agro with the neighbors.
For the roof I have used 90mm x 40mm spars with 3/4" ply on top so I could get 75mm insulation for this. Could you please advise me what to do with insulating this also.
Please note there is no insulation in the floor, and it is a bit late to do anything about that now.
Any help would be great.
Thanks,
Kevin
I just wanted to ask some advice on insulation.
I have 3" x 2" studs but the timber has been planed so it is only 68mm deep. I have got my eye on some 50mm rockwool, how would I best use this space and what else if anything would I put in there. On the outside of the shop I have got some 3/8ths ply, what would you advise that I use to put on the inside.
I am just want to make sure that I do everything I can to make sure that the noise levels are controlled as much as possible as I don't want any agro with the neighbors.
For the roof I have used 90mm x 40mm spars with 3/4" ply on top so I could get 75mm insulation for this. Could you please advise me what to do with insulating this also.
Please note there is no insulation in the floor, and it is a bit late to do anything about that now.
Any help would be great.
Thanks,
Kevin
Ateallthepies
Established Member
No your right Alex you spotted my mistake, an RCD at the supply is not required when using SWA generally and having it trip off when in the shed would be a pain.
If your on a TT system however then it's likely that the disconnection times required (1 second for a distribution circuit) will not be met just by a fuse/mcb so in that case one will be needed at the supply side.
Steve.
If your on a TT system however then it's likely that the disconnection times required (1 second for a distribution circuit) will not be met just by a fuse/mcb so in that case one will be needed at the supply side.
Steve.
Kevin
You could still insulate the floor if you chose to. Use 2" polystyrene laid on the floor with 18mm ply or chipboard over the top so it floats.
Mick
You could still insulate the floor if you chose to. Use 2" polystyrene laid on the floor with 18mm ply or chipboard over the top so it floats.
Mick
The Gent
Established Member
Quite a lot has happened since my last post. I took a day off work last week to crack on so that I could get somewhere close to finished by the end of the weekend. I am absolutely cream crackered, perhaps I should stick to my day job adding up numbers.
We have the roof covering on, which was one piece of plastic that has been held down with fascia board.
Celebrations we have a door on with the lock
All the wires in the walls
Kingspan was certainly getting too pricey for a workshop, rockwool again started to add to the bills, so I decided to get some loft insulation from Wickes that was buy one get two free.
Again Wickes was the winner, with 12mm chipboard at £6 a sheet, couldn't do much better than this.
My brother helped me clad the inside.
On Sunday night, a friend of a friend who I discovered was a sparky came in to complete the electrics, two inspection lights on a long extension lead (my old source of light in my old shed thankfully not needed anymore).
Hurrah, we have power. I picked up some machines from another forum user, I got an Axi table saw, Fox planer thicknesser and the dust extractor at the back for a little over a grand, but crickey they are heavier than I could ever imagined.
I am looking for a little bit of advice, I am looking to improve on reducing the sound coming out of the workshop, has anyone got any advice on sealing the doors and windows and what the best way is to go about it. I have read that these two are the biggest sources of sound leakage so a good place to start. I only have a single pane of glass in the windows so I was thinking about putting in a secondary window.
I also have a 4' x 8' sheet of 12mm chipboard and 12mm ply left over. I am thinking about making a housing for the dust extractor inside the workshop so that one source of the noise is controlled a little more. Would this still be effective at reducing the sound as of course I will still need to find someway of getting the pipe out.
Any advice on what could be done to minimise noise would be much appreciated.
We have the roof covering on, which was one piece of plastic that has been held down with fascia board.
Celebrations we have a door on with the lock
All the wires in the walls
Kingspan was certainly getting too pricey for a workshop, rockwool again started to add to the bills, so I decided to get some loft insulation from Wickes that was buy one get two free.
Again Wickes was the winner, with 12mm chipboard at £6 a sheet, couldn't do much better than this.
My brother helped me clad the inside.
On Sunday night, a friend of a friend who I discovered was a sparky came in to complete the electrics, two inspection lights on a long extension lead (my old source of light in my old shed thankfully not needed anymore).
Hurrah, we have power. I picked up some machines from another forum user, I got an Axi table saw, Fox planer thicknesser and the dust extractor at the back for a little over a grand, but crickey they are heavier than I could ever imagined.
I am looking for a little bit of advice, I am looking to improve on reducing the sound coming out of the workshop, has anyone got any advice on sealing the doors and windows and what the best way is to go about it. I have read that these two are the biggest sources of sound leakage so a good place to start. I only have a single pane of glass in the windows so I was thinking about putting in a secondary window.
I also have a 4' x 8' sheet of 12mm chipboard and 12mm ply left over. I am thinking about making a housing for the dust extractor inside the workshop so that one source of the noise is controlled a little more. Would this still be effective at reducing the sound as of course I will still need to find someway of getting the pipe out.
Any advice on what could be done to minimise noise would be much appreciated.
