Tongue and groove on a shed? How to fix them?

[Alie Barnes]

Hi

I'm going to build a small bike shed using tongue and groove but am unsure on the best way to secure the T&G, do i need to nail or screw each board after installation and what is the best size nail/screw to use, looking on linme seems to be that people nail them but with an air gun which i don't have and i don't want to end up splitting the boards but am unsure exactly how to secure them.

Any advice is welcome

Thanks

 

[MikeG.]

T&G isn't really suitable for external cladding. You should use traditional feather edged boards or shiplap boards instead. They allow for shrinkage and expansion in a way which T&G never can.

 

[sunnybob]

like said, it will expand and contract like crazy if thats the finished exterior surface. you could do it with lots of adhesive and many coats of exterior varnish, but by the time you add all those costs in, i would always go for the plastic alternatives, because they are not only weather proof and have ZERO maintenance, they have insulation air gaps built in to keep the inside warmer.

 

[bugbear]

Unless you're building a very unusual size, just buy one. They're a standard item, made in quantity, and available at various price/quality points. The mass-makers can sell you a shed cheaper than you can buy the materials to make the same shed.

BugBear

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

The suitability of T&G for shed building aside, I have just spent the last two weeks laying down T&G floorboards, both chipboard and engineered oak and I used these screws https://www.screwfix.com/p/tongue-tite- ... 7QodkuwCkw They are fantastic, drive home easily with no splitting and if the board is not quite right you can simply unscrew and re-align. No need for expensive nail gun hire.

 

[MikeG.]

Unless you're building a very unusual size, just buy one. They're a standard item, made in quantity, and available at various price/quality points. The mass-makers can sell you a shed cheaper than you can buy the materials to make the same shed.

BugBear

If cheapness is your main priority, then this is so. If however you want something that will last longer than 5 minutes, then build it yourself.

 

[mr edd]

Hi Alie

Regarding length, you usually you want a fastener - nail or screw to be 2/3 of the length of the fastener in the material you are fixing to. In other words if you are using for example 16 mm T+G use a 50 mm screw, or nail min.

If your frame and boards are made from treated timber (which it should be for outside) regular reisser/spax standard screws will rust pretty quickly, i have been using decking screws by carpenters mate/ riesser which are coated to resist corrosion, to fit sectional style buildings with feather edge and larch waney edge boards with no staining or fixing failure, despite seasonal movement, but i do pilot hole fixings at the end of boards.

Cheers Edd

edit because i cant spell tonight !

 

[Jacob]

T&G isn't really suitable for external cladding. You should use traditional feather edged boards or shiplap boards instead. They allow for shrinkage and expansion in a way which T&G never can.

Yep.
T&G will expand/contract further than the depth of the tongue/groove and in dry weather there will be gaps.

 

[Alie Barnes]

T&G isn't really suitable for external cladding. You should use traditional feather edged boards or shiplap boards instead. They allow for shrinkage and expansion in a way which T&G never can.

Yep.
T&G will expand/contract further than the depth of the tongue/groove and in dry weather there will be gaps.

How come it seems to be an option on a lot of sheds online? is it because they have been pre treated?

 

[MikeG.]

T&G isn't really suitable for external cladding. You should use traditional feather edged boards or shiplap boards instead. They allow for shrinkage and expansion in a way which T&G never can.

Yep.
T&G will expand/contract further than the depth of the tongue/groove and in dry weather there will be gaps.

How come it seems to be an option on a lot of sheds online? is it because they have been pre treated?

Commercially available sheds are universally rubbish. Don't take the slightest notice of how they're built. All the timber you use for a shed should be treated, and this makes not a jot of difference to how much it moves according to the season/ moisture content.