Weather Proofing a Shed Gable End

[mikehow]

Hi all

I'm on a bit of mission to batten down the hatches before winter arrives, next on the agenda is our shed.

The shed was in a bit of sorry state when we exchanged on our new house in January and has slowly detoriated over spring and summer as we've concentrated our efforts on the inside of the house.

The shed gable end which faces the house is just plywood, its obviously seen a fair bit of weather over the previous owners tenure and the edges of the ply have began to delaminate.

My plan is to replace this in the next few weeks with a view to then cladding with larch shingles.

Whilst this will protect the main face, the edges will still be exposed and prone to delaminating again therefore I was wonder whether I should look to wrap the external face in a breathable membrane and apply a strip of roofing felt to the edges to ensure they are no longer exposed.

Any help or advice greatly appreciated!

 

[MikeG.]

Could you post a photo, Mike? That would help.

 

[mikehow]

Here you go

 

[MikeG.]

It's an open building, which means your issue isn't weatherproofing the shed, but protecting the ply. You can do whatever you like to protect it, as there is no vapour gradient to deal with, no temperature differential, and no inside or outside.

 

[mikehow]

Thats what I figured Mike.

My main question is how to protect the end grain of the plywood to prevent any new sheet material from delaminating.

 

[MikeG.]

As I say.....any way you like. Put a piece of wood over it. Wrap it in a membrane. Wrap it in plastic (not the approach I would take). Paint it with bitumen or "Black Jack". Hang tiles over it. Anything you can think of which will keep it dry is good enough.

 

[Oddbod70]

TBH it's probably not worth going overboard with it. Decent external ply will last a good few years with a few coats of paint or varnish properly applied to it (esp on the edges). Personally i'd not bother with doing any more.