Timber garden sheds: what to look for?

gaiscioch

I’ve been looking at a number of garden sheds. Budget is c. €1000-€1500. Bizarrely, no company in Dublin appears to use the metric system so the size I’m interested in is 8ft x 8 ft, or 8ft x 10ft. This style of shed would be fine.
Is there any benefit in having a chalet style?

1. Timber type: Pressure treated, rather than rustic, timber seems by consensus to be the most durable of the timber sheds. Is this accurate?

2. Timber size: is barrel board any advantage? 18mm? 22mm?

3. Location: What’s the benefit of putting the shed on blocks? I don’t fancy lifting the lawnmower up each time and it would look nicer on ordinary patio slabs. Could placing it on slabs be sufficient?

4. Flooring: What is the best flooring to put in, in terms of durability? Does it need any edge

5. Roof: is it worth pay extra for an onduline roof? If a felt roof, what sort would be best? There was also a poly something (?) roof. How would that rate?

Any other advice would be appreciated. Thanks a million.

awec

The chalet style is just down to pure asthetics. Perhaps also consider the height of it. I went for a pent-style, so it has a flat, sloped roof, rather than the more traditional style, in order to minimise shade being cast in the evening. I minimised the windows in mine (just 1 window) cause it's purely used for storage, and the more windows you have the less usable wall space you have.

Treated wood would last the longest. Patio slabs would work but depends what's underneath, you'd obviously need to level it and ensure that it's going to stay level. Not sure why you'd put flooring in a shed.

CJhaughey

Blocks keep it up higher off the ground, you ideally want to have it high enough that vermin don't make it a home underneath.
Airflow will ensure that it lasts longer and doesn't rot underneath, I have mine 2 blocks high and yes it is a pain to get the mower in and out but I use a couple of lengths of 6x2 underneath as a ramp.
No rats or rot under my shed and that is now over 10 years old.
Corrugated steel is best for a roof, felt is a temporary solution which will fail at some point and allow water in.

Car99

Corrugated cladding for the roof on top of ½ inch ply, Shed walls wrapped in breathable felt then kiln dried larch shiplap for the exterior of the shed . Flooring, larch again ¾ inch thick or ½ inch thick larch with a layer of 3/4 OSB board on top of that is what I did in my own shed. I raised mine off a concrete slab by an inch using some larch batons. Air can circulate underneath. No problem with vermin . How big is your lawnmower?

worded

Vermin - have the shed a cats height off the ground

jack of all

I have Onduline on a timber firewood store that I built myself two years- it's much better than felt in that it is durable and looks well. Even the best of roofing felt will do well to last beyond 5 years- it typically starts to fail at the ridge. If you want wood to last in this climate you've got to avoid ground contact, so keep it on a block at least to provide some airflow.

Nedzer01

Look for Any sort of mould on the underside Of roof or inside slats. We got A rustic kelly barna from b&q and within a few weeks There was mushrooms with massive Ears and all growing on the underside of the roof. Fair play to Kelly Barna they came and replaced The whole shed without A bother, so well worth Considering them.

GinSoaked

jack of all wrote: »

I have Onduline on a timber firewood store that I built myself two years- it's much better than felt in that it is durable and looks well. Even the best of roofing felt will do well to last beyond 5 years- it typically starts to fail at the ridge. If you want wood to last in this climate you've got to avoid ground contact, so keep it on a block at least to provide some airflow.

I'm looking out now at a 15 year old shed with its original torch on felt roof, but realistically I'd tell anyone 10 years for a felt roof thats put on properly.

gaiscioch

Thanks for all that. So felt is definitely out. Has anybody experience of an onduline roof?

Lumen

gaiscioch wrote: »

Thanks for all that. So felt is definitely out. Has anybody experience of an onduline roof?

I installed one recently on a chicken coop. It's fine, although up close the texture is a little rough, it smells of bitumen when hot, and the corrugated look is a bit agricultural.

But it works! And it's a shed, right?

Although TBH if you want to prolong the life of a shed you'd be as well to focus on guttering and downpipes. The rain splash from an unguttered roof is going to affect the bottom of the sides.

jack of all

Onduline on my firewood store

JustAThought

You’d be surprised how uneven your garden is hence the need for blocks - its to level it!
Plus so your shed dosn’t rot from the bottom up with the irish weather - so blocks are essential unless you are laying a leveled cement foundation!

I have bought two sheds for two different locations - the first was a 6ft x 6ft for about either e600 or e800 the end of the garden -paint, tools, lawnmower bike etc. I hsd wanted a smaller one but they wern’t available in good quality at the time and I still find that you fill snd toss stuff into that otherwise you would skip- the bigger the space the bigger the wasye & the more you put or stack badly in it!!

I was going to line the floor with the off cuts from the lino from the bathroom but I started putting stuff in it and so the roll of lino ended up stored in it too -sixteen years later it is still in the corner and it never mafe a practical difference to the floor!

At the time you could buy a more wood treated expensive shed that you cpuld put electrical goods in and wire for outdoor electricity -these were about e1200 which I toyed with but didn’t buy. My shed is still 100% watertight and the roof still great and I didn’t bother waterproofing painting it for the first ten years! Spiders and random creepie crawlies do get in but tjat dosn’t bother me -its cold out there and tjey are welcome to a bit of comfort.

The second shed I bought for another location was an e80 B&Q small 6x3ft shed which I didn’t pay them to put up for me as the first one looked so easy to do -and I didn’t put on blocks - it rocked and leaned and wobbled and shamefully blew around and fell down multiple times until it was professionally done -with the bricks -and then it stayed up! Othee than my skinflinted-ness it was similar quality thou the roof was poorer quality to the e6-800 one -but the roof was of very flimsy thin material and it was in an exposed area and so the lining for the roif blew off a fair few times and no matter how you nailed it onto the wooden roof it always tore and leaked a bit -my neighbours shed is the same.I ended up lining the inside of tje shed with black binliners to keep out the leaks which worked somewhat and was ok for what I needed and where it was.

My only big problem with both was brambles and in particular IVY which sneekily grew in between tje cracks and stealthily came inside the expensive shed and I didn’t spot it down the back or address it when I finally saw it.The ivy grew really quickly and thickly and over time forced the slats of thd shed apart a bit so I had another gap to plug and ith ivy was a bitch to get rid of.First world problems!!

I would say e1500 is a LOT to spend on a shed -my e6-800 has bern moved a few foot once and survived happily and the roof is still 100% watertight and I have no qualms using the electrical tools I store in there. .If it wasn’t a necessity for washing machines or tumble driers or chest freezers I would’t be spending that much on a shed when both ends of the market perform quite well if you actually follow the shop instructions correctly .

My neighbours have ond thst they made ( beautifully? themselves from cobbled wood & my other neighbour has a e16,000 log cabin shed - all just seem to accumulate clutter and be used infrequently and have similar resillience!

Neds_K

Hi, also in the market for a 6x6 wood shed. I was going for a CORNER one, but another more independent (solo) dealership said he doesn't do them as they are more prone to LEAKS. Has anyone else heard or experienced this?
And thanks for all the posts so far...never thought of the vermin!

GinSoaked

Neds_K wrote: »

Hi, also in the market for a 6x6 wood shed. I was going for a CORNER one, but another more independent (solo) dealership said he doesn't do them as they are more prone to LEAKS. Has anyone else heard or experienced this?
And thanks for all the posts so far...never thought of the vermin!

I've just made a corner chicken house, only small but a massive amount of work compared to a normal shed type one. Basically few people make them because they are a lot more expensive. No reason for them to be prone to leaks. One thing though the sides put up against the corner with a wall or fence behind them will stay damp longer and rot out quicker. Give those walls a coat of Protim 265 before the shed goes up for extra protection.

Edit: This is what I call a corner shed https://www.amazon.co.uk/BillyOh-Expert-Tongue-Groove-Workshop/dp/B08B8XX85B its like a square shed with one corner cut off and normally a flat roof.

Neds_K

Thanks GinSoaked, great advice. The shed is pressure treated wood, & it'll be against a cladded wall.
Re Protein 265, I see it's only for wood. Would you advise another coat on the PT shed wall, or to paint the cladded boundary wall? I googled masonry protection/water seal
Good on ya for battling the chicken coop yourself ðŸ‘

GinSoaked

Neds_K wrote: »

Thanks GinSoaked, great advice. The shed is pressure treated wood, & it'll be against a cladded wall.
Re Protein 265, I see it's only for wood. Would you advise another coat on the PT shed wall, or to paint the cladded boundary wall? I googled masonry protection/water seal
Good on ya for battling the chicken coop yourself ðŸ‘

Funny thing about the chicken coop is after making it my son who wanted it decided not to use it :rolleyes:

The Protime 265 just stops rot and decay but it is effective. A good coat of something to seal the surfaces against the walls would help it last a lot longer. After the preservative is dry I like Cuprinol Shades which lasts well. I don't worry to much because what I do is remove the shiplap that decays and replace it but you can't do that against a wall.

If the area between the walls stays dry it will be a lot better but you can't always guarantee that. My wife likes plants growing up the sheds (we have lots) and those are the areas that stay damp and rot first.

Darando

looking at this myself but building it from treated timber with 4x2 floor and insulated inbetween. Toying with what base to sit it on.

Was going to lay it on blocks but worried about vermin underneath, so now thinking of a concrete base but i'm told I still need to raise it off this for ventilation rather than base directly sitting on the concrete pad. (pad is 2" larger all around than shed base)

Obviously a concrete base would be more costly than blocks.

Any advice?

GinSoaked

Blocks are fine I use three, first one I bed in the ground take off topsoil as deep as subsoil fill hole with dry sand and cement mix so top of first block is just above ground level then do the same for the rest of the blocks leveling as I go, then stack another block or two on top. Shed is then normally two blocks (on side) off the ground. Normally finish of with a bit of dpc material on top under the timber.

Base is 3x2 flat across blocks with 3x2 on edge on top then whatever floor you want, I use 6 x 1 all treated timber.