Recommended Shed suppliers

The one who must be obeyed has said I need to convert our integral garage into a normal room. This is where all my workshop equipment is. So I am going to build a workshop in the back garden. Does anyone have recommendations for shed suppliers.

I've ruled out Metal sheds because of condensation problems and also concrete block construction - too long a wait for base to dry out and not very nice to look at.

So a wooden shed - 12ft (or14) x 8ft (or 10). Tongued and grooved - double doors - windows not necessary. Will make all benches, shelves, cupboards self standing. My machinery is not very heavy (Mini-lathe, similar Milling machine, CNC router/engraver, scroll saw, and all the gubbins that go with these + power tools etc. I expect to put down a heavy duty floor. (20mm

I'm not sure about the underlying base. Could do a concrete floor - again drying time a problem. Concrete slab base onto concrete blocks in the soil - or possibly these new plastic base units that interlock and you fill with pea shingle.

I've heard good things about Dunster House sheds, also BillyOh. The budget is about £1000 - but could go slightly higher if product is highly rated. Any suggestions, information or comments on my proposed design is welcome.

Most sheds are built to a price these days, because people generally buy on price and not quality, and are rubbish.

The better quality you try and get, the price goes up substantially.

I have built three sheds in the last 18 months, I just built them from scratch myself, and got the spec I wanted.

I would put a substantial poured concrete slab down, and build straight off that.

I wouldn't build off slabs or any plastic contraption, they will inevitable move, even if you can get a flat base with them in the first place.

My sympathy goes out to you!

I never found a ready made one I liked, so built my own

Jim

I've scratch built two 'sheds' as workshops....my second attempt was framed using 90 year old roof beams from nearby house extension projects and has lined walls with no windows but a transparent roof. this proved to be a very good design since there is room for wool insulation in the walls and excellent overhead light during daytime.

As a basic scenario....think of insulation and lighting as these are the deciding factors to how successful your workshop will be..........going out of a warm room into a freezing dark winter shed gloom is going to severly test your workmanship!

I bought one from dunster house and built/put it together it myself. They are very well built and designed, there were a few problems with some of the longer pieces of wood warping but it was nothing that G-clamps and screwing down couldn't sort out, so you may have to get creative when problems arise which deviate from the methodical instructions.

Michael W

Although timber sheds are more aesthetic, there is actually nothing actually wrong with a metal shed.

Condensation is a function of relative humidity with temperature. Keep the air warm and dry and there will be no condensation problem. That means well insulated on the inside, a means of water escape for that which will condense on the inner sides of the metal (like flat metal roofs are not recommended for this!) and well sealed while not in use (but with good ventilation when In use).

My workshop is made of scrapped garage doors bolted/screwed together and well insulated. Admittedly constructed inside a concrete sectional garage - but machines would suffer from condensation if it were not warmed and (particularly) kept at a reasonable relative humidity. The desiccant dehumidifier supplies warmth and keeps the RH under control.

Build your own, not difficult or hard work. Concrete base easiest and best, will not take very long to dry out. For a small shed 2" thick on a plastic sheet, make the edges thicker , maybe 4". Try to find used timber locally, and used double glazed windows. Roof best in insulated corrugated sheets, seconds are good enough. With that budget you'll end up with a palace. A good battery drill saves a lot of hard work.

If you are happy with carpentry then building your own is satisfying and in our case cost us a lot less than a commercial item.

Concrete base with a foam insulation barrier below. Inner and outer walls we used 100 by 50 CLS infilled with Celotex with a 50 mm air gap between walls Celotex for roogf insulation. Timber clad - all tanalised.

Colin, have a look at my "Shedbuilding Efforts", did this a lot of years ago but would be a good starting point. I would suggest:

1. Concrete slab at least 6" thick with reinforcing so that it won't crack or move and will take any machinery you want.
2. DPC and screed on top of the slab although you could these days put the DPC under the slab.
3. Whether wood or other material insulate the walls with at least 2" of rockwool or one of the modern Kingspan type materials.
4. Insulate the roof with at least 4" of rockwool or Kingspan. Insulation makes for easy (and cheap) heating and no condensation.
5. Line the inside with something like 1/2" shuttering ply which allows you to fix whatever you want to walls adds strength and security.
6. At least two layers of felt on the roof to last a good 10 years or use plastic coated corrugated steel (also comes pre-insulated).
7. Use a waist high trunking around the walls for the mains electricity, easy to add or move sockets.
8. Plenty of lighting, these days use LED strips.
9. Put in a wide or double door with good locks for getting big stuff in and keeping others out!

Should get you started Good luck with the build

John

Edit: add link

Edited By Journeyman on 26/01/2018 15:32:51

You bolted some old garage doors together, inside a garage to make a shed????

Jim

I have a metal shed with no condensation issues thanks to Celotex insulation to walls and roof plus 18mm OSB to walls and full draught proofing.
It's been up for over 12 years with zero maintenance and no rust or surface degradation to the structure and never any issues with bare metal parts left out inside rusting.
If it's a wickedly cold frosty night I leave a desktop PC running and that's enough to keep the inside above 10 Celcius.
Condensation is something you get lots of in an uninsulated metal shed or one that's been insulated incompetently and/or on the cheap,

- Nick

Here's an option, **LINK** only built one of their log summer houses but that was straight forward. The fact this one comes insulated should make it easy to heat in the winter and cool in the summer only draw back could be cost.

Bob

ColinBuild your own you can get a lorry load of timber for a few quid, and throw in a new drill n and chop saw as well win win

About 25 years ago I built my own garden workshop, which is still going strong now, though I'm in the process of a house move.

I used a concrete base, about 5" thick with one layer of steel mesh. When that had cured, I laid one course of 4" concrete blocks, ( 6" on the back wall for several courses, due to a difference in ground height ) using a strong mix, to raise the wooden walls above ground height. The outside of the blocks are painted with masonry paint for waterproofing.

The ring of blocks supports a 3x2" frame, all reclaimed timber, preservative treated, and sitting on a layer of black plastic DPC.

Window and door sizes were governed by what I could obtain as rejects. (for my new build garage at the new house, I picked up a 2nd hand UPVC door and 2 windows from ebay for £200, which is what I'd use these days in place of wood, even on a home built shed; more secure, non rotting and warmer)

The outer was clad in waterproof plywood, with 2" of rockwool, the frame, and plasterboard on the inside, suitably painted.

1/2 hour with a fan heater in the coldest of winters, and the place is toasty warm inside.

My new garage(s) aren't practical to heat, due to the size, and are freezing cold in the winter; much better facilities and far more spacious, but I do miss the cosiness I had previously.

The things I'd do differently to the initial workshop;

UPVC Door and window(s)

2 courses of blocks, as there is enough splash up to wet the base of the plywood sheets.

Welded steel mesh inside the walls, between inner and outer; I had an attempted break-in, with someone using a battery powered drill and a hole cutter, chain drilling a big square hole through both layers of wall. Fortunately they picked the one spot, where when they pulled off the plasterboard, they faced the pillar of a bench drill. Very pleased they didn't realise it would have slid along the bench if they'd pushed it gently.

I'd do the roof with a rubber membrane on the outside instead of corrugated bituminous sheeting. **LINK** though there are many other suppliers of the materials for an easy DIY fit.

I'm assuming you will be running power, so at the same time, add a phone line, and a length of cable to couple it up to the house burglar alarm, if you have one.

I'd advocate a real wired phone in a workshop if possible. If you are unfortunate enough to hurt yourself, or become ill and need to summon assistance, a cordless phone won't work if you tripped the power in the accident.

For the new build garage, I also added a CAT5 computer network cable, so I can easily use a laptop in there, and also a Network Storage disk, for a genuine off-site backup facility for the main house PC.

N.B. make sure you check out the permitted development rules for outbuildings, and check out the electrical obligations

People have been forced to remove log cabins for a variety of planning infringements

Bill

Edited By peak4 on 26/01/2018 17:38:22

Went through the good shed / log cabin kit research thing when doing an office / studio for my brother and workshop for me. Eventually decided to go DIY as getting a much better result for same money as a mid range (ish) log cabin kit. By the time you've priced in a decent slab sheds are, well, just sheds needing fair bit extra spend to produce good working environment. By which time you might as well do it better in the first place.

Office / Studio 12 ft (ish) square :-

Workshop 16 x 36 ft (with 8 x 10 garden shed section in back) :-

Helped that a builder type friend was out of work at construction time and needed flexible work on a day rate.

Proper slab with re-enforcement and insulation underneath. Brick edging to 1 brick over slab level before DPC. Wood frame on DPC membrane direct on slab is often unsatisfactory and pretty much unfixable if it does leak. Bin there, dunnit, swore a lot but it still leaked. Waterproof chipboard underfloor makes a nice tough floor. Left overs make excellent shelves, and benches for cold work, being a touch rough so stuff doesn't slide off. But you must edge them. I edged shelves with alloy angle to give a couple of mm lip and used stripwood on benches.

Nail guns are fun. I bought a Paslode, with the amount of work I was doing worked out cheaper than hire. 4 x 2 framing with OSB both sides and insulation in between. Much warmer than shed style and keeps the noise in too. Tongue'n groove is just decoration. Windows and doors are household double glazing units. Found a local deal on over-makes for the windows, selected from half a field full! Complete with glazing at similar price to a wood frame in Wilkes / B&Q et al. Doors came out of the local free ad paper from folks getting new ones. The door-window combo I used on the front of the studio was £20!

Building high enough, used all the 14 ft permitted for the workshop, to get a proper ceiling in gave useful storage space above. Make a big hatch tho'. Insulate between loft and ceiling and under roof. Doing both makes big difference. Proper electrics with dedicated consumer unit and plenty of sockets. Metal distribution boards screwed to the wall are a good way of doing things. Couple of weatherproof out side ones are handy, but provide a separate isolator.

Decent overhang out front, one on workshop is too short, with hard standing underneath gives you somewhere to do dirty jobs in summer. Also if the orientation is right it provides a pleasant sun trap to sit out on nice day.

Making a real nice job should give dispensation to up the budget rather. Easy to forget that if you are going to have anything reasonably satisfactory a fair bit of your spend is pretty much fixed whether you erect an improved shed or go for something rather better. Maybe I went little OTT but for that much work I wanted something good that would stay good for 30 years.

Clive.

PS :-  Looks like Bill and I were working off the same song sheet!.

Edited By Clive Foster on 26/01/2018 17:39:01

Edited By Clive Foster on 26/01/2018 17:54:08

Clive, looks like we has similar ideas, though yours if grander and prettier than my original one.

Rather crowded as you can see, and obviously in need of a tidy and clean-up on that day. Not obvious in the photo, but there's a Dore Westbury mill at the back left and a bench with vice and the welding gear behind the Centec. Good job I have a fisheye lens for the camera, as there's little room to swing a mouse, let alone a cat.

I like the idea of the extended roof, and wish I'd done the same, but my original build had a single pitched roof, sloping towards the front door, so couldn't subsequently incorporate one easily.

A point for Colin though is that turning the extended roof into a verandah isn't included in permitted development, so one to watch there.

Bill

p.s. and typing at the same time - twice 

PS :-  Looks like Bill and I were working off the same song sheet!.

Edited By peak4 on 26/01/2018 17:52:13

Edited By peak4 on 26/01/2018 18:13:40

Not sure if you are in their catchment area but I am very satisfied with my pro workshop. Lots of info on their web site.

It's time to rebel. You don't have a workshop problem, it's your domestic politics that need fixing.

Try diplomacy, bribery, blackmail, hypnosis, and coercion. Quote Health and Safety regulations. Doom-monger, sulk and have hysterics. Discover rising damp. Cough pathetically while your mistreated puppy eyes swim with tears. Do ANYTHING rather than move into a shed.

This advice comes from the safety of my armchair. Mao tse Tung's Little Red Book says 'In waking a tiger, use a long stick'. You were warned...

Dave

No. I made a workshop by bolting together old garage doors, with insulation, inside a sectional concrete garage. Just as I writ it!

I am in the process of extending the workshop area. 20m^2 of 100mm thick insulation is ready and waiting to be incorporated. The insulation cost me £50 and the old garage doors were free. A further 4 full sheets of 100mm kingspan set me back £33 (so expensive!). The sectional garage has been in situ for about 25 years.

Please let me know where I 'can get a lorry load of timber for a few quid', with 'a new drill and chop saw thrown in'.

The last one I built was about £800 in materials alone (floor, carcasing, cladding, roof).

Thanks.