Sheds?

[Barb]

Hi people! I'm buying a new house and will need a largish-sized shed for bike, small freezer, wine-making gear, lawn-mower, etc. etc.

I've been looking at the wood-effect metal ones in Argos and at wooden ones. Has anyone got any comments about the metal ones? They seem to be practical, but I read somewhere that they can leak through the doors in the rain, are difficult to seal the floor, etc. .....

Apart from the obvious about putting them on a firm slab base, any other comments or advice??

I know there will be someone "out there" who knows All About Sheds, or can point me to a good website!!!!

Thanks.

Barb

[Keith W]

For about 5 years we have a 10x8 Yardmaster metal shed that we are well pleased with. There is some ingress of water between shed and base but that used to happen with our wooden one as well and I have seen many cures for this on the 'net. No water gets in through roof, walls or doors. The only disadvantage that we are aware of is that it is difficult (impossible even) to put up shelves. However, we found that free standing plastic units from the likes of Homebase are adequate and have the advantage of being easily moved.

Our shed came from Garden Buildings Direct

at the time, offered the best prices.

[Andy Champ]

You'd be better off at uk.d-i-y - I've cross posted this. People there will be able to help.

Do not accept any advice to use an angle grinder as part of the construction process.

And do not under _any_ circumstances ask for help at uk.rec.sheds - it's not that kind of group...

Andy

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Andy Champ saying something like:

Helpful type that I am... They know a lot about sheds.

[Tim S]

Andy Champ coughed up some electrons that declared:

What if it's a steel framed shed?

?

Unless "sheds" is a fetish I've not heard of... "Shedding behind the sheds". The mind boggles....

[PeterC]

Last time I saw a request on Sheds about how to build a shed, the answer was to the effect that if you have to ask...

(Peter, Honarary Sheddy).

[The Medway Handyman]

Just watching 'Shedheads' on TV & realised that one of the alleged 'chippies' also appears on DIY SOS - except on there he is described as a plumber...

[bobharvey]

Blimey. The cult of uncelebrity, eh?

Many years ago I predicted usenet would fragment until we had uk.local.lincolnshire.spalding.co-op.baconcounter . I was wrong, it is happening on TV instead.

[AJH]

Condensation may be a problem in cold weather

[Sn!pe]

Harsh, so harsh. We Shedi can be very helpful, welcoming too; you just have to sort the wheat from the chaff.

[relurk]

[Keith W]

I expected that with ours but it doesn't happen. Walls and roof stay condensation free throughout the winter. I suppose if you had heating in there but who wants to heat a garden shed?

[Ed]

Are you sure that you can run a freezer in an outdoor shed?

I ask this because I thought that there was an ambient temperature range specified by the manufacturer within which the freezer would run fine but, outwith the range, the freezer will cut out. Over the course of the Seasons, it is almost certain that , in the winter, the shed temperature will fall below the minimum value and, in the summer, exceed the maximum value?

Ed

[Keith W]

We have a covered area twixt house and garage known as "The Tunnel" and a fridge and a freezer have been functioning perfectly well in there for over five years. Maybe some freezers have different requirements or, then again, maybe nobody has told the freezers. ;o)

[Andy Champ]

Fridge-freezers are the worst culprits. They only have one "source of cool" IYSWIM, so in extreme temperatures one of the two compartments will be way off.

Andy

[Barb]

Thanks for all the helpful stuff, guys.

This is a small chest freezer, not a fridge-freezer, so should be ok then...worth a try, anyway.

Barb

[Keith W]

Based on our "Tunnel" I would definitely go for it.

Keith

[AJH]

don't be daft who would heat a shed unless they had been banished. My shed was brick and had a cement asbestos roof, and in cold damp weather the underside would be covered in water droplets, possibly because there was a freezer in there which heated the air just enough to set up a temperature differential with the outside air.

[Keith W]

don't be daft who would heat a shed unless they had been banished. My shed was brick and had a cement asbestos roof, and in cold damp weather the underside would be covered in water droplets, possibly because there was a freezer in there which heated the air just enough to set up a temperature differential with the outside air.

You answered my question. Who would heat a shed? You did. ;o)

[Keith W]

Obviously you will want electricity run into the shed. If it is metal, you will not want to cut or drill it. I cut a length of garden hose (about a foot) and set it into the concrete base while we were laying it in a U shape so that one end would come up inside the shed and the other outside. When the concrete set and the shed had been erected I poured hot water into the hose pipe which softened it and made it easy to pull out, leaving a smooth sided tube. Then, with the help of a little Fairy Liquid I threaded in the armoured cable. To make it water tight I sealed the entrances with silicone sealant. Works a treat and has done for 5+ years.

[Ed]

If you're minded to get a wooden shed, then I highly recommend a tongue and groove from Tiger Shed. You can check them out at:

They also do metal sheds but I've not brought one from them.

Ed