I'm in a bit of a quandary. We want to put up a "structure" in the garden. Sort of large summer house type of thing.. My wife paints and it will be her shed - oopps sorry - studio.
Size - about 18ft x 12ft (6M x 4M), pitched roof.. etc..
I would really like to build it myself.. a really interesting project.
However my wife is keen to do it NOW !! We have seen these....
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are constructed of 45mm interlocking planks... Has anyone out there got something similar and if so how is it standing up to the elements?
There is no insulation - I see this as a big drawback but the salesmen all say --
"No no... 45mm wood... no need for insulation.. this is Finish wood remember - it don't get much colder than Finland"
hmmm.. anyone any experience...
They appear to be quite reasonably price.. not sure if I could buy the wood/insulation/roofing for the same amount.. I haven't designed/costed a self build yet?
I made a shed, well, a tool shed thingy, it wasn't any cheaper really than buying one. The only thing I would say though is that if you make it yourself you can design it as you would like it, and probably achieve a better build quality and maybe a nicer look.
There is a MASSIVE difference between what a Finnish home would be built like and what is basically a glorified shed . Buying the wood at retail pices and all the bits and pieces is sometimes dearer than buying a kit. Remember all the bits you may have to buy a bag of a hundred just to get eight "they" will be able to spread that over12 sheds/studios. On the other hand you do get to design it, specifie the materials and you may well improve on the build quality, so you pays your money and ..., just do not build it all yourself expecting to save money
"Solid log constructions are renowned for an excellent capacity to store thermal energy; heat is trapped in its mass cellular structure. This makes it a natural insulator; effectively retarding the transfer of heat, cold and sound, maintaining comfortable temperatures all year round. Our 200mm thick logs have a U-Value of 0.27 W/m²Kº. The roof and floor values also have superb insulation qualities."
I don't know how they do their calculations for a wall consisting of 200mm timber (k value = 0.14, resistance = 0.2x(1/0.14) = 1.429), external surface resistance (0.060) and internal surface resistance (0.120) I get a U-value of 0.622.
"Solid wood is the best insulation in the world"
Except for materials like polyurethane board which for the same thickness are about six or seven times as good.
Yes. I made a cabin from this type of kit, although smaller and without the veranda overhang.
Mine came from another Finnish company called Luoman Puutuote, and it appears that the basic construction is similar.
Essentially, it is milled wooden sections with substantial tongue/groove along the lengths and then a form of halving joint at the ends such that each slots into the orthogonal piece. It is built up layer by layer and is self supporting in part because of the weight. The roof is then timbers and boards.
One possibly useful thing is the low pitch of the roof. This can be helpful in keeping under the 4m high limit for planning permission exemption.
Mine was intended for multiple purposes including potentially an office, storage, freezer location etc. Plus I wanted to make it of a habitable standard as well as flexible and a good standard of exterior finish. I therefore did a number of things during the construction and in the finish.
- Concrete base with brick surround on which were laid 100mm2 pressure treated bearers on DPC material. The base timbers of the cabin (100x50 IIRC) are orthogonal and on top of these, again with DPC and forming a frame. I fitted small battens to the sides of the timbers and put in 50mm Celotex to insulate the floor. Floor of standard TG boards was added.
- Building construction made up to eaves level plus roof timbers. For the roof, I used more 18mm floorboards rather than the 12mm ones supplied.
- The standard roof finish is the normal felt and trims and not of particularly strong grade. I used heavier grade. However, I also wanted a more attractive looking roof and went for cedar shakes. After felting, the roof was battened first vertically on 500mm centres and then horizontally. The shakes are nailed to the battens with stainless steel nails per the supplier's instructions. I also made a ridge cap from cedar and fitted that. For this, and some of the framing work, a framing nailer was useful.
- I treated the interior timbers several times with clear Cuprinol solvent based preservative. Once dry there is no lingering smell.
- No I don't believe that 44mm wood is used on its own in Finland. In fact I know it isn't. I fitted battens internally and again put Celotex between them - walls and ceiling and inside of the door. I used 12mm TG clad board on top of those for the interior. Hint: A
16 gauge nailer was very useful for this. The interior was then coated with a clear acrylic satin varnish
- I added secondary glazing at a depth of 75mm for the door and windows.
- For the exterior I added some additional trim timbers - not fancy but simply to improve the lines of the barge boards and soffit areas.
- I treated the exterior with 3 coats of a solids heavy solvent based preservative called Trebitt, made by a Norwegian company, Jotun. It has an opaque, slightly satin finish and is available in any colour you like. Not cheap, but very long lasting.
- The interior has been fitted out with 3 compartment trunking for electrical services fed from a consumer unit, in turn fed from the house.
If I was making it now, I would probably buy and mill the wood myself to put a slightly different shape to the timbers, but that is semantic. I costed it at the time, and there was not a lot of difference.
The building is warm inside in the winter with virtually no heating and remains cool inside during the summer except on the very hottest days. Having the thickness of material, and to some extent the insulation makes it very quiet as well.
Had I just built the vanilla building, I would have been quite pleased with the delivered quality. With a bit of planning and augmentation, I am very pleased with the outcome.
Have one custom designed and built by hand-crafting timber framers. It's cheaper than you think. They can also supply the frame to you as a kit for easy DIY assembly.
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(some friends of mine in Bristol)
Or look at my next posting and see the framing course they're running.
Having checked with a couple of Finns then 45mm planking would be considered pretty lightweight even for a summer cottage, nevermind an all year round job. Two layers of 45 mm or more planking with insulation between would be used for an all year round building i.e. suitable for use down to -40C.
44mm wood is much thicker than necessary for shed walls. If youre willing to use thinner wood, then making it yourself can save plenty. The downside is that if you want something that doesnt use ready made panels, its more work.
(FWIW panels are a very cheap and fast way to make sheds, but are not comparable to 44mm planks. I expect you want something more substantial than panels.)
Well, I went the DIY route, it was a long hard summer's graft, but well worth the end result.
All designed in 3D CAD, and built largely single-handed. Framed out with "regularised" 3x2, ship-lap outer skin, 30mm foam insulation boards, ply inner skin. Looks great, stays cool in summer and easy to heat in winter. It's quite tall, more so than "bought" sheds, which helps give it a nice airy feeling inside, not like you're sat in a shed at all, more of a proper room.
A work of art sir, I salute you! Would it benefit ( in terms of reducing the likelihood of rot ) from some guttering? Tasteful guttering, painted to blend in of course..... Mind you I notice you have gravel all around so that'll probably stop too much splashback.
[1]) instead. Took maybe a day for two of us to build the structure, then a day for each of:
Painting the outside with Ronseal Laying and coating the floor Nailing roofing shingles on Installing electrics, lights, and cabling to house CU.
Can't really comment on insulation, as it's not really got cold out yet, but we do have a small fan heater in there which we use as and when. Seems to get very warm inside on a sunny autumn afternoon. Remember to cost in for laying some concrete foundations (our 5m x 5m x 200mm slab cost around £1300, and took three days, plus two VERY full skips of clay soil removed, as the cabin was sited on very uneven ground).
If you want me mail me privately, I can forward you a couple of pictures of before, during and afterwards.
Regards Paul
PS: If you can, get to visit these things in person, rather than just looking at pictures. It's really worthwhile.
Thank you. Yep, it's had guttering fitted since that photo was taken. 2.5" size in brown, I thought it might spoil the lines but as blended in really nicely.
Apols for delay in responding... Have been away and Axminster show'ing ...
Many thanks for you very excellent response...
This project does meet the criteria that someone else suggested on this site in a different post.. "A job ain't worth doing if it doesn't require a new tool" :-). I have been hankering for a nailer for some time - at last I have a reason !!! Is a Framing nailer the same as the 16guage nailer you mentioned - or do I need two!!!! :-)
I was thinking this all through last night and a concern came to mind. The halving joints at the corners - I wondered what stopped the rain seeping in the joints? Today we visited a local dealer and investigated. Two of the corners had water stain marks down the insides. One was going quite manky at the bottom. Any thoughts?
You also mentioned that if you were to do it now you would mill the wood yourself. What wood would you use? Do you think you would save on cost? Would you make it the same construction with halving joints at the corners?
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