Leaking Yardmaster garage - anybody else had trouble ?? (2023 Update)

[Adrian]

Hi All

We bought ourselves a Yardmaster steel garage kit, more as a shed than a garage, to house 'stuff' while we get ourselves sorted out after the move to the South-West of Ireland.

In short - it's been a bit of a pain. The thing is 10ft x 17ft when erected, but has been 'engineered' to fit into 'courier-friendly' packagaing - so nothing's longer than about 6ft. This means that many parts of the structure have to be fabricated from smaller parts - everything held together by tiny self-tapping screws. The instructions made the cryptic crossword look simple

Many of the panels and metal 'girders' were missing their punched holes, and the holes for the self-tappers to 'bite' into were somewhat variable in their size - so some screws were difficult to tighten effectively. Water sealing is achieved (or not !) by plastic washers under the self-tappers. Most of the holes didn't line up, and required some effort to 'pull' the metal panels into place so that the screw could be inserted. To add insult to injury - the kit came with three time more plastic washers than you actuall need - but short by about

150 self-tapping screws ! Bah !

Anyway - finally got the thing together, and lined out inside with polystyrene slabs to prevent condensation. Sadly - condensation isn't an issue - the darn thing actually leaks like a sieve.

I've added some split-in-half foam insulation either side under the apex, in case the rain's getting blown up the roof - but this doesn't seem to have cured it.

So far, the only solution I can think of is to remove each of the tiny self-tappers in the roof one by one and put them back with a dab of clear mastic - as I can't see where else the rain can be getting in. Not looking forward to this as a way of spending a day - but if that's what it takes.....

Just wondered of anybody else has had the misfortune to buy one of these things - and if they managed to make theirs watertight ??

Thanks in anticipation Adrian

[Roger Cain]

I bought a smaller model about a year ago. I had little trouble assembling (apart from lifting the roof on). It's important you assemble on a really flat base as any distortion can throw the hole alignment out.

So far no trouble with leaking apart from some seepage under the base rails. I am going to put some guttering on to avoid this.

[John Anderton]

I've got the 9' x 12' version and had a similar problem, though not to the same extent as you and my solution was much as you describe. I didn't bother to remove all the leaking screws, just spent half an hour with a tube of clear silicone sealant squirting it around them. It's worked for the last six years without leaking,

Cheers,

John

[Andy Hall]

Does RTE still do the weather forecast from Blarney Castle? ;-)

[Adrian]

Aha - sounds as if I might be on the right track.

Just annoying to have to 're-engineer' their duff design -

I used to have a tube of some 'special' sealant which claimed to be able to 'seep' into gaps and seal such things - but I guess 'bog-standard' silicon will do the same.

Maybe the screws don't need to be taken out completely - just slackened off far anough to get a thin smear of silicon on the threads under the washer - then screw 'em back in.

'Sposed to be fine tomorrow - perhaps I'll have a play.....

Thanks Adrian

[Adrian]

Don't malign them, I have it on good authority that they took delivery of a new piece of seaweed only last week

In the short time we've lived out here, it's become apparent that we should look at the waether forecast as giving a general auggestion of what might possibly be going to occur. Frequently, the weather that's predicted passes right over the top of us and goes on to (rain) somewhere else.

We're about 8 miles from Bantry - to get there we go up & over a reasonably high mountain pass. The weather 'that side' is often significantly different to what we get 'this side' - so the idea of a weather forecast covering even the south-west of the Republic is really quite laughable ....

The good thing is that we seem to get changeable weather - so if you don't particulary like what's happening at the moment you only have to wait a few hours for something different to come along....

Adrian

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[Andy Hall]

Macgillycuddy's Reeks? Remember the Goons going on about that?

I can see that the Irish perspective on life has started to reach you already. Good thing.

[Adrian]

No - I don't remember hat - though I sort of had the name at the back of my mind, wondered how it got there

Anyway - they're 'up North' from us, and not the hills we drive over to get to Bantry

It's a matter of being adaptable, and not wasting energy on things that you can't change anyway

Lovely bright 'crisp' morning today - looks to be set fair for the next few days. Now where's me mastic gun ??

Adrian

[Brian]

Hi Adrian. I've just erected a 10 x 6 Yardmaster shed and it's not bad. I can suggest two reasons why your holes don't align - it's not the fault of the manufacture. Firstly, as you know, the screws go through the large hole into the small hole where they bite into the panel. But because the large hole is larger than the screw shank you can put the panel a few millimteres off the hole centre in any direction. This actually aids assembly because it allows for some adjustment. The second reason is distortion or twisting in any plane. If any strut or panel is not "square" to its neighbours, or if the shed corners are not square or if the walls are not vertical, then you will find that things get more and more out of alignment as you continue with the assembly. That's why the large holes are useful - to allow for some distortion. I found it best to fit the screws loosely into each panel and then tighten them afterwards. That way I had little difficulty with alignment. There were only a couple of design mistakes where the large hole lined up over another large hole, so I used the screw plates supplied for these. Re the leaking, yes I have this problem in two places. I agree the plastic washers do not sit flat on some of the roof panels and so water can get beneath. This is made worse because it is possible for the two panels being joined to end up in different parts of the screw thread, so their surfaces aren't clamped tightly together and water can get in between and down the screws.The screws have a deep thread so this is quite likely. Machine screws would be better but they need nuts. I agree, sealant required! I am also putting sealant around the inside of the base to prevent water seeping in from outside. Do you have that problem? Regards.

[Adrian Brentnall]

HI Brian Well - the shed's still standing (my original post was dated October

2006) - so I guess that says something about its robustness - particularly as a slot-together tubular garden rose-arch that we put up last year has rusted into its component sections in under 12 months exposure to our salt-laden south-west-of-Ireland rain.

It's been a while, but I seem to remember I had a go with the handy mastic gun and smeared a blob of mastic on top of the visible screwheads.

The shed's still damp in one or two spots - my 'planned' summer job for the last two years has been to get in there and toss out all the bits of 'useful-diy-bits' that are "just waiting for the Right Job to come along to be useful..." but, so far, I've had a shortage of round tuits... and the schedule may slip again!

As to leakage around the base, I sat the whole thing on top of a treated timber platform, and the arranged a strip of damp-proof-course plastic to be trapped under the bottom edge of the side-walls, and overlap the edge of the timber platform - so diverting all the rainwater past the edge of the platform. Seems to have worked so far.

If I was tackling the same project again I wouldn't use the Yardmaster - I'd either get a little man in (my 12 x 24 timber shed / glass workshop cost rather more than the Yardmaster - but it's in a different class entirely. Prefabbed by a local firm, concrete plinth, torch-on felt roof) - or I'd make something myself with decent-sized sheets of coated profile steel. Having said that, the Yardmaster was a convenient solution at the time, and it's still standing!

Adrian

[barney]

replying to Adrian, barney wrote: I have just bought the 10ft x 10ft have put it up and I'm having same problem the trouble is getting at the screws again on top of the roof to reseal them again trying to think of another way any ideas please let me know.

[harry]

You're answering a ten year old post.

[Geo]

It's normal for these people using that homeowner website to access USENET. Maybe the posting dates are invisble.

[Adrian Brentnall]

In fairness, the my original post was 30th October 2006, but it did get revived again in August 2015, and then again on 7th April

2016.

Seems that Yardmaster are still churning out the same (leaky!) design - so I guess it's sorta relevant.

The homeownershub 'leech' site does show the date on each post - but who reads the small print?

Can't quite see 'where the money is' on the homeownershub site - maybe they're planning on getting loads of leeched traffic and then trying to flog page advertising off the back of it? Strange...

Adrian

[The bont]

replying to Adrian Brentnall, The bont wrote: Hi there.just baught the yardmaster 8x6 shed(July 2019).the trouble I have is water getting in through the outside corner posts .I thougt at first the water was coming in from under the frame base,but discovered with the help of a hose pipe,that the rain gets blown through each corner,runs down the inside then onto the ply board base

[Andy1969]

replying to Adrian, Andy1969 wrote: Exactly that

[chris]

Adrian I bought one of their 10ft by 10ft sheds I've had exactly the same problem they are a load of crap in the end I took out all the silly self-tapping screws which if you slightly over tighten they just spin and don't tighten at all I decided to get my riveter out and rivet the whole bloody thing together it seems to be a lot better but it's still leaks structurally though it's very strong or at least it is now I would not recommend to anybody to buy one of these sheds I just feel like tearing it down and throwing it in the bin

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Don't hold back tell us what you really think! Brian

[Radio Man]

We had a shed for nearly 20 years, it was in the Garden when we bought the house. I suspect it was 5 years old when we moved in- a bit of a guess.

No problems with leaks until we had a tree cut back and the tree surgeon dropped a log on the roof. No amount of pushing and bending could get the joins to seal in the area so we replaced the shed.

But for the log, and my wife wanting a nice wooden shed, it would still be there and over 30 years old

If you?ve damaged the screw holes it isn?t really the fault of the product.

[Adrian Brentnall]

Well - it was 13 years ago that we installed the thing and I posted the original message - and the shed's still standing.

Leaks like a leaky thing - and the contents are well-overdue for a serious 'throwing-away' session - but it hasn't blown away - and we have had some serious gales out here in the last 13 years...

Still feel that there are many better ways to make a shed - and that the Yardmaster suffers greatly from having been 'engineered' (using the term loosely!) so it fits into small packages for couriering.

I wouldn't buy one again - but this one served its purpose..

One of the jobs planned for lockdown was to get in there and dump whatever was dumpable - but that didn't happen..

Adrian