In desperate need of a new shed at Handyman Towers 11.
Choice is between building one myself or buying a ready made.
Seen these on the interweb
Anyone had any experience of them?
Seems too cheap! Their pressure treated sheds have various warnings, like "framing is not pressure treated" and the headline prices don't include things like a floor. Even so, they are cheap... be hard to buy the materials to cobble something together.
For what it's worth, when I looked for a shed we spent a while looking at ones on display.
Settled on one from
All pressure treated, stainless fixings etc etc.
Another one for quality sheds is Quinneys:
Darren
Yup, my dad bought one last year, the 12 x 8 lincoln 4000 version, actually my mum chose it, she was suckered in by their claims of using twice the frame thickness timbers than other shed makers.... i'd hate to see these other sheds then, they must use matchsticks for the frames. They build them just down the road from me it appears.
We took down the old 8x7 shed that was bought from Q&Q about 10 years before, and was beginning to rot away in the corners, then started to assemble the new shed,
immediately noticed how much lighter the new shed's panels were, the frame was a lot thinner than the other shed, and the shiplap boards were thinner, and the old shed wasnt anything special... bog standard Q&Q offering made from shiplap, but the old sheds panels were pretty rigid, even with rotten corners, new sheds panels wobbeled about like fence panels.
Roof boards were 9mm chipboard... pain to get the felt nails into, and the supplied felt was the thin stuff that rips off in the slightest breeze,
And the windows, fukinell, i'd be ashamed to sell them as shed windows, 2mm cheap (styrene i think) plastic that sounded like rolf harris was squatting in the shed every time the wind blew,
We never fitted the crappy 'windows' and instead bought some 6mm polycarbonate cut to the right size, then had to buy a roll of decent felt as the supplied stuff was ripped the first storm they had.
So personally i'd say avoid the s**te that company produces, unless you really really can't wait to build a shed your self, then view the billy oh shed as a cheap temporary thing, use it for the bonfire next year and build a proper shed in the mean time.
I would not touch them based on the website. Yes, in cases like this I do judge a book by its cover. Too much link spam and too many trading styles
no experience of them but most shed manufacturers mass produce them to cut costs and seem to use thinner and thinner timbers. Given your expertise, and the fact that you'll probably need something more secure (I assume you'll be using it to store powertools etc), I'd build one yourself if I were you.
you can concrete your own base after ducting power and comms (if req) into it. lay one or two courses of concrete block, then build the sides etc on this - this cuts down on timber, elevates the sides, prevents water penetration and vermin attack. get a decent door and frame, and you can pick up mis-measured upvc DG window frames from local manufacturers, build sides to suit. Cheap alarm and a decent lock and you're good to go.
If you've got quality timbers for the sidea etc, they will hold up a decent roof, which IME is the main let down of prefabs - the sides are too flimsy to hold up anything stronger than quarter inch match board - first gust of wind and it's in next doors
You should find one here, there's 50 to choose from.
essential oils - Castrol GTX and WD-40.
Best laugh today.
Used 'em - twice! Both I -- and later my mate -- were attracted by the price. As others have said they're cheaply made: materials cut to the bone (i.e. thin wood!). Also, the main structure for both sheds was fine, but the trimmings in both cases (miscellaneous metal fixings and wood cover strips) seemed a bit random. The components are made precisely.
However:
- delivery was outstanding, with the company taking great care to deliver accurately and early;
- liaison was also excellent (missing odds and ends dispatched immediately);
- I always figured that if I could get the shed up and assembled, I myself could strengthen and improve it without too much trouble: so far,
3 years on, I haven't had to, though TBH I should have re-felted it this summer.I have also made my own shed in the last year or so, out of second-hand timbers and corrugated iron. This is MUCH more substantial, and roomier than what the same money would buy me from a shed retailer like this. However it took me about 6 months to build, whereas both the Billy-ohs went up in one day (with the help of a friend[1]).
Final word -- unnecessary in your case TMH -- the crucial factors are (a) a good solid base and (b) great care in assembling (the diagrams are a little like IKEA's: don't start the next step until you understand EXACTLY what the picture is showing!
John
[1] You don't just need your mate to be helping erect the thing: you need the combined brain power to work out what one or two particular stages ought to be (e.g. the roof truss on ours did not go in the centre of the side walls, even though the instructions (which are a bit generic) illustrated it as doing so.)
I've had a BillyOh and I'd second Another John's comments. Cheap and cheerful and quicker than building my own. But now I've also built a shed from scratch I wouldn't buy another kit.
My BillyOh's been up 2-3 years now and I'm now talking about stengthening (and lifting the roof cos I keep cracking my head on the truss) next summer. Although as SWMBO noted when I mentioned this - it's not leaking _yet_ - so it may well wait until 2014 (2015, etc ?).
Thanks chaps. Looks like I'll be building my own :-)
Very recent experience on buying shiplap.... don't expect the thickness to match the advertised dimensions!
It may well start at 19mm but sawing and machining make it end up nearer
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