New shed and the my first mortice lock

Meh - just spent all day on one lock. 1.5hours finding tools and some quite significant number of hours drilling and chiselling away to fit a sash mortice lock.

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I must admit - I am pleased on 2 counts:

1) "My first mortice lock" (TM) turned out OK-ish.

2) I am not a locksmith because doing those bastards all day would drive me insane!

I did not build the shed - I wimped out because the old one was shagged (most of one side was missing as was half the floor). I need storage so I can get on with the house. So I bought a "workshop grade" one from a local shed company.

Quite impressed with the constriction - it's almost like I would build one by hand if I had the time. The door is a flush fit and tick enough to take a mortice. In fact I actually need to get an extra long square bar (140mm) as the door is so thick.

I have an upgrade plan for when it no longer needs to store crap and can be maybe used as a proper workshop: add celotex and line it properly. Replace felt with "rubber" roofing tiles.

As my old base is 3" out of level over the diagonal (the base is solid enough - just very old and subsided) I went for the "extra base" option.

Also was wise to make the new shed narrower (12x6) instead of 10x8 as the old base is 12x8 and someone extended with an extra 2 ft of concrete. I say concrete - but they clearly forgot to add any cement as the hose can wash it away!

Little less impressed by the installers' idea of levelling the base - few bits of 2x3 acting as "legs" screwed on to an otherwise well made frame with one screw and half the weight of the shed going through about

4 of these "legs".

What they should have used is these:

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where the load bears directly down through an adjustable pad with a load capacity of 800kg.

I've ordered a few and will slip them in under key beams and then tweak them up until tight. Typical british - build something quite nicely then bodge the installation even when there is an inexpensive product designed to solve that exact problem.

Anyway - one more mortice lock down lower, couple of hinge bolts and it should be pretty solid. Locks are keyed alike with house so no extra keys :)

Reply to
Tim Watts
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Sounds quite nice, how much wonga? Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

"Brian Gaff" wrote in news:lrihej$8pa$1@dont- email.me:

Best thing I ever did with a shed (mine) over 35 years ago was to keep it in pieces in the garage whilst I gave it many coats of Cuprinol - especially under the floor. Many get delivered in raw condition - get erected and then someone decides to treat only the exposed surfaces after it has rained a few times.

Reply to
DerbyBorn

More than a regular shed -

I calculated I could have made one to a similar spec for about the same amount but mine would include insulation and "eco" (rubber) fake slate roof tiles.

As it's only a 6 x 12 foot shed and I needed it now, I wimped. The walls and roof are well made with 3x2 inch framing - but the floor could have been stronger - a rather bouncy arrangement of 2x1 inch roofing battens laid over another grid of roofing battens at right angles.

Why they did not simply use 3x2 joists I do not know...

However, when the house is done I will be building a bigger one in the corner of the garden my way :)

Tis nice though to have a clean and dry shed at last...

Reply to
Tim Watts

I did that with my dad when we built our first shed decades ago. That lasted a long time.

This one is pressure treated - though it will be getting coated with a woodstain/preserver. It is well raised off the ground on a treated frame with lots of ventilation so the floor should last...

Reply to
Tim Watts

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