What are metal sheds like?

[matthelliwell]

My summer project is to build a new shed/workshop at the bottom of my garde n. I was planning on a normal wooden shed. However, there was a burglary in our road on Saturday night so its made me think a bit more about security and may be a metal shed.

Has anyone experience of erecting and using a metal shed? It'll be used for a mixture of storage and playing with woodworking tools.

The shed will be built at the top of an old railway embankment so the first problem is the base. There is no chance of me laying a concrete base as th ere is an oak tree up there as well so I can't dig much of the soil away. I planned to raise the wooden shed slightly above the rooty uneven group usi ng Swift Plinths

or so mething similar but I'm not sure what I could do with a metal shed.

Secondly how do you mount power sockets and switches and run cabling for th e power?

Finally does anyone know if they are particularly difficult to insulate? I was thinking of putting two or three inches of foam board insulation to mak e it a bit more comfortable inside.

Any experience or thoughts are welcome.

Thanks

Matt

[Huge]

If you're talking about one of those prefabricated ones from a DIY shed, I'd forget it. They're made out of the foil from cigarette packets ..

[Bob H]

Burglars always go for the weakest link, and that would be the door hinges or lock. One of my neighbours has a metal shed and last summer it got broken into. The scumbags just hacked the lock off.

[matthelliwell]

I'm not sure yet. I saw this one

but haven't done much searching for a supplier yet.

[Capitol]

In a moment of utter folly, I bought the Screwfix one for her garden tools. As Hugh has said, they are made of tinfoil. The assembly screws pulled straight through the panels and I had to buy new spire clips from CPC to prevent this. There is no floor, so I had to make this. The shed is not waterproof and I used about 20 tubes of acrylic filler, filling all the holes and sealing panel joints. It took me about 4 weeks full time, to put together to my satisfaction and uses 50K screws ( well it seemed like it). These units are very light, so it is necessary to bolt them down extremely well. Fixing battens to the walls for power points is feasible, but I wouldn't recommend it. Insulation IMO would be a nightmare. Personally I'd build a brick workshop, costs a bit more, but easy to line out and adds considerable value to the property. Always build it bigger than you think you need, size is not that expensive, it's finishing which costs money and this can be done gradually.

[Lee]

It's the old story of why have a building specifically to protect something if that is exactly what it looks like its doing? Just makes it a more attractive target, maybe not for the casuals so much, but their mates...

Having worked in some modern buildings that haven't been much better than a glorified steel box, I'm not sure sure I'd want a metal shed as a workshop - very well insulated or not ;)

We have a metal shed bolted to a base made up of 'council' paving slabs. Does the job of a storage shed well enough I guess and after 11 years still looks ok - but if I were to replace it with something I wanted to spend more than a few minutes in, it would be with a wooden or brick/block structure...

Lee

[fred]

arden. I was planning on a normal wooden shed. However, there was a burglar y in our road on Saturday night so its made me think a bit more about secur ity and may be a metal shed.

for a mixture of storage and playing with woodworking tools.

irst problem is the base. There is no chance of me laying a concrete base a s there is an oak tree up there as well so I can't dig much of the soil awa y. I planned to raise the wooden shed slightly above the rooty uneven group using Swift Plinths

o r something similar but I'm not sure what I could do with a metal shed.

? I was thinking of putting two or three inches of foam board insulation to make it a bit more comfortable inside.

I made up 300mm x 300mm x 300mm open ended chipbard boxes and used them as formers for concrete pads.

Floor joists on top of these topped of with exterior grade plywood.

Ready assembled stud frame fixed to this. Roof trusses made up to suit. Who le lot clad in corrugated iron. Clear roof lights inserted eliminating the need for windows (Handy but also means lowlife can't peak in to view the co ntents and leaves all wall space available for storage.)

Wooden doors inset into frame so they couldn't be lifted off the pintle hin ges.

Good Abus padlock.

If you're handy with wood this is all fairly easy.

[matthelliwell]

Well if nothing else that's one shed off the list!

[michael adams]

You don't say what you'll be storing. But if it's large items that only get occasional use such as lawnmowers or even larger power tools then regardless of other factors a good measure of security can be obtained simply by chaining by them all together. Usually threading the chain through the handles. In addition, if a ladder is available then even the better. While even hardened steel chain won't resist a half hour's close aquaintainship with an angle grinder this usually makes a racket and for this to be possible at all its necessary to secure or clamp the chain in some way in order to gain a purchase. So its advisable not to leave any G clamps lying around. For smaller stuff you'd probably be just as well off with a lockable cupboard, a small metal S/H stationary cupboard or similar might fit the bill maybe plastered outside with hazard labels and generously kitted out inside with silica gel. Again not totally impregnable but likely to deter most ill equipped opportunists.

Casting foundation pads in situ as suggested by fred

seems preferable to using bought-in plinths which would still need to be levelled off in some way.

michael adams

...

michael adams

[Adrian]

I'd go with a wooden one as an interim step - they start cheaply, flat- pack, with floor etc.

[matthelliwell]

Planer/thicknesser, radial arm saw, table saw, routers and the such like.

That's an interesting idea, I hadn't thought of a less secure shed and more secure chains and cupboards. I'll have to think about that a bit more.

Matt

[Nightjar]

If you have the space, look for a second hand half (i.e 20ft) container. They are built to resist thieves from around the world.

My most secure shed is built of blockwork, with a very solid flat roof, no windows and a Jeld-Wen steel security door. That was built to meet the requirements of my business insurers, as it is where I store my stock, not that any of it would be of much value to a tea leaf.

Colin Bignell

[Nightjar]

I think you are being generous.

Colin Bignell

[harryagain]

Has anyone experience of erecting and using a metal shed? It'll be used for a mixture of storage and playing with woodworking tools.

The shed will be built at the top of an old railway embankment so the first problem is the base. There is no chance of me laying a concrete base as there is an oak tree up there as well so I can't dig much of the soil away. I planned to raise the wooden shed slightly above the rooty uneven group using Swift Plinths

or something similar but I'm not sure what I could do with a metal shed.

Secondly how do you mount power sockets and switches and run cabling for the power?

Finally does anyone know if they are particularly difficult to insulate? I was thinking of putting two or three inches of foam board insulation to make it a bit more comfortable inside.

Any experience or thoughts are welcome.

The ones you buy are shit.

You can make a good metal shed using box profile on a timber frame. If you go down to the box profile place/roofer they often have loads of offcuts. You need to know whatsizes you want, thestuff is a pain to cut, they can do it easy.

Main problem is condensation. Needs good ventilation.

[SteveW]

We had a lot of furniture, ornaments, a good quality three piece leather suite and other items to store after my mother-in-law died. Short term we stuck it in storage, but that was expensive, so we put up a wooden shed, lined with polystyrene slabs and covered with hardboard (the floor with chipboard). Everything survived in there without any problems - the suite was in there for 6 years, until the kids were old enough not to wreck it. My stereo was also in there. No damp problems, no mice, nothing.

I fitted an alarm, so at least attention would be drawn if someone broke in - even the door opening beep mode brought my neighbour out when I was getting something in the early hours of the morning.

SteveW

[Brian Gaff]

During the wind recently, a friend said he was overtaken by one of those on the M25. Brian

[Bill Wright]

there was a burglary in our road on Saturday night so its made me think a bit more about security and may be a metal shed.

Small shipping container.

Bill

[Bill Wright]

With bars.

Bill

[Bill Wright]

My young friend had two bicycles worth about £1,000 each but the shed at his dad's was not very good. I set a block of concrete (with a lot of 'plums' in it) 500 x 400 x 400 into the floor. I got my mate to make two hoops, like upside down 'U's with huge serifs to lock into the concrete. We bought a good length of high tensile chain and a couple of vast padlocks. The chain went through all four wheels and both frames. All the sheds in the street got blagged one night, but the bikes remained. The shed door was off its hinges but still padlocked!

Bill

[fred]

Yep, done that twice, once in a shed, once in the dining room of a rented house :-).

No matter how tired, I always lock the gear up before crashing.