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Nick's practice shed

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Breather membrane, corners and battening

Postby bluebirdnick » 09 Sep 2017, 09:46

This was on my list as an “easy” job. It was not! Even with Dad’s help, the membrane took about 3 hours.

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Firstly: I think I used a membrane for a roof, not a wall. Not sure if it matters: it’s waterproof but breathable.

Secondly: Possibly a stupid question, but how are you actually supposed to fit the membrane?! I used the staple gun and taped the seams with duct tape (but looking at the pics I clearly missed at least one seam).

It was a bugger to cut, too.

Battening was easier, but again my failure to have enough of the right stuff on site meant that I was running around trying to find battens. End result was that I ended up with 19mm deep battens which, allied to a “challenging” session with the breather membrane and dad having used offcuts to insulate some of the cavities means that I think I have effectively failed adequately ventilate my walls. Which is really, really annoying as 25mm battens cost nothing, and we had more than enough insulation anyway.

I struggled with the corners. In the end I took the mystery 4.2m 200x50mm that Builder Depot delivered and ripped it in two, and then halved each length to give me oversized 100x50mm corners, and fixed them in such a way that the cladding finished flush on all sides with the corners. It does give the building a chunky look – I was after something a little more delicate but couldn’t work out how else to do it (plus the timber I used was free, and it got rid of a massive plank of wood that I would otherwise have had to store or get rid of).

You can also see here that I added 47x47mm timbers around the windows and doors, again to prevent the edges of the cladding from being exposed.

Lessons learnt for the workshop:


1) Work out how to do more refined corners!

2) Get 25mm battens. At least. And don’t use offcuts when doing the insulation – it will bulge!

3) Learn how to properly fix the breather membrane to the studwork.

4) double up the vertical studs around the windows. It will make battening much easier. (It’s hard to nail cladding to a batten that is not backed by a stud)
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Cladding

Postby bluebirdnick » 09 Sep 2017, 09:49

This is the fun part!

cladding 1.jpg
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cladding 2.jpg
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cladding 3.jpg
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This took about 1.5 days on my own. It’s good fun! (If you are concerned about how close the cladding goes to the floor, I share your concern but the pictures are a bit misleading: the geotextile is bunched up and the shed is at least 100mm above ground level, probably 200mm at the left hand side.

It’s not finished yet- I had to get as much on as I could before the weather changed so focused on getting as much of the easy stuff on as possible rather than completely finishing each wall. The cladding is 6/22mm treated feather edge, 150mm deep. I allowed a 30mm overlap. I didn’t want feather edge. I wanted loglap. Or, at least, shiplap. And when budget dictated that feather edge was my only option, I promised myself I would get the chunkiest stuff I could. But sadly when it came to it, the fact that we have a baby due any minute meant that I really had to cut back and went for the cheapest, thinnest feather edge. However I was actually pleasantly surprised by the stuff that was delivered – it does feel reasonably chunky, and I really love the appearance of the feather edge and will likely use it (albeit thicker stuff) for the workshop. I WILL be using more expensive stuff for the workshop, but this was a case of spending £200 to get the job done, or £400 to do it was I wanted it done and regretting the over-spend.

The little jig I made to space the boards (you can see it hanging on the broken old fence on the right hand side in the second pic) uses two timbers of different depth, so it will give different spacing if used one way up as opposed to the other! Basic error, and I think this explains the rather irritating difference between the board spacing on the front face, and the left side wall. Bugger.

Some other things to note: the board above the door and the window on the front walls are put there as full boards for convenience. This is not ideal, but I was due heavy rain and had 3 hours to clad the front, back and right hand side walls or risk having it all getting drenched. Perfect is the enemy of done, and I am perversely quite proud of myself for choosing to live with this very visible imperfection in favour of getting the job done in the time I had. With a baby arriving in the next few weeks and all of my tools in its room, getting the job done is the main aim now!

And while I am blowing my own trumpet: when designing this, I obsessed over having 2.4m x 1.8m external walls to make cladding easier. The 2.4 dimension changed by a few cm for reasons that I won’t go in to (and in any case it transpires that my supplier of the cladding – the excellent Beaumont Forest – don’t stock 2.4m anyway). However I did have 1.8m side walls and the supplier did supply 1.8m cladding, so I was delighted when I didn’t have to cut a single 1.8m board; every one of them fitted by pressure with no holding needed when fitting (some required a gentle tap with a hammer to get them in) which means that my walls, and the boards, must have been accurate to within a mm or so, all the way up. As an aside, where I did cut boards for the other walls I cut them generally a mm too wide so that I did have to hammer them in a bit, but the boards were still a bit wet from the recent rain so I figure they can only shrink.

Fitting them was generally easy, but tricky for the back wall (which is up against a hedge). I used the jig, and a 25mm nail from the nail gun/stapler to temporarily fix them, and then used a hammer and bright nails to fix them properly (one nail at each batten). I trusted my jig, but on every other board I used a spirit level to check the level of the bottom of the board as this would be the visible bit. Generally it was all OK with just the jig, but a few needed adjusting. I put the nails high on the boards so that they would be covered by the overlap. Not sure if this is right – time (or someone who knows what they are talking about) will tell. Also not sure if I used the right nails. I used lost head bright nails, but wondering if I should have used galvanised nails.

Fixing the boards was manageable on my own but tricky for the longer boards, and they were only 2.4m. This will be a two-man job for the workshop where I am working with boards twice that length.

You will also note that the wood has not been painted. It was wet when it arrived and it has been raining since. We had a few days of dry weather so they had mostly dried by the time I fixed them, but sadly not dry enough to paint. And getting hold of Barn Paint was a bit of a problem too. The local supplier told me that they stock loads of the stuff, and that they sell all colours. Both of which are true, but what he really means is that they stock loads of white and black, and they do sell any colour but only after ordering it in specially. Oh well. Another example of lack of research and over-reliance on just-in-time ordering. And I actually really like the appearance of the treated timber.

Lessons learnt for the workshop:


1) With the jig, have an obvious “top” and “bottom” to avoid the error made on the shed. And if I am working alone: make two, and temporarily fix one to the wall in place, to free up hands to work with the rest of the board.

2) Nailing was easy and quick (if a little noisy). Contrary to expectations, no need to hire a paslode to speed things up. But make sure I have the right nails – and two hammers. It is a two-man job for the workshop, so both should be hammering.

3) Have lots of end grain preservative ready. I have been splashing it everywhere whenever I cut anything, and in particular for the cladding.

4) Don’t over-order! I’ve got maybe 50m of leftover full boards left, which is crazy. I am not a very good quantity surveyor.

5) Consider using steel sheeting for the back walls if I am using it for the roof. Probably cheaper (in particular as I want to clad the workshop in thicker feather edge, or shiplap/loglap), probably quicker and probably more resilient which is particularly important as access to the back of the workshop will be very difficult.

6) Order the timber long in advance; let it dry; then paint. And then fix. I will end up painting the shed when finished and the end result will be poorer than giving myself the time to paint it first.

7) I use a laser level all the time in the house. I didn’t use it at all for the cladding. Use it. It would have been really, really useful on the front wall where I was (and will be) running different lines of cladding that are supposed to be exactly in line.
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Doors and windows

Postby bluebirdnick » 09 Sep 2017, 09:51

I am struggling with the door.

door.jpg
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As you have seen previously, I have added timbers on the front wall around the door opening to act as an edge for the cladding. Which I think looks great. Problems:

it is just one timber deep. the hinges are attached to it, and not to the doubled-up studs I put around the door opening in the wall.
I want to clad it, but that will mean that the doors stands proud of the rest of the wall. This has the benefit of hiding the hinges (which should add security), but will look rubbish and will also not be ideal as regards rain. What did I do wrong?
I want to insulate it too. So how do I clad it, insulate it and leave it flush with the rest of the building?
I would like a window in the door too. Too ambitious? (I do plan to add a diagonal brace to the lower part of the door)
The windows are rather easier – I will just order sealed units to fit.
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Re: Nick's practice shed

Postby bluebirdnick » 09 Sep 2017, 09:54

That brings us up to date. I am off to do the roof felt now; and finish off the door etc. Any comments welcome!
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Re: Nick's practice shed

Postby Rod » 09 Sep 2017, 09:59

Are you going to brace the door?

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Re: Nick's practice shed

Postby bluebirdnick » 09 Sep 2017, 10:10

Yes, I am planning to.
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Re: Nick's practice shed

Postby Malc2098 » 09 Sep 2017, 17:51

Looking good, Nick, and probably a steep learning curve like has mine has been.

I share your 'what do I do with the corners and doors' edges for the cladding ends?'

I've looked at MikeG's suggestion of 3x1 and 2x1 in an L shape and I'll try and work something out for that, based on the depth created by the counter battens and the FE being a minimum of 2".

I also think I need to fix (screw or bolt) 2" extensions to the door frames to bring them out to meet the FE and be beefy enough to take the hinges, but I won't decide on that depth until after the FE arrives and I can measure it modelled on a batten.

MikeG's tip with the strap hinge looks good and I shall try that.

Good luck and keep going.
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Re: Cladding

Postby Mike G » 09 Sep 2017, 21:02

bluebirdnick wrote:..........I put the nails high on the boards so that they would be covered by the overlap. Not sure if this is right .........


No, it is definitely wrong. The nails should be approx 30mm up from the bottom of the boards if you have a 25mm overlap between boards. This means the nail is holding the bottom edge of the upper board (the board it is nailed into), and at the same time traps the upper edge of the board below. This prevents curling / cupping of the boards, and yet allows for shrinkage.

You are right about nail guns for this job. It is quicker and easier, and far, far better, to use the old fashioned hammer and nails.

Oh, and paint: a mist coat and a full coat to the boards before fixing, then a second full coat once in place on the shed, paying particular attention to covering the nail heads.
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Re: Nick's practice shed

Postby bluebirdnick » 10 Sep 2017, 19:01

Thanks both, much appreciated. I didn't do much yesterday but today I took on the challenge of getting the roof finished before the rain came at 4pm, and managed it with enough time to spare to clad the door. The roof is asphalt shingles over standard shed felt as an underlay. Pics to follow - it was raining quite heavily by the time I finished and didn't want to risk the camera.

Malcolm- I have been watching your build with wonder and envy - looks fantastic! You are also using the roofing that I really wanted to use, but cost and difficulty with getting hold of it ruled it out. It looks great, though.

Mike - thanks for the advice. Is it worth me adding nails in the "proper" location now? Or does the fact that they would be fixed at top and bottom mean that it's not worth doing? I'll add it to the list for the workshop build. As regards the paint: I was gutted not to get it on before I did the cladding, but I just ran out of time. Hugely disappointing, in particular as the main problem was my misunderstanding as regards the difference between what the local supplier means by "we stock it" and "we sell it"!

Lessons for workshop

Nail cladding at a single point only, low on the boards but just above the one beneath.
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Re: Nick's practice shed

Postby Andyp » 10 Sep 2017, 20:11

It is great that you have had a practice to try things out. Great job.
I do not think therefore I do not am.

cheers
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Re: Nick's practice shed

Postby TrimTheKing » 10 Sep 2017, 22:04

Looks good mate and great way to document all the gotchas for the 'proper' build.

Cheers
Mark


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Cheers
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Re: Nick's practice shed

Postby 9fingers » 10 Sep 2017, 22:31

Don't add more nails now as the boards will likely split.

I got mine wrong years ago and they have split on my shop but I did not know then what I know now :lol:

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