• Hi all and welcome to TheWoodHaven2 brought into the 21st Century, kicking and screaming! We all have Alasdair to thank for the vast bulk of the heavy lifting to get us here, no more so than me because he's taken away a huge burden of responsibility from my shoulders and brought us to this new shiny home, with all your previous content (hopefully) still intact! Please peruse and feed back. There is still plenty to do, like changing the colour scheme, adding the banner graphic, tweaking the odd setting here and there so I have added a new thread in the 'Technical Issues, Bugs and Feature Requests' forum for you to add any issues you find, any missing settings or just anything you'd like to see added/removed from the feature set that Xenforo offers. We will get to everything over the coming weeks so please be patient, but add anything at all to the thread I mention above and we promise to get to them over the next few days/weeks/months. In the meantime, please enjoy!

JJ summerhouse/shed build

J

Jjenks

Seedling
Joined
Oct 14, 2016
Messages
31
Reaction score
0
Hello to my build thread. I moved into my cottage 5 years ago, at the back of the garden was a summerhouse. I guess this was built in the late seventys early eighties to a very high standard, on a concrete base with polystyrene insulation. However it was never looked after, soil was put against the back causing the wood to rot and it was riddled with wood worm. So early October I ripped it down . I had been scanning the Internet for ages and was originally going for a single brick plinth as per Mike G on another forum. Than a week before I started I found this place, and decided to go as per Mikes newer plan. I hope to add pictures when allowed, but have got to the stage of roof on and cladding on. Still many questions to ask.
About myself. I live in Stoke Poges Bucks, 51 year old. Have carried out loads of DIY over the years including 3 bathroom ref its and a couple of kitchen refurbs. My carpenter father in his late eighties with only one eye and original hand tools puts most of my efforts to shame. Will try to mention my mistakes to give others tips and confidence to carry out their own project. Kind regards jj
 
Excellent JJ. Let's start with any sketches or drawings you have of your project.
 
Looking forward to it JJ, I get lots of tips from others here! :D
 
Sorry to say Mike but the few sketches I made were mainly for working out how much timber and at what lengths. I grew up seeing my fathers back of fag packet sketches. Not realising he had timber sizes and known obstacles already sorted in his head. I am trying to work out how to get the photos from my iPad and android phone onto the post. Any tips please dumb down as much as possible.
 
Easiest way on the phone is to use the Tapatalk App ( which I think is free).
You can upload straight from your albums etc.

Rod
 
Cheers Rod have downloaded app to both devices,. Hello Malcolm I live near the fox and pheasant. Guessing you have moved away.
 
095df4dfb82265b4198d4772c4f7de3c.jpg
1e1d7bafd9d4fb32e53c4d33689191fc.jpg
be75190929698ff15e35df63a5ff95e4.jpg
ae30f2446af05cee3118fda258f1fc91.jpg
6472e6285145925751d1e8fdb5b47db3.jpg
434c2d9f983a4563c51fce950736abf1.jpg
acd56bff7e1751194b25c4fd007d88dd.jpg


Well I hope I have managed to upload some photos, and not crashed the Internet. As I said before the concrete base from the original summerhouse was in good condition. Measuring approx 5m x 3.5m. I built a. Brick and block plinth up. Bricklaying is not my forte and I was not helped by the banana shaped bricks supplied by Jewsons. I had taken a couple of weeks of and due to the late start date wanted to get up to at least having a roof covered, so ploughed ahead. I had been looking on eBay for a set of patio doors at a reasonable price.it was only after getting the doors I realised that my original idea of having the doors at plinth level would place my roof at over 2.5m. Serves me right for not planning. So a chisel and saw was used to lower the plinth by one brick for door openings. Somewhere I am sure Mike had also had made a jig to cut his blocks to 50 mm wide, but once again in my rush I had missed that. This means my inner wall will have a step at floor level, unless I can cut a bit of the block in situ. Any ideas.got to go catch up later


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
The F&P was the go to pub for taking off duty nurses from the quarters at WPH! Dealt with a load of serious crashes at X rds just south of there.

If you go over to my 'shop build thread, I made a jig for cutting 100mm block into 50mm, but it might be too much trouble for just one or two; I've got about 15 to split. But they are soft and easy to cut with most cheap saws, they just need supporting while being cut, because they get more fragile the thinner they are.

Coming along nicely.
 
I wonder if it was your post I was reading for the block cutting jig, alas I remembered too late. You may see throughout my blog a lot of reverse engineering :eusa-pray: due to a lack of planning. They eventually decided to put lights at the crossroads. So a lot safer if they just stopped driving with eyes on there phones.
 
Jjenks":3c1dbse4 said:
I wonder if it was your post I was reading for the block cutting jig, alas I remembered too late. You may see throughout my blog a lot of reverse engineering :eusa-pray: due to a lack of planning. They eventually decided to put lights at the crossroads. So a lot safer if they just stopped driving with eyes on there phones.
Click to expand...

JJ, yes, it was. That's where I found Sketchup to be so helpful. I found problems in the virtual model before I built them, and have been able to find solutions before the build.

I'm with you all the way on the phone issue.
 
Well next it was the timber frame. Starting with the back, I had made a jig to get all my vertical posts at the same length. Using my nail gun the frames were made so they stacked on top of each other, a length of batten nailed diagonally to keep them square. I had the measurements for the patio doors and the shed door I was getting from a friend so he sent the measurements over ( I have now received the door his measurements were short by 10 cm so I will add a kick plate to the bottom) at the end of a very satisfying day the frames lay there like a game of Jenga waiting for the morning.
Luckily a friend had the day of and by the time he arrived I had some wedges made up and the damp proof membrane down. Another piece of information I managed to miss was to get a thin layer of cement under the membrane. I had made the frame to sit 50 mm in from the edge of the brick and in no time all the frames were in place. I used the wedges to level up and was more than happy when I measured the corners to be only 15 mm out. I used coach bolts to hold the frame together, and finished adding the vertical joists doubling up on the window, doors and corners and than vertical joists for strength. I left the top back and front joists protruding over the side joists by 100 mm so the edge rafter would have something to sit on.
I have been very lucky with the weather and the next day I had the rafters and osb roof sheets on. I used 8x2 timber for the roof and left an overhang at the front and back of 200 mm.I was thinking of putting firrings on top for a slope but decided my rafters were large enough to be cut to allow for drainage I used 200mm boards that following another of mikes tips I had given 3 coats of Bedoc barn paint it has really great coverage on bare wood. I tried it on my second hand painted patio doors it was not so good.
I purchased an epdm roofing kit. We were now getting into November and the start of some cold nights not the best time of year to lay this type of roof. Laying the membrane out the night before I used a heat gun to get the worst of the creases out. The next morning following the instructional videos on the permaroof site the roof was complete a very simple to fit system.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Keep it going, JJ. I've had to stop at plinth level for the holidays!
 
Managed to get the patio doors fitted will have to give them a proper paint in spring. The shed door I've still got to lengthen with a kick plate. A nuisance but probably more aesthetically pleasing. First fit electrics done and I've started the internal insulation.
b7444c0097b488110b0a8964789fdc1c.jpg
26292d26a2136a00090f13d7288e5f92.jpg
5ba9839267e281ef4b81954b2fa2c36b.jpg



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Sorry for not posting for a while, but a cycle injury put me out of action for a while. Anyway my next job was cladding. I used a paper breather membrane on the outside, held with staples. Before battening at the bottom I placed the battening on its side to get the cladding to fall over my bricks and nailed the damp proof course over that. Insect mesh was pushed between the DPC and the bricks . Than the rest of the battening was nailed into place with stainless steel nails. Another line of mesh fitted at the top. I decided to use thermowood cladding for its stability hopefully durability but I still gave it 2 coats of Sadolin all over. The cladding I purchased was a tounge and groove so should keep the many critters eyeing up my build in the woods behind at bay, luckily there was very few open knot holes, but any I did find or loose knots I stapled insect mesh to the rear.
 
Before cladding I made up my window and door frames. I had a double glazed window and made the frames with pine coated with about 4 coats of barn paint. The patio door frame I used an old mahogany window cill for the door cill, and the shed door cill I used 2 pieces of the framing timber joined together for the cill. Again softwood for the rest of the frame covered with barnpaint. Sounds quick writing this but I spent ages looking at frames online, than wondering if I should use parliament hinges. Eventually I just used the original hinges that came with patio doors. For the shed I used tee hinges.
I had purchased thermowood corner pieces, these and the door and window frames made the cladding relatively problem free. Only being able to give the end cuts one coat of Sadolin makes using thermowood seem a good idea. I'm not so happy with the cuts above the door and window frames. But surprisingly to me I was running out of cladding. I had allowed 2 Sqm over not including the bits I wouldn't be using at doors and window so was expecting spare cladding for other projects. In the end I just had enough.
 
It was nice to get the outside finished before Christmas. I started with the first fit for the electrics. Consisting of 2 sockets and a ceiling light with pull switch in the shed, 4 LEDs and proximity switch in the soffit and 2 wall lights 3 sockets a Sattelite connection in the summerhouse.
Next the insulation, I decided to use 50mm celotex in the walls and floors, 70mm in the roof. It was whilst doing this that one of my wife's friends invited us round to see their dunster style cabin. Nicknamed elcostalot. My wife decided osb walls and ceilings wouldn't do in her summerhouse. As I had used 200mm timber for my rafters, I could use some 20mm battening 60mm from the bottom of the rafters and that would give me a 50mm air gap above my celotex and roughly 50mmof exposed beams to look more like a cabin.
For the walls I ripped 11cm strips from 9mm plywood and bevelled the edges with a plane to look like cladding. I stayed with sheets of osb in the shed portion. I used 150mm timber on the floor supported on off cuts which sat on offcuts off the roofing membrane. I used a dpc to keep the frame from touching the block work. Once the insulation went in and 22 mm osb boards on top the floor came level with the French door cill. I still had the problem where I had used 100 mm instead of 50 mm blocks. Which meant my floor was slightly lower than the block work. Will try to add more photos later Andy.
 
:text-coolphotos: .....would help enormously! :) I'm keen to see the ply boarding/ cladding detail.
 
I built a simple stud wall to partition my summerhouse/shed, nearly forgetting to put in any insulation which will be required as the shed will probably be unheated. the rest of the plywood cladding went up which I than coated with 3 coats of ronseal natural floor wax. The shed was finished with osb painted white, with red to the floors up to waist height. I than finished the electrics with a garage consumer unit and led batten from screwfix.
 
I really like the inside cladding. Right, proper smart, that :eusa-clap:

Also keeping the bottom of your uprights cosy in plastic to keep out water. How do you keep them in position...don't they want to slide about ?
 
Cheers guys. If I get you correctly your referring to the dpc Roger I just used felt roofing nails after fitting the bottom batten on its side to kick the bottom cladding board out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top