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Looking at a lean-to shed on the side of my house on part of the drive, outside the garden. Probably 2m X 4m or something like that. I have been thinking about the footings for ages and I think I know what I'll do, but does anyone have tips or experience to share for construction? How much did it cost you?
- Metal plates for joints or proper wood joints?
- Particle board for the roof? I think I'd prefer plastic roof tiles rather than just plain felt
- What about wall construction?
- Thinking of a window to allow thieves to see that there's nothing of value inside. Does this actually work?
- Gap for ventilation under the eaves or no?
- Worth insulating it? It will be in full sun half the year.
- Best floor material?
- How big do the main timbers need to be?
Do you mean 2.4*4?
2.4m wide would fit but it would hinder the neighbours a bit.
My shed walls are 2x4 framework. Double skinned. Wooden cladding outside. OSB sheets inside.
The OSB isn't needed structurally. The advantages are it goes up fast. Once it is screwed to the 2x4 nobody is getting through it without power tools. It is strong enough to hang stuff off anywhere.
Mine is flat roof with a slight fall. Plastic coated steel sheeting. A few leaks over the years as the fall is a bit shallow and I didn't take my time sealing the joints as the roof at 14ft long was too long for one sheet. Leaks sorted with this sort of stuff.
Thompsons 2.5Ltr 10 Year Black Roof Seal
20 years old now and other than one window cill replaced after a bit of rot all good.
For windows I went with them being high enough and small enough they would be awkward to climb through past broken glass. Frosted glass.
Door is a wooden exterior fire door. Fairly solid. With mortice lock and door frame re-enforced with steel strips.
Door visible from kitchen window with light overhead so no scope for anyone to work away at unseen.
Cheap kitchen counter running the full length under the windows. Good for working at and storage underneath.
Sorry molgeips I thought I had editted and added more.
I added a bit about intended use. And that ventilation and insulation etc are part of the same question so you kind need to decide what you want.
Junk storage basically. Well, I say junk - garden tools, paint pots, random DIY gubbins, MTB tyres, that kind of thing. No bikes.
we had a small side alley I built a lean to in mostly using bits I had left over from building a tuin shed.
I put up 4" fence posts every meter bolted to the existing concrete path. used the existing fence (decent t&g one) for part of the wall and the small amount above it I used old decking boards, with a soffit and guttering. surprising how much water comes off it and I didn't want it pouring onto the neighbours. roof was pitched made out of 18mm ply resting on a wall plate and then left over roof shingles from the cabin. door front and back were made by spare timber and old decking boards. some left over t&g to clad open bits. job jobbed.
was going to use it to turbo in, but rapidly filled with crap. currently has a roof box and loads of spare timber.
no insulation, not sure why you would want that, and plenty of gaps so it is ventilated. bloody big bar bolted through the timbers and secondary lock fitted to main door and back door is bolted from the inside. pretty secure unless they take an axe to it
I was going to lead the join with the wall, but I actually had a course of bricks that jutted out so I started the pitch beneath that brick line and just used roofing sealant. bone dry so far
for joins I cut simple joints and on a couple I fitted reinforcement plates (as I had them and I tend to belt and brace stuff)
cost to me was minimal as I had nearly all the bits probably less than £100. probably took me a total of 2 days spread out over a week. even painted it with the left over sandolin.
tools wise. used a mitre, drill impact and bought a nail gun, because, well it was a good excuse to
I will be building a similar one round the back soon. trying to come up with some clever design where I can store ladders and kayaks above and other crap below. I have several old timber doors I may chop up to create a floor at head height. current fret is salt walter running down onto the stuff.
fun and rewarding projects building stuff like that
I'm in the process of building a lean 2 shed.
In a narrow 1.8m wide gap so width wise it'll be around 1m wide and probably 2.4/3m long. Need to be able to get the bin past it.
Interior base will fit euro pallets.
Frame work will be 4 fence posts then stud work made from treated 75mm timber. I bought a pile of it a few months ago when it was on offer at Wickes.
Probably use a sliding door on a hanging rail.
Roof will be felt on cheap chip board.
Sides will be a mixture of old shed and new feather edge boards.
I'm considering putting the frame on wheels so if I empty it and lift the pallet floor out it can be wheeled a short distance to enable ladders to be put up the gable end of the house.
Only going to store junk and garden stuff in it.
Might be completed before winter 2023 🤔
Re insulation I did my shed on south aspects only with 50mm celotex scavenged from a skip. All small but usable pieces. I cut to fit, jammed in the frame and joints taped with ally tape. Has made an incredible difference, very much worth doing. Shed never gets hot so pleasant to work in plus the freezer is happy
The roof slopes north so I did not bother, it's also wriggle tin sheet on OSB which is excellent and good value long term. I found a gutter was required as the run off from the tin roof was very quick and fired across the neighbors! So extra water butt which is great
Angle the roof so it's 2.4m wide then it's piss easy to make. Sheet of Particle board with edpm on top. Overlap the wall by a good 200mm, 50mm gap at the top of the wall ensures plenty of ventilation
I used bricks spaced at 600mm on top of sand/cement mix for footings, then 2x4s on top of that and decking on top of them.walls just rested on the long beams, then attached it to the wall to ensure the structure remained square. 19mm shiplap for walls and door
Insulation is a waste of time if you don't have a heat source
my roof was pitched so it was a complete sheet. that said it's really not that hard to trim the roof sheet after you've fitted it. just run a circular saw the length. you'll need to be ontop of the roof and confident in your builds weight bearing to do it tho 🙂
Insulation is a waste of time if you don’t have a heat source
In my case the heat source was the sun. So insulation keeps solar gain down.
If one end is basically a wall, you'll need a flashing tape and some sort of sticky messy stuff ,to stop the water running down the building and in where the roof sits against the wall.
Insulation is stabilising the temperature in mine. As well as minimising condensation
Without insulation it would get very hot in summer because of the aspect and cold in winter. If I want to keep for example paint pots, or fluids etc in there it shouldn't be too hot or freeze, and the jetwasher doesn't like being frozen either.
Insulation is stabilising the temperature in mine. As well as minimising condensation
This. Mine has a warm deck roof of 100mm celotex because, well, thats what I had.
Its also house wrapped before I clad it to minimise drafts. That, and the passive solar gain through its windows is enough in the winter to make sure my tools don't rust from condensation. It smooths out the temperature extremes nicely.