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Hello - bought a billy oh shed 3 years ago and has been a nightmare since word go, poor instructions build and generally crap - don’t go near them. Tried many complaints to their customer service with no joy. However start of lockdown one gave it a good paint with family help and sealed outside front face tongue and groove as it seemed it was leaking through that wall ( front facing with window) . In the recent warm weather it seems that front facing tongue and groove wall has warped so the individual battons in some places are now concave and I can see light as the tongue and groove not locked together ....not sure what to do next and appreciate thoughts.
Could take some felt and tack it on the outside but it would like crap ....could pvc some xtra marine ply on the inside then fill gaps with sealant .....suppose could build a whole new front wall and swap it out.....or could empty it and burn it to the ground in frustration ....
Any input in shed repair welcome
Wood shrinks across the grain when it dries out - boards get narrower. They also often cup and twist if flat sawn.
If they supplied relatively wet timber (quite likely), it's going to be prone to show gaps during dry spells. Good news is that it will swell when the humidity increases again, and the gaps may close up.
I gather you don't have a membrane/builders wrap on the inside of the boards? Do you fancy posting pictures?
We have a Billy Oh. A touch over 2yr old iirc.
Also a mess.
Ended up remaking the doors as the gaps were ridiculous.
Side panels started to do the same in no time at all.
Fortunately it’s location in the garden has meant it’s remained dry inside despite this.
The floor and roof seem well made though!
Nothing much to add beyond I’d never touch them again. We bought a cheap as chips B&Q lap panel shed years ago which looked better when we replaced it than this does after such a short time.
It’s on the list to replace. Sadly the list is long!
https://share.icloud.com/photos/01Tg96lrjcT3zOQI2oZ5qIORw#Ilkley,_England
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0IQOxyqk6C3bKcYO9cZIIkD_Q#Ilkley,_England
There's no easy fix for that.
Perhaps best approach would be to pull the boards off - looks like that should be fairly easy and replace. Using overlapping cladding means that shrinkage should not open up any gaps. However, it looks like the shed may be relying on the boards for stiffness so you may also need to add diagonal bracing or add e.g. OSB to the inside to keep it square.
Everything has to be such a cheap facsimile these days. Timber completely unsuitable for outdoor use. Thin as they can get away with, poor construction throughout.
Premium prices charged.
It's pine usually, and could easily be resawn to give it a straighter grain. But that costs money. Grrrr, these type of things make me so angry 😡 its just plain ripping off customers who have spent many hundreds of pounds on a shed and its unfit for purpose.
Sorry this doesnt really help you.
A solution could be to overclad it across the joints with a wide board or overclad the whole thing with osb and paint it in an oil based paint, refreshing that it each year.
Colin Furze isnt a joiner, though he is obviously a talented practical guy. His shed he built himself is a good representation of a solid shed that looks like it will survive for decades. If you look at the timber he's used, its standard pine, but the dimensions are twice that they shady shed sellers use. 1"x2",and his wall studs are 2"x3"
Sometimes you've got to just go , sod it, start again 😕
My parents house cellar door after 40 years was a bit rotten at the base, the upright boards. The door itself was robust and fully braced and although I remember the timber used being a bit rough on the inside it was original to the house so was about 80 years old, and after all that time all that was wrong was it rotting a bit at the bottom.
I made them a replacement in oak, exact same construction, and painted it in the original brown oil based outdoor paint and 20 years down the line its still in perfect condition, save for a bit of swelling which i took care of with a plane to retain a close gap when closing.
The whole billy oh bad materials makes me seeth and then even more so they use poor customer service which constantly changes so you eventually give up complaining.....
Anyway back to things I can change - think the simplest short term fix is to put some marine ply on the inside, maybe add some plastic sheet between them and the outside? Longer term if the rest of the walls hold up may look to get some full length tongue and groove ( wood suggestions ?) and try to remake the wall using the existing battons that reinforce it
Thanks for input on back holiday shed woes ...
Fill the gaps from the inside with silicone sealant so it can expand/contract. Will look messy on the inside but worked for me.