Tell me about your SHED please!

[SusanMichelson]

Just about to order a new shed and it has to be big enough for various bicycles, possibly including a tandem - we are thinking pressure treated wood, double doors, and a wooden base supported on concrete 'feet', but is there anything else you can recommend?

Do we want windows or not? I don't think electricity is an option as it's at the end of the garden.

It's mainly just for storage.

I am confused though and as it is so expensive can anyone share their shed do's and don't's please? Thank you

if just storage id skip windows, its just another route in and helps toerags see in to scope the building

Well this is it, a bit worried about light though?

Our current shed is a shitey metal one which is falling apart, with a low roof and no windows - however the doors are removable with a kick even when locked.

I guess one window might be enough tbh. That will maximise wall space too - thanks for the suggestion.

We have solar powered lights (which come on when you open the door) in the shed - they seem to work fine the few times we have needed light in there :)

Oh wow, was that easy to set up yourself or did you have to have it 'installed'?

Susan, does it have to be a wooden shed? Only Costco do completely weatherproof ones, I have linked to one

here

Husband bought it off ebay or amazon - its a dead simple little thing - a little square solar panel fixed on the outside of the shed, and a little light fixed inside. I'll see if I can get a link a bit later for you :)

Oh wow that is quite impressive I like that - it looks a bit stronger than the Keter plastic shed thing we've already got, too.

But we need a 10x10 or so, and I don't think they come that big?

Also I like the fact you can paint wood and that it doesn't degrade/warp too much in sunlight iykwim? I am never quite certain with plastic. luddite

Thank you Agoodbook - I appreciate that!

We have had ours for a couple of years , so the actual one I cant link to , but essentially its this one we have. It looks like there are newer versions.
(Dont know how good they are if it was on and off all the time though , only been to the shed a couple of times in the dark! )
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SOLAR-POWER-60-LED-RECHARGEABLE-PIR-MOTION-SENSOR-SECURITY-LIGHT-OUTDOOR-GARDEN-/181822059104?hash=item2a5570

the metal ones come all the way up to double garage sized

Thanks Agoodbook, that looks really nice. I will definitely try and rig something up!

Bowden - thank you, but I really don't want to get a metal one - this one was left behind when we moved in and it is pretty damaged, but even so the noise it makes and the scraping of the doors and the condensation are too much to bear - that's not including the erection of the blomming things which I know from experience makes you want to shoot yourself

(I built one many years ago - never again)

God sorry, Bowsaw. I was being besieged by children

I would seriously consider a concrete slab with DPM and thickened edges. One day you might have the money and inclination to turn it into a blockwork retreat. Have a camber or slope to prevent water pooling. If you put three courses of bricks down, you can put your wooden structure on that, and it will last much longer as away from the damp ground and rainsplash.

Wildife likes to live under wooden floors, and it is hard to combat damp.

Remember to allow for a soakaway for rainwater from the gutters.

You can put a plastic duct going through the floor with an elbow 50cm deep in case one day you run electricity.

If you have a polycarbonate roof it will let daylight in and should last at least as long as felt

LED battery lamps are so good and bright now that I put half a dozen camping lanterns in my carport and shed even though I have power available. With Lithium batteries they will last for years.

We adore our shed with a 'loft' - space to shove things like paddling pools and rounder bats plus garden cushions. We got ours from gardenbuildingsdirect and really pleased with it. DD put it on some slabs after levelling the area and we also put it at an angle that meant there was storage round the back for all our garden chairs but you can't tell from the front they are there.

Thank you very much indeed, I'm sorry I didn't post back sooner - there is so much to consider and I didn't have a lot of time to sit down and think.

I love the idea of a 'loft'

I wanted to get a concrete base put down but have no idea who to ask to do it - the shed company doesn't want to and said it will be very expensive.

I hadn't considered guttering - would you just use the standard type or is there special shed guttering available?

I don't know how to do a soakaway either.

I want to have the water butt hooked up to it but will need somewhere for the water to go when it's full.

Any advice gratefully received on these issues, I feel a bit out of my depth!

A small builder, or a couple of competent handymen, can lay a concrete slab, it is not a very skilled job, and a small one like a shed can be done in one piece using a small mixer. If you are a burly gardener you can do it yourself, it is no harder than digging a vegetable plot.

If they can't be bothered digging it out much and bashing down a later of crushed hardcore or stone (which can be bought anywhere as it is the material used in roadmaking) then the concrete needs to be a bit thicker. A small trench is dug to give the thickened edge, as this is where cracks or erosion might start, and to make it stronger in case you want a brick or block shed one day. If you were having a really nice job you would build a small wall round the edges first, then lay a DPM inside it lapped up the walls, and pour the slab inside. If you ask around for recommendations for a small local builder they can get a couple of labourers to do it in a couple of quiet days. Never engage an itinerant or doorstepper.

That is fantastic and I am very grateful to you for your advice.

I've remembered my parents had a hardstanding put in a few years back so if they can recommend someone I'll use them - otherwise will ask around.

Thanks for explaining about the damp proof membrane thing. I will ask about it.

Just got to take down the nasty old metal thing now and find a space to store 6 bicycles till the new one is up!

If you are going to put a proper foundation in, that's a good opportunity to fit a really strong ground anchor to lock the bikes to. So the advice is doubly good for your situation.

Another thing which is probably obvious is not to go too cheap on the locks. My bike shed has two five lever mortice locks, with the tee hinges bolted through the frame and galvanised steel over the door. The shed is lined with plywood, again coach bolted at strategic points. It was about £100 more than a normal shed. It won't keep me safe if they really want in of course; the best outcome, sadly, is for them to look at my shed then decide it's too much work and try next door's garden.