Woodworker specialist, Phil Davy, shares his reasons and experience for buying and erecting a new garden shed, rather than building a dream blockwork and cladding one. If you have the time and design flare to build your own, or on a budget and therefore consider investing in recycled materials, that’s perfectly amenable. There are pros and cons for both but if you need your shed in a hurry, buying is the best option.
Davy guides us through, step-by-step, in building a solid foundation and the erection of a heavy-duty timber garden shed. After building the timber bearers to support the shed on even ground, Davy adds the SHED BOOT to the entire wooden framework to lift the shed off the ground to allow ventilation and rainwater to escape. Here’s what he had to say about them:
Shed Boots
To help underfloor airflow and increase a timber building’s life, it’s recommended to erect it on supporting timber bearers. These should be pressure treated and run at 90° to actual floor joists. I used 95 × 45mm CLS timber – overkill perhaps – but with a sloping garden, this ensures the floor is well above potential flood water. Where timbers are bowed, crowning should be uppermost: the shed’s weight and contents will tend to flatten these out. I also attached Shed Boots to the underside of each bearer – www.shedboot.co.uk. These nifty little plastic shoes are simply nailed in place, lifting timbers above the slabs by 20mm, so rainwater will drain away rather than pool. Made by Cybertools Ltd and sold in packs of 10, they can be used on timber of virtually any thickness. Definitely a belt and braces approach!
To read the whole 'Around the House' article in the December issue, please visit: https://subs.thewoodworkermag.com
