Building a shed, DIY

sevenhills

I am thinking about adding to my storage space, a large shed on ebay can be £400+
I would get a shed with windows, but if I was to make it myself, how much would the wood cost?


Has anyone done this?

Owain_Moneysaver

Probably £600+ to be honest, the big manufacturers can bulk buy wood far more cheaply than you can get it retail.

You might end up with a much better shed though.

EachPenny

sevenhills wrote: »

I am thinking about adding to my storage space, a large shed on ebay can be £400+
I would get a shed with windows, but if I was to make it myself, how much would the wood cost?

I agree with Owain Moneysaver - the cost of the materials for DIY is only worth it if you are seeking high quality.

Another option is to keep an eye out on sites like Freecycle - not everyone appreciates a nice big shed, so they often come up as giveaways if you are willing to dismantle and collect yourself. In some cases they might be being disposed of because some minor rot has started, or the roof leaks. These make good DIY projects and the rot can be cut out and repaired, and re-roofing is relatively easy.

Personally I'd avoid having windows if possible - it is difficult to make an effective drainage system to get water running off the glass to stay on the outside of the shed, and also not to pool on any flat wooden surface you use as part of the glazing system. Commercially produced sheds often have some form of plastic trim to act as a sill - these often crack when exposed to sun, then allow leaking, and before you know it you have rotting wood.

My own preference (if a Freecycle shed is not available) would be to buy an economy quality shed and then spend £100-£200 on additional timber to strengthen it. A key element missing from most commercially produced sheds is any form of diagonal bracing, so they soon start to 'lean'. I always add in some diagonals, often using 4" strips cut from the thin OSB supplied for the roof - and buy some decent waterproof OSB/chipboard to do the roof properly.

gamston

I've built my own sheds, its not cheap, but you do get a good shed
I got laplog timber off ebay ( a Doncaster based company that delivers most of uk)
second hand Upvc windows & Doors,
structural timbers were reclaimed timber, so again cheap
roof was EPDM and their trims not cheap but long lasting and looks good (rear sloping roof)
you can also built it to fit a certain area, I have one shed that's has one end 7 ft the other 10ft, and sides are 12ft
both of mine have concrete base's and rest on a course of "side turned" bricks with the Laplog overhanging the bricks so any rain drops away from the laplog, also allows me to strim grass right up to the shed

gamston

Haddon & James have auctions of grill houses & sheds, based in Hertfordshire, not checked out the prices but maybe worth a look ?

discat11

IME the base is the most important thing. A cheap shed will last years on a decent base and far less without a decent base.
You can also fit a ground anchor into the floor with a concrete base -very handy if you want something to lock up securely (like bicycles or motorbikes).
Last time I had a shed built I went mid range (not B&Q etc which had paper thin wood) and went to a local place who came & put the shed up on my concrete base -well worth the money.

Grenage

Wood is expensive, especially as you won't be buying the cheap flimsy stuff of which most sheds are composed. It'll probably cost you at least twice as much.


As Discat mentioned; a cheap shed on a decent base can last a surprisingly long time. Either lay a concrete slab, or build a solid platform on posts.

d0nkeyk0ng

Have a look on youtube at homemade sheds. Often made with second hand or reused wood, to a much better standard than if you bought a pre-fab shed that you put together.

seatbeltnoob

Hand built sheds are slightly cheaper but the quality of it is so much more and you get to decide exactly how you want it.


The thing is you won't be able to buy rubbish 1.5"x1.5" timbers that a lot of sheds use. You will need to use 3"x2" or 2"x2". Also the cladding is going to come in at 12mm minimum where as the cladding used in pre-fab sheds are 9/10mm.



I would highly recommend you go by DIY route if you have the time, tools and motivation to do it.

seatbeltnoob

Get wood from timber specialists. There are loads of indies about where you can price compare. Avoid travis perkins, b&q and the like.


I got all my timber from arnold laver which are a nationwide timber specialist.



You can use reused timber or free pallet wood. But I do not recommend it. I made a raised bed using pallet wood and they all rotted out after 3 years. The time, effort involved in sourcing, dismantling, removing nails is not worth it for me.


I prefer to just buy the timber which is a standard size and runs in lengths of 3.6m, 4.2m and you can make a tall/big shed without having to join up lengths of timber.


My shed is quite overbuilt. The top is flat. I keep my car roof box and loads of other timber pieces on top of the roof.



The roof is EPDM and can handle all the stuff on top of it and wont rot like a felt roof would.

Kiran

I did a comparison recently and I couldn't buy the material trade for less that what I got charged to buy a quality shed. As someone has said, companies that build a large quantity of sheds benefit from much bigger discounts. That's and the fact timber prices have been going crazy recently.