Building a shed, DIY

gamston

my DIY 12ft X 8ft shed cost me around £700
19mm laplog, 3 x 2's, & 4 x 2's for the structural bits, 19mm plywood roof, covers with EPDM,
concrete base with the shed standing on a course of brickwork
not cheap, will last years
with the strong structural wood I'm able to used that to support table tops or DIY storage units etc
also a DIY shed can be made to fit any size/shaped space you have

Kiran

gamston wrote: »

my DIY 12ft X 8ft shed cost me around £700
19mm laplog, 3 x 2's, & 4 x 2's for the structural bits, 19mm plywood roof, covers with EPDM,
concrete base with the shed standing on a course of brickwork
not cheap, will last years
with the strong structural wood I'm able to used that to support table tops or DIY storage units etc
also a DIY shed can be made to fit any size/shaped space you have

That is a good price and sounds like you've got a robust shed. How long ago did you build it? For decent quality 19mm log lap I was looking at almost £1k (16x10x8ft) and that's before you get to the structural frame. The same timber 18 months ago was approximately £600 for the log lap and £200 for the structural frame.


The way the prices have gone up anyone would think that wood didn't grow on trees!

seatbeltnoob

Kiran wrote: »

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.

Sorry to disagree but you're simply not comparing like for like.


Pre-fab shed just can't compare with hand made shed built with quality timber. Like I said, pre-fab would use materials just strong enough to get the job done. I.e. The stud they use is 1.5" thick, 60cm apart and you cannot hang shelves on them.



The timber you buy for your studs would be 3x2 or 4x2, spaced 40cm apart and you can mount twin slot shelving system on them and they would bear the weight absolutely fine.


Are you factoring in the height of the shed? Pre fab are apex roofs and the height on the side is laughable.

lg13mza

I agree with the above. I'm 3/4 of the way through building mine. It won't be any cheaper than an off-the-shelf shed. But it fits may space better, has a bigger footprint, is much taller and most importantly will last hell of a lot longer (treated 4x2"everywhere, treated 19mm T&G, OSB3 roof and floor, 2nd hand UPVC window sourced from ebay and EPDM roof). The timber gets a further 2 coats of wood preserver and 2 coats of oil.


I've done it as a lean-to on the side of the house also which means I only have to build 3 sides. Footprint works out at 11x4ft and about 8ft tall and I reckon it will have cost me about £500-600 in the end. I haven't hung the door yet, which I may have over-engineered! It probably weighs 40kg so it will have 4 heavy duty hinges on. I'm just hoping it hangs straight & doesn't distort the frame!

sevenhills

lg13mza wrote: »

I agree with the above. I'm 3/4 of the way through building mine. It won't be any cheaper than an off-the-shelf shed.

Thanks all; if its not going to be cheaper, I think I will buy a pre-made one and assemble it myself.
Does wood preserver or any product make the wood last longer? I know someone that paints his wooden fences with old engine oil.

Kiran

seatbeltnoob wrote: »

Sorry to disagree but you're simply not comparing like for like.


Pre-fab shed just can't compare with hand made shed built with quality timber. Like I said, pre-fab would use materials just strong enough to get the job done. I.e. The stud they use is 1.5" thick, 60cm apart and you cannot hang shelves on them.



The timber you buy for your studs would be 3x2 or 4x2, spaced 40cm apart and you can mount twin slot shelving system on them and they would bear the weight absolutely fine.


Are you factoring in the height of the shed? Pre fab are apex roofs and the height on the side is laughable.

I am comparing like with like as the shed builder built to my plan that I used for pricing. I do agree with you in principle that if for example you are comparing hand built with mass produced but it my case I just couldn't get the figures to work. If you read my 2nd post it was the log lap that made it cost prohibitive. I could have compromised and gone with an alternative but again that isn't comparing like with like.

FreeBear

sevenhills wrote: »

Thanks all; if its not going to be cheaper, I think I will buy a pre-made one and assemble it myself.
Does wood preserver or any product make the wood last longer? I know someone that paints his wooden fences with old engine oil.

Had an 8'x6' shed delivered from Tiger Sheds for just under £400 including 10l of wood preservative - Old engine oil is far from being environmentally friendly and contains all sorts of toxic compounds.

Whilst the shed is constructed from 2x1 frames & 12mm ship lap timber, if it lasts 15 years, I'll consider it good value. Only bought it as a wood store, so don't need anything fancy.

gamston

my wood sheds are built from 3X2 frame, with old fence panels as side (free from neighbours) plywood roof with EDPM covering.
that are out of the way so no need for anything smart

KIRAN the sheds were built 2-3 yrs ago, so prices were cheaper
got laplog from ebay, seller delivered all over the country
frame work was secondhand/reclaimed timber
UPVC window & Door hand them hanging about
the 8ft X 12ft took about a week working on my own
the odd shaped one I bult to go into an odd corner, took longer as I had to cut angles on the framing timbers, and didn't have a big bench saw at that time
one thing I did do on my second shed was put on a 1" X 11/2" timber on each corner to protect the corners and run the laplog up to these corner strips
so if I clip the corner when cutting the grass I only have to replace the corner strip

seatbeltnoob

I built my previous sheds using ship lap. But after watching a lot of american videos I am really reconsidering whether it's worth the effort.


They usually used OSB boards covered in damp proof membrand and then clad over it with feather edge board for decoration. This seems like a cheaper option. I can get 1.8m lengths of feather edge board from arnold laver or selco for 89p vat inclusive.



The solid sheets covered in DPM is really what makes it moisture proof in the winter. Even on my shiplap shed. the cold metal attracts moisture on it and things can develop rust on them.

Ilona

I had to chuckle when I saw the title of this thread, reading through it sounds like it's a complicated business to build a shed. I built mine in the style of a summer house/beach hut, in 2015, and won the best budget shed in 2016, Shed of the Year. It cost me £20 charitable donation for the second hand polycarbonate roof, all other materials were free. The structure is pallets stood on their ends, with doors screwed to the inside of them. It's all a bit higgledypiggledy, wouldn't suit most people who want a proper shed, but I had a lot of fun building it.

This is how I built it. It's bigger now as I added a porch on the front last year.
https://meanqueen-lifeaftermoney.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_8.html

ilona