Shed-building questions

Si_Clist

The floor of our existing shed won't stand the weight of the mobility scooter that I'm doomed to be buying before much longer, so I'm designing a new one which will have a concrete slab base.

Like the existing shed, it'll be "flat" roofed, and the long side of it will run about 150mm clear of next door's garden wall, as it does now. That wall is 1.5M high, and the top of our existing shed roof is 2.1M high. I'd like to slope the new shed roof the other way round, which would make the side against the neighbour's wall something like 2.8M high (i.e. 700mm higher).

First question - given that the shed is a "temporary building", is that roof height OK or could the woman next door call "foul" to the Council?

Second question - all things being equal, which is reckoned to put up with damp/wet better - exterior ply or OSB?

Robin9

Is it possible to put a permanent electric supply into the shed to charge the scooter rather than an extension lead from the house ?  If so you need to incorporate a duct into the concrete base.

Section62

Si_Clist said:

The floor of our existing shed won't stand the weight of the mobility scooter that I'm doomed to be buying before much longer, so I'm designing a new one which will have a concrete slab base.

Like the existing shed, it'll be "flat" roofed, and the long side of it will run about 150mm clear of next door's garden wall, as it does now. That wall is 1.5M high, and the top of our existing shed roof is 2.1M high. I'd like to slope the new shed roof the other way round, which would make the side against the neighbour's wall something like 2.8M high (i.e. 700mm higher).

First question - given that the shed is a "temporary building", is that roof height OK or could the woman next door call "foul" to the Council?

Second question - all things being equal, which is reckoned to put up with damp/wet better - exterior ply or OSB?

"Temporary" isn't relevant here for planning purposes.  What you need to find out is whther you have permitted development rights for an 'outbuilding' and if what you are proposing meets the requirements for it to be permitted development (PD).  If not, you'd need to apply for planning consent.

Not all properties have permitted development rights - so the first step is to investigate that.

The relevant PD class has a maximum height (of any part of the building) of 2.5m if it is within 2m of the boundary.  Therefore to have 2.8m height you'd need to move the shed so it is at least 2m from the boundary, or reduce the height to 2.5m - or apply for planning consent.

However, if the only problem with the existing shed is the floor, why not strengthen the floor rather than replacing the whole shed?  Make up a new base using 18mm OSB and 3x2 bearers, or if the existing bearers are Ok, then just get a sheet of 18mm OSB screwed down over the top of the existing floor.  In the latter case the only thing you'd need to do (other than having the sheets cut to size) is clearing out the shed so there is clear access to the floor.  18mm OSB should be more than sufficient to spread the load of a mobility scooter.

Si_Clist

Section62 said:

... However, if the only problem with the existing shed is the floor ...

Thanks for your informative reply, but alas it isn't.  The shed also needs to be bigger

Albermarle

When looking at websites of shed manufacturers, they also usually sell ‘workshops’.
Basically these are big sheds with strong floors, so maybe good for you.

glennevis

I built a standard shed on top of paving slabs (that's what happened to be there) and did as @Section62 described: extra 3x2 bearers and added 18mm OSB board on top of the supplied flooring. It is strong enough to take the weight of 2 motorbikes without moving an inch/mm.

Si_Clist

glennevis said:

I ... added 18mm OSB board on top of the supplied flooring ...

Did you end up sealing the surface?