A timber purchasing question

[Simpo Two]

I fancy building a small shed this weekend. It's going to be about 5 feet wide, 2 feet deep and 7 foot high (because most sheds have a door designed to leave a red stripe across the forehead of anyone over 5'8"). I can't find any 'off the shelf' sheds the right size.

After an evening's scribbling, I've drawn up a shopping list of the various bits of timber I need, eg 3"x3", 3"x1", tongue & groove etc, and am pondering the best place to buy it. From the handy shrink-wrapped DIY places I can get to B&Q, Homebase and Focus, and from the hairy-arse builders places I can go to Jewsons and Travis Perkins. Short of touring every single one, can anyone give me a reasonably authoritative view on which might be the best value?



I can enhance this post to 'Royal Flush' level by adding that the shed could be seen as a Property, and that I shall be Financing it

[GasMonkey]

Simpo Two said:

I fancy building a small shed this weekend. It's going to be about 5 feet wide, 2 feet deep and 7 foot high

Thats not a shed, that's a wardrobe.

Edited by GasMonkey on Friday 10th April 00:26

[Simpo Two]

GasMonkey said:

Thats not a shed, that's a wardrobe.

Pretty much! All it has to hold are a Flymo on one side, some foldy-up garden furniture on the other and a few garden tools in-between. Existing 'shedrobes' are either too wide (this has to fit between a chimney breast and a wall - 62") or are too low, or are hideous plastic things.

[AndrewW-G]

For my money it's got to be a timber merchants (builders merchants at a push) the quality of the timber sold at B&Q isn't the best. Avoid shrink wrapped packs as they have a tendency to warp and in my experience split far easier

[GasMonkey]

Simpo Two said:

GasMonkey said:

Thats not a shed, that's a wardrobe.

Pretty much! All it has to hold are a Flymo on one side, some foldy-up garden furniture on the other and a few garden tools in-between. Existing 'shedrobes' are either too wide (this has to fit between a chimney breast and a wall - 62") or are too low, or are hideous plastic things.

Argos do this



Sizes are: (H)4ft 10in, (W)3ft 8in, (D)2ft 1in. £87.99
cat no - 705/7269

If they sell them, I am sure you will find alternitive suppliers? HTH

Edited by GasMonkey on Friday 10th April 01:13

[mrmaggit]

Simpo Two said:

I fancy building a small shed this weekend. It's going to be about 5 feet wide, 2 feet deep and 7 foot high (because most sheds have a door designed to leave a red stripe across the forehead of anyone over 5'8"). I can't find any 'off the shelf' sheds the right size.

After an evening's scribbling, I've drawn up a shopping list of the various bits of timber I need, eg 3"x3", 3"x1", tongue & groove etc, and am pondering the best place to buy it. From the handy shrink-wrapped DIY places I can get to B&Q, Homebase and Focus, and from the hairy-arse builders places I can go to Jewsons and Travis Perkins. Short of touring every single one, can anyone give me a reasonably authoritative view on which might be the best value?



I can enhance this post to 'Royal Flush' level by adding that the shed could be seen as a Property, and that I shall be Financing it

If you want to give me a call, I'll give you a list of Timber Merchants in your area, as East Anglia is a bit big.

Apart from cheap crap (as had been said earlier), I really can't see why anyone uses the big sheds. Use your local independant. [Mini rant over].

Colin 0115-941-2861.

[redgriff500]

A bought one is about half the cost of building one as they use thinner timber than you can buy.

None of the places you mention are cheap.

You generally want a Timber Merchant or a local builders merchant NOT a chain.

I get timber 3x cheaper at my local place than at Jewson, EH Smith etc and I wouldn't even consider B&Q etc

[mrmaggit]

redgriff500 said:

A bought one is about half the cost of building one as they use thinner timber than you can buy.

None of the places you mention are cheap.

You generally want a Timber Merchant or a local builders merchant NOT a chain.

I get timber 3x cheaper at my local place than at Jewson, EH Smith etc and I wouldn't even consider B&Q etc

Thank you for that vote of confidence, Redgriff.

Nice to know somebody appreciates us.

[Chrisgr31]

Oue shed, kindly supplied by the insurance company after its predecessor burnt down, was bought from a national company, but they made it taller for us. Partly for the same reason the OP complains about and partly because the original was tall and I wanted like for like!

So so you can sheds made taller.

[Simpo Two]

Thanks all. In the past I've found Jewsons etc to be more expensive that DIY places because I don;t get a trade discount.

Anyway, the whole thing is up in the air because I (foolishly) visited a local garden centre and got some silly ides like a £900 summerhouse... so I'll do nothing for now!

[HiRich]

On the question, i'd agree with the local timber merchant.

But having built something similar, I'd also add:

• 2by2 is fine for the structure, if you include some diagonal braces.
• Water will get in. Don't make the shelves from mdf, use a good ply. And waterproof it properly (especially the exposed edge) with PVA glue. Ditto for the base (water on the path seeping into the structure)
• Such limited depth may make it unstable. Allow for a couple of small brackets to tie it to the wall at the top.

Beyond that, getting the doors right, and reasonably watertight will be the tricky bit. I used a z-frame of 1.2x0.5 battens which wasn't enough to prevent warping of the doors. If I did it again I would:

• Make a more solid doorframe, including top and bottom
• Add a strip of simple chamfered skirting board at the top, to prevent dripping water going behind the doors.
• Make a more solid door. Treat the t&g as non-structural cladding.
• Come up with a better latching mechanism, so the one door can be opened without the other catching in the wind. I have a single padlock betwwen the doors at mid-height. Each door also has a basic plastic spring clasp to a shelf support at the same height. I would try to find something like magentic clips top and bottom (if I made the doors more rigid along the centre line
• Create a larger overlap of the two doors (at least an inch, probably more)

Still, it's been a very handy store for pots & potions, the main shed being down the bottom of the garden. Hope that helps and good luck.