Building my shed

03-03-2022 12:02

Someone asked for details on how I built my shed - here are some rough notes...

I looked at some kits but decided I could get much better value building it myself, and it'd give me something to do during lockdown. Overall it cost me around £2200 for a 2.4 x 2.4 meter square shed. I did most of it myself, with help from my housemate to lift walls and drop the skylight in. Some details off the top of my head (specifics might be a tiny bit wrong):

  • Timber frame using 90 * 45mm presure treated beams
  • 18mm plywood for base and roof
  • Wool insulation in walls, with 6mm ply on internal and weatherproof lining, batons and featheredge cladding on the outside
  • PIR board insulation in floor. More expensive than wool, but animals don't make nests in it so you can leave it exposed on the bottom.
  • Velux skylight. In the end I kept upping the size of this until it's almost comically large for the space. I don't regret it at all. Worth blowing cash on light. I feel like I've got my own James Turrell at home.
  • Nearly the entire front of the shed is a very thick multi-wall polycarbonate sheet. This lets a lot of light in whilst retaining a sense of privacy / seclusion from the wider world.
  • Beneath my shed is earth (not concrete). I had no intention of pouring concrete (for cost and ecological reasons) so I used metal screw posts that just sink into the earth. See this page for more
  • I used the cheapest roof felt on the roof. All the other solutions seemed like a bit of a hassle.

My main source of information was youtube. Specficially videos on how to build timber framed sheds.

My biggest regret is probably building the door myself. Although it is quite fun how it just looks like a piece of the wall, it was a nightmare getting it to all line up and it still doesn't work that well. Buying a framed shed door would've been a lot simpler.

I also ended up spending a lot on the featherboard cladding - most of which faces my neighbours fence. In the end a lot of the finish is due to the black wood treatment I used - you could probably get a lot of the effect with cheaper wood.