Project Shed

[Midnitemo]

I am currently moving house from my partners to mine(ours really) I have owned this house since 2007 but never slept a single night in it , a friend has lived in it for most of those eight years , I made a number of mistakes when renovating this house mainly when it was rewired I didn't put in some 12v back up rings and secondly I fitted a very pretty living flame gas fire ...Doh! should have been a woodburner/aga type affair, hindsight eh? would have been so simple as I put in a new flue and had the stack renovated anyway.
My main projects now are building a concrete sectional workshop 20ft x 10ft at the bottom of the garden which I aim to power with solar panels and a large water cache from the workshop roof into an IBC , grey water is already going into butts from the house and the conservatory , also I have a brick shed 5ft x 9ft that will become my main preps store which I need to rack screen and organise...have borded the loft already for non temperature sensitive dry preps.

[T-oddity]

Something that I've found that makes good storage for out buildings are the big upright chiller cabinets that you get in pubs and bars the sort they stack all the fashionable alco pops or cider in, if you can get your hands on one of those that is no longer working, they are good for storing canned or bottled food in as they maintain a more stable temperature summer or winter, I tend to use a cheap camping roll mat taped over the glass door to give added insulation and to obscure what is stored inside.

[Steve]

I built a concrete workshop at my last house, I made a few mistakes that you might bear in mind.

I laid a thick concrete base, with a plastic moisture barrier inside. This worked well, except that I laid it before I had decided which workshop to build. It was 12" bigger all around than the workshop, which allowed water to puddle on it and seep through the concrete to make the floor damp. I had to waterproof all the "apron" of concrete to stop it.

Secondly, the workshop I bought came with a fibre/concrete corrugated roof with clear corrugated plastic panels for light. This also proved to be porous in the fibre/cement, and the plastic panels always had condensation on them. I had to paint the roof afterwards, and even with bubble wrap inside the clear panels I still got condensation. The panels also proved quite fragile when tree branches hit them. If I had to do it again I'd choose a flexible onduline roof with no light panels.

Third, my workshop came with a galvanized steel door. Bad idea. Lots of condensation on it - wood is better.

Fourth - Dust. I should have covered the floor with something, a vinyl would have been good, or a good quality two-pack floor paint. I was in too much of a hurry to get in to let the floor dry sufficiently to paint it, and suffered from dust for ages. I think I made the top layer of concrete too wet, looking for a flat surface, and this released a lot of dust as it wore. Make the top surface a stiff mix and beat it flat, or apply a proper self-levelling compound.

I hope this is useful. I loved my workshop, and it was an incredibly useful addition to an urban house.

[NorthernRaider]

Very informative Steve because early next year I want to build a steel shed on a concrete platform in the garden, I need to think again.