This taken from the old shedtalk forum and its about cottage in the woods from Alan (mailee)I only managed to get some of the post across… sorry…..

Hi guys. I have been reading some of the postings on here and looking at some of the picutres and must admit there are some nice sheds around. I decided to build my own as I needed a fairly large workshop for my woodworking hobby. My wife has been complaining about all my tools in the spare bedroom and my garage is full of them too so it was time to do something about it. I decided I had enough land to build a workshop of 23′ x 13′ which would include a veranda for the nice summer evenings if we ever get any that is. I also wanted somewhere to hang my hammock that I have had for around a year now with nowhere to hang it. I priced up the wood using CLS in 2″ x4″ to make sure it would be a sturdy structure. Shiplap was to be used for the cladding as I like the look of it and the inside would be clad in MDF as this is a nice smooth surface to wipe off the sawdust. Insulation would be provided with 2″ thick polystyrene sheets packed between the framework. A friend of mine has used this method and I have to admit it is certainly warm in his shed. All the timber including the roofing beams and the cladding came out around £1,300, but that is without any interior cladding or insulation. Roofing felt or shingles will also be an extra to this price along with the electrics. I was lucky enough to have armoured cable to an old shed that I pulled down at the start of the project so that was not a worry. Unfortunately the ground was as there was a number of trees, bushes and rockeries in the way not to mention paving in abundance. I set to digging and drilling to remove all of the above which took me around three weeks. I was beginning to wish I had never started it at one point when I had dug three feet down and still not got to the roots of a tree! Finally all the digging was done and it was time to lay the foundations. I didn’t fancy the idea of all that cement mixing so decided to set footings 18″ deep and 18″ square on top of 6″ of hardcore. Well there was still a lot of mixing to do and it was all by hand and I was knackered by the end of it. The site was levelled and breeze blocks cemented on top of the footings to raise the structure above ground level. Once this was done we applied a plastic membrane over the entire area to stop any weeds or indeed missed roots from re-apearing. The joist were laid first and there was a few to say the least I used 2″ x 6″ and used joist hangers to connect them before nailing them home. The floor as indeed the roof uses 19mm T&G floooring as it lasts longer and is stronger than boarding and will be a good base for my tools and machines. I had just bought a framing nailer for this job and am glad I did as it sped the job along. The side frames were assembled on the workshop floor and the uprights spaced at 600mm intervals on centre as the joists were also spaced using this measurement. Once one frame was complete it was erected ready for the next to be assembled on the floor again. Once all the frames were up we added the noggins which were staggered in a two one pattern. The workshop has four windows in all with two at the front two at the side and one at the back. The rear one is to be fitted with acrylic as it overlooks a golf course. The two front and the rear will open so large lengths of wood can be accomadated on the radial arm saw if need be. Four posts of 4″x4″ are used to support the front of the veranda and are being tennoned into ranch style rails and the top supports for the roof. At the moment it is still in the skeletal stage as will be seen from the pictures on this site ‘Alan Willey’s Cottage in the wooods’ Rain has stopped play at the moment but hopefully tomorrow is to be a better day and we can start the cladding and roofing if time permits. I shall keep you posted as it progresses. oh and the ‘we’ by the way is not the royal one but my mate Trev who is giving up his time to help me.

Well rain certainly did stop play for a while and has held us up a little. Between the rain showers we managed to complete the front and back cladding and have got one side of the roof on. I ended up nailing it in the rain as it had started again surprise, surprise. Tomorrow I am back at work but am on the early shift so in the afternoon I shall get the roof finished with a little luck and fair weather of course. I have bought roofing felt for now but intend to cover it with felt shingles in the future. funds are a little low at the moment so they must take a back seat for now. I need some more wood for the handrails on the veranda and shall get those this week alnog with the timber for the windows and hopefully the doors. Will keep you guys posted as and when it happens. Until then I am praying for good weather again.

Great weather the last couple of days and I managed to get the roof finsihed and felted. What a task that was being 23′ long it took some manhandling of the rolls to position them in the right place and roll them out without any creases. Anyway it took around three hours to acomplish but is now watertight. I have started making the window frames now and shall get some more wood for the doors this weekend. I intend to have double doors half glazed with raised bottom panels so it will keep in with the style of the ‘Cottage’ I think my router is in for some overtime this weekend. Will keep you all posted

The ground is levelled by first knocking stakes into it and getting them level with a large spirit level. Then mark off the lowest point of the ground on them and tie string between them. Remove or add soil until they are level with the strings. My shed is 23′ x 13′ and for this I used 15 footings which consisited of 6″ of hardcore on top of which is placed 18″ of concrete in 18″squares. i think this may be a little overboard but I wanted to make sure it had firm foundations. The subsoil here is clay so I think it should do the trick. On top of the concrete piers I cemented breeze blocks to raise the shed above ground level and keep it dry. A damp proof membrane was placed over the soil and weighted down with bricks and rubble just to make sure nothing would grow through. I intend to use the shed as a workshopp for my woodwork and will have a few machines in there so I also used T&G flooring to make sure it would take the weight placed on it. Never been too impressed with chipboard or stirling board and the last thing I want is to be replacing it in a few years. Hope this helps you Beast. if there is anything else you need to know and i can answer it feel free. Have a look at the photo section on here it will help a lot with the construction I am sure. wink.gif

I got the fourth window installed today and that just leaves one more now. I shall be buying the rest of the wood tomorrow too so I can finish the verada rails and the soffits and facias. That is another £90 to the total cost. I have ordered the glass for the windows today and was surprised at the cost of £88! That is for two doors, two windows of 3′x2′ and two windows of 4′x2′ all in 3/4″ double glazed panels, not bad eh? They will take about a week so I should be just about ready for them by then. I still have to spray the shed with some timber treatment and shall buy that this coming week too. Must get it wheatherproofed. Today I have also cut and glued the last window frame together and that is now drying overnight . I shall install the glazing bars and cut the recess for the glass tomorrow and should with a little luck get that one finished as I already have the plastic for it. I will keep you posted as and when again as usual. wink.gif Oh and there are the latest photos on the site again now. biggrin.gif

Well guys, I certainly made the use of the good weather today, Well no rain anyway. I managed to fit all the soffits and the front veranda rails although I ran out of time for the side rails and the rear window. As you will see from the pictures I have just uploaded it was late when I finished around 9.30pm. I had been working since 8am and only stopped for lunch as tea was in the workshop while I worked. Dedicated or what? rolleyes.gif Most of the day was taken up with the soffits and facias as I had forgot to trim the ends of the roof trusses back far enough! We all make mistakes. Luckily my friend and next door neighbour loaned me his sabre saw which did the job. I think the worst part of the job was tensioning the roof felt to attach the runners on the sides to hold it down. It was a job made more difficult on the left hand side as there is not much room to get a ladder in between the bushes and fence. That little lot took me about five hours to complete! My wife had a laugh when I backed down from the steps straight onto a rose bush that bit me in the backside! Well at least that job is now finished and I can concentrate on the veranda side rails and the rear window. Unfortunately it will have to wait until Monday morning as I am helping a friend erect a fence at his home tomorrow. I am on the late shift Monday so at least I can get an early start then. Not long now and the outside will be complete at last and ready for the wood preserver. Will keep you posted again as usual. wink.gif

Just finished for this morning and managed to fit the last of the veranda rails. It has been drizzle all morning but luckily that didn’t hold me up as most of the work was indoors putting the tennons on the rails. No pictures at the moment as I just ran out of time. I also made up the Lexon panels for the rear window and with a spacing strip in between them. I thought there was no harm in making the plastic glass double glazed too as I had enough left over. Tomorrow if the weather is better I shall cut out the rear window opening and get the casing installed. I need some more timber for the corners of the shed to cover the ends of the shiplap but that isn’t going to break the bank and will not take long to do. Then everything is complete on the outside ready for timber treatment which is long overdue. This will be done beefore the widow glass is installed. I did manage to have one misshap this morning too when one of my bearing guided router bits decided to part company with the bearing and dissapeared into the bushes! Guess I will have to check them for tightness next time. My mistake in my haste I am afraid. Still the timber wasn’t ruined so I got away lucky. Will as usual keep you all updated as to the progress again.

Well most of today I have been applying the timber treatment. I have given everything one coat so far and it looks like it is going to be another day of it tomorrow. Must admit the colour I chose isn’t too bad and is a sand colour called ‘Harvest gold’ I did manage to start fitting some of the glass in the windows as I had treated these first thing this morning and managed to give them a second coat. I do however have a problem, two of the front windows are too small for the glazing units! Oh my god! Well I did say we all make mistakes even all the years I have been doing woodwork I still make em! Well it is either order two new glazed units or make two new frames to fit them. I have decided to make two new frames as I have enough wood left over to do this. I think this will knock me back a day or so but at least I won’t have to order more glass and wait another week for it. Somehow I had measured the frames and the recesses for the glass was 805mm for some reason I wrote it down as 850mm! so that is the size it was made to. Oh well you win some you lose some. Looks like I have some more work tomorrow after the timber treatment. Will keep you posted as usual and will upload more pictures as I take them.