Monday, November 24, 2014

Shed O'Fun 2

The construction of our 'man cave' continues...

We started the project in the middle of August and although that makes it sound like a very long time frame to finish off a shed, it's more than just a shed. Most of the work are also almost exclusively done over the weekends only and there were weekends too that we didn't do anything to it at all. Plus, with the ever shortening length of daylight it makes it harder to do anything after work hence weekend becomes the only suitable time.

Enough with the rambling...
The quarantine pond within the shed was mostly built last year but we opted to add a few more blocks later on to make it deeper and hold more water (and more fish). The final layer of blocks was cemented in last weekend. Going back in time, the decking that was on the top patio (where the sun room is now) has been reused and is now the flooring of the shed. When we restarted the project in mid August the framework of the shed went up quickly and was finished in one weekend.


Working into the night with the help of outdoor lighting.



The weekend when the frame went up was an exceptionally dry one as most of that month turned out to be a very wet and rather cool one. To keep us from stopping work and to keep the wood dry we put on tarpaulin. As you can see here a little prodding was needed at times to keep the tarpaulin from caving in with pools of rainwater.



The shanty house look, with tarpaulin on the walls and bubblewrap on the windows...




Work continues over the succeeding weekends with the clear plastic roof (recycled from our old rain shelters) installed on half of the roof and new opaque ones on the rest, towards the back and above where the quarantine pond is. The clear section of the roof and big windows will allow a good amount of light and some heat in whilst the opaque section will minimise or slow down the chance of the pond water going green.


Insulation was then put on to make the shed as heat retentive as possible as it will receive some gentle heating during the winter, plus whatever that may be go in via the clear roof and windows. Good insulation will keep the heating costs down and make the work of the heater more efficient.

And the insulation was recycled too. Fortunately one of our neighbours were having a loft conversion done at the same time and had to discard their old insulation, which we collected and re-used on our shed. Fabulous timing as this saved us a lot of expense had if we had to buy them new.

As well as being home to young fish, this will also be used as additional garden storage, as it will be dry, and also warm.

We recently asked the guys at the review site WhatShed.co.uk what the most popular shed sizes were, as not everyone wants to build their own. They said that they had created a league table that shows some of the best deals available on the most popular sizes. The most popular sizes are the 6x4 shed, 8x10 shed and the 10x10 shed. If your looking for a new shed for your garden or just want to check out some of the best products on the market then why not take a look at the WhatShed league tables.




Once all the insulation were in place they were clad with easy clean soffit boards that are in itself insulating as they have air gaps. I like this material: white, insulating, and so easy to clean and maintain!






Soffit boards up (apart from the front section) it was time to tackle the clear areas of the roof and windows by using polycarbonate sheeting. The big air gaps between the outer part and inner polycarbonate cladding will serve as insulation, plus the sheets themselves have heat retentive properties. This should let light in and trap as much warmth from the sun (plus from the heater).




All along though we were receiving guidance and instructions from one of our project managers...



Last of the soffit boards for the walls are up and electric cables have now been threaded in for connection later to the mains as well as installation of the light fittings, plug sockets, fuse, and switches.

And finally, for now....



With sunset getting earlier and earlier until the shortest day we often had to put the floodlights on to extend our working time just for a bit. Upon uploading a series of photos on our blog this animated photo came up. I don't know whether picasa or our camera is responsible for this but it's rather cool don't you think so?

So what's next? The door, electrics, finishing touches as well as sorting out the pond itself. Stay tuned!

Mark :-)

28 comments :

  1. Wow! it´s great! How did you learn how to do things like that? it´s really great!

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    1. Self taught Lisa, just by doing lots of reading and research :)

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  2. My goodness you have been busy, when this is finished is there anything else that needs to be done?

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  3. If I ever come back as a fish, I want to be YOUR fish.

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    1. That's funny Ricki, and a pretty one at that :))

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  4. Replies
    1. Five meters a piece Jessica, making it rather tricky to manoeuvre...

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  5. Gosh you're so clever. It looks like a really high quality job. You even did the wiring! And totally understand the time thing - August as a starting point doesn't seem like a long time though for what you've ended up with. Looks great :)

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    1. Thanks Amy :) I suppose August wasn't that long ago, just feels like it with the change of season and all

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  6. Wow, I love it! Stylish and well-built. Love the polycarbonate panels, the next generation shade pavilion greenhouse might just have them too.

    (Gaz needs to take a break and snap some photos of Mark working...just sayin)

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    1. Thanks Loree! Polycarbonate is such a versatile material, and I can imagine you'll be using it indeed on your next generation shade pavilion. I'll tell Gaz to hold the camera next time :))

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  7. What was that you were saying a few posts ago about sitting inside and watching television during these dark months? Your shed looks wonderful and as always, your boundless energy is inspirational.

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    1. Thanks Peter :) we still watch lots of tv on weekdays

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  8. Never without a project! You guys are amazingly productive.

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  9. Another great project and your supervisor is waiting for those fish to arrive. The moving picture is probably Awesome Motion from picasa. Very cool that it worked for you and you see how easy it is.

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    1. Little do the project managers know that they won't be allowed there once the shed is finished Shirley :) the feature on Picasa is great, and discovered by accident too!

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  10. You guys really love construction, don't you :-). After that long pond-building project, you are now back with another one!? And I am going crazy remodeling our kitchen. By the way, my website address has changed: http://world-and-novice-naturalist.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thanks for the update Kathy! Good luck on the kitchen reno, can be frustrating during the process but exciting at the same time, and so worth it :)

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  11. When do you sleep? - with your projects and everything you get done in the garden as well as your day jobs? Lucky you have a good project manager. I would like a fraction of your energy and skill.

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    1. When it gets dark Missy :) a bit of time management needed but just doing as much as we could while the energy is still there...

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  12. Superb. I wouldn't know where to start on a building project like this. #doffscap.

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    1. Not that difficult David. Once things began it was easier to figure out what other things needs to follow :)

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  13. How wonderful!!! Warm greetings from Montreal, Canada.

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  14. That really is a wondrous shed. No doubt it is all thanks to the project manager that it is looking so purrfect ... :) Love the way the whole shed moves in the animation!

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