Hi There just some advice if possible, want to build a summer house shed combo to go in the odd sized back of the garden. It will be approx 6 metres x 6 x 3.5 x 3. Anyway as someone who knows only a small amount of how to do this I've asked for a few quotes and they're more than I can afford, one quote for the shell is £7,500 and the other is over £10,000, this seems high but there we go, so my question is what are the cheapest materials for this that will suffice? I will put down a slab base for it to go on, after this I'd order x100 4x2 (this is a very approx amount as I'd do 24" stud gaps) for the floor, stud walls and roof, sterling board 12mm to put to floor, walls and roof and feather edge, then roof felt. Feather edge 51sqm = £336 4x2 x 100 = £566 sterling board x 40 = £861 roofing felt £150-200 doors 2nd hand £300 approx with other stuff about £2500 Is that about right? Any ideas and help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
4 Dimensions? What shape are you thinking of? Its true, there's quite a jump from £2500 for materials to £10k built- both are about on par though. Many people do not have the time/skills/inclination to build their own shed or similar, but are able to write a big cheque- and there's some of us with time/skills/inclination/bank manager who like big cheques. You seem to have a pretty good idea of what's involved- so go for it. My opinion: I will never deviate from 16" centres for framing and studwork. 18mm OSB for walls, floor and roof. Tyvek(or equivalent) building wrap.- it goes under the cladding. The cladding protects the tyvek which actually keeps the weather out. You might want to consider sticking in some insulation. Lightweight structures tend to get unpleasantly hot in summer, and kidney-achingly cold in winter- what are you going to use this shed for? Get 4 inches of decent insulation in walls, floor and roof and you will be able to keep it warm with a 100 watt light bulb. If you do insulate, it would be worth getting a vapour barrier in there too. As I say, my opinion, take it or leave it, but I know that stuff I build tends to stay up
You might also think about electrics. At the very least, you are going to want a light in the shed. And very possibly at least one electrical outlet. Having light and electric power turns a storage shed into space that can actually be useful and/or pleasant to spend time in. You can do lighting via a solar panel and battery setup. But you certainly aren't going to harvest enough watts for a 240v outlet. Running mains electric to a garden building will require, at least, a dedicated circuit on your consumer unit. Possibly its own sub panel if you want to get ambitious. Wiring this is a job for a qualified electrician, but you could probably save some money by digging the trench between the house and the outbuilding yourself.
And it is work putting in the conduit before anything else. Certainly before constructing the floor. Just leave it with a drawcord if you don't want to pay out for a sparky just yet
This is a question I wanted to do with the sub base, I've seen on you tube a guy putting patio slabs as shuttering and then using a hardcore base only to place the shed on, is this ok? I'd put down 100mm of hardcore and then ALSO use a shed base kit with gravel, would this be ok?
That's a fair sized building! - I think you need to decide if it's just a shed, or if you want a semi-habitable room.
It'll have a little pub in one side and a shed in the other. It maybe slightly smaller, maybe 18sqm. I'll post a photo when I get started, I'm digging out at the moment.