Studio shed build - blog

great thread, subscribing ...

This thread is incredible! Reminds me of the 3 Little Pigs story from when I was a kid. I admire your spunk and good humor PCThug. What's the worst that can happen? The shed starts to deteriorate in 5 years or so?

You going to cool and heat this place?

Oh yeh, nice work samples, btw. I dig it.

Lonnie wrote in post #14590261
This thread is incredible! Reminds me of the 3 Little Pigs story from when I was a kid. I admire your spunk and good humor PCThug. What's the worst that can happen? The shed starts to deteriorate in 5 years or so?

You going to cool and heat this place?

Oh yeh, nice work samples, btw. I dig it.

I am doing it as a bit of a hobby.
Making it is just as much fun to me as using it will be.
If in 5 years time i suffer problems i will take it apart and mess around again.
I may have more money to throw at it then.

As for good humor, i dont mind sarcasm (in fact i do it myself all the time) and banter, but dont appreciate rude derogative (spelling?) and plain nasty comments. In fact i almost pulled out of this thread because of them.

I may put a gas heater in there when i need it, but not bothered about cooling it (I live in the UK not Florida).

18/6/12

Nice sunny day today, so decided to have a go at designing some roof beams/trusses.
Quite liked this one...

Looking good....

the vertical pieces on the truss should line up with the horizontal and diagonal pieces instead of sandwiched on either side. The reason being that instead of the full 2x4 taking the vertical load, the nails/screws that are used to attach the "sandwich" are holding the vertical load. In other words, everything in your truss must line up and be flush with the piece above/below it for it be structural. Also, it would be much better to have to vertical pieces at an angle as well. As you know, a triangle far superior to a square when it comes to structural pieces. See this photo for what I'm talking about. Also, the metal plate connector is what you want to use instead of nails or screws.
On that note...
Are you using screws or nails? Screws work really well vertically because of the threads. Screws are AWFUL horizontal because they shear very very easily. (Take a 2" screw and bend it in half.. it'll just snap.) Nails are OK vertically (no threads) but work better horizontally because nails don't snap, they just bend.

ewheeler20 wrote in post #14598131
the vertical pieces on the truss should line up with the horizontal and diagonal pieces instead of sandwiched on either side. The reason being that instead of the full 2x4 taking the vertical load, the nails/screws that are used to attach the "sandwich" are holding the vertical load. In other words, everything in your truss must line up and be flush with the piece above/below it for it be structural. Also, it would be much better to have to vertical pieces at an angle as well. As you know, a triangle far superior to a square when it comes to structural pieces. See this photo for what I'm talking about. Also, the metal plate connector is what you want to use instead of nails or screws.
On that note...
Are you using screws or nails? Screws work really well vertically because of the threads. Screws are AWFUL horizontal because they shear very very easily. (Take a 2" screw and bend it in half.. it'll just snap.) Nails are OK vertically (no threads) but work better horizontally because nails don't snap, they just bend.

They are lined up.
Take a look at the first photo and you will see that they are.

I have added extra on the outside of them due to the fact that a piece of 2x4 or the roof is sat on end on a piece of flat 2x4 of the frame. When i come to board the inside there will be a step between the wall and the roof if i didnt bridge that gap.
I just decided to put this piece over all 3 pieces of the frame to give a little extra support.

I larger vertical centre piece is cut at the top a little like an inverted 'T' to allow the angle pieces to sit on it.

I am using all screws, but its a good point about the nails though.

Looking at the first picture of the latest set it looks as if your floor got wet. I know from experience that once that type of processed wood gets wet it will shrink and bend terribly.

Had a look at a professionally made shed today, the roof truss bracing did not line up in any way. I reroofed our garden shed with a pitched roof a year or so ago and it has no bracing at all but is fine, far better than the rubbish flat roof it came with.

CameraMan wrote in post #14600169
Looking at the first picture of the latest set it looks as if your floor got wet. I know from experience that once that type of processed wood gets wet it will shrink and bend terribly.

Yeah it got wet a few times

I did try and cover it, but the rain got between the gaps and all the sheeting did then was stop it from drying out, so i took it off completely.
It is well screwed down, so hopefully this will reduce the shrinking and warping.
I do have some new/dry chipboard floorboards in the garage i am going to use to put on the floor when the shed is water tight.

How much have you spent up to this point?

Subscribing.....

Great read - anxious to see and hear the rest of the story!

fotoworx wrote in post #14602540
How much have you spent up to this point?

Probably about £2,000.

Most of it has gone on wood, but also bought quite a few tools as well.
About £250 on concrete (totally over estimated what i needed, bought 3 tons, used about half).
About £500 on T&G for the outside.
About £150 on OSB for the floor.
About £500 on wood for the frame (2x4 and 4x4).
Thousands of screws, about £80 (wont need any more though).
Fittings (angle supports etc) about £50.
Almost £100 on wood stain/preserve (Cuprinol Ultimate).

Bought a sawbench (used for about £100) that i will sell again when complete, plus other bits and pieces (tape measures, drill bits, wall/floor insulation).

I have also just bought 2 Manfrotto studio light wall mounts (used for £110) as i realise the lights at the back will be on the background roll if kept on their stands due to it only being 3mtr wide. This will keep them off the floor.
Also a backround roll wall mount (for 3 rolls). I have also bought some T&G chipboard (second hand but unused) and some laminate flooring (used, but perfect) for the inside costing about £55 for both.

I had set £1,800 to aside to do the job, but this didnt go as far as i hoped it would.
I still need the boards and felt for the roof and to panel the inside (but the inside can wait until the weather turns). I also need electrics, ceiling lights, plug sockets etc, but they wont cost much.

I think to get someone to make this for me it would have cost closer to £5,000 (at a complete guess).

It's coming together. I reckon you're going to get a lot of enjoyment using this.

fotoworx wrote in post #14604914
It's coming together. I reckon you're going to get a lot of enjoyment using this.

Either that or heartache, lol.

20/6/12
All the roofing beams/trusses are all but done, but still a few more things to do but i ran out of screws.
I have also started to put the T&G in place, but only brushed preservative on the tongue and grooves so far.
If the rain holds off tomorrow i may get the T&G finished and the roofing boards ordered up.