Features: I love sheds. Obvious! thatﾒs why Iﾒm here. I reckon that building a garden shed should be in the ﾓTop Ten Things to do Before You Dieﾔ list. Especially if itﾒs going to be a totally unique construction. So, given this opportunity (thank you Uncle Wilco) to wax lyrical about my shed, letting the world know about how I have spent hours lovingly crafting and caressing, occasionally swearing at, every square inch, youﾒll have to forgive me if I donﾒt stop typing till my fingers go numb, Ok ?? If you can stand to read this through, most appreciated and Iﾒll see you on the other side.
Additional Info: THE STORY SO FARﾅ. It started in the summer of 04. We had just moved here, our fifth relocation in a dozen years, and this was our first property with enough garden space to build inﾅGame on!!ﾅ..
The next-door neighbours (Nichola and Kate, very nice couple) were constructing a huge wooden ﾓextensionﾔ to their house. DIY building outdoors is an excellent icebreaker for conversations over the garden fence. An instant rapport was established, we very quickly made friends, and in due course they offered me scavenging rights to their off-cuts, over-stock and discards. Most of the timber came from damaged pallets, which had to be dismantled and de-nailed. Using the 3ﾔx2ﾔ lengths to construct the base framework, and the six foot, inch thick planks for the decking floor, a raised platform was assembled to fit in around the angled fence. At this stage I had enough re-claimed screws saved-by to make sure it all stayed together. I really, really donﾒt like spending money (they say it has something to do with the Yorkshire breeding!), so it was essential that this shed cost as little as possible, financially as well as environmentally. Iﾒm really chuffed that every single piece of this cabin has been constructed with either re-claimed or re-cycled materials, OhﾅOk, not every single piece, some things need cashﾅ.roofing felt, wood preservative, screws, hinges, and then I suppose you could put electricity usage into equation, but as my power tool collection consists of (ancient) drill, jigsaw, and I only borrowed the table saw for a short while, I reckon my leccy usage was pretty lowﾅ. You canﾒt beat a decent handsaw, sharp chisel and a cordless screwdriver. The walls were next. Built, pre-fab style, separately in sections then secured into place on the decking. I Put together 3ﾔx2ﾔ braced stud for the frame-work, clad on the outside with (pine?) planks from the lids of Chinese import crates (cheers Dad), separated, de-nailed and edges planed down to create an overlap, ship-lap style.
First wall up was the doorway (south) end; then, as and when the materials appeared, the other 5 walls followed section by section. Sadly, the photos of the early stages of construction are now lost, gobbled up and corrupted by a system crash on an old P.C.
Even though I had initially drawn out a detailed plan for the construction, I had to be flexible enough to change the original idea according to the quantity of building material readily available. As I have no transport of my own, I was totally relying on the good nature and generosity of our neighbours. Originally the two front walls were meant to be equal in length, both around 8ft wide from the centre line. But, because of my leisurely pace, materials were becoming scarcer on the ground (Neighbours projects were coming to an end). I had to make one side a couple of feet smaller. Which, when the roof went on, created the sheltered doorway area. I hadnﾒt thought of that originally, and as it happens the semi-covered entrance looks good, and comes in pretty useful tﾒboot.
Roof-beams came from warehouse shelving re-fit, (cheers Dad for the heads up, and Dave for driving the van), 4ﾔx2ﾔ, and just enough length, with a bit of creative joinery, to provide strong enough support for the roof. Roofing material is a bit odd, tongue and groove, half-inch floorboards from an abandoned loft conversion (once again thanks to Nichola and Kate, at this time actually moving out from their house). Once treated with preservative and covered with mineral felt, Iﾒd got myself a semi-waterproof workspace, nearly a year after starting the buildﾅ. And even though the roof planks continually expand and contract, depending on the time of year, rippling and stretching the felt, touchwood they will remain waterproof for a few more years to come.
The orange porthole-like window frames were rescued from the Townsﾒ Roundtable Bonfire, years ago, in the days before the grey-suits that are the Health and Safety Committee decided that the only materials they were allowed to burn would be straw bales.
Late October used to be a great time for us ﾔSheddiesﾔ round here. All the local factories, businesses, industrial estates and the like, donated truckloads of wood for the town bonfire. The park became a great meeting place in the weeks leading up to plot night. We builders, artists and craftspeople of all shapes and sizes conspired to liberate the more useful and interesting looking bits and pieces before the big day. Great times sadly missed. The windows are glazed with off-cuts of Perspex (thanks Mick), apart from the front square framed window. This was a double-glazed unit, until I managed to smash one of the glass panes, found in a skip. The reason for the other front window being in two sections was because of the random sizes of the available odds and ends of Perspex. The poles that pretend to support the porch used to be ﾓNo ball games allowedﾔ signs sunk into the grass verges around the estate. Once the local yoof had had their fun, snapping them off the concrete base, using as goalposts and then leaving them abandoned in the woods for months, I was able to rescue, remove the offensive signage, strip the paint and incorporate them into the shed. (Ssshhhh, donﾒt tell the suits) I started the spiral carving ages ago, will be finished when I get A Roundtuit. Big Red Door handle, one of three re-located from a semi derelict mill. They used to be water valve openers on those huge red wheels coiled with a high-pressure water hose. Liked this one in particular because it looks like a man in a circle, very Da-Vinciﾅ. Internally the walls are clad with what was left from the Chinese crate lids. Fixed vertically they create a two inch airspace between outside and in. Shouldﾒve put some insulation in there whilst I had the chance, oh wellﾅ. Apart from a good splashing or two of wood preservative and a fair big squeeze of sealant, thatﾒs about it for the main build.
The internal fixtures consist of 30ﾒs office desk, tallboy from the 50ﾒs/ 60ﾒs and my own-made, shelves etcﾅ
As time passed, in an attempt to clear the shack of extraneous pots of paint, garden tools, junk etc I added the outside, wall mounted storage cupboard. The baby shed (named BogShed) soon followed. Itﾒs amazing how quickly a clear shed space can fill up with stuff. One last thing before itﾒs daft-O-clock and the repetitive strain kicks in, during the summer months the southwestern face is a real sun-trap. Family, friends, animals can be found basking on the front balcony. Soaking up the rays, whilst Iﾒm ferreting away on the latest project, in and out, listening to the best Trojan Dub styling (or Radio 4, and on the odd occasion, Radio 2) on the old twin cassette boom box, downing one or three tinnies of sweet amber lubrication. Roll on summer!!!!!! There, all done, the story so far, did you make it all the way through? Cheers! I mean it. There are so many more ins and outs, but believe me, the unabridged version was in serious danger of becoming as long and confusing (but not as well written) as The Lord of the Rings. Hope you enjoy the pics. Any comments would be more than welcome.
All the best to Sheddies everywhere (specially those of you Down Under, great work fellas.) Mark Bedlam.
You can follow the exploits of this sheddie's build here.
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Comments (10)
Hi Helen, thanks for writing the lyrics to Australian Boys Need a Shed. It took me a while to realise it was a song. I'd never heard of John Williamson before now, so off I went on a voyage of Google discovery, and found a Star. Watched him playing at Steve Irwins memorial service, which was very moving. But I have not yet been able to track down John playing Australian Boys Need a Shed, shall keep searching, there must be a version out there somewhere.
All the Best...........
by BEDLAM on 13/04/2010 from 78.148.---.---
John Williamson
Hey, did you ever wake up in the morning
On the wrong side of the bed
I bit confused and yawning
You go straight out the back to your shed
Yeah, all Australian boys need a shed
A place where he can go, somewhere to clear his head
To think about the things his woman said
Yeah, all Australian boys need a shed
A joint to learn to read an' write, to work on his bike at night
To grow up as he likes, to grow anything under lights
A place to keep his tools, nuts and bolts and drills
To hang a hide, to hide the dry or hang to pay the bills
Well my old shed, she leaks a bit, the roof is caving in
Nothing that a bloke can't fix with a few spare sheets of tin
The beams are old telegraph poles, white ants have eaten them
She creaks and sways on windy days and leans towards the sound
Yeah, all Australian boys need a shed
At the back of the shed where the dogs are fed near last years bails of lucern
Sticky tall green leaves came up from thrown out seeds
All it took was bantam poop, I watered 'em once and they grew some
They should be prime 'bout Easter time if no nosy neighbour steals 'em
Yeah, all Australian boys need a shed
To weld up broken gates, a place for all his mates
To come 'round Sunday arvo' for a gin
A place to make a racket, to find the pipe and pack it
To think about the things his woman said
Yeah, all Australian boys need a shed
Yeah, all Australian boys need a shed
Yeah, all Australian boys need a shed
by Helen Good on 01/03/2010 from 77.86..---.---
Hi mark the shed looks good lots of stuff in there by the way the shed at Gundagai got trashed and all the floor beams are broken. check out my blog imagineering engineering blogspot.com Gundagai drop me a comment and leave your email address and it wont get published cheers Stewart from Aust.
by Stewart on 31/01/2010 from 124.14.---.---
Hiya mark - just googled your name & found the shed - I was showing someone the sign you did for the Cybercentre in Bridge mill for me & Martin back in 1995...He'd commented on my Riverside '97 T-shirt!
Great to see you finally got a REAL shed together - after the false starts in the estate back garden!
lol Jim & Jane Brierley
by Jim Brierley on 07/08/2008 from 90.51..---.---
lovin your shed mark and a very good article. liking to read about sheds and how interesting they are, stories behind them and how they have been built and constructed.
by katherine on 14/07/2008 from 89.207.---.---
I think a lot of hard work and planning has gone into this shed and it looks really cool so very well done Mark.
by Linda on 14/06/2008 from 82.1.2.---.---
Gday Stewart, You are really spoilt with all that exotic timber. Theres some lovely hardwood growing out there&One day Ill get to use some!!!. This roof felt stuff is basically a roll of heavy duty fabric infiltrated with bitchumen tar, coated on one side with a mineral compound, sand, so it doesnt stick to itself in the roll, and you know which side is up. Roll it out and nail it to the roof. Cuts easy with a heavy blade, and is pretty easy to repair or patch up. If its done right it will keep the elements out for years. It would probably melt with the temperatures you get so no wonder its not used. And congrats to you for managing to persuade a Yorkshire lass to settle in Oz,,,whats your secret??? All the best.
by Bedlam on 07/02/2008 from 81.155.---.---
hi bedlam like your shed funny thing i married a lady from maltby you guessed it from yorkshire must be something in the water .they paint the pallets out here in oz land i used to pick them up with my truck and refurbish them and re-sell them made some good money from rubish some of the pallets are made from exotic timbers i carry an adze with me to check out the timber ..whats this felt roofing you guys use over there dont use it here keep up the good work ...
stewart from australia
by stewart on 04/02/2008 from 124.14.---.---
Thanks LONG;
Iﾒm really chuffed that you enjoyed my ﾓarticleﾔ Never written one of those before !! But, as you can see, when it comes to Shed-Talk, Iﾒm difficult to stop. Thereﾒs so much that goes into them, so many ways of building them, many more reasons for having one. We Sheddi get to express ourselves in a unique way, and thereﾒs nearly always an interesting back-story.
Y right, building this way is hard going sometimes, but, on the positive side, it leaves you open to un-planned-for adaptations and unique solutions. A lot more ﾓfeelingﾔ goes into it this kind of building, than any of those shop bought articles. It becomes a relationship rather than a choreﾅ.. Enough already, see Iﾒm prattling on againﾅ.
Glad to hear that your White Rose inclinations have not completely left you, even in such wealthy surroundings !!.
All the best Bedlam.
by Bedlam on 01/02/2008 from 81.152.---.---
I really enjoyed reading your article, it is very well written and funny too. You must be very proud to put so much together on a shoe string budget and I also like the fact that you used mostly reclaimed materials. It makes the job twice as hard but must have been twice as satisfying. I've renovated a shed and like you I hate spend money unnecessary so I also used lot of reclaimed materials. It must be something to do with Yorkshire. I lived in Leeds for the last 20 or so years before resettled in the Isle of Man.
