Project Sheds

[olaf]

Yes, with an s!

We have just bought a place and had planned to get the loft converted to an extra bedroom, however as this would need addtiional re-inforcement joists the quotes are coming in at more than we can manage at the moment - one more quote this evening and then we will make a final decision.

In the mean time and as well, we are doing some significant work to the back garden, with soil being removed, along with trees and a retaining wall, and I will be building 2 sheds (yes, 2).

One will be fairly small for the storage of garden tools and the other will be larger for me to build my aeromodels in. The plan is to custom design and build them. The rear of the garden is not square to the body, it slopes in, so one side is shorter than the other.....

The storage shed will be a 2x2m floorprint, allowing for the slope, the modelling shed will be 3x4m, plus the angle.

I will add some photos before and after we do the tree work tomorrow.

Once that is done I will be able to do some accurate measurements and design the sheds, and come up with a material list. once that is done I will upload all of that, and then start the actual groundworks and wood working!

Olly

 

[olaf]

Well, the trees are out - most of them at least!

The 2 large Hawthorns will be coming down in a fortnight, but all of the surrounding trees are out and the hawthornes have been trimmed back sufficiently for now. 4 big builders merchant bags of chippings and lots of fuel for the chiminea. Oh and a full green wheelie bin too.....

Photos from before - sorry forgot! but after photos will be going up shortly.

Already the neighbours have popped heads over the fence saying how much better it is - We do plan to plant some apple and cherries, which are currently in pots, but they are dwarf stock, so won't be anywhere near as bad, and will be a bit further from the fence.

I'll add photos in a bit!

 

[olaf]

Hmm... OK the professional quote for the work on the landscaping was a bit more than we expected, and he clearly hadn't listened to what we wanted. Therefore this week, once we hand back the old house to the landlord SWMBO and I will be sitting down and drawing out what we want, and then I will be costing up DIYing it.

Due to the crazy work shifts I do (2 jobs y'see) the time to do this will be limited...

oh, the quote - £5,500.... if it was going to cost that much we'd have the structural work on the loft done and I could do the rest myself!

Olly

 

[Deluks]

Where's these photos then?

 

[olaf]

Sorry for the delay - family issues.

As the album bit on here isn;t working too well, I have uploaded to flikr and they can be seen here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50412669@N02/

You can see the 2 trimmed hawthorns at the back, and they will be down at the end of next week too. I have had 1 quote for the groundworks from a professional and should have another on Thursday.

Olly

 

[olaf]

Well, 2 more quotes for the retaining wall. Both around 1.5K, or 900 if I do the digging out of soil myself.

think I'll be doing some digging.....

 

[olaf]

Delay,

Due to the weather the trees won't be out this weekend, so delay is the order of the day!

 

[olaf]

Well, Picked up some bicks for the perimeter walls last night, for my favorite price - free! Freecycle is a wonderful thing. I will be collecting more this week, both from the same very generous person - along with some flagstones for the path, and from another free-cycler.

I've even put a wanted post up asking for other shed materials, so we will see how I get on there. Had a quote for the wood, and may have to adjust the design to bring costs down, but will not change the load-bearing elements.

Olly

 

[olaf]

Time for an update I feel.

I have arranged for the ladder hire for this weekend, the 2 big trees will be coming down, then the week leading up to easter the landscaping and retaining walls are being done professionally.

I have had a friend of the family offer some cut to length timber for the carcassing and that is going to help the costs a lot, but still need to buy the cladding and roof materials. I have got the locks and windows via ebay now though.

All in all a reasonable saving on cost has been achieved, so I am quite happy. just need to see about reducing cost of the insulation and cladding, as the 2 biggest factors.

More photos this weekend once the trees are down!