Shed Becomes An Attractive Summer-house

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31880, 7 January 1969, Page 15

Shed Becomes An Attractive Summer-house

This easy-to-assemble shed has been designed basically to serve as a garden store.

However, by the optional addition of the large glass windows, and the ornamental sidescreen and canopy over the roof, it becomes an attractive little summer-house,' private and sheltered from wind, where you can enjoy tea in the garden or just sit and sun yourself.

Inexpensive woods such as deal, Canadian pine or hemlock are quite suitable for the actual construction, as they work easily and are not unduly prone to splitting. When finished the shed exterior should be protected against wood-rot and insect pests with two coats of any of the good wood preservatives, which are now available in a wide range of attractive colours. For the overhanging roof and side-screen, you can select white or coloured paint, and also use this on the door and window frame for a little decorative contrast Foundations

The shed should have a good dry base to stand on,

and we would advise a concrete slab foundation in 1:2J:4 mix, about 4in thick on top of some well-rammed broken brick or hardcore. This slab must come about 2in above ground level but must not project beyond the walls of the shed; in fact it is desirable that the lowest weather-boarding should project a little all round the concrete to stop wind driving the rain underneath. You can surround the summer-house with concrete paving slabs, set slightly lower than the concrete base.

A strip of the usual bitumen damp proof course between the walls and concrete will be added precaution.

As you know, the sheds and buildings sold by the wellknown firms arrive in sections, which, you assemble by bolting together. There is a great deal in favour of building your own summerhouse in the same way. Firm Nailing If you do, you can work mainly on the flat by laying out the timbers on any good level surface, such as a garage floor, and assembling them there. You’ll be nailing against a firm hard support, and the components will stay put during assembly. You’ll find this a great deal more convenient than putting four corner posts into the ground and then trying to nail the weatherboards and roof on to them.

Assemble the panels with iin coach bolts and make sure you get the holes in ad-

joining sections in line by careful measurement.

You will see from the drawings that you will have to insert the bolts in the corners of the front and rear sections before you put on the weatherboarding. They should therefore be locknutted to stop them turning when you bolt up the adjoining section. Enlarge the holes on these ends so that the bolts will go in below the level of the timber to enable the adjoining section to pull up flush.

The cladding is the usual rebated weatherboard; 4in width is appropriate for this size of building. There are two points worth considering. You can't expect a single timber skin to be absolutely water and weathertight. If this is important, we would advise lining under the timber with building paper with “sarklng” felt, which is the type of felt used to line roofs under the tiles. It is not expensive and quite tough. Put this on with galvanised clout nails before nailing on the weatherbord. You should also use rust-proofed nails for these too, either sheradized or galvanised. Simple Joints All the joints, as you can see from the drawings, are simple—either half lap or butt joints. Arrange these to fall clear of knots in the timbers; 2in oval nails are suitable for the lap joints, use longer ones for “toe-nailing” uprights into the horizontal timbers; 4in round wire nails will often bend if you try to drive them through two 2in x 2in with a hammer.

If you've got an electric drill a smaller diameter pilot hole is a help and if you use the iron “cut” nails (as used for flooring) then pre-drilled holes are really a must. The same applies if you use screws—a pilot hole plus a little grease on the screw, cuts down the effort.

We suggest a roof of the modern corrugated plastic sheets, supported on a single central purlin. If you prefer it, you could board in part or all of the roof with the usual tongued and grooved boards, felt covered, but the extra light from the all-plastic roof is a great improvement. We used Marleyglaze.

Follow the diagrams for the sidescreen and canopy. When assembled, these can be quickly fastened to the shed with screws or nails.

So there is your finished summerhouse. Give it a "refresher” coat Of preservative every second or third year, and it will last you a lifetime.