Just starting need info or help

im looking into buying one of those sheds from lowes for around 198$ its small
but i guess i could make some mod's on it. a window and a place for a small ac
unit.and my Grandfather-in-law is an electrician...so perhaps he can run power
to it..

Thanks everyone

Scott.

Fred McClellan wrote:

> Be _really really >really<_ careful about shed kits.

On the one hand, I actually paid $500 for a stupid plastic 7'x 7' shed
because I was in a big hurry to get something up, and I thought it would be
easy (and those shed kits you speak of all looked so very crappy.) (Trying
to get the crap out of my 10x12 shed so it could be a dedicated shop...)
After three days, I was ready to take a sledge hammer to the stupid thing.
Actually, I did, but luckily it was high-impact plastic. :) Total pain in
the ass all the way around, and for the space I got, it was nowhere close
to worth the effort. (I guess these things are OK if you have a concrete
slab handy. If the surface isn't 100% level, the damn thing ain't going to
go together, and that's all there is to it.)

On the other, my neighbor. Bought some lumber, some pre-fab trusses (I
think, won't swear to it--he might have built the trusses when I wasn't
looking), some windows, and a big roll-up door. Spent a few weekends
beating and hammering. His shop is something like 15x20, well-lit, 12'
ceiling, heat, A/C, the whole nine yards. I'm not sure if he drew it on
paper or what, but that dude has some skills, let me tell ya. He paid $800
for the whole shebang. $800.

I think when the time comes to replace my shop with a bigger one, I'm going
to see if I can pay my neighbor to help me design and ensure that I don't
screw up the building of the thing. I'll leave those shed kits at the
store.

The only sad part of this story is that he doesn't have anything good in
there. A huge compressor to run air tools, and a big industrial sewing
machine. He re-upholsters furniture for fun. His woodworking is strictly
carpentry. Not that there's anything wrong with his carpentry!!

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
Confirmed post number: 16633 Approximate word count: 498990
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/

Over this past winter I built a 10 x 14 shed. It has 8 ft high walls,
built with rough cut lumber. The walls are 2 x 4, 16 on center. I used
1 x 14 planks for the walls with batton strips. I put a metal roof on
it. the floor is pressure treated 2 x 6 with 3/4 ply. the floor is the
only wood that is not rough cut. The entire thing, including nails and
cinder blocks, cost me $450. Have lowes or home depot beat that. The
"shed" has since become my shop.

Tony




ScottnDess wrote:
> im looking into buying one of those sheds from lowes for around 198$ its small
> but i guess i could make some mod's on it. a window and a place for a small ac
> unit.and my Grandfather-in-law is an electrician...so perhaps he can run power
> to it..
>
> Thanks everyone
>
> Scott.

On Mon, 21 Jul 2003 20:27:16 -0400, Tony Gagnon
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Over this past winter I built a 10 x 14 shed. It has 8 ft high walls,
>built with rough cut lumber. The walls are 2 x 4, 16 on center. I used
>1 x 14 planks for the walls with batton strips. I put a metal roof on
>it. the floor is pressure treated 2 x 6 with 3/4 ply. the floor is the
>only wood that is not rough cut. The entire thing, including nails and
>cinder blocks, cost me $450. Have lowes or home depot beat that. The
>"shed" has since become my shop.
>
>Tony
>
>
>
>
>ScottnDess wrote:
>> im looking into buying one of those sheds from lowes for around 198$ its small
>> but i guess i could make some mod's on it. a window and a place for a small ac
>> unit.and my Grandfather-in-law is an electrician...so perhaps he can run power
>> to it..
>>
>> Thanks everyone
>>
>> Scott.

Be _really really >really<_ careful about shed kits.

I made the mistake of buying a 10' x 10' x 18' shed because I didn't
have the time to do it the right way.

Bad idea.

I was out of town for two weeks when it was delivered, and Herself
didn't think to have our handyman take a close look at it.

1. The thing arrived on two 4' x 6' pallets. So yes, there is no
piece of lumber longer than 6' in the entire structure.

2. It is >>>2" x 3"<<< lumber throughout. Nothing you can buy to
finish out that shed fits - electrical boxes, windows, nada. I have
the strangest looking white vinyl double-insulated windows you have
ever seen. They're about an inch thicker than the walls. I hid that
by trimming the windows inside and out with 1 x 2 on 1 x 4. No one
has noticed the double trim.

3. The book said 11 hours to put it up. Try three days, and I needed
two helpers to get it done in that time. I had to toss about 10% of
the structural pieces due to extreme warp and bow.

4. I used R30 insulation, and had a lot of fun stuffing it into the 2"
x 3" walls. Had to use 1/4" ply to keep the interior from bulging.

It's up and working, but it was a lot more expensive than a custom
shed would have cost (I know, I checked). If you don't look to
closely, it doesn't look bad from the outside, and from the inside I
just tell folks I ran the wiring conduit on the walls to make it
easier to extend a circuit if I need to.

[yeah . . . sure]

Be _really really >really<_ careful about shed kits.
Cheers,
Fred McClellan
the dash plumber at mindspring dot com