Shed project

Now that is interesting.
I've been saying for years that we in the constrcuction industry are archaic, borderline neanderthals.
We resist change... of any kind.

Now I see the world is using our antiquated measurements, or at least converting to the nearest round off.
Curious, is construction grade S4S lumber undersized after milling. IE, 2 x 4 = 1 1/2 x 3 1/2, 2 x 6 = 1 1/2 x 5 1/2 etc.

We have been officially metric here since late ‘80s , I think , if I went into building supply and tried to order dimensional lumber in metric , they would laugh me out of the place … houses still measured and sold as being so many sq.ft. , will admit it took a bit to figure FE’s shed size …. funny thing though a 2”x 4” is really 1 1/2” x 3 1/2” unless you talking rough lumber ….

mdt-son said:

Craig,
Structutal timber is metric too of course but I think each country has its own standards. Here in Norway we approximate british/us dimensions, e.g., 2x4" equals 98x198mm.

Cheers, Knut

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We Swedes always look at Norwegians as very curious and makes jokes about them. But I think you made a slight calculating error calling a 4 by 8 a 2 by 4.
Anyhow our 2x4 are 45x95 (the 50x100 raw sawed goes to 45x95 planed). The lengths from the sawmill are in multiples of 30 cm (4.8 cm less than a foot).
As far as I know we export a lot of wood to the UK, so what dimensions do you use in the UK?

Mike40M said:

We Swedes always look at Norwegians as very curious and makes jokes about them. But I think you made a slight calculating error calling a 4 by 8 a 2 by 4.
Anyhow our 2x4 are 45x95 (the 50x100 raw sawed goes to 45x95 planed). The lengths from the sawmill are in multiples of 30 cm (4.8 cm less than a foot).
As far as I know we export a lot of wood to the UK, so what dimensions do you use in the UK?

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in the UK we say 4 by 2 ( inches) , whereas in Canada it is 2 by 4. Luckily they are interchangeable!!

So Jelly

MichaelB said:

Now that is interesting.
I've been saying for years that we in the constrcuction industry are archaic, borderline neanderthals.
We resist change... of any kind.

Now I see the world is using our antiquated measurements, or at least converting to the nearest round off.
Curious, is construction grade S4S lumber undersized after milling. IE, 2 x 4 = 1 1/2 x 3 1/2, 2 x 6 = 1 1/2 x 5 1/2 etc.

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Generally not, at least in NZ, which is nice. You do get some variation in consumer timber at DIY shops - so you can find 45x90, but it is not marketed as a 4x2

Chris said:

Missed opportunity Nige
mezzanine floor lol

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When I built my shed it was a kit shed (Tristeel) I ordered it with a extra 1m in height its 7.5m x 6.5m with a wide sliding door at the front (7.5 side) so the front door is 1/2 of the front side when open, then I built the workbenches out of 40x40 RHS 5mm wall steel, I was the steel cutter at work at the time lol and 1/4 of my shed I built a mezzanine floor at my head height without hitting my head on the beams using steel I got and wood timber trusses from the old roof from next door when they built another level on top of their house, I am a scranger and don't like waste, it was all hard wood roof trusses and I also got the flooring from work the good thing with a mezzanine floors it hides all the junk and storage for everything, the slot car track is under the mezzanine floor and also have storage under the slot car table.
I also over the years acquired 100mm wide steel C channel 3 lenghts at 9m long from work as well I bought 4 lenghts at 6m long when it was on special when buying steel for new house stumps at the time, the C channel sat untouched for about 12 years beside my shed and 2 years ago I built a 7.5m x 4m open awning off the front of my shed only had to pay for the new roofing iron and I mixed the concrete all by hand with a mixer so concrete, gravel and a new roofing iron all done for about $1k, did the mixing, pouring and screeting myself in 3 stages, that's where the snooker table is now as well the table and chairs as well open work area when it gets to hot in the shed during the day, we get good sea breezes here as not far from Moreton Bay.
You can never have to much room as you always find things to fill up the space, my shed workshop is all about the bikes and can't even get a car up to my shed even if I wanted to lol.
FE your workshop looking good, to clean for me but then my shed was built in 1991 and there is always room for improvements, as for new bikes I am down sizing my collection of bikes 4 is enough but thinking of selling the dirt bike and the project Norton build has been sitting to long it might go to the next swap meet and see what I can get for it and just keep my Hotrod Norton and the 1200 Thruxton.

Ashley

Ash my shed won’t stay that clean for long, I do have a bit of a cleanliness fetish, but nevertheless, it’ll get filled soon. so won’t be that empty space it is now for long.

Actually, that’s kinda why I ended up having the floor done professionally. Emptying out the shed COMPLETELY is actually quite a challenge, in fact it’s a horrible job and you should see the state of my back garden currently with all the stuff tossed out of the shed.

That‘s why I never want to have to do the floor again !

Its funny though, when we moved here it was quite a change of lifestyle, we moved for the kids schools etc and into a bigger house but a MUCH smaller ‘shop’. The combined square footage of my old shed and garages and outbuildings was more than the house. So it required quite a ‘cleansing‘ process to move into my humble shed I can tell you.

But… in my old place I was well and truly out of control, so I also looked on the downsizing as a kind of therapy, rather like when an obese person has a gastric band fitted. 9 years later on and I think I can say that the therapy has (almost) worked…

Aaah the bikes I sold I'll never forget them! But they had to go!
Your a good man Nige, it takes some doing.
Slowly very slowly in my case.

How smooth was your shed floor before the finish was applied? did you get the floor ground flat as part of the work? .

I have also used the stainless steel twinslot racking, very nice but suitably expensive. Would be good if they de-burred it a bit better though, managed to slice four fingertips at once on one of those pieces.

daveforty said:

How smooth was your shed floor before the finish was applied? did you get the floor ground flat as part of the work? .

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Yes, that was part of the initial problem…

When I built the shed, the concrete didn’t turn out as flat or smooth as I wanted. So I used a latex based self levelling screed, then painted on top of that with garage floor paint. ALL instructions were followed fully, inc unibonding the surface etc.

It was cheap, and looked good, and was oil proof and easy to clean etc.

But gradually the self levelling screed started coming away, NOT the paint, but the screed the paint was on. But typically, although some bits flaked away, some bits were stuck like the proverbial.

So, that whole screed, 1/8-1/4 inch thick, had to be removed. To do this, the whole floor was ground smooth.

Too old and smart to do up another shed/garage but it takes discipline not to relapse into rebuild madness. I did
get laughed at by my neighbor when I was setting up shop and referred to timber as lumber and calling out everything
in imperial with the small number first! At the builders yard they had to trot out an old salt to get me what I needed because I had measured up in old money.
...I'll never get it figured out, after all it was 30 degrees here this morning and only old people understand me.
Oh, and your efforts are entirely respectable!

I've only just seen this thread. Great job Nigel, it looks really good and, from other threads you seem to be very well Organized! I've come to the understanding that organization is the key. "if you can't find something that you have or bought before, and can't find it..... It's the same as not having it". Space is tight here in the city where we currently live in Japan. With my wife and 6 kids in this stupid cracker-box of a house that we rent, I've become very good at making custom shelves to fit the spaces in between the furniture and in the corners etc... We've just succeeded in getting financing for the house we're buying and moving into next month. I still won't have a shed/or garage but will have more space outside than I have at the moment. I will be focusing on organizing every room of the new place before we even move in. Anyway congrats on the expansion, wise choice with regards to the floor! Should be easy to live with.

cjandme said:

". . . organization is the key. "if you can't find something that you have or bought before, and can't find it..... It's the same as not having it"

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I have come to the point where if I lay a bolt on the work bench and look for it later it's like finding Waldo. I have to keep a tidy work space or I will go mad.

Great job Nigel, there is nothing like a proper project space.