Side Shed

Last year I built what I call a "side shed" - that is a shed along the side of my house, to store bicycles, gardening equipment and whatnot. I thought I'd describe it here in case anyone else may find this useful.

The gap between the house and the fence was less than a metre, so not enough room to put a regular shed, therefore I decided to build my own. After carefully measuring the space, I used SketchUp to design the structure. The SketchUp file can be downloaded here.

My design uses the following materials (all sizes in mm):

• 150x22 treated softwood - for the ends and sides
• 70x48 treated softwood - for the rafters and gate posts
• 75x75 fence posts - for the uprights
• 700x10 twinwall corotherm sheet
• Glazing bars, end caps, side flashings and fixings required for the corotherm
• 50x65 Joist hangers - for fixing the rafters
• 10x100 Multi-monti bolts - for fixing to brick
• Flashband - for sealing the corotherm to the brickwork
• Postcrete - for anchoring the posts
• Regular wood screws of various sizes
• Hinges, locks and handles for the gates

In addition, I used an old fence panel to provide the sheet material for the gates, which was sandwiched between the 150x22 timber frame.

Construction

• Secure side to wall
• Cut notches in top of posts
• Dig holes for posts and fix in place with concrete - making sure they are in the right position with respect to the wall

• Cut gate uprights and secure to wall
• Cut ends and fix between gate uprights and posts
• Fix other side in post notches

• Cut rafters to required size
• Cut glazing bars and fix to rafters
• Fix joist hangers and rafters in place

• Cut corotherm sheet and apply end tapes and end caps
• Secure corotherm sheet between glazing bars with caps and fixings
• Install flashband between corotherm and brick
• Cut and install guttering

• Construct gates and fix with hinges
• Install locks and handles

• Fill with stuff!