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  | 23 May 2012 16:00 |
| Sarge Photographer  Location United Kingdom County Durham | Just thought i would start this off for anyone interested. It will be updated as it takes shape and the build progresses. Wish i had started it off a could of weeks ago as we are already a little into the build. I am doing this all myself and have had no outside help at all, so its taking a while and is very tiring. I moved house about 5 weeks ago because i liked the garden. I already knew about the house as it had been in the family for some years, so when it went up for sale i went for it. It has a fairly large rear garden, but also a large side garden of about 5mtr wide x 10 mtr long. I though that this was the ideal place to build my studio. Planning regulations state that i have to leave a gap of a meter between my shed/studio and the neighbours, i also wanted a gap between it and the house, so decided on a build of 3mtr wide (back ground rolls are 2.7mtr, so should fit) and 7mtr long.  Firstly, it had been used as a vegetable patch for some years so the ground was VERY soft/loose after being turned over and over.  One thing i did notice was that the ground sloped from next doors to my house itself. I though long and hard about how i could sort this out and level it. I thought about making a frame in which i could pour concrete. But seeing as though the ground was so soft it would require MANY tons to be delivered and would probably blow my budget that i had saved up (£1,800). When i laid my first board (actually garden decking bought cheap from B&Q) i realised just how sloping the land was. It was ground level at one end and about 18" at the other end 3mtrs away.  I then decided to create pillars for the shed to sit on, rather than concreting the whole area. I bought 3 ton of concrete mix and sourced some plastic tubing in which to 'form' a plinth. These were cut to size and buried about 2 foot into the ground after digging a large hole. The whole lot was filled with concrete and a threaded bar in which to add strength and give somethig to fasten the shed to so it doesnt move. I borrowed a cement mixer off a friend.   I needed to create 32 of these, one every meter (3mtr x 7mtr, so one at zero, one at 1 one at 2 etc). This was back breaking as i had to dig all these holes by hand, but eventually it was done. As i finished the last row of 4 the cement mixer packed up :-(  Next came the frame. I wanted to make this out of 4x2, which was cut to length. I wanted it quite substantail as i was also intending to place boards at the bottom of it and also the top to make it double skinned, in between these boards i want to put loft insulation (as well as the walls).  The frame is aking shape now, but i also need to put quite a few more supports in it to give added strength. I am now as of today (23rd May 2012) placing the bottom boards into place which is VERY tricky, due to it being so heavy and difficult to work out so i dont get any wastage.  I will update this post as i go on... |
 | 23 May 2012 16:48 |
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| Holmax Photographer  Location United Kingdom East Yorkshire Hull | Interesting stuff, I look forward to reading more. If I were you I'd put some form of membrane down under your shed, otherwise vegetation is going to grow under it in time and rot your shed. |
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| www.holmax.com | ||
| 23 May 2012 17:24 |
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| ajc07977 Photographer This member has been reset to pending  Location United Kingdom Suffolk Ipswich | Sounds interesting. I (with the help of my dad and few mates) built my own log cabin a few years ago, just next to my detached garage. Did the concrete base after positioning pre-sunk electric supply and plastic drainpipe to run coaxial and ethernet from house). Log cabin came as a kit of many many parts off a large lorry. If you need any advice with what I did + have done since ... then do post / PM me. I went for special double galzed doors and windows + this has proved an excellent investment. The higher spec roof tiles (a heavy duty adhesive backing design) has also weathered very well to date. One thing that I was pretty shocked about concerned insulation. Before the tongue and groove floor went down, I put some reasonably expensive Cellotex? boarding down (rested on nails just below level of where floor would go over + purposely leaving a little bit of air space above too). Then floor boarding, then thin felt, then underfloor heating kit. All the above went fine + was very effective (160W system). .... 2 years on (or should I say 2x winters with NON INSULATED roof / 2x summers feeling like I was Steve McQueen in the 'Cooler'  ... and I finally conceded that the attractive exposed beams + look of the roof from inside, would be better used to hold some nice n chunky insulation boards - MUCH thicker than the ones under the floor (I went 75mm and not 100mm in the end). Well bugger me - I really could not believe the difference it IMMEDIATELY made:1) In the winter, the evening I finished the job of cutting and fitting + was hoovering up very late evening, I was REALLY sweating ... and I hadn't yet turned the heated floor on! Needless to say there was snow on the roof from then on (where as before, like a non insulated house, there was none). Also in previous years, despite 'low level' or 'trickle effect' floor heating - when very cold sub zero weather ... I would fire up a fan heater for 5 or 10 minutes too (sometimes longer on a stat setting + when underfloor heating struggled to get cabin over about 5-7 degrees on its own). Now barmy summer-on-the-beach temps were available with just the lowly underfloor heating on (at about 1/20th of the power £cost whilst running). Cosy. 2) Summer - Now it was a fairly comfortable place to be (where as before you would open the doors and a window ... wait SEVERAL minutes + only then venture inside). SO ... thick roof insulation = FAR more important than under floor insulation (although of course ROOF insulation is easily retro-fitted & under floor is not!). |
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| www.ajcphotography.com | ||
| 23 May 2012 17:53 |
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| pompeytog Photographer  Location United Kingdom Hampshire Portsmouth | Looks like some project Sarge, I wish you well with it and look forward to your updates. | |
| How hard can it be? | ||
| 23 May 2012 19:36 |
| frankpht Photographer  Location United Kingdom London | Good luck with it but 3m isn't going to be wide enough or at least if you could have another two metres. You'd have better options for the placing of flashes. Yes 3 metres will work but give me that extra two as the actress said to the bishop. I'm looking at this from my point of view as I shoot in my living room roughly 3m by 4m and it's just not wide enough certainly not long enough. You do have the length " ooh matron " which to a great extent is the best option. Looking at the boarding you seem to be using, it's not marine ply which in the long run would be the better option. You should use it for the outside walls at least. Yes I know bloody expensive but think in the long term. If I'm mistaken apologies. |
| 23 May 2012 21:43 |
| Sarge Photographer Location United Kingdom County Durham | Thanks guys. I am happy for any advice you may have. I am going to put a membrain down under the shed. I have just bought a HUGE roll (300mtr) of polythene sheeting which i am going to use as a damp proof membrain for the walls and roof too. I will insulate the walls and roof as well as the floor. I cant really go to the expense of Kingspan so will use a roll of insulation from B&Q. I know that over 3mtr would be better, but unfortunately you can only play with what you have got  Its not marine ply and that would have been better i guess (and more expensive). I have used OSB boarding that is the same as boarding up people use or construction builders use to create a temp wall around a site. It is waterproof (aparently/hopefully), but wont be touching the floor and will hopefully not get wet. The outside walls are going to be 1" tongue and groove that i am going to place in a vertical position so they are all the same size, so less cutting. |
24 May 2012 04:33 |
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| bellafotographia Photographer | You have my admiration - looks like quite a project and I wish you the best of luck with it! |
| 24 May 2012 04:47 |
| frankpht Photographer Location United Kingdom London | Why are you using 1" T&G and fixing it vertically. All the studs will be fixed upright so ideally all timber needs to be fixed across them. I'm a carpenter and I wouldn't do it the way you're doing it. Have you been advised to do it this way. Ultimately you'll be fixing your timber to noggins ( the cross pieces between studs ). Personally I'd be more inclined to use shiplap or even feather edge as in the garden shed. |
| 24 May 2012 06:02 |
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| Spike Photographer  Location United Kingdom Hertfordshire St Albans | You will find you can shoot quite happily in a 3x7m studio, I new a guy who ran a fairly suuccesful glamour studio in a unit smaller than that for several years. You may not need planning but you will probably still be subject to building regulations, particularly since I assume you'll run electricity into the building. If at any time in the future you use the building for any form of commercial work you NEED planning permision - so if you start doing the odd bit of semi pro work you could get severe grieff off the council. I remmber a guy a couple of years back possibly from here who turned his front room into a studio & advertised it for the occassional hire via forums, the local council hit him with change of use, business rates, all sorts of annoying red tape. My top tip is don't upset your neighbours & use it discretely. |
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| "Photoshop is there to cut diamonds, not polish turds" | ||
| 24 May 2012 06:04 |
| MattButlerPhoto Photographer  Location United Kingdom West Yorkshire Bradford | Hi sarge I've just finished my very own studio shed. Mines out of breeze block. As it happens mine are the same dimensions. 3m is proving fine with my nifty 50mm Make sure you try achieve at least a 8ft height. That's my size and I think it only just adequate. Also regards power I found easiar to use a extension cord from the gouse rather than wire it in. If you wire it in you will need to get it signed off by a spark and its just not worth it (and I'm a spark/plumber) |
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