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Show us your shed ...

-alan- said:
An enlightening article @Marchbanks - thanks :)



Based on the article, that door has tension bracing on each half. The 'preferred' solution seems to be one tension brace plus one compression brace - with the compression brace at the top. I can see there is some logic to having one of each - but the next question of course would be why one would choose to fit a compression one on the top as opposed to a tension one, or vice-versa ? :)
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Yes and I believe it is much debated in joinery circles. I am only an amateur (as you can see from the one door out of the 8 that I got the 'wrong' way round). The idea as I broadly understand it is that the diagonals running from the bottom hinged corners to the top unhinged corners will stop the outer (non hinged) side of the door from sagging/dropping. However, Marchbanks's article shows that this is not a universally accepted 'thing'. I did, however, change that door to match the others and none have sagged as yet.
 
That article has some merit in that it does at least explain the mechanism of bracing, but when you cut through all the waffle, the almost universal superiority of compression bracing becomes clear. Main reason being that the compression is 'borne' by the timber brace, and the gate post, much more than the nails, screws.

I am no carpenter. I work reasonably well with metal, but I only have to look at a piece of timber sideways and it splits. Nonetheless, I made this gate for the side entry probably ten years ago and it is still holding up. Not too pretty, but functional. I intend improving privacy by 'infilling' the gaps with timber, when I can be bothered. I'm also considering painting it to match the garage door and front door of the house, but that would mean using gloss paint..which isn't a good move with a wooden gate, so I'll probably leave it 'as is'. The previous version was also made by me and lasted about 30 years.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/7YkoWakS5LZLyTGR9
 
^ If that's the case, then for structural purposes, the optimum solution would be tiggers door turned upside down, with two identical z-shaped frames top and bottom, rather than the mirror-image top and bottom / 'arrowhead' pointing at the middle hinge I guess ?
 
-alan- said:
^ If that's the case, then for structural purposes, the optimum solution would be tiggers door turned upside down, with two identical z-shaped frames top and bottom, rather than the mirror-image top and bottom / 'arrowhead' pointing at the middle hinge I guess ?
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I’m saying nowt. (OK, I admit it’s a gate and not a shed door.)

51430358889_d304a6ee0b_w.jpg
 
SteveG said:
Here's an external view of my sheds (with Ludo chomping on a bone for foreground interest):

171926411.j2t3lvlu.sheds.jpg

The big shed (which I use as an office) has some musical interest as it used to be the home studio of Pye Hasting (from Caravan) and was where his solo album From the Half House was written. The smaller two are used as a potting shed and a tool store, with a wood store in between.
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This is the inside of the big shed. It's on the to-do list to get those rugs replaced and also to get re-decorated and some pictures up. It's also being used to store a few bikes but my little point and shoot doesn't go wide enough to get those in shot. I suspect it'll end up with one side being used as the office and the other side as a gym:

171938548.bOkhwhv2.tt102.jpg


These are the other sheds that came with the house:

171938549.u6PZDLh2.tt103.jpg


They're a bit of a dumping zone at the moment but one will be a potting shed and the other used mainly for tool storage. The bit in the middle was being used by the previous owners as a log store but it's letting in water so the logs at the bottom are pretty damp. We're in the process of clearing that out and haven't decided if it'll go back to being a log store (we have a lot of logs!) once made watertight or possibly might get a door fitted and use it to store a log splitter. We've just had a new log store built to be the "ready use" locker just outside the house - it's pretty big but we could probably fill it 5 times over with logs from the various storage spots around the garden:

171938547.zNe02F6Y.tt101.jpg


My wife has given me a to-do list today which includes:
- buying 2 more log stores
- buying 1000 litres of oil
- researching what chainsaw to buy (she's wanted one for years - even before we had a reason to get one!)
- researching what hydraulic log splitter to get
- buying a sledgehammer

Scary stuff.
 
SteveG said:
- researching what chainsaw to buy (she's wanted one for years - even before we had a reason to get one!)
- researching what hydraulic log splitter to get
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If you want a good all round saw without spending a fortune, I can highly recommend a Husq 435 (or the equivalent Stihl model). The step up from the entry level stuff is well worth it without getting into the pro models which you just won’t need. Don’t forget helmet, trousers, boots and gloves as a minimum. If you are logging with it, a Portek logging horse will be one of the best things you’ll ever buy. Makes ringing cords about as safe as you can do it. Can’t help on the splitter I’m afraid, I use a 12HP petrol powered hydraulic splitter which will smash anything to pieces but it’s way overkill in a domestic environment.
 
.. realised that I hadn't posted a pic of our only actual 'shed' shed.
This is last in the brick built outhouse block the previous had installed as extensions to the original (tiny) garage that I use as a workshop.
I don't garden so this is really the domain of the better half - which probably explains why it's a damn sight tidier than its neighbours ;)
(lots of 'tools on hooks' on the left hand wall for instance...)



garden shed by mik tec, on Flickr
 
I just came across this cartoon, sent to me anonymously, but I have a good idea where it originated, and it's a deliberate slur on my reluctance to dispose of vital shed contents -

14344349_10209005190539737_4041934784462683877_n.jpg
 
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