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About to place my shed order and I notice that the Ts and Cs state "It is advisable whenever possible to ventilate your shed by leaving windows/doors open. This will allow any condensation to evaporate and help to avoid any humidity that may gather inside the building." The shed I'm getting does not have openable windows, just fixed, so only option would be open door every so often, which seems unlikely to be sufficient or convenient. Options I can think of: drill various holes either side of the shed to allow air in and out - this is the cheapest and easiest, but query whether this risks the integrity of the shed or encourages rodents or any other downsides? install some small extrator fans, and a solar panel on the roof to power the fans and the lightbulb i want to hang internally - seems like overkill to me. ignore the Ts and Cs and hope for the best. Thoughts?

An observation for those that need to heat a work/office shed during the self build process. We have a timber garden buiding, 5mx6m, that we used as a lounge room duing our restoration while living in the caravan. This had a 6kw log(s) burner which worked very well over a couple of winters provided it was lit early, had more than one log on it, didn't let it go out and had plenty of logs ready. Last winter this fire was moved into the main building inplace of the intended log burner that was now out of scope for the budget. I was intending to use part of the garden room as my hobby shed. With a budget of around 200 quid, we had a choice of either finding another log burner, using an electic fan heater, staying in bed or finding something else. The something else is a 8kw Chinese diesel cab heater. I put the heater on the inside with the burner air intake and the exhaust through a couple of proctected and sealed holes to the outside. The 10 ltr fuel tank and pump also on the outside. These heaters are 12v (24v available), I used a 240v to 12v 20A supply set at 13.8V foating a used mobility scooter battery. These heaters require a shutdown process, the battery provideds that should we lose power. It will also run the heater for a few hours. Key thing for here though and the reason for this post is the cost of running it. It says 8kw on the box but it is not. It is six at the most. From 5 degrees C it will get the temp to 19 in about an hour. I have run it on heating oil (kerosene) for just over 100 hours and it has used 0.505 ltrs per hour avarage over that period. The oil cost £1 per ltr. So 50p for 6kw per hour does not seem bad given 34p kw of electric would have been £2.04. All in cost has been less that £160. The power unit, a fuel cutoff and second filter included in this cost. Much better than a LPG heater as it does not fill the air with water.

Hello, I am constructing a small shed (3.5m x 2.2m) that will be used only for storage. I want to render the external walls with the K-Rend silicone render to match my outbuilding and my house. I was wondering if you could help me understand what the best way to construct the shed is so that it does not cost a lot and can be rendered. My ideas: - wooden frame + OSD (not sure how easy it is to render over it) - wooden frame + cement board (seems like the way to go) - blocks (seems like a lot more work and expense) any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Hi Folks, My first post here. I have so far put down an elevated concrete pad (30cm high) and have also built the walls out of solid dense 7.3N concrete blocks.Aas it stands the height of the highest block is 2.73m high including the concrete pad height (front of build). The problem is once the single-pitched roof is on the building height will be roughly 3.10m high. I have since been doing some digging and it seems the building may be too high? I have attached an image below so you can see the plan. I know people who have buildings just as high and some higher! that actually touch the boundaries of their neighbours and have been passed by the local council (Norwich, UK). So I'm confused as to what is ACTUALLY permissible and what's not, given the information online and the contradictory reality. Can somebody help? Also is there anything else I need to think about given the size of the building. Thanks

Hi, I am planning a project to make a concrete shed into a live-able room. The walls are made of concrete and the roof is made of wood, I plan on insulating the roof but I'm not sure weather I need to insulate the concrete walls or just the concrete will be enough to keep it warm all year round. I've never done a project like this so if anyone has any pointers or ideas that would be great! Thanks!

Hi everyone I'm wanting to build a shed. Been looking through various sources online and through local council information, which is terribly difficult to actually find anything, to see what rules i have to follow with regards to planning permission. I could have sworn i read somewhere that there is a clause that if i wish to build an outbuilding within 2.5 meters of a highway i need planning permission. However that was a little while ago, now I'm looking into it more seriously i can't find that information again. If i look on the kirklees council planning & development site (https://www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/planning-applications/find-out-if-you-need-planning-permission/default.aspx) it directs me to the Planning Portal (https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/43/outbuildings) which has no mention of highways. Only maximum height if im close to a boundary. Where we live we have a section of land behind the house which is more than big enough to put a small shed on, but it's right up against the road, no path or anything. Just my land, kirb, road. The road isn't a through road, just a small road for access to the houses at the bottom. Can anyone confirm or deny that because the boundary is up-against a road I am indeed going to have to seek planning permission to build it? I hope not, It'll be a right faff just for a shed. I wouldn't even know where to begin! Thanks.

Hi all , not sure if this is the right place for this post but I have a potentially costly problem which I'd like a bit of advice on please. I built 2 large sheds within PD limits but then the PA told me that PD rights had previously been withdrawn so would I please apply for retrospective PP. I duly sent in the form but they then hit me with a CIL form because the total EXTERNAL area is more than 100m2. I looked up the regs and they should be using internal area but that's an easy issue to sort out I guess. The total area of the two sheds is 105M2, one is a games room for my young children and the other is divided into 3, a workshop, store and sitting area. Question - the charge looks like about 18k in our area and this is totally ridiculous for these structures - what to do? Regards, Peter

Hi all , not sure if this is the right place for this post but I have a potentially costly problem which I'd like a bit of advice on please. I built 2 large sheds within PD limits but then the PA told me that PD rights had previously been withdrawn so would I please apply for retrospective PP. I duly sent in the form but they then hit me with a CIL form because the total EXTERNAL area is more than 100m2. I looked up the regs and they should be using internal area but that's an easy issue to sort out I guess. The total area of the two sheds is 105M2, one is a games room for my young children and the other is divided into 3, a workshop, store and sitting area. Question - the charge looks like about 18k in our area and this is totally ridiculous for these structures - what to do? Regards, Peter

Hello! I have a factory-made 18' x 8' brand new garden room. I’m making it into a fully-fitted office/studio with 2 rooms: – studio for artists work – kiln room (a pottery oven that gets hot) Photos & videos: (plus attached diagram) https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ese89vjh96y5110/AACrpI1yJpD82CDCq1SDPP1ha?dl=0 Our goal is to have a warm workspace and protect our investment. Roof: (see picture) – Sloped – Shed roofing felt on timber decking – *unvented* (some air seeping in front and back but I’ll seal it) – 65mm rafters (not very deep!) Ceilings – (the plan for) – Plasterboard connected to the rafters in the kiln room (special fire-retardant board on all ceilings/walls in the kiln room) – Wood cladding connected to the rafters in the studio room – Ceilings are low - we don't want to make them much lower For insulation, my research has found these as the 'best' options: – Warm Roof solutions – not ideal for us – Cold Roof + Closed Cell Foam – too expensive I'd like to find the next-best thing - can you please help? :-) Q1) Ceiling Insulation – I've been told not to use rockwool style insulation in an unvented roof. Rockwool themselves say it's a condensation risk and that I *can* used their product, but I must usage a smart-VCL with it. - Celotex told me not to use their product unvented. - I've had other suggestions a thin layer of EPS across the rafters, no VCL, and either Rockwool or EPS in the rafter cavities. Note: Ceiling covering in studio room – We want wood cladding but because it's not air tight, the general recommendation is an airtight layer first like plasterboard. However we don't want to eat into our internal space too much if possible... What do you think we should do for the ceiling insulation? Q2) Wall insulation – our current plan is: Rockwool batts filling the cavity + Tyvek Airguard Smart (like membrain) VCL + interior wood cladding. Again the wood cladding has an impact -- it is used both as the exterior wall and the interior wall, so we're especially concerned about moisture getting in there. What do you think we should do for the walls? I know that whatever the product, doing a great job of air sealing it and installing it properly is the most important. But we are drowning in conflicting views - Thanks in advance for your help!

So we failed to provision for a shed during our planning application, instead including a 20ft container due to time pressures... Turns out, we've been largely caught up in other paperwork since then so the haste was for naught. We've determined to build our own shed to use for welfare during the 2 yr build, which we hope to transition into a outhouse + garden tool storage after the build is done. I'm confident we can do the foundation, walls and roof well enough ourselves for about £2k all in I've checked all the requirements at the planning portal for Class E (detached outbuildings) and can ensure we meet them. I've also ensured that Graven Hill (the Local Development Order) also provisions for permitted development. However, I've read many places (particularly on this forum) that PD isn't valid until AFTER the completion of one's build, though I can't confirm this formally anywhere else. Can anyone help clarify whether I need to submit for an update to my planning certificate, or whether I can go ahead under standard PD rules?

Like the best magazines, this article consists mainly of pictures - as it is nearly Bank Holiday weeking and I am heading off to a Camping Barn near @recoveringacademic's place with friends. The problem is straightforward. About 5 years ago on moving to the current house I had a 8' by 8' shed constructed in a corner of the garden which consisted of (perceived) well-packed rubble from many years ago. We used a base of concrete fence-posts laid flat to allow some minimal give, and room to expel any unwelcome undershed-dwellers, and to avoid the extra expense of a full concrete slab. How wrong I was. The ground turned out to be as movable as a slow-motion mattress, probably due to the rubble not being as compacted as thought, heave from a nearby tree, and a succession of extreme summers. The thing seems to move by up to a couple of inches at one end or the other up or down depending on how the weather, the tree and the rubble are changing. And the shed has needed adjusting twice since it was put in, and it still looks wonky. A further issue was a frame on the shed not quite strong enough to prevent shear distortion (ie the roof moving sideways relative to the base to give a rhombus shape.) I decided to use a product from ASP Wallbarn called Adjustable Support Pads, in this case their Megapad product which supports 1500kg per pad, and which give nearly 4 inches of vertical movement on each pad. These were installed under the existing posts using a couple of trolley jacks and a bit of digging. The pads can be adjusted after installation. The cost for 8 pads delivered was just over £70. If you order these or similar from online trade or retail sellers, then you may well be much more heavily clobbered by expensive shipping costs. I ordered these over the phone from Wallbarn, and they even reduced the £15 shipping cost to £7; the products arrived the next morning. Total time taken was about 6 hours for one man. This photo shows the full range of adjustment, and the component parts. The shed as it was on Wednesday morning Leaning to the Left. Wedges and a door that has not been lockable for some time Doing the job Levelling Up Correcting the shear, and installing a new brace Job Done. I hope. Will it work? Ask me in a couple of years, when the ground has moved again. Total cost was under £200. A new shed plus a concrete slab would have been about £1000 or a little more done professionally with careful sourcing. The chap doing the work is the excellent John Smith of Little John Property Services (M: 07702 033296), who does a lot of property maintenance for me.

It has been suggested (see the other thread) that a traditional "lean to" might be a better option than a Garden Room (sigh). And I was ready to push the button. What we are talking about is an unheated lean to on the side area of a house against a blank wall with, perhaps, a roof of corrugated polycarbonate or 2/3 layer polycarb as is used on some conservatories. It will be dry but unheated. If you think of a car port with the walls enclosed you get the idea. There will be a door to the back, and probably will not be a door to the front. There may be a door leading into the house, which would be an external quality upvc door - I may need a door there later anyway, so that is not an issue. I can add the door later if that will simplify matters. The floor will probably be slabbed. Cladding (including the roof) could be transparent, translucent, or even opaque. I know that Planning will not apply, as the area under 15sqm, never mind 30sqm, it is on the side of the house behind the line of the principal elevation, and we are not "designated" in any way, and PD rights have not been removed. This is in England. Max height will be under whatever is the PD limit - 3m? Which leaves me stroking my non-existent whiskers about how Building Regulations would apply. The objective is probably that they should *not* apply for reasons of simplicity. I will call up the BCO tomorrow for a chat. In Building Regs terms is it a shed, an extension, a garage or a conservatory? And which are subject to building regs in that situation? In one sense it is almost like a small yard with a roof. I may even be able to make it into whichever I need by mixing my cladding. Although the lean to will be concealed behind a 2m attractive fence, I need to be able to defend my position if someone complains. Any comments are welcome. Ferdinand

I have a 6mm2 cable direct from the consumer unit terminated in a box on the outside wall of the house (approx. 7m run in the house). In the future, I'd like to have a garden building approx. 10m from the house and run this electrical circuit to it. I have no plans of running anything particularly powerful in there. Approx. 15m further along I have a small garden shed that maybe in future a light or electrical supply might be handy. Although I've just missed my easiest chance to do something about it with a digger on site, I can still run a duct down the border without too much bother save a little digging. Then an electrician can run a cable through it in future. There shouldn't be any vehicles going over the duct but there might be in future. Occasional, not daily. I'm sure someone here will tell me what size SWA cable I should use for the total run, please do. I won't be doing anything electrical at the moment, just looking for a guide. What size twinwall duct should I be looking at for that cable? http://www.draindepot.co.uk/plastic-underground-ducting/electric-cable-ducting.html And what general practice should I follow? Depth? marking tape? corner radii? pulling strings? etc.

I'm thinking of putting this shed in the corner of the plot so that it marks the boundary (we are in the middle of a wood) and faces into the garden. I've an idea of having a covered decking area with sheds on either side, giving a outdoor work place or maybe somewhere nice to sit. Tool store idea is to have two doors with plenty hanging space and a shelved area inside. Roof is plain (felted) and slopes back from the front to the rear. Happy to rethink...any comments? Shed drawing.pdf

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/mum-told-needs-planning-permission-12086429#rlabs=4 rt$sitewide p$1 "An astonished mum has been told she must get planning permission for her daughter’s wendy house."