Sheds

Interestingly, the base in that video is virtually the same as the base I have except I have used the DPC where he has used the other stuff. I also now have expanding foam, silicone and all sorts around the inside as well mind you.

And it is also interesting to hear that others are reporting leaks with them too - makes me feel a wee bit better.

Thanks @pete - your advice makes complete sense, and thanks also to everyone else for your advice too, as it is all helping. @ricky101 - I have another indentical lid in the greenhouse just a wee tad downstream, so figured that I would be able to get at any blockages from that one. If (when) I replace this shed, I will factor that lid in a bit more sensibly the next time though - not quite sure how, but I will.

 

Been a hive of activity around here today (complete with a lot of fire and smoke!) - greenhouse emptied and tidied up, then the shed was decanted out into the greenhouse (so the greenhouse is now full), with a lot of stuff heading off to the dump.

A lot of stuff that was in the shed has been destroyed by the damp - and I mean a LOT - so pee'd off.

So, with the shed empty, the full extent of the damage can be revealed....



At the front, you can see a sheet of ply that was put in a few years back to give a bit of reinforcement at the doors








This one shows the area where my foot had gone through - it springs back up, so doesn't look as bad in the pics as it does in the flesh:





Most of this was broken out by hand - the 4x2 bearers underneath are also shot - they are like sponges, you press on them and you can see the water coming up.

And it is not just at the area by the door - this is the left hand side of the shed - the one that had been 'sealed' with the special paint. Clearly didn't seal it.


I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that it is completely knackered. Spending any money on this would be complete insanity??

 

Trouble is @ricky101 - even assuming that I could separate the body of the shed from the base without it twisting/distorting, the cost of the timber etc to make the base (including delivery) would be in the region of £300. I have zero knowledge as to whether the roof still leaks or not (I did daub some sealant on a few of the screws on the roof as it was leaking at one stage), so spending that sort of dough on this without the certainty that it would work is just not happening, especially as that cost would all have to be put onto a credit card.

Besides, the problem is not airflow underneath - it is purely the water hitting the base at the bottom then soaking in - and yes, you are right, I have had a gutful of it. I would not sell the shed to anyone, as I could not give any sort of assurance that it was not going to leak. There is a fellow at work who says that he has a concrete base that he could screw it down to, and he has been told that it is up to him if it leaks etc, but other than that......

It also has to be borne in mind that I am not doing this myself - I had two people helping today, one of whom is coming back tomorrow to help do dump runs, so I cannot go wasting people's weekends indefinitely. My position means that I can merely contribute as much as I can.

My heart is telling me to get the shed down in the next weekend or so - even no shed is better than this.

 

The base rail is an L-shaped affair, an inch on each leg at the most - the walls then screw into it, and are tensioned by bars in the middle of the walls and the top rails. When the walls are screwed on, you can actually see light coming in where the wall meets the base rail.

 

@pete - I got that a bit wrong - it is a box section without a bottom, and then the equivalent of what would have been the bottom then sticks out (see the red shape in the diagram)

 

Yes, that would be a more sensible design @ricky101 but it appears that Yardbas*ard Yardmaster did not do anything that would be sensible.

The wall behind is my neighbours house - and bear in mind I rent, so anything I do quite literally has to sit on top of the patio.

 

Update - we did the dump runs, and cleared around the shed - looking at things closer, it was not in good nick at all, so we decided that it was time to dismantle it before it dismantled itself. It came down quite rapidly, and then the full horror was revealed.....




Any thoughts of salvaging any of the old shed have evaporated.

I am fairly glum if truth be told - there is clearly a lot of work ahead to level the ground up (how far do I go with that given it is not my ground as such??), and am now faced with a greenhouse that is stacked with tools and stuff that needs to be dry stored (and even the greenhouse isn't properly dry, if you know what I mean).

 

@pete - just over four years. There was an air gap underneath it, but admittedly not much of one. I used OSB at the time basically because I didn't know any better - - won't use the stuff for anything again though, it seems to have behaved like a sponge.

@ricky101 - I can't use concrete, as I have to sit whatever I do (if anything) on top of the patio; I will have to do something with the flags too, firstly because I have a responsibilty to my landlord, and secondly because it looks bloomin' awful, and I have no idea how long it will sit like that. If I do something, I will be looking at getting it up off the ground on blocks or something.