Home DIY

Won't that leave the ply a bit lumpy?

a rope with knots in it? are you a caveman?

no, because you'll

a) rout slots
b) chisel slots
c) lazy option of stair tread grippers as spacer

Great, thanks for the reply. I'll try the Bullseye 123 after giving it a good scrub. I've got all the walls and ceilings to do so want something with good coverage that isn't too hard to apply.

That sounds like a lot more work than the coach bolt method mentioned above. And I have a few of those spare.

Go for multi-fuel. Downside is they are a bit more expensive, but upside is you can burn coal which will keep going for a lot longer and means you don't have to constantly stoke the fire.

I went for a welded steel stove over cast iron. Cast iron can crack due to repeated expansion and contraction caused by the heat which steel is supposed to be better at handling.

I've done a fair bit of timber framing and it's mostly nailing through the sole plate. And they Remember, you will have 4 walls and a roof (preferably a trussed roof) which, once all nailed together, adds a lot of strength.

Use temporary braces to hold things vertical and upright until all the bits are in place.

That's a good point about it all locking together at some point. What section timber would you say is adequate for the wall frames? Rough dimensions are 2x3x2 metres.

There's a little Bosch one I use. £30. I walked outside the house the other day and was immediately able to tell the height of the house to millimetre accuracy.

Meters? Wrong dimensions for me - Standard wall construction is two by four studs spaced 16 inches on center. (<- Deliberate American spelling)

thank you, very helpful! Out fitter also recommends multifuel and steel. Any thoughts on placement? How is yours?

hah, 6' by 8' roughly, then. 2x4's a reasonable bit of wood for a small project?

The cover stain is not too hard to apply, cleaning brushes is a pain though and it might curtain on walls. The 123 is a universal primer, I've never applied it on whole walls, the cost would be a factor. As I mentioned I had good results just washing the walls and one coat of emulsion recently.

Forgot to add that my concern would be coverage with one coat of anything, nicotine would stain through the gaps in a single coat of paint. That's why I would line it if it's really bad. It's not a pub ?

The frames on mine are 2"x 1" at 24" spacing, and assumes the T+G cladding contributes to structural stiffness. Built as four 'wall' frames, assembled in situ by screwing the frames to each other, with the roof assembled last. Admittedly it's in a sheltered position, but has been fine for the last 20 years - pics on pages 267 & 268.
4x2@16" sounds like the sort of stud wall that will hold another storey above it? Doubtless conforms to building regulations but perhaps excessive for a modest sized shed?

Right so I've got freshly plastered walls and no radiators and I'm getting pretty cold.

What's the order of works now?

Mist coat
1st coat where radiators will be
1st coat everywhere else - or end of the day
2nd coat behind radiators
fit radiators
2nd coat everywhere else
lay floor
3rd coat
Skirting

?

Profit

Is your plaster fresh as in dried for a few months or fresh as in just changed colour? Only you should be allowing it to dry thoroughly.

I would put the skirting on after the mist coat and fix the top edge with sealant/prime the skirting, but it doesn't take me long to cut the paint in on the walls.

If you get the rads sorted/dry the walls you can always paint behind the rads as far as you can see with a roller on a long arm.

Ours is great, nothing like it for pumping out heat and love having a real fire. We only have a small 4kw stove but it can kick out a lot of heat quickly if you come home and it's freezing.
We're on a boat and heating a small space so placement wasn't so important and mostly dictated by where the kitchen ended and the living "room" began.
They do take a bit of getting used to but once you get the hang of it and are used to your fuel of choice they provide great control over the heat output. Ours will stay lit overnight on a couple of lumps of coal so getting a good fire going again in the morning is really easy (again, this takes a bit of getting the hang of).

Before any of that, quickly go over the whole room with a sanding block and take back any blobs of plaster or imperfections.

I personally go for skirting once the walls are misted. Decent quality caulk over top edge of skirting, then primer over that so that the skirting paint doesn't get fussy. Take the skirting paint (or maybe you are varnishing) over the top edge, maybe a centimeter over onto the plaster. If the wood is knotty then you can run woodfiller over the knots and sand back first before painting.

Skirting is more of a pain in older houses as the walls are never staright, nor square. I once attempted straight mitred corners in a room in my Victorian house. Never again: always scribe them out as they will never fit perfectly.

Number of coats can be quite variable depending on how much your plaster sucks, or if it decides it doesn't want to suck at all and the paint doesn't adhere brilliantly (sometimes when too much PVA has been used).

I think paying for higher opacity paint is worth it for the time it potentially saves.

4x2@16" is the default in the US for all studwalls. Check your tape measure, every 16" the numbers are different colours for a reason. So you can mark out your spacing on the top and sole planks easily.

Probably overkill for a shed. But it's what I'd do.

If you're only doing plans, you can just use a tape measure. 5m is much more useful and usually sturdier made than 3m.

I'm fairly sure 4x2@16" is also what I've seen here, when the upper floor of my house was being built (prior to plasterboard going in), and again when contractors partitioned various rooms at work - I can't imagine UK and US standards being very different.

The single shed I designed and made (#notanexpert) was on a very low budget, and only has to keep the weather off a few garden tools - if I wanted to keep more valuable things (e.g. bikes) secure I'd probably go for a heavier construction.

At a practical level, if I'd used 4x2" at the closer spacing each frame would weigh around five times as much, and I wouldn't have been able to move them without help.

@Backstop - compromise on 2x2@20" and claim it's based on an obscure local standard?

Cheers @Airhead and @rodabod as always both very helpful.

I'm thinking we might just get the rads installed as it seems to have gotten pretty frigid of late.

Just had my first shower in the new place and feeling pretty good. Bathroom looks mint, still not 100% on the yellow wall mind!

My shed is 8'x8' (based on available OSB sizing) built with 2'x4's and utilizing a "shed" roof (single slope). It has electrical hook ups and is insulated to suit my local climate. Was very easy to erect and has weathered well for almost 25 years.

You're quite right about the different colours on the tape measure.
Having used the same tape measure for 30 years, I hadn't noticed - I had to go and check.

I find this worrying.