Hovis builds a garden office*

Yeah I believe that. The glazing in our kitchen is south facing and the room become unbearable rather quickly. On the flipside, this is north facing so only sees sun late evening. We'll see. I'll put a unit in if I need to but don't want to pay for one now and discover that I didn't really need it later. I do have a electrical circuit put in dedicated for heating which will be left unconnected initially so I can use that should the day come.

Timber will absorb most moisture through the endgrain, using and a specific endgrain sealer will help.

As far as expansion goes it depends on the moisture content of the wood when you put up the cladding. Most stuff you buy is relatively green so has a fairly high moisture content. So it should be ok going from summer to winter this year there may be issues next year once it's had a whole summer to dry out then starts getting damp again.

For spraying Screwfix sell this which is a great little thing to have about for sheds and fences etc.

Sounds like a plan...

At least you've got the flexibility; we had to go through major works to get an AC unit fitted as it meant running new electrics, bashing a massive hole in the plaster (and exterior wall) and then resealing / replastering etc.

We should have put it in from the start.

Looks fantastic!

I've just started designing mine in Sketchup - 3.5m x 5.5m, with a pitched roof from <3.0m to 2.5m

I'll defintely be using your window idea!

75m of cat6 cable

Interesting. I'd have gone with fibre because I'm paranoid about differences in earth potential, partly from some old 10base2 installs that were a bit tingly. But I'm probably just paranoid.

Might depend on the earthing system in use.

I did zero research before I bought the cable. Should I return it and get a fibre one? Can you send me a link to what you think I should use?

Nice! Basically identical. If you want I can send you my ludicrously over the top detailed sketchup model.

I did zero research before I bought the cable. Should I return it and get a fibre one?

Since you are putting it in duct you should be able to swap it out if it causes a problem so probably doesn't matter at this stage. Can you leave a draw rope in?

The trouble with fibre is it is likely to cost more both for the cable and the things to drive it at each end. It's also harder to work with if you aren't used to it. It's better but I don't know if it is actually needed.

I'd probably go with something like https://www.cablemonkey.co.uk/custom-fibre-pre-terms/13027-pre-terminated-fibre-cable.html

Not very helpful, sorry. I'm mostly watching you for ideas for what I'd like to do as I have a shed at the bottom of the garden that is falling apart. I'd like to replace it with something office/workshopy but I haven't really worked out what and I don't have your construction skills so it all gets fairly expensive.

I'll be using standard cat6e for mine - although both ends will be connected to earthed switches.

I'm going to start cladding shortly, vertical boards on horizontal battens. Should be straight forward enough on the square walls but am trying to figure out the least painful way to do the non square side walls with the sloped roof.

It's easy enough for my to cut the angle needed at one end of each board and put them up a bit long, but then how can I cut the bottom of all the boards in a neat straight line at the end? I have a track saw but I've never used it sideways, I'm not adverse to trying, but I can't think of a way to hold the guide rails up. Measuring them one by one is bound to leave to some zig zaggy effects so I'm not so keen on that option.

Another thought I had was to snap a chalk line to get my line and then remove them all, cut them and put them back, but that would take ages.

Any ideas?

What kind of track does your saw run on? And is it long enough to cover then entire side?
If it is long enough, it should just be a matter of clamping the track to the wall.

Normal single extrusion track. It's a festool ts55. I've got 2.8m worth of track, the wall is 4m so far too short

just temp fix a batten (or 2) horizontally along the bottom, and use that as a saw guide?

Do you not have any concerns with any water getting through the cladding having no where to drain (small risk I guess) - if I was detailing it at work I would show cross battens to allow drainage.
I remember cladding my old shed, it goes on so quickly and transforms the look in a few hours.
In my experience (4 children) you get more time when they are babies and then take up more time as they get older... However I did spend a lot of time pushing a buggy round the streets though...

Yeah, I failed to mention it but I am first putting vertical battens down, then the horizontal ones. I think its called counter battening. Lots of extra faff I hadn't thought about at the design stage.

How to fix the battens though? I want to avoid making holes in the cladding. Maybe masking tape and super glue could work, although it could be disastrous if it failed mid cut.

yeah, you want to make sure it's fixed securely.
Maybe leave the two end pieces of cladding off to give you somewhere to fix the guide Then mark and cut the last pieces by hand off the wall.

hmm, thinking about it, it would probably flex too much over any real length

The answer is almost always clamps.. You might have to get creative with clamp placement though.

Where did you end up getting your cladding from? Does it look decent - not to many warped etc.

are the boards tongue and grooved? can you put nails in the tongues between the boards so the holes are not visible afterwards?

I'll find out tomorrow. From Southgate Timber. They say to order 10% extra as they cant guarantee perfect boards, but it's hard to just add 10% when its costing you more than £2k :/

Yep T&G, the secret fix variety, designed to allow fixings to be easily covered by the next board. https://www.southgatetimber.co.uk/products/details/Western_Red_Cedar_Channel_GrooveST6

Drill a few holes in the track & bolt / screw it to the wall?

Glue it to the wall?

Duct tape it etc...

I want to avoid making holes in the cladding

I wouldn't worry. They'll go away after a few showers. You're not using massive screws for it anyway so the holes will be small.

The simple answer is to cut the angles at the roof / soffit as accurately as possible, and to fix the boards with the bottom edge perfectly level and then install a bead/ripping over the top of the cladding to cover the small imperfection at that junction.

Also, consider castellated horizontal battens behind the cladding to avoid having to batten vertically, then horizontally. You can (probably, depending on local building supply) get fluted PVC battens too, which almost permit 100% of any moisture to vent / drain behind the cladding. That's the best option if you have that available to you.