Hovis builds a garden office*

I had no idea castellated battens were a thing. Smart. Seems to be a kiwi thing though?

Alas its too late anyway, I'm midday with my counter battening, but thanks for the knowledge

Any advice on nails for cladding?
Should they be stainless steel or is galvanised ok?

Everything I've read says stainless or it will react with the cladding.

Drill, countersink and screw the track to the cladding. Three screws over 2.8m should be enough. It’ll be weird drilling the track but it’s just aluminium and it’ll actually add function. I’d just fill the holes after but if you’re really precious you could screw the track to a sacrificial board flat against the cladding, bottom edge resting on the ground, then cut through it to the cladding.

Thinking about it, you could do the same thing but clamp to the board. Probs have to do it in three cuts though to avoid too much track sag. Also, watch out for the blade getting pinched.

Cladding arrived in tip top condition. Really pleased with Southgate Timber.

good to know, thanks

I should probably find some time to do mine i guess

Shed of dreams (in love)...

Did you get Lawful Development Certificate?

3m bifold doors

I'm pricing up bifolds for my office just now.

Ouch.

I'm looking at 3 panel, 2.2m wide x 2m high, with light reactive glass, coming in at ~2k (without cills and trickle vents at ~250 on top).

Just looking at the recent photos again - What are you doing about floor framing / joists?

Have a look at slide and fold. They have standard sizes which are a bit cheaper, or fully custom. Mine were 2.2k for 3m.

Floor won't have any framing or joists as I have a concrete slab. I'm most likely going to be 50mm pir insulation directly onto the slab, then 18mm t&g chipboard and finally laminate or engineered oak.

I have more recently been thinking of ditching the insulation and screeding instead based on what some people say about the slab being a good temperature regulator.

Yeah, castellated battens may very well just be a NZ thing. They're a good idea for vertical cladding - we use them almost exclusively to save on the ball ache that is battening in H & V orientation!

I'm giving the internal wall lining some more thought and have been mmming and aaahing between MR MDF and plywood.

If plywood, would you leave gaps between boards and if yes, got any ideas on how to fill them or make them look nice?

Similar question with MDF? I was thinking it could give a nice smooth paintable surface so could look similar to a plastered finish if done right, but again the joints would be a problem. I imagine any filler I put in there would just crack down the line.

Any thoughts most welcome!

I would use plywood (birch faced) rather than MDF and run a router round the edges to give a 'V' joint between the boards as opposed to trying to hide the joints. Or I would look at planks (maybe plywood ripped) with acoustic cloth behind (see image of office designed by us) or a combination of the two.

2 Attachments

Ooh what's this acoustic cloth?
I'd like to have a bit more sound proofing in our garden room.
Doesn't need to be totally treated as it's not for music. Just thinking about the neighbours really.

its just a standard black cloth material with a void behind filled with mineral wool behind. It would help with noise break out but its more for getting the reverberation time down if you have too many hard surfaces.

Ok thanks

How's the cladding coming along? or do a new arrival throw a spanner in the works?

New arrival is waiting for it's moment, but I have gotten fully side tracked with other activities so cladding has only gotten as far as the underside of the overhang. It does look very sexy though, cedar is so nice.

I'll give a proper update tonight with photos

Apologies for the shite pictures, I only remembered to take them as the sun was setting.

So since last time:

1. I've installed a window. This was surprisingly more straight forward than I was expecting.
   
2. Screwed battens and counter battens in line with the studs all the way around
   
3. Started cladding the underside of the overhang. This is the only "horizontal" cladding the buidling will have. Nailing upside down is a pain in the ass, my wrist hurts. Also, I should have started on the fascia side as the last strip is proving a bit problematic to get tight.
   
4. Wall insulation. Oh my days this is a long horrible and incredibly messy job. I'm glad I have a powered respirator as you don't want to be inhaling this stuff. Cutting them to fit snugly has proven to be too annoying and take too long so I've settled for cutting them 5mm small and filling the gaps with expanding foam.
   
   

Not much else to report. Our baby is due in two weeks. This ain't getting done in time.

2 Attachments

Our baby is due in two weeks.

🎉 that’s pretty soon

Our baby is due in two weeks.

12 year project hiatus ensues

My dad has helped me out with this quite a bit and it's been a blast. As soon as mini me figures out how to use a hammer I'm putting him to work.

They are useful when they fit up the chimney, yes

Fantastic build diary and I've enjoyed reading it. Complete shed/ office envy.

My build will probably commence early next year, toying with the idea of going for a log cabin sort of style or something like this...

i've had mine working hard…

1 Attachment