The Lemon Fool

Hi, is anyone able to give me an idea how much a 6x8 concrete shed would cost - foundations etc would need to be done.
Northern prices.
Decided on a second shed for using to store gym equipment (inc treadmill). Think plastic shed wouldn’t be sufficiently durable or as secure for such items. Maybe I should go bigger?
Going to get a few quotes but have no idea what would be cheap/reasonable/excessive.

6x8 I assume you are talking feet is not a very big shed, is there any reason you don't want timber?

John

JessUK98 wrote:Hi, is anyone able to give me an idea how much a 6x8 concrete shed would cost - foundations etc would need to be done.
Northern prices.
Decided on a second shed for using to store gym equipment (inc treadmill). Think plastic shed wouldn’t be sufficiently durable or as secure for such items. Maybe I should go bigger?
Going to get a few quotes but have no idea what would be cheap/reasonable/excessive.

We got one delivered and erected with lockable metal door + wooden trim under the roofline (corrugated concrete) from £1000, IIRC. Was in the Fens, guys travelled down from somewhere a bit northern to install. Was about 4-5 years ago.

Will try to ask Mel if she can confirm the price. You need to consider a fillet of mortar later on around edges, and sealant down corner seals, else water can find it's way. At least it does with ours, but the base probably aint perfectly even.

HTH
Matt

Concrete is very cold.
Condensation.

Wood better.

V8

I’m not keen on the idea of a wooden shed for storing anything of value. Also my old wooden 6x4 shed was totally hammered by the wind. The last gale force winds we had earlier this year finished it off. Half the roof came off and one side is pretty much gone.
I won’t need planning, I checked with the council years back about a driveway and they said something about it being an unclassified road and I’d just need to apply to get the curb dropped. Several neighbours have garages etc

Does this quote sound reasonable?

A single block constructed shed based on being 3.6m x 2.4meter in size-

Concrete raft base- 150mm thick concrete with 10mm reinforcing steel mesh
100mm solid concrete block walls
Flat roof timber construction with 125mm x 47mm treated timber
Flat roof covering – EPDM Rubber
Exterior grade timber door and frame

materials cost £ 1378.00
labour £900.00
Total £2278.00

JessUK98 wrote:Does this quote sound reasonable?

A single block constructed shed based on being 3.6m x 2.4meter in size-

Concrete raft base- 150mm thick concrete with 10mm reinforcing steel mesh
100mm solid concrete block walls
Flat roof timber construction with 125mm x 47mm treated timber
Flat roof covering – EPDM Rubber
Exterior grade timber door and frame

materials cost £ 1378.00
labour £900.00
Total £2278.00

I can't advise on the quote, but wouldn't a slight slope on the roof be advisable to prevent standing water? Should be simple enough to do.

--kiloran

kiloran wrote:

JessUK98 wrote:Does this quote sound reasonable?

A single block constructed shed based on being 3.6m x 2.4meter in size-

Concrete raft base- 150mm thick concrete with 10mm reinforcing steel mesh
100mm solid concrete block walls
Flat roof timber construction with 125mm x 47mm treated timber
Flat roof covering – EPDM Rubber
Exterior grade timber door and frame

materials cost £ 1378.00
labour £900.00
Total £2278.00

I can't advise on the quote, but wouldn't a slight slope on the roof be advisable to prevent standing water? Should be simple enough to do.

--kiloran

Yes, now that you point that out, that would make great sense, especially since I live in Wales!

I'd be surprised if a builder did a flat roof without some fall on it. Once the roof timbers are in firring pieces are nailed on to give a slight slope usually 2" to nothing over 10'. Then the roofing sheets go on followed by some sort of upstand round 3 sides(it used to be arris rail) then the final covering .

Just ask the builder for the full roof spec. Flat roof is generally just a term for a flatish roof.

JessUK98 wrote:I’m not keen on the idea of a wooden shed for storing anything of value. Also my old wooden 6x4 shed was totally hammered by the wind. The last gale force winds we had earlier this year finished it off. Half the roof came off and one side is pretty much gone.
I won’t need planning, I checked with the council years back about a driveway and they said something about it being an unclassified road and I’d just need to apply to get the curb dropped. Several neighbours have garages etc

A wooden shed which has then been skinned inside the frame with plywood, along with a doorframe reinforcement and decent lock(s) should be sufficiently secure.

If you are set on a concrete one, there are often plenty of people selling off sectional concrete garages, or sections of them at very low prices, or even free. There's quite a few on eBay. You just build it to the size you want. Only drawback is the sections are heavy and and are almost always buyer collects so you'll need a van or trailer and a few trips. However there's even someone offering a service to dismantle, transport and rebuild concrete garages!

Personally I think wood is preferable in almost every way.

BH

As pretty much everyone has said, concrete will be damp and the contents will rot or rust.

I might be missing a point here, but 6x8 won't store many pieces of equipment, and you may end up spending more than the value of the contents, certainly more than the value of selling them and re-buying at a later date.

If the neighbours have garages, then possibly more cost effective to go down this route. You will have more storage space, and something that probably adds value to the property.

Paul

bionichamster wrote:A wooden shed which has then been skinned inside the frame with plywood, along with a doorframe reinforcement and decent lock(s) should be sufficiently secure.

I'm going to be having a fairly secure timber shed built for me along those lines, by my own joiner, so I can specify whatever I want done.

Out of interest, what would you recommend as door frame reinforcement? Any other security-related construction tips? Thanks.

DrFfybes wrote:As pretty much everyone has said, concrete will be damp and the contents will rot or rust.

I might be missing a point here, but 6x8 won't store many pieces of equipment, and you may end up spending more than the value of the contents, certainly more than the value of selling them and re-buying at a later date.

If the neighbours have garages, then possibly more cost effective to go down this route. You will have more storage space, and something that probably adds value to the property.

Paul

The garage route would probably require several thousand pounds to achieve. Unlike the other neighbours gardens, mine isn’t level with the road, there’s quite a drop. When the drive was built it had to be raised, so it’s basically about chest height above the rest of the garden. So for a garage to be fit for purpose then it’ll have to be raised level with the drive.

If a vent was put in, would this help with the damp?

I had a concrete garage erected but without the up and over door, it just had a metal side door. I wanted it to store goods I had for sale which were mainly pushchairs and the like. Obviously damp would damage the cloth so I wanted to avoid it as much as possible.

A concrete slab was laid and the shed come garage was erected by the company suppying it. I made sure they laid it with a mastic under the panels then I went round and applied a lot of all weather mastic to the internal joint between the slab and the panels. The slab was treated with vandex damp proofing and a floating chipboard floor was put on top of Jabalite expanded polystyrene insulation sheets.

The roof was a corrugated material and the joint between it and the roof wasn't sealed so there was a wavy gap at eaves level on 2 sides. This was waterproof because of the projecting roof. I often considered whether I'd be better sealing this but everything was relatively dry so I didn't bother. In effect the inside was at the same humidity and temperature as outside and well ventilated.

It worked for me on the south coast.

I hope that helps.

tikunetih wrote:

bionichamster wrote:A wooden shed which has then been skinned inside the frame with plywood, along with a doorframe reinforcement and decent lock(s) should be sufficiently secure.

I'm going to be having a fairly secure timber shed built for me along those lines, by my own joiner, so I can specify whatever I want done.

Out of interest, what would you recommend as door frame reinforcement? Any other security-related construction tips? Thanks.

Most cheap ready built sheds use thin timber, I'd beef up the ones that form the doorframe by using thicker timber to replace them or reinforce the existing wood with more timber. If being built from scratch then just use decent quality wood of reasonable thickness. The door should be strengthened to match of course.

The most likely break in attempts are, kick through the door or wall, or lever the door open, hence for the latter you want both door and Frame to be sturdy and well fitting with decent hinges and locks.

BH

When I needed a shed for the garden I wanted it to last, security wasn't an issue. I bought a 10x 8 shed made out of 19mm timbers, framing is much stronger than most sheds. It was tanalised timber which helps prolong it's life.

If I wanted higher security I would fix weld mesh of a decent thickness inside the window or do without the window entirely. I would beef up the door lock and bolt it rather than screw it in place and probably back it up with a metal plate on the inside. Same with the hinges, bolted with a metal backing plate. A security padlock not a cheap one should make it as secure as you can reasonably expect. A determined theif could het in it with a bit of work but it wouldn't be easy and they would probably go else where.

My shed set me back £900 + but it was great value and I'm deklighted with it. Have a look round your area there will be a little firm somewhere doing top quality sheds at decent prices. I looked at a few suppliers in this area and the quality of even expensive sheds was very poor until I called at one place and I knew I was going to buy as soon as I looked at the first building, their products just oozed quality. I'm a retired builder and I know craftsman ship.

Beware of garden centres or the places like B & Q selling sheds they are either tat or over priced. If you are in the midlands I'll look out the name of the place I bought from if it's of interest.