Thread: what timber is best to use for shed.

Hi

Id be going to the local demo yard and getting some second hand hardwood.
A lot cheaper, and no shrinking, twisting, warping.
Treated pine is cr&p..

Al

Al,
come on now, if you were building a shed it would be bricks and mortar wouldn't it? I'm going to disagree with Al and recommend treated pine (LOSP/H2 MGP 12) over recycled hardwood for the following reasons: straighter, lighter, easier to nail (some hardwoods when seasoned are almost impossible to nail, even with a nail gun), better termite resistance. The traditional method of using hardwood for stud walls utilised green hardwood and trenched top and bottom plates. The green state of the timber meant that it was relatively easy to drive a nail into it and the studs were let into trenches in the plates to stop them moving as the timber seasoned. Use at least MGP 12 (roughly equivalent to F8 in the older classification) as the MGP 10/F5 tends to be poorer grade and prone to twisting and bending. Al is probably thinking of the cr@p they build fences out of when he refers to the poor quality of treated pine. If you build on a slab with no joints or cracks and the edge well clear of the ground then the LOSP treated pine is fine. If you have more severe termite problems or there are joins in your slab go for CCA (H3) treated pine. For the size of shed you are planning 90x35 will be fine for up to 3M height (off the top of my head). Also you don't want a flat roof - at least 5degrees fall.

Mick

The best timber to use for a shed is steel.

P

Originally Posted by bitingmidge

The best timber to use for a shed is steel.

P

Well that all depends, I bought the timber for my 10 x 7.5 shed for less than I could've bought steel or blocks. I docked it all to length and shot the frames together in one day and stood all the frames up and bolted them down the next day (single handed). Getting the roof beams and purlins up took a bit longer (pretty slow getting a 10M long 150 x 50 C purlin up 3M by yourself). I doubt that a boilermaker could singlehandedly get an equivalent amount of steel up in the same period.

Mick

I'm with the Midge,

Use Galv... Just finished an 3M X 6M extension for my shed took just over two days. Can't tell you how much it cost as I used material that I had from a Garage demolision that my sister was having.

Jsst don't do what I did and try and put roofing sheets on during a hail storm...oooh oww ouch %^*# etc while instructing son to stop laughing and hold the ladder still.

Himzo.

Never even gave termites a thought, cause we dont get the buggers.

Well, not in the numbers to eat you out of house and home.

Al

Have just re-read the post and seen that you have either put a decimal place in the 15m dimension so it now read 1.5 OR I am suffering since losing my glasses last week.

At that size - CCA pine. Don't consider oregon under any circumstance!

Go with Mick's instructions (again!) .

Don't forget to use a metal flashing under the studs as an ant(termite) stop, or get the termi mesh blokes in. (Flashing is cheaper easier and no less effective). As has been written somewhere else recently, the purpose is to allow you to see the termites entering the building as they tunnel OVER the tin, so don't be complacent: little beggars travel for miles over cca pine to get to something to eat.

I am currently involved with a Golf Clubhouse which has been built as one would expect in concrete, steel and stuff, but which has a few of the little white devils in it....like all of the architraves, and pine mouldings over all three storeys have been demolished except for the paint, and the blighters are now into the ceiling timbers.....

Cheers!

P