Diary of a Shed - 21 March 2005 < Back    HOME
Some work inside and out since the last update. Firstly, inside I added some much-needed shelving, in the form of some solid and very tall (8 feet high) shelves made from a simple timber frame and some sheets of 6x2-foot chipboard. The shelves are screwed into the wall to make sure they don't tip over, and when the plasterboard goes on I'll have to re-attach them, maybe in the same place, maybe not.

The main internal job was the ceiling, which was never going to work with plasterboard - me on my own, trying to lift 8x4-foot boards overhead and attach them, meanhile taking the lighting into account, was a disaster waiting to happen! As it turned out, the far better choice was timber cladding - it's cheap, easy to fit, and I'd done most of the ceiling in the back section of the shed in about a day. And I have to say it looks great, particularly with some nice new round UFO-style lights, replacing the original bulb holders.

Outside, and I've built some more trellis, joining the gaps with a continuous line down one side. I had to correct a post which was slightly out of line (don't ask how that happened) which involved digging out the concrete (smashing it with a club hammer and bolster chisel) and re-filling it, a job I don't want to repeat any time soon.

The major work, however, was the trench for the electricity cable. This has to be 750mm (measure that out - it's DEEP!) and the garden is about 50m long, so this was a huge task. As it turned out, the best method is to dig all the way down to a spade's depth, then go back and do another spade's depth, and so on until it's all done. I did start off with a small section at the full depth, but progress is so slow that it's demoralising - much better to do the whole trench at once, going deeper each time.


Insulation, for which it's essential you wear a face mask and golves. I was itching for ages afterwards, so imagine that in your lungs. The insulation is 100mm deep, and you must not put it over electric cables, which as you can see won't happen because when I drilled for the cables I took this into account.
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