Shed Rot

[Paul H (admin)]

Over 20 years ago I moved my late Dad's shed, built by my Grandad in 1974, over to our house.

I carefully wrapped the wooden subframe in DPC, to keep moisture and dirt away. That was because the shed was about 8in from the fence at the bottom of our garden. The neighbours land was slightly higher at the back, but I thought all would be well.

Last month neighbour Nigel had two dying trees removed from the bottom of his garden which opened up the light (good) and also allowed access to the back of my shed. Inspecting it today from Nigel's side of the fence was a bit of a shock:





I took this picture after clearing leaves and dirt that had washed down over the years. Nigel has agreed on my plan to install concrete posts and 2 or 3 gravel boards to keep back soil and debris for the future.

But how can I treat this problem now? Ideas include:

1) Rip it all off and replace with uPVC cladding. I allowed a generous 200mm overlap of the shed felt, so it should be possible to remove all the floorboards, refit with uPVC and seal the roof again.

Floorboards? Yep, Frank (grandad) had good contacts in the building industry and judging by the thickness and weight of the wood some house's floor was installed a few days late.

2) Brush off all the rot, allow to air dry, brush again with a wire brush then seal with epoxy.  Then screw a sheet of plastic or plywood over the lower foot. A fence panel 8in away should protect against sun and rain, gravel boards will maintain an air gap and I can lie on the roof every few years and roller shed preservative down the wall.

3) Replace the worst cladding. I decided this would be too fiddly.

4) Ignore it. Not an option really as there is a hull breach. I installed 50mm insulation batts behind the cladding which are rot proof, but the 2x2 frame and chipboard floor will suffer.

It's a solid shed (almost), insulated and extended to 9ft by 9ft. I built a 13ft roof extension which I am boxing in with 12ft wide folding doors (4x). So it is important to preserve it forever and a day.


Does anyone have any other suggestions or experience of this type of problem?  How would you fix the rot?

cheers
Paul

[Ratcatcherjohn]

`Tis but a juvenile shed **!  I was discussing similar issues  with "Epoxy Pete" some time back.  He has a `magic snake oil`, obviously epoxy based but designed to soak into the tender bits and from what I understood of his detailed explanation  grow new wood where there was none, allegedly.


** You would have to use `dendrochronology` to date some of my earlier sheds. An agricultural mixture of 3:2:1  Creosote (The proper stuff) :  Used Combine Engine oil : Dirty Diesel Oil may have contributed to their longevity but I understand it`s use  is now frowned upon by my old bosses.  The third youngest shed started it`s journey as part of a 1953 Austin K9 4x4.  It is still going strong but it`s aluminium cladding on ally frame and steel chassis may have helped !!  I think the furthest traveled was the transit container for the spare main cylinder off the MV Ocean Majesty.  It went with her for many seasons cruising the world  before ending it`s travels after she had been re-engined,  lost in transit, it would appear, between Harwich and Swindon. Not much help I know but I have kept on TOPIC !!

 Cheers   Eco-John.


 PS  I got a new "Rat-Gun" today complete with silencer but that`s another story.


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[Paul H (admin)]

Ratcatcherjohn wrote

 An agricultural mixture of 3:2:1  Creosote (The proper stuff) :  Used Combine Engine oil : Dirty Diesel Oil may have contributed to their longevity ....

I love the smell of proper creosote in the morning! Apparently the EU banned the magic chemical in old creosote that killed all the wood bugs........"light blue touch paper and retire"

-Paul

[Jeremy]

I had a look at the regs around creosote a while back, as we had a redundant power pole that the DNO were reluctant to come and uproot and take away, despite me having paid them for the work.  I wanted to keep the old pole, but they were adamant that it was "hazardous waste" and could only be handled and disposed of by them.  They never got around to pulling it out, but by chance there was an Openreach PoleCat replacing a telephone pole further up the lane.  I slipped the guy a tenner and he drove down, pulled out the SSE pole and laid it down where I wanted it..............

The stink of creosote from the bit of this pole that had been in the ground was still very strong, even though the date on it showed it was over 20 years old.  The new telephone pole also smelt strongly of creosote, so I did some checking.  It's still legal to use creosote for industrial/commercial purposes, it's only outlawed for domestic use, apparently.

Anyway, said pole is now doing sterling duty as a wheel barrier to prevent the big tractors that drive along our single track lane from buggering up our fence.  I drilled and staked it, half-buried, in to the verge, laying down, and it works well at bouncing tractor and trailer wheels back into the lane.

[Alan]

I still have a stock of creosote, bought before the regulations changed.

How about wire brush as in 2), then treat with a suitable fungicide/wood treatment; then cover the back of the shed with overlapping roofing felt while you have access. I would be worried that epoxy might seal in some of the rot.

[Paul H (admin)]

Alan,

Covering the entire back wall with shed felt is a genius idea!

I'll be using concrete posts so future access/repairs could be possible by lifting a panel onto the shed roof. That's what son in laws and daughter's boyfriends are useful for!

I'll add another coat of preservative also, for the odd leak through the clout nail holes.

Solution found 😁

Cheers
Paul