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I have 2 sheds in our garden; one is for garden tool storage the other I have made into an office housing my computer and Hi-Fi. Both roofs are covered in felt applied in strips off a roll starting at the bottom edge so the higher ones overlap the lowers. Externally both appear to be intact but both leak in heavy rain. I've tried pinpointing the locations of the leaks from inside the sheds but despite applying sealer externally the leaks occur most times it rains. I appreciate that I will have to apply new covers but would appreciate guidance as to which are the best and longest lasting materials to use. I'm a pensioner so I'd like to keep costs down but reliable leak prevention is more important than cutting cost to the bone. Incidentally both roofs are flat but fall about about 30 cms from back to front. What knowledge I have is about cars, motorcycles and planes; my knowledge of building maintenance is minimal. Any recommendations please??
Robert B

your starter for 10 - its roofs.... not rooves.

Shed flat felt roofs are the nations biggest home roofing DIY project, having done roofing personally for 10 years (and as a family business for 35 years) and generally these home spun repairs do not work, or if they do look awful or only last for a couple months.

Ironically, getting a contractor in would likely prove to be more expensive than replacing the whole shed... so not a really practical road to go down.

Right... firstly, buy a really decent quality felt... (capping felt with a green mineral finish), you should spend no less than £20 for a single roll if you want a good decent felt, you can buy felt for less, but the quality is ALWAYS questionable.

The felt itself - we have used Marley tough torch for about 9 years now. It is an elastomeric bonded felt, which in lamens terms means that you heat it up and stick it down, but the felt can breath and shift so not to cause blisters or splits.
Apply the felt directly to the old feltwork if its still solid, old felt acts as a great surface for new felt.

Apply atleast a 3'' overlap at joints (4''-6'' is better), and always make sure feltwork leads down the roof (in other words, as you say, the low felt goes underneath the higher).

Avoid tacking the felt, use the torch on as intended for this you'll require a hand held bunsen or calor gas 'clickie'.

Thats about it really... if done correctly, modern felting can last up to 30 years (with regular maintenance).

PS - All the above suggestions i would put in the 'home bodging' catagory.
Aquaseal - Cheap and tacky (good cheap alternative to flexacryl (lead sealant))
Bitumin on joints - lasts about 6 months before cracking and flaking.
Mike Hunts 'cheap felt' - not worth the money spend on it.
Cheap felt is exactly what it says... CHEAP... and tell me something cheap that lasts?

2007-10-26 07:32:17 by The Ancient Brit

Dad came up with a pretty good idea for storing all the garden tools he had floating around in his garage. First he purchased a used (empty) 50 ...

I rent a home with no basement or garage. I decided that I should invest in a storage shed. I need to store 3 kids bike, lawnmower and some medium size containers (about 6, approx. 5x5), and some gardening tools. What is the smallest size that would work?

If it is okay with your landlord, and considering that you can take the shed with you when you move, I'd go for the largest that you can get -- if you have the space for it.

The cost is not much higher for the larger ones. Check prices, and determine the largest shed you can get for the least amount of money per square foot.

Please know, your city/county may have ordinances regarding shed size.

Where I live, you can have a 10/10 foot shed with no variance required. Larger than that, your're supposed to apply for a variance...but no one does!

Go larger rather than smaller. Stuff expands to fill the space!

2008-06-20 23:19:00 by Lynn

Industrial quality STEEL construction, 600 lb capacity. Patents Pending.
Uses STANDARD Peghooks, includes 10 "PegStrappersTM" to lock the peghook in.
Installs in minutes with cordless drill (mounting hardware included).

I think the company was bought by Scotts in 1998. The patent no. for the cart is 4889360, 4991716. The cart is a low riding beige plastic bodied cart with a black metal handle which can be folded over for storage. It has two large, thin plastic wheels. It is the most perfect garden cart I have ever found and mine is just worn out. I want a new one! Some one help me find one.

http://www.frostproof.com/catalog/mic02. html
there are many sites, but the most economical would be to find your closest and most favorite friend in the nursery business and have them order one from their wholesale catalog. I just got in two propagating mats today for half the price of retail.

2006-10-19 16:52:06 by S C

Price: $49.00

43 by 20 by 37 inches
Holds up to 30 tools
Rolling yard tool cart

Teegan is building a storage bin with a lid in the shape of a squared-based prism to hold her gardening tools. she has 12metres-square of plywood to make the bin

The greatest volume-to-surface area ratio you can get from a square prism is a perfect cube. A cube has six sides, so you can find the area of each side by 12m² / 6 = 2m². Take the square root of that to find the length of each edge, √2m² ≈ 1.414m

2008-05-14 23:01:28 by young_jp87

My house is TINY (900 sq ft). We have two bedrooms and a total of three closets in the entire house. I know shelving is the obvious answer, but it is really expensive to buy quality shelves, not to mention a pain in the rear to hang them. I bought a big plastic "book shelf" for the utility closet. I put gardening supplies, paint & painting supplies, board games, paper towels, tools, etc. in that closet. Now I still have tons of stuff and not enough room. All of this is stuff that I want (Christmas ornaments, Christmas dishes, seasonal wreaths, winter clothes, etc.).

What are some good ideas that could possibly utilize things I would normally throw away?
We just bought this house (our first house) three months ago. We are not moving.

It is a townhouse the HOA does not allow sheds =(

And like I said, I'm looking for STORAGE SOLUTIONS. I'm not asking you to tell me to throw things away. I'm not a pack rat by any means.

I store a lot of things under the beds in big plastic bags. I use the Ziploc large, XL, and XXL (the XXL is HUGE!) ... you could also buy SpaceBags (but they're more expensive and I've heard they're not as strong as the Ziplocs) ... get either one at Wal*Mart.

If you put the bed on risers, you'll have even more storage space ... you can buy the risers at Wal*Mart, too.

I store things I don't use too often on the top shelves of my kitchen cabinets and laundry cabinets. I can't reach the top shelves, so I don't use them for everyday stuff.

I used to live in a 1050 sq. ft. townhome ... so I know what you mean! I got into the habit of just getting rid of stuff regularly (not easy with 2 kids!). I had a basement, but it flooded so often I was afraid to store anything down there.

2009-05-13 10:59:48 by Autumn Breeze