The Shed I've Always Wanted Part 2

I've finished the shed - first read Part 1 (second post below) if you've not done so!

After doing the frame and the roof, I did the horizontal cladding.  It might not be the normal way, but I found it much easier to work downwards, starting by tucking the top piece of tongue and grooved cladding under the eaves.  Later on I fitted a small piece at the top between the rafters; the need for this piece is why you can't do the roof before the sides, although I did add the battens and membrane at this stage.  As the front has a higher wall plate than the other sides (to allow for the door), I did that side last, but I carefully checked continually that everything was level so that the cladding looks OK.  Doing the cladding is quite a noisy job as there are so many nails and also the structure naturally acts like a sound box; hence I took my time and tried to do it in short noisy periods spread over several days.

The roof was next.  I decided to use slate as (a) all other roofs in the vicinity are slate and (b) when I looked at the cost of modern "tiles" they were all quite expensive.  When you add in the extra cost of decent boards on the roof, the total is only a bit less than buying slates (which only need battens not boards).  There's also the other point that I like to experience doing things myself in the traditional way, and a shed is a good place to learn.

I made sure that I had everything ready before I started.  I had some membrane left from doing the extension (see this post and others at that time) so I needed slates and some ridge tiles, plus nails.  In anticipation of this task I had already acquired slating tools as my birthday present from 'Er Indoors, and the cutter was invaluable.  When I had a roof structure ready, I found that my ridge tiles were all the wrong angle and I was one short; I went back to the yard and got four swapped plus an extra, all for £10.  I also found when I had finished that I had too many tiles, like, 35 spare! This was a bit of over-supply but I'd rather do that than run out when I need two to finish.  I also had to buy some NHL5 for the mortar under the ridge tiles; fortunately the only place within 30 miles that sells this had precisely one bag when I called in on my way back with the ridge tiles.  The roof was also a noisy job, and I bet the neighbours were pleased when I finished! The last two day's work were done on Tuesdays when my immediate neighbour is out all day.

After the roof there were a lot of little jobs, plus the small question of the door, which used my last pieces of cladding - somehow I had EXACTLY the right number of 3m and 2.4m lengths without having a load of 1m bits left.  Well, there were some 60cm bits and these were used as one of the storage shelves.  Another shelf is comprised of old floorboards resting on two of the rafters from the old extension (all left lying around in the garden for three years!) .  Even better, the sturdy workbench has a horizontal frame which is the lower half of the old front door (also left in the garden), and the top is two spare pieces of our 4cm bamboo kitchen worktop (found under the stairs).  As I've said before, I like recycling things, and the garden is a lot neater now.

So, here's the finished shed, at last:

It's not practicable to take a photo that shows the shelves, but the storage ones are on the right inside, and the work bench is on the left under the window. There is a final job which is to provide mains electrical power to it...