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The Bike Shed

leicaman

Maximum Pace
Sep 20, 2012
2,878
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We recently bought our first house and moved in last month. Going from an apartment to a house gives us a lot more space, especially outside. Having lived in apartments since I moved to Japan, I always kept my everyday bike (singlespeed) in the bike parking provided but now we have a house, we don't have that facility. In only one month, a lot of the rubber parts on my singlespeed have started to degrade as it has no protection from the elements. I decided to get a bike port but upon visiting the local "home centre " I was a little surprised to find that the cheapest one they had was around 130,000 yen. I didn't bother asking if that included installation. I decided to build my own bike shed.
Unfortunately, I'm probably the worlds worst drawer so making plans It would be quite a challenge. I spoke to @TCC about what easy 3d software was out there at the moment. Know that it would take me until 2020 to figure out what to do, he very kindly offered to do a 3d model for me if I gave him the dimensions and a (very) rough sketch.

So I sent him this


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From this terrible drawing and lots of wrong dimensions, Owen was able to come up with this.

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And he even did some black vertical cladding too.
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I just need to build it now. I'll put some real photos of the build in he next few days.
 
Is that the joinery you are going with?
I'm going with the top 3d model. So vertical cladding with one white strip, the rest in walnut (not shown in the 3d model). I've also altered the roof to make it much steeper.
 
Great 3D renderings. When we were searching for our latest house, I wanted to be sure it had either a shed pre-existing, or at least enough space to build one. One major change I would suggest, based on your observation that rubber parts on one of your bikes has already started to deteriorate--is that you make your shed totally enclosed, as an open shed as designed above will have little impact on the elements. Below are some pictures of my bike shed--it isn't always this messy, but as the typhoon just passed through, haven't had a chance to clean it up. It is basically a covered walkway at the back of the house, thus only needed roof and front, side and rear siding. Essentially weatherproof, and can be locked. Just some ideas before your final build.
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@timefleas thanks for the advice. Originally I was thinking to put more cladding on the other walls but decided that just on one side should be fine as it will be up against the wall of our next door neighbour on the left which will offer some protection. Our garden is pretty well sheltered from the wind and driving rain so a low roof should be fine. My nice bike will most certainly be staying locked up in the house.

Here is a photo of the foundation and part of the framework.

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In a bid to outwit the rain , I decided to use the bike room (AKA the tatami room) as a wood staining room. Just got to be very careful not to get it on the floor or walls. An understanding wife is essential at this point.image.jpg
 
+1 on enclosed.

Also, for stand-alone enclosed (vs built off the side of a house), shear is something to keep in mind. Open structures, even small ones, are more 'transparent' to wind than closed ones.

And also, also, in the drawings, and later in reality, the roof needs to be strong enough and designed such that you can hang things up out of the way. (bikes, or many other things)
 
@jdd thabks for the input. The shed is actually much smaller than it looks in the 3d model. The handlebars of the bikes are just below the roof so I wouldn't be hanging anything off the roof ;)
I was originally going to only have a roof with four posts but decided to put the cladding on, more for aesthetics as it will then mean the bikes won't be as visible from the house
 
our next door neighbour on the left which will offer some protection
Regardless of the shed's positioning, my advice is, with whatever cladding you use, choose typhoon-proof fastening screws.
That is very important.
Sheltered areas like that can become wind tunnels due to severe air displacement. No area is safe from severe winds.
 
The shed has finally been finished (well, I'm still thinking of putting cladding on the opposite side to the current cladding. Also contemplating put some on the back side of the shed too). This rain has been a real pain when trying to get things sorted. It took far longer than I had anticipated (partly due to the rain and partly due to my sporadic work ethic).
I still need to clean away the soil that I dug up to make the foundations. My next door neighbour, who can see the shed from his living room was very pleased with the results, even taking the time to come over and say how great it looks. Got to keep the neighbours happy.

And now a couple of selfies

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All that gravel...

When the weeds get going (not if), keep in mind that a shot or two of brake/parts cleaner kills most anything. Roundup works better.

Or, you can try to keep up by pulling them. :flip::D:eek:
 
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