Caporegime
- Joined
- 13 Nov 2006
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Until pay day?
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1930s Semi Refurb - Part 11 of ... (Summer House)
- Thread starter dlockers
- Start date
Caporegime
- Joined
- 13 Nov 2006
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I thought the old adage for DIY is out of sight out of mind, even if it's in sight
Yeah rear high level ones I think make a lot of sense. I'm going to scribble the rear lean to/garden storage and pad for the AC which are the final considerations before I go for it.
Soldato
@dlockers when making the walls did you use screws for every stud or did you use a nail gun?
Nails. I bought 2000 odd 90mm nails so it's almost entirely nailed.
Soldato
With a nail gun or manually hammered?
Soldato
Which gun do you have?
DeWalt 1st fixer. A lot of tradesmen and pro-diyers slate them for weight and jamming but I'm over 1500 nails in and never had an issue. The battery lasts ages too.
Soldato
Can I borrow it? Least you could do since you started this thread and filled my YouTube with garden room build videos.
ETA summer 2025!
Caporegime
- Joined
- 13 Nov 2006
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£350!
Soldato
Some tools are stupidly expensive. Going to be hammering nails in manually for me like in the old days.
Haha it was a borrow from my brother in any case.
I wouldn't dream of screwing this. Screws aren't as good for a start, cost way more, and will ruin your hands. Even if you just do a rental whilst you built the walls it'll pay for itself many times over.
Soldato
It's 100 quid to hire for 10 days. Better off buying and reselling probably.
Caporegime
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Can confirm, screws messed up my hands
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10 day!? Work quicker
Soldato
Why would they ruin your hands? (to be fair it's a lot of screws!) id have thought will be OK with an impact driver?
I'm probably not going to buy a 1st fix nailer as my dog is scared of the noise from nail guns :X. And instead manually hammer/screw it.
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Soldato
10 day!? Work quicker
I'll probably have a week off work when I do mine. But floor, 4 walls and roof, think will need for a week at least.
I'm concerned about using screws tbh, not because of the strength but because of splitting the wood. Even the tiniest of screws I use at home seems to split the wood if I don't pilot hole it. 6mm structural timber screws at 150mm-200mm long, could ruin every timber I try to drive into.
Soldato
Those structural screws i would only use for holding the roof down to the top plate. I wouldnt use them for building the walls.
Soldato
Interesting dilemma on the screws vs nails.
An unheated outdoor space I would probably lean nails because the wood can gain/lose 7% in length (width, height) etc depending on orientation as it absorbs and looses moisture.
The general rule is screws when you don't want something to move, nails when you want to allow movement.
If I was building something like lockers I would put skylight(s) in, we have one in our gazebo (with shuttered sides) and it lets loads of light in.
Nice to go into when its raining, shutters down, and sit with the rain pounding down on the skylight.
They arent expensive for outbuilding type stuff. Let a lot more light in than windows unless your going to put windows all round.
An unheated outdoor space I would probably lean nails because the wood can gain/lose 7% in length (width, height) etc depending on orientation as it absorbs and looses moisture.
The general rule is screws when you don't want something to move, nails when you want to allow movement.
If I was building something like lockers I would put skylight(s) in, we have one in our gazebo (with shuttered sides) and it lets loads of light in.
Nice to go into when its raining, shutters down, and sit with the rain pounding down on the skylight.
They arent expensive for outbuilding type stuff. Let a lot more light in than windows unless your going to put windows all round.