Straightening shed

Soldato
Joined
27 Mar 2013
Posts
9,323
So my shed has a bit of a list, is the best way to level it up, hammer some fencepost's at 45 degrees to straighten then bang some ply across it? If so what thickness ply would work?
 
You need to work out why its listing.
Has the base gone?
Have the walls/roof come away from the joining ones? If so are they nailed or screwed?
Did it happen in a storm?

Best bet is probably to take it down and fix any damage then put it back up, if in a particularly windy location, then with a little extra bracing.
But if its too far gone you may just need to patch up whats there till it fails completely.
 
Ill try and get a picture, basically a while ago the roof had a leak (we stupidly din't get an apex roof). This was caused in part by the roof sagging and having a large pool of water sat on it. The base of the shed is on a concrete block, however the floor of the shed is raised slightly, the base is tongue and groove, however due to the leak a couple of the joints have popped out. I feel the shed might be warped due to this. I'm not 100% sure but i don't think the base was very level (the same company that did the shed did the base and i didn't check the flatness of it.
 
Its sounding like a fix and rebuild job to me. You don't necessarily need to fully dismantle, if the roof is the issue, fixing that may fix it all.
If its got a T&G floor then it cant have been that cheap?

The roof shouldn't have sagged, so it sounds like you need to fix that. Which would probably be far easier to be done with it off.

The walls etc will probably be pretty easy to reposition with the roof off or at least disconnected.

Its probably been constructed with nails, its more normal to do this, which has pros and cons. They are a little more of a pain to take down with nails typically, but just takes a little time.
 
Pics as promised, hopefully they show the problem. The roof has been repaired/reinforced. The gap above the door kind of shows the scale of the problem, the shed it 8 foot by 10 foot, it cost us a fair bit. What holds the walls square, just the bolts in the floor (its held together with coach bolts in each corner).

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My summerhouse started to lean this year but it was due to the extreme heat - I used a 3x2 length of timber from (in your case) bottom left to top right with a scissor jack at bottom and pushed it back square - then cut L shaped plywood bits to fit in the top corners and screwed then on - It was easy for me because I had two uprights about 6" apart at each corner and that gave me some triangulation - So far it's stood the test of time - About 4 months now. - The summer house was also bone dry with no leaks or other problems. Best of luck on that though.
 
Is it literally just the bolts that hold it square (when the roof was repaired, the guy put in thicker bits of wood but I don't think they are screwed down so should be nudgeable).

Difficult to tell except for you saying the bolts hold it together. Most sheds nowadays are big panels on each side/top/bottom (like big fence panels) that are screwed together at the corners and edges.
 
Difficult to tell except for you saying the bolts hold it together. Most sheds nowadays are big panels on each side/top/bottom (like big fence panels) that are screwed together at the corners and edges.
Yea that's pretty much how it arrived (I didn't assemble it, that was included in the price). I might have a look at it later.

I had to have a quick Google with regards to the jacking option (I'd got into my head that it would be jacked from the outside) I understand now, I'm one-upping the scissor jack as I've got a trolley one lol. Might get some wood from Wickes later.
 
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Here ya go - it doesn't need much -just a few turns and mine was square - like yours the door didn't fit -There are loads of uprights in it but no diagonals- I have also put a piece of 3x2 across center of roof - side to side just to stop any dip in future and also put another layer of good felt on roof

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Those concrete fenceposts look pretty sturdy, once you've straightened it up I'd be looking to tie the shed up to those with metal brackets or a threaded rod with nuts & washers.
 
TBH I had a go at it today however I think it's a case of take the walls off and start from scratch. The wood that the shed sits on is a bit rotten at the bottom.
 
I'd try and push the shed at the top left corner and see if it moves and squares up the door. If it does then try and wedge the shed square with a length of timber to hold it square while you fix it. Then cut some diagonal braces to fit tightly between the upright timbers inside. Screwing ply on the internal walls would further help, but might be a bit overkill.
 
I did try to do as that pic shows, however it raised the roof, i then tried the door frame and it ended up lifting the shed. I think the concrete base is dished in the middle. I've put some 600x 1800 x 9mm ply across the back so it shouldn't get any worse, it annoys me that it leans but i refuse to spend another £1,000 on a shed that's probably only 5 years old.
 
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