DIY Bike Shed with Log Store

For the last four years, we've had one small storage issue - where should the bikes live? For a while, they lived in the hallway, then in the bedroom and then they just hung out in the garden like a lost sock. Not only was it cluttering up my otherwise (semi-)organised garden, it wasn't so great in the winter, as the bikes would be wet, covered in snow and generally make them prone to quicker wear and tear. Grant uses his bike almost daily, so we needed them to live somewhere accessible, but somewhere they could stay out of sight and dry too.

So, of course, I had a plan - a bike shed. BUT a bike shed with a difference. A combined log store bike shed! Typical bike sheds are usually quite short in height and I felt not making use of the space above would be a waste. So my plan was to have a bike shed at the bottom and then use the area above as log storage. The problem was, no one sold anything that suited my brief - so I decided to make one. And of course, I'm sharing the full DIY with you.

Here is my original sketch-up of the design with measurements. Our shed will be quite narrow as we only need to fit two bikes, plus, I didn't want it to take up too much space in the garden. If you have more than two bikes, you will certainly need to make it deeper than this though.

This DIY has been sponsored by Roofing Megastore, who supply and deliver over 15,000 roofing materials to homeowners across the UK. They have provided me with a helping hand in selecting the ideal roof tiles for this project. If you want to learn how to build your own bike shed with log store, then keep reading!

You Will Need:

• Concrete Slabs
• Mortar
• Treated Timber
• Feather Edge Boards
• Pallet Wood
• Exterior Screws
• Clout Nails
• Roof Battens
• Roofing Felt
• Roof Tiles
• Gate Hinges
• Gate Latch
• Gate Bolt

Step 1 - Levelling the Ground

First of all, we had to make space for the shed to fit in the garden. This meant cutting down the raised bed (which I built now 4 years ago!) and then levelling the ground where the shed would reside. 'Cause nobody wants a leaning shed, do they?

Whilst we already have a good concrete base, it's quite sloped, so to level this out I decided the easiest way was to add some concrete slabs.

To do this, I laid a bed of mortar straight onto the concrete ground (making sure it was fully clean and dust/debris-free of course!) and then laid the slabs directly on top. I used a rubber mallet to then hit the slabs firmly onto the mortar and get them nice and level. This is fairly simple but does take a bit of time to get right.

The mortar I used is just bagged stuff you add water to (makes life so much easier for small jobs like this) and I used a spirit level to determine the areas which needed more mortar before I went and laid it all down. 

I've used three 60x60cm slabs, which was the PERFECT size for my whole shed build and I filled in-between the gaps with some gravel so it looked a little prettier with the end result. (Not that you'll see it once it's got a shed on, mind!)

Step 2 - Beginning the Frame

OK so now we're ready to start building! The shed will be made up of two identical sides, which will be connected together by lengths of timber at the front and back to complete the whole frame. Since I'm building against a brick wall/fence, I don't need a "back panel" so to speak. Here's my very rough test-run before I went ahead and started building:

First things first, you'll need to know how high you want the whole shed to be and also how high the 'shed compartment' (where the bikes will be kept) needs to be. My shed will be just a little higher than the fence and you can see in the photo above where the shed will split into two sections (logs at the top, bikes at the bottom). I've made sure the bottom section is high enough for the bikes to go in and out easily without hitting on the top bar.

With the measurements out the way, I was able to start properly chopping wood and screwing it all together. I've used treated timber for this whole project (an absolute must when using wood outdoors!) and I've also used exterior screws as well, to ensure they won't rust.

To make each individual side panel, I cut two lengths of timber at the height I intend the shed to be, and then screwed these together with timbers at the bottom and in the middle (cut to the depth the shed will be) to create a rectangular shape.

I recommend using a set-square when screwing everything together as this will ensure everything goes together square and keeps it all true to size.



You should also make sure to affix one of the timbers at the same height on the side-panel where the log-store will begin, as this will become part of the 'shelf'. You can see what I mean below:

Step 3 - Strengthening the Frame

To strengthen the frame further, I added some diagonal lengths of timber as well. To do this, you simply want to lay the wood out across the area where you'll be fitting it. Then, holding it in place (or using clamps as I have done!), draw a line underneath with a pencil where the cuts need to be made.

You can then cut this piece of wood by hand, or for quickness use a mitre saw. If your frame is square (it will be if you've used a set-square!) then your cuts should be 45degrees, so you can simply set the mitre to that angle and then cut along the line you've drawn.

To attach these diagonal pieces of timber, simply screw them into place through the timbers you installed earlier. Like so:

If you have two diagonal timbers that meet together, you can screw through the top of the wood into the one below like so:

When you're done, you should end up with something that looks like this:

Step 4 - Cutting the Roof Pitch

You may have noticed in the photo above, that the top of the frame is unfinished. This is because we need to cut the pitch for the roof. The pitch is determined by how high the back of the shed is, in comparison to the front. I'd already decided on these measurements but it's hard to envision exactly how the pitch would look until you see it in place, so I didn't want to commit until the side-panel was built.

To cut the pitch, simply lay a length of timber (or long ruler) across the top of the frame at the angle in which you want your roof to be. You can make this up as you go - although you don't want to go too shallow, as it will need to drain rainwater sufficiently and depending on the roofing you're using, there may be a minimum requirement. With your timber or ruler positioned, you can draw this onto the frame.

You can then cut this by hand, but if you want to use a mitre saw, simply align your blade with the line you've drawn. For me, this was around 25 degrees.

 

Now you have an angle for your roof, you'll need to finish the side-panel by adding a final piece of timber to the top. Repeat the process of translating the angle onto the wood with a pencil, cutting it and then screwing it into place.

Step 5 - Cladding with Feather Edge Boards

I decided to clad the side-panels in feather edge boards because they're cheap and I wanted a different material in the garden other than pallet wood - which you'll know we have A LOT of.

Feather edge boards are designed to overlap one another and they're quite often used in sheds and outdoor buildings, so they were the perfect fit for this build. They have a tapered design which allows them to easily overlap and from which from the side they look like this:

I cut the feather edge boards to the same size as the width of the side-panel (around 60cm) using a saw and then nailed them on using galvanised clout nails. Galvanised nails are very important because it means they won't rust! You want to nail the boards both at the top and at the bottom, so they're firmly pinched in position and not lose to flap about. When you nail through the bottom, you will also nail through the board beneath, so it's triple-secured. If that makes sense?

I've overlapped the boards by about 1 inch and to ensure I stayed consistent with this overlap, I've used my set-square locked into position to help. This means I could push the set-square against the bottom of the board to align the top one above it, butting it up against the top of the ruler. I did this with each board, so I know they all have the same overlap.

The reason I'm nailing the feather edge boards onto the frame now, even though the whole frame hasn't been built is that the gap in which I'll be positioning the shed is so small that I simply can't get a hammer in at the sides to nail the boards on.

If you have access to either side of the shed though, you can add the feather edge boards once the whole frame is built, if you wish. You can see what I mean here:

Step 6 - Attaching the Sides and Finishing the Frame

To finish off building the whole frame, you'll need to attach the side-panels together. To do this, I cut four identical pieces of timber at around 180cm (the width of the shed). Two will go at the top (one at the front and one at the back) one will go in the middle and one at the bottom. This sounds very confusing, but like so:

Top tip if you're working on your own - use clamps! If you can't clamp the wood into position, use the clamp itself as a kind of 'shelf bracket' so you can rest the wood on top of it. This is what you can see me doing in the photo above!

You want to make sure when you attach the two lengths of wood at the very top of the shed, they're affixed low enough so that when you lay another piece of wood across them, that wood matches perfectly in-line with the roof pitch we cut earlier. This will be very important later!

Step 7 - Making a Shelf for the Logs

OK so I actually ended up doing this part twice as the first time I did it, it wasn't quite strong enough. This shelf will be fully loaded up with logs, so you'll need the shelf to be super strong so it doesn't bend in any way. 

I started off by adding a piece of wood at the back of the shed to match the same piece I attached earlier at the front. You'll notice these are both in-line with the wood on the sides of the shed too. This whole section will make the shelf and beneath it, will be the bike store.

At this stage, because there are so many screws in the wood - you may not be able to go straight through horizontally with any new screw. Instead, you'll have to screw through at an angle. This is really easy to do if you have a pocket-jig (I don't!), but if not, the trick is to screw in straight, pull the screw out, angle it in the direction you wish to go and screw it back in. Here's an example of a screw at an angle below (I'm no expert, but this works for me!):

One you have a rectangular frame, you can then go ahead and strengthen it with more timbers. Initially, I just added two which connected the front and back, but I then took this apart and made a bit of a mishmash structure that looks like this:

Essentially, I've doubled up the timber at the front so there are two side-by-side, then I added a length in the middle and then as many cross-timbers as I could fit. There's now absolutely no wiggle, bending or otherwise any movement in this whole shelf frame. I've then used pallet wood to lay across this section to make a solid 'floor' for the logs to sit on.

At this stage, I also decided to add two additional diagonal timbers at the front of the shed frame. Most of the log-store images on google had this done, and I quite liked the look of it, so decided to do the same. I cut two 45degree angles and screwed into position.

I also added a piece of wood at the back of the shed, where the frame is higher than the fence. This simply blocks of the gap, which would otherwise look a bit weird from our neighbour's side of the fence.

Step 8 - Building the Roof Frame

To finish off the frame, we now just need to complete the roof. To do this, you want to add a minimum of 3 timbers which will affix from the front to the back along the top of the shed. These simply lay over the two lengths of wood and I've screwed them straight in, from the top.

Step 9 - Laying the Roof Fabric

Because I'm using roof tiles for this project, I needed to essentially build a whole roof frame just like you would on a house. This means lay roofing fabric and roofing battens. Despite having never done this before, it was probably the easiest part of the DIY! Simply cut the roofing fabric to size and pop a few clout nails through it, onto the beams beneath.

I wrapped the fabric around the sides and back into the shed too and nailed into place, so there's no 'flapping' of the fabric.

Step 10 - Fitting the Roofing Battens

If you're using tiles like I am, then you'll need to attach some roofing battens. How many battens you need and how far apart they need to be spaced, depends entirely on the pitch of your roof. To find this out, you can use an app called 'pitch factor'. The way you use it is basically just like a spirit level. Hold your phone on the roof with the angle and voila, it will tell you the pitch you have.

I'm using synthetic slate tiles, which came with excellent instructions for requirements - so I know that because my roof pitch is 19degrees, I need to space my roofing battens 15cm apart (this measurement is from the centre of one batten to the centre of the next). I cut the battens to the same width of the shed and used galvanised nails to simply nail them onto the roof beams beneath.

Once I'd done this, I then doubled-up the second batten from the front with another batten just beneath it. This will all be explained in the next step, but from the side, this is what I mean:

Step 11 - Tiling the Roof with Synthetic Slate

I think having a decent roof can make ALL the difference in visuals to how good a shed looks. For this reason, I wanted to use slate effect tiles because not only do I love the look of slate, it's also much more hardwearing than cheaper shed roofing alternatives. I also thought it would make my shed look more posh, ha!

As a first-time roofer, I didn't want to use real slate, because let's face it, they're pretty easy to break. So instead I opted for Synthetic Slate, which is PERFECT for newbie DIY roofers. I've collaborated with Roofing Megastore on this project who sell all kinds of DIY roofing materials and they've provided me with the tiles for this project. I'm using their Tapco Synthetic Tile in the colour Pewter Grey. 

Whilst they're synthetic, they are made from recycled materials (which I love!) and they are still very realistic in both design and colour. In natural slate, each roof tile would be different to the next and the colour of the slate would also have varying tones throughout it as well. These synthetic tiles are designed to mimic this exact same effect. Each box has a variety of different 'effects' within each tile to re-create that natural slate effect and they also have 'true-colour' technology to have the same varying tones of grey too. They honestly look realistic!

Synthetic Slate is much more durable than real Slate since they won't break if you drop them, or misfire with your hammer when nailing them down. They're also lighter which means you need less framework, easier to install as they're particularly suited for DIY use. They also still have the same life expectancy, they won't fade and they're also BDA approved in the roofing industry. Basically, they're a win-win and their only negative I guess would be if you want to get too hung up on having 'the real deal'.

When you buy these roof tiles from Roofing Megastore, they come with a full written installation guide, as well as a video that explains everything you need to know and how to fit them. If you're a DIY roofing novice like me, it means you don't need to do hours of research beforehand. Each tile is pre-marked, so it tells you exactly where to nail and where to align the tile with the next one. They even have spacers either side of the tile to ensure consistent and correct spacing of the tiles. It's literally fool-proof! 

With my instructions to hand - the first thing I had to do was create a 'starter course' of tiles, which essentially means laying out the first row. This is done differently to the rest of the rows and requires you to cut the tiles 3/4 size in length. You can cut the tiles with either a knife or saw, but I'm using a mitre saw which cuts through the tile like butter.

This starter set of tiles are nailed onto the second batten (the one we 'doubled-up' earlier). You'll want to use large-head clout nails for roofing, and make sure you buy the correct depth as you don't want to be piercing the roofing fabric beneath.

You can see I've allowed for a 5cm overhang at the front, which was recommended in the instructions and you can also see there is a small gap between each tile. Once you've laid this first row of 3/4 tiles, you can then go back over with a full tile staggered over this gap, which will then cover it. Like so:

You can see how we're now using the other doubled-up batten to nail down these new tiles onto, and that we're now using the marked circle for hammering our clout nails onto. 

So, how do you know how much overlap the tiles require? Well, each tile has a 'guide' on it to tell you exactly how to place them for the correct overlap. This is all dependant on your pitch (which we found out earlier using the app!) and the instructions will tell you which number on the guide you need to use, depending on your pitch.

I'm using the 6" guide, so all I had to do was align the 6" marker against the centre marker of the tile beneath it, which is recognised by another line:

It really is THAT simple. The battens you added earlier will support the tiles at the front, middle and the back of the tile, which is why it's so important to place them correctly to the specified measurement in the instructions and why they're dependant on your pitch.

Aside from having a bit of an aching arm from hammering away, there really isn't much difficulty to fitting these tiles. The instructions take away all the guess-work and the whole roof went up in a matter of minutes. OK, maybe an hour or so, I do like those tea breaks!

I allowed for a 3cm overhang on each side of the shed, and simply cut the tiles lengthways to the required measurement. I can't tell you how easy these tiles were to cut, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be able to use a mitre saw with real slate!

I finished the sides off with a spare bit of roofing batten, just to define the roof line from the feather edge boards. You can see the overhang in the photo below and how the tiles look from the side:

I honestly can't recommend these tiles enough - especially for newbie DIY roofers. They really do make the whole job SO simple. Align, nail and go is basically the long and short of the installation process. I didn't have any wastage and I even dropped a few off the roof onto the concrete floor (whoops!). I think they really do look authentic and can you even tell they're not real Slate?

Step 12 - Making the Shed Doors

The shed is now really coming together and the last part of this DIY is making the shed doors! This was really easy to do and I used free pallet wood to save on some money. I laid all the planks out and butted them up against a spirit level, so they were all straight and in line.

I then added more pallet wood at both the top and bottom of the doors, screwing straight into the pallets.

I placed a diagonal piece of timber across the door and then marked up where it needed to be cut. I then screwed this into the door in the same way as the other two planks. This will become the back of the shed door.

The door needed a tiny bit of trimming, so Grant helped me do this with our new table saw (makes life SO much easier) although you can also just use a jigsaw or hand saw if you need to.

To attach the gate, I've simply used two T-gate hinges from Ironmongery Direct on each door and then a padlock latch. There's also a bolt on the inside of one of the doors to secure it shut further. Looking pretty good huh?!

Step 13 - Paint and Enjoy!

Because we've used treated wood, you don't *need* to paint the shed or treat the wood, but doing so will definitely increase the longevity of it.

I wanted to add a real splash of colour to the garden, something that would brighten it up during the dreary winter months, so I decided to go PINK. I know - you'll either hate me or love me for this. But, here it is - all pink and bold. A real feature of the garden!

The colour is Vintage Rose in Johnstone's Garden Colour Paint range - a brand I really recommend and have used elsewhere in the garden too.

So, that's it! Made entirely by me (super proud of this one!) with just a bit of help trimming the doors.  If I can build a shed and roof it, so can you! It was much easier than I thought it would be, it just required a bit of pre-planning and careful thinking, but essentially, it's just screwing wood together and nailing on a roof. Honestly, it's easier than it looks!

We now have a home for our bikes and some logs too and I'm so pleased with it. I would love to know what you think of the new shed and if you do try to build something similar, please do send me some pics - I'd love to see! You can find me on Instagram (where I have a full video of the build too!) over at @kezzabeth_blog - hope to see you there!

Total Cost:

(rounded to the nearest pound)

New Tools Purchased:
None

Materials Used:
Timber for Frame £60
Feather Edge Boards £25
Roof Battens £30
Screws £10
Clout Nails £3
Roofing Felt £16
Roofing Tiles - RRP £45/m
Hardware for Doors £15

Total: £205

*This post was sponsored by Roofing Megastore. All words and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting this blog!