Opinions on moving w/machine to shed

Hi,

We have finally ordered a large garden shed, wooden 12x16ft with a view to bringing water and electricity to it and moving out the washing machine, freezer, tumble dryer and possibly iron and ironing board (and eventually some children maybe!). I was wondering if anyone has opinions on this or if anyone has done it, what were the positives and negatives of it? We are a family of two adults and two small children in a 3 bed-semi so I am hoping it will give us extra space in the kitchen and extra storage.

Many thanks.

I hope you have insulated your shed. We also built a large shed with electricity (no water) and discovered after a couple of years that

1) The roof started to leak so had to be replaced with an aliminium one
2) The sides of the shed which are facing the worst weather get really wet and in winter take a long time to dry. Result is that all contents of the shed get damp.
3) Unless you protect the shed against the little scratchers (mice, rats) they love a warm space which is not regularly inhabited.
4) We were luck to have a concrete floor underneath the shed, so I hope you have done something similar.

So, who's going to be banished to the shed to do the laundry, ironing etc. etc.?

I don't think moving the kids into the shed is a good idea and it's probably illegal. There was a case of men in the UK living in sheds and the authorities didn't take too kindly to it.

Eithneangela, thanks for the suggestions, we are definitely going to insulate it and it is going down on a newly concreted yard. Thanks for the heads up on the furry friends as there are some living in the dyke at the end of the garden, so will put down some sort of traps. Do you mind me asking did you have the shed for extra space and did it work in the way you wanted it to? In some ways we are a traditional kind of a household, so I will be banished to the shed for the purposes of laundry!

Bronte, I can't figure out if your post is tongue in cheek or not, but no I have no intention of actually moving my children into the shed, they are a bit small at the moment. I meant that it could double as a wet weather play area or in time become a playroom of sorts.

Our intention initially was for potential space for grandkids overnighting etc. but that soon died a death when we met all the problems of damp, cold, rodents etc. So, I think a shed is just a shed - storage for garden implements, wine (we have a fridge there for my Sauvignon Blanc straight back from France!), - and certainly not for anything you might treasure. Unless of course your shed is designed to be a small house with lighting, heating, insulation, and all of the things which change the shed from being a shed into a small garden house. I wouldn't dream of putting ironing facilities there - can you imagine going out through snow, frost etc. to set up the ironing table! A shed is for storage mainly.

If you decide to move the equipment to the shed I would use one of the plug in pest repellents such as pest-X in order to keep the "furry friends" from camping around the heat and flossing their teeth on the wiring. I share Eithneangela's reservations on the movement.

funnymunny said:

, but no I have no intention of actually moving my children into the shed, they are a bit small at the moment.

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I think that's a sensible decision. Maybe they'll prefer the shed to the house when they're older.

Bronte said:

I think that's a sensible decision. Maybe they'll prefer the shed to the house when they're older.

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Completely affirmative - also their interaction with laundry room activities inversely correlates with their age, so by around 17 there will be no interaction whatsoever between kids and washing machine/iron etc. But they will spend as long as possible in the shed (provided you are not there of course).

I have no intention of actually moving my children into the shed, they are a bit small at the moment

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You mean you'll do it when they are older!

Thanks everyone for the replies. Shed has arrived and delighted with it. Waiting on quote to bring electricity to it. Will wait and see about water for washing machine. Will see if children become house trained before moving them to the shed!

Before putting anything into it, treat the floor. Cheap lino off-cuts are idea as they'll stop moisture rising through the floor (I did this with mine). If you can insulate under the floor, you'll improve the damp situation. Insulate all walls and the roof as well, but remember to retain ventilation.

Even with all this, without regular heating, this will be a humid environment and the lifespan of your machines will be affected. If you put a dryer in, make sure it's vented externally, and the vent directs the vapour away from the structure or it'll rot within the year.