Woodworking Book Review; Building Sheds by Joseph Truini

Building Sheds by Joseph Truini

This week’s review is for a new book from the ever-popular stable of the Taunton Press, which has a great catalogue of woodworking and hobby titles to choose from. The first thing to understand here is the title and aim of the book. The term “shed” has slightly different meanings around the world. This can be a wooden building in the garden for storing the lawnmower and assorted household junk that can’t be accommodated anywhere else. Equally it’s a refuge from regular life gainfully employed as a workshop for making or fettling objects or small projects of all sorts. This book is very much aimed at the former, concentrating on the design and construction of a range of storage sheds, with some innovative features that make them easily adaptable to a range of uses.

This is a really well-illustrated book with a very hands-on style beginning with the basic principles of methods and materials. Keeping in mind that there are different rules and regulations around the world with regard to permitted development and building codes, there is a lot of ground covered here with good levels of detail. Getting a great foundation is important for any project so whether you need to put in frost-proof deep-level piles or a simple wood skid frame, this opening chapter gets you off to a great start. With sections on walls, cladding and roofing, the basic design and choices of materials are laid out with good images of most of the options. There is certainly enough information here to inspire you to design your own shed.

If, however, you want a bit more guidance in building a quality shed of your own, then there are five full projects to choose from where you can follow step-by-step guides from the foundation to the rooftop. Each project has illustrations with key timber dimensions as well as lots of photos of the entire build process. None of them look like a quick weekend project ­­-̶  in fact, a couple look substantial enough for a small family to live in. These are all achievable given sufficient time and budget. None of the projects requires a great number of specialist tools, although an impact driver, a circular saw and a nail gun are really going to take some of the pain out of it for you.

These are all pretty impressive structures that would be a really positive addition to your property. Some of the design features mean they not only look great but have some well-considered practicality built in. It would have been great to have a compiled cutting list and materials list consolidated for each project to make it easier to work out the budget. However, there are links to websites where the full plan can be viewed and purchased from third-party vendors who make these sheds commercially.

If you are planning or dreaming of building your own purpose-built stylish shed as your ideal workshop or garden store, then this book is well worth a browse. A serious case of shed envy is guaranteed.

Building Sheds by Joseph Truini is available from www.thegmcgroup.com and other retailers online.  ISBN 978-1-62710-770-9