I think I may build a Stimson Bow Shed

[OldCreek]

Well, I've come to realization that I need a covered/enclosed space to restore my boat. Working out in the weather is just a bit problematic. Condensation and rain find their way into the bilge and I can't keep the hull dried out. I've been using tarps with straps to keep her covered currently but that's a pain. It takes too long at the end of the day to recover and the tarps just age and fray in the sun.

The boat is in the hills just 5 miles inland to coastal California. I don't have to worry about snow. Wind does whip up around here, though. We get plenty of coastal fog and morning condensation. Sometimes, we get a fair share of rain.

Currently, the boat is on a trailer next to a small shop that I rent on a little property. The shop is 20'x15' and has 110v, wood burning stove, a sink, toilet and even a shower. For the last 7 years, I've used the shop to fix up some old trucks and motorcycles. I've cleared that all out and am trying to make my own wood shop/boat shop. The land lady has given me the okay to put a "car tent" over the boat...I don't think it will to much of a stretch to put up a bow shed.

My boat is 32.5'x6.5' and the bow sits 9' from the ground. The stern is 7' from the ground. The trailer, wheel to wheel, is 8' wide.

The space is somewhat limited but I could build a 12'x36' bow shed and, perhaps 14' tall. I'm 6' tall. I suppose I could use 14'-16' strapping.

I might have room for a 14' wide shed but that would be pushing it. The lot is, also, on a slight slope. The rear of the lot is also angled and I was thinking about this round end shed to maximize space.... Thoughts?

Also, talk to me about tarps on the dirt floor, etc...

[TampaBay]

The shed looks cool. I've never seen that rounded style.

The K5 looks pretty good. You paint it yourself?

[OldCreek]

The paint is the only thing I didn't do. It has a clear with faint gold pearl...you cant see it unless its in the sun. Very subtle and very nice. The K5 is a '71 and I put a 2005 6.0L LQ9/4L60e motor/trans in it. It's pretty nice.



I've considered the koverklamp type deck coverings but I don't think thats enough cover for the boat...

[OldCreek]

By the way, JD is having a sale on shrink wrap: 7mil 14'x128'. Free shipping, too.

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/us ... mail102213


Would this be an appropriate material to wrap the shed in?

My initial thought was to get greenhouse film 6mil locally.

[TampaBay]

On a warm day, when the sun is bright, that shrink wrap might change shape and move your shed around. (Think greenhouse effect.)

[OldCreek]

I thought a lot of guys recommended using shrink wrap? I think they apply heat and shrink it, too?

???

[TampaBay]

I googled "what is the best plastic for a boat shed." And read about people using UV resistant sheeting in white (to reflect some energy,) but I didn't see the shrink wrap action.

Here is a link to a guy who used shrink wrap on a similar shed (just googled more.) I suppose if the frame is rock solid, then it's doable.
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/materi ... 40559.html

[TampaBay]

It involves using a flame thrower, so it must be good. :)

[galleywench]

I shrink wrapped my shed with 7 mil white plastic and have had zero issues with it and it is just about 4 years old. At the time I bought the shrink wrap, most of the 7 mil stuff had a 5 year UV warranty. My shed is starting to see signs of aging, but it should have another winter left in it and my boat will be out of it by next spring and still doesn't leak a drop. The winters here in central NH are not for the faint of heart. I have had a number of occasions when a Nor'Easter dumps 1-2 feet of wet, heavy snow and the thing doesn't even flinch. In most cases it just slides off because of the slope, but if you get a layer of ice before the snow, it sticks like mud and I'm pretty amazed with the performance.

http://www.alberg35.com/2009_11_01_archive.html

It's probably one of the single best things you can do to protect the boat from the elements while doing work. Heating it is another matter; you could put in a wood stove, but I haven't gone that far and rely on my shop for smaller boat projects in the winter.

[Figment]

I had a Stimson shed for about 6-8 years. When we sold the property it was on, the shed was sawzall-ed down to transportable frames and as far as I know has been re-erected and lives still. I miss it quite a lot, honestly.

Shrinkwrap (WHITE NOT BLUE NOT CLEAR BUT WHITE SHRINKWRAP) is absolutely the stuff to use. I could go on in a lot more detail on this, but let's make a long story short and just trust me on this one.

If you have the area to spare, I suppose that the rounded-end is kinda cool, but really I can't think of how it added strength that a normal framed end-wall wouldn't add, and for the same number of extra frames the shed could've just been 10' longer, so really all that was saved was 10' of ridge beam. If you're wedging the shed into a corner or something.... maybe it makes some sense but I don't know if it's worth the effort for extra floor space with no extra overhead space.

Tarps on the dirt floor.... for what? if the ground is wet you're going to have huge moisture-evacuation problems anyway.

[OldCreek]

Good info, guys. Thanks.

Now I gotta buy a torch?! Can you shrink using a heat gun or is that too small?

I thought the tarp was more for moisture prevention.... but I guess ventilation is the better prevention.

I read in some other thread that someone recommended burying part of the shrink wrap underground to aid in runoff .... and keeping the inner area a bit drier?

[galleywench]

Now I gotta buy a torch?! Can you shrink using a heat gun or is that too small?

Buy or rent (if you can) a shrink wrap torch/gun, a heat gun would take years (or a lifetime).

I thought the tarp was more for moisture prevention.... but I guess ventilation is the better prevention.

Ventilation is the key. get a low power fan in there and gable end vents to evacuate the humid air. I suspect that laying down tarps will do nothing more than trap moisture coming in from the sides/runoff, but people do install vapor barriers in dirt floor crawlspaces all the time; I don't know if they help. I can tell you that I had some serious moisture issues even with 4 - 2x2' gable end openings and needed to run a fan when I wanted things to dry. I even had a batch of Kiwigrip refuse to set for 2 days. I thought it was a bad batch, but when I spoke with Willy Stigglebout (yes, his real name... he is the rep/owner of KiwiGrip) he told me to get a fan in there and blow some outside air in. Once I did, the batch hardened up within an hour.

I trenched and buried shrink wrap about 1.5' deep on the uphill side of my shed because of slope. We have a lot of snow here and over the course of the winter it slides off the shed to the sides and will pile up 6-8 feet. When spring comes it all melts off around the shed. One side is sloped downhill so it isn't an issue, but the uphill side is harder to get rid of, consequently the trenched and buried shrink wrap. This allows most of the runoff/snowmelt to channel around the shed (although I'm sure some seeps in).

On a warm day, when the sun is bright, that shrink wrap might change shape and move your shed around. (Think greenhouse effect.)

I'm not sure if it was the time of year I shrink wrapped the shed (cold November), but my experience with the shrink wrap is that it actually loosens up in the hot months. If you build it as designed (with diagonal cross bracing) you will have no issues with the shed moving around.

Figment is right on with the white shrink wrap; I'm not sure about whether or not the white holds up better than blue or clear, but blue would drive you nuts trying to work. I'm guessing both blue and clear would end up being a lot hotter to work in as well. The white does a nice job reflecting the uv and keeps the interior color a consistent color.

[galleywench]

By the way, JD is having a sale on shrink wrap: 7mil 14'x128'. Free shipping, too.

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/us ... mail102213


Would this be an appropriate material to wrap the shed in?

My initial thought was to get greenhouse film 6mil locally.

I think you'll do better price-wise going to Dr. Shrink http://dr-shrink.com/shrink-wrap/premiu ... -material/
Go with 7 mil white. My shed is 14' x 40', if I remember correctly I got a 32' x 100' roll so I could do the entire bow section with a single sheet and eliminate any seams. My blog has lots of photos and I did an article for GoodOldBoat magazine in their sept 2012 issue that has detailed instructions (http://goodoldboat.com/promo_pdfs/Sept12_Promo.pdf)

[OldCreek]

By the way, JD is having a sale on shrink wrap: 7mil 14'x128'. Free shipping, too.

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/us ... mail102213


Would this be an appropriate material to wrap the shed in?

My initial thought was to get greenhouse film 6mil locally.

I think you'll do better price-wise going to Dr. Shrink http://dr-shrink.com/shrink-wrap/premiu ... -material/
Go with 7 mil white. My shed is 14' x 40', if I remember correctly I got a 32' x 100' roll so I could do the entire bow section with a single sheet and eliminate any seams. My blog has lots of photos and I did an article for GoodOldBoat magazine in their sept 2012 issue that has detailed instructions (http://goodoldboat.com/promo_pdfs/Sept12_Promo.pdf)

Wow! Good info! The Dr Shrink site is about 3/4 the price of JD's sale price. Very nice. Although, I didn't calculate shipping...

Wil

[OldCreek]

What do you guys think of this Simpson EZ Spike to anchor in some 4x4s and tie the bow shed into? My main concern would be wind coming up through the hills. Would this be adequate enough? Perhaps this with some cable/anchors, also?

Perhaps, these placed every 8 foot on the sides. These spikes are about $16 each at Home Depot. I would be looking at 4-5 on each side.

I just thisk this would save a lot of time than digging post holes and setting posts into concrete. This is supposed to be a temporary shed for me.

Perhaps, a pressure treated 4x4 in the ground with no cement would be fine, too?

[galleywench]

I just used a post hole digger and sank PT 4x4s into the ground as deep as I could get them (~4 feet). You can get a post hole digger for the price of 2 spikes. Those spikes may work if you don't hit any rocks but the bows will try to push out (especially if you get a snow load), so having a stable base is a good thing.

[OldCreek]

The stimson plans call for 5/4 x 2 1/2" stakes into the ground, every 4 feet. I guess those would hold as well as these EZ spikes.

I do own a post hole digger...but the ground around here is CLAY. I had to rent a gas powered auger to dig the holes for my backyard fence.


How well will stakes 2feet into the ground hold for wind?

[galleywench]

I'm sure they will hold fine, as would the ez-stakes, I was just pointing out that you didn't need to spend $15 a stake when you could use cheaper dimensional lumber. I built mine with a 4 foot knee wall which necessitated a more robust footing, hence the 4x4 posts sunk deep. Either way, once built, the Stimson shed is one of the most economical shelter solutions out there and should serve you well.

[Figment]

Whatever you use for stakes, I absolutely recommend that you tie-down to whatever else you happen to have around as well.

Somewhere on this forum there are photos of my first Stimson which got sucked off the ground, and dropped on its back 200' downwind. That sucked.

The rebuild included some 1/8" cables from the ends of the ridge beam to some very heavy objects.

[OldCreek]

Whatever you use for stakes, I absolutely recommend that you tie-down to whatever else you happen to have around as well.

Somewhere on this forum there are photos of my first Stimson which got sucked off the ground, and dropped on its back 200' downwind. That sucked.

The rebuild included some 1/8" cables from the ends of the ridge beam to some very heavy objects.

Figment,

I remember seeing those photos. How was that Stimson tied down initially? Did you use stakes into the ground?

Wil

[OldCreek]

Btw, what do you guys think of this scenario:

According to the Stimson plans, a 14' wide bow shed calls for 14' long strapping. This would net an approx 11.5-12' high structure. Instead of using a knee wall, what if you used 16' strapping on a 14' wide shed. It seems, on my graph paper, that this would give you a 13' high structure with very similar arch characteristics.... Obviously, it wouldn't maximize the distance from the boats greatest width, as compared to a knee wall, but it will give me center height over the deck. My boats pretty narrow at 6'4" max beam.

Thanks again for your thoughts!

Wil

[Figment]

Shed was originally secured to ground with rebar stakes.

Center height over deck is kinda meaningless.
Height over deck at point of max beam is meaningful.

[OldCreek]

I put this up a year ago but still haven't done much work inside... new business, new kids...life!

Anyways, not the best I've seen but it'll work. I didn't shrink the wrap... not sure it needs to be done. It sure needs ventilation, though.

I'd add more build photos but having to resize the images is a pain that I just don't have time to endure...

[Rigel]

Here is my initial design.