Garden Railway Forum

Hello Rod,

It's sounding like Peter might be on the right track. How close to any wall or fence is the back of the shed. A lack of airflow is the only other possibility I can think of.


Andrew

Hi Andrew,

The back of the shed is about 10”, so it may well be the problem.

Re the damp coming up - you can get the DPM (Damp Proof Membrane) that they put into new houses about 2 or 3 courses up from the ground at your local DIY shed - not expensive - either in a roll or pieces - then (and I appreciate you'll need some help with this bit considering your dicky ticker), if you can someone to lift up each corner (ever so slightly) in turn and slide the membrane between the ground and the wooden blocks/rail that form the very bottom of your shed, you will buy yourself a lot more time - this is a cheat I've used when I have inherited sheds before and it does help tremendously.

Obviously ideally you'd move the whole shed and put one big single piece underneath but thats not a go-er here

If you can do this, the damp spots should dry out, especially in the summer (with perhaps some heat applied inside via a fan heater) - once dried out get the Zinc paint on with a few coats - let that dry out and then covert whole area with your preservative of choice.

Job done!

Rod, if you do try to put a membrane underneath your shed you could use a scissor type car jack to give lift without straining back muscles or even involving additional assistance. If space is tight a long bar over a brick can be used as a fulcrum, but that will need help!

Thanks Mark for your suggestions, that is a great idea, just need to get son-in-laws round now to lift the shed for me while I slide that DPM in. Only thing is the shed is about 2’ away on both sides, so it maybe a bit of a struggle. I will keep you posted on that…

Peter has I have explained to Mark, it maybe a bit tight between the garage and the back fence that leads on to the playing fields, but the scissor jack might work, will give it a go when it stops raining up here.