As the winter was drawing in, we were in need of a big pile of wood to burn, and a place to put it.

It needed to meet certain criteria:

Fit into the only place in my garden that was spare!
Be large enough to hold a winters worth of wood.
Not cost more than last years gas bill.

Step 1: 3d/cgi Design Stage

I decided I needed to work out my design properly... and use it to order the correct amount of wood. As a computer user, I did the basic previz of the design in 3dmax, but you could just as easily use sketchup or even.... a piece of paper!. So using a few photos mapped onto planes... I could replicate the basic geometry using arrays. It gave me a good idea of what id need to build and an exact amount of wood to order.

Step 2: Surprise

I used:

10 of 2"x2" (2.4m)
6 of 2"x4" (2.4m)
8 of 3m kick board planks

all treated for outdoor use, and from chambers timber Leyton. (£105)

1 sheet of coratherm dual layered clear roof sheet
1 x pack of 10 fixings £30

total £135

I also used a bucket of decking screws I had left over.
I used a compound mitre saw
and a Bosch drill

Step 3: Shelves and Roof Frame

I made the the horizontal bits first. (3 x frames)

I made the 2 shelves as frames from the 2 x 2. they were 2.4 m long and 30cm deep, and had 5 noggins along the length. then I cut the planks to screw along the top faces of the shelves. The top frame, which was to be the roof.... was similar construction but deeper.... as it would be used at an angle! all njust cut and screwed together.

Step 4: Uprights and Assembly

the six vertical bit were then cut to fit.
I laid them down alongside the shelves on the ground (so they were the correct width)
and then marked the angle of the roof I wanted across both.
so this meant the roof would have the correct angle cut on both uprights.....based on the width of the frame id build for it. hope that makes sense?
anyway... I basically did it all on the ground before I cut the angles.

the assembly was slightly tricky due to the space... but I got a friend to help me hold bits as I screwed them together. 3 screws through each vertical into the shelves.

Step 5: The Roof

I got a sheet of corratherm from b&q for £25 and I was a perfect fit for the roof size. I didn’t even need to cut it but just drill some holes for the correct fixings - which are the little white buttons. You screw them in and then cover the tops with little grommets to keep them water proof. voilà

Step 6: Girlfriend Vs Circular Saw

My girlfriend helped me to cut 25-30 pieces of the kick board planks at 30cm lengths using the chopsaw. I then pre drilled then screwed them all onto the verticals.. It became very sturdy and heavy at this point. The idea was that the planks would allow air to circulate... but still give good support to stack against.

Sarah still had most of her fingers and arms afterwards! awesome!