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Box van for use as a garden shed

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mp01

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20 Jun 2010
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Maybe it's a complete flight of fancy, but I'm drawn to the idea of buying a wooden box van to use as a garden shed. The obvious starting questions are where would I get one from, what kind of price am I likely to be looking at, and what might be the transport costs be to get it into my garden?

If anyone has any experience of doing this, or any information relevant at all, I'd be grateful if you could post it to either set me on my way or to help me realise it's a barking idea in the first place.

Cheers.
 
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John Webb

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Occasionally a heritage railway will decide it has some surplus stock - main drawback is that it's probably an item which is in need of extensive repairs. The other thing is that these items are weighty and you would need to check your ground conditions and provide a reasonable foundation for it. And ongoing maintenance will be needed.

Costs of moving could be high - you would need a flat-bed lorry of some sort and the hire of a crane at both ends of the trip to get it into place.

As Nym says, a new build item would be cheaper. There are a couple of firms who make garden sheds as replica signal boxes, station buildings or the like.
 

O L Leigh

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A more realistic option might be to find a derelict van body, salvage the metal frame and then replace the timbers. There are still vans dotted around the countryside falling into disrepair and maybe a landowner will be all to pleased to allow you to take one away. Granted there's still a lot of work involved, vehicles required and a decent foundation laid to support the weight, but it might actually be cheaper than buying a complete body from a preservation society.

Just a thought...

O L Leigh
 

mp01

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Thanks to all of you; I think that confirms that it's too impractical.
 

plarailfan

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6 Feb 2013
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There's a few van bodies dotted around some fields near my home, in West Yorkshire.
I look at them fondly when I pass in my car, as a couple of them are close to the tiny country lane I use.
Sadly, none of them would be very happy about being lifted off the ground after all these years. Much of the metal work and the, rather charming, corrugated ends are disintegrating badly, while the wood is too far gone to be of any use - it's affected by woodworm and rot !
As if that weren't enough, transport might be difficult, a lorry with a Hiab crane on board, might not be man enough for the task and the ground (assuming it was in the middle of a field, as some are) might not be solid enough to support an 18 ton lorry, without a load of hardcore being laid at the site.
All of the van bodies, around the area I live, are up to half a mile from the nearest railway and I've often wondered how they got where they are, in the first place !
 
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