The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction - WEST SYSTEM Epoxy

Chapter 8 – Tools and the Boatshop 69
Figure 8-18 Shelter completed. Plywood walls were used at
both ends to give the structure extra rigidity.
Apply equal tension to the sheets as you tape them
together and put on the tape itself with the greatest
possible pressure. Remember to turn your plastic over
to tape both sides.
If you are particularly concerned about conserving
heat, consider covering your framework with the
heavy cardboard used for appliance shipping crates
before you apply plastic sheeting. When you work on
the interior of your shop, you can fill in your “walls”
with fire-resistant insulating material before sheathing
them with additional cardboard.
After you have pulled the plastic over your framework,
fasten it along the end arches, nailing through a thin
batten to distribute the load evenly. To fasten it at
ground level, place a board over the polyethylene and
drive nails through to the arches. Move inside your
shelter, place more battens over your sheeting and nail
through them to the board.
Floors for polyethylene sheds are expensive and timeconsuming
to make. You can probably make do with a
plastic-covered dirt floor if you plan drainage carefully.
Dig a trench around the perimeter of your structure and
lay polyethylene sheeting over the entire floor area out
into the trench. For a more solid floor surface, cover the
plastic with fiberboard.
If you intend to heat your workshop, we suggest that
you install inside walls to form dead air spaces. You can
do this with an inner polyethylene liner, but heavy
cardboard is a better insulating material and can add
some rigidity to your structure. If you staple and tape
cardboard neatly in place, your shop may begin to look,
at least on the inside, like a real building.
Further heat savings are possible if your building is tall
enough to allow you to nail joists across your arches for
a dropped ceiling. You will find that heated air rises to
the ceiling and investment in a fan will help push it back
down.
Install your heating and electrical systems and your
temporary shelter is ready for a boat. Vent your heater
in an approved manner, using a large flashing if you
must run a stovepipe through an end wall. Avoid coal
and wood stoves because their sparks may damage your
plastic sheathing, and remember that open flames can
ignite some solvents and all woods.