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Reinforcing floor?

Summer&Skye

Summer&Skye

Mama Doe
Has anyone reinforced the floor of a hutch or shed? If so what did u use or what would u recommend? As I've said in other posts, the new hutch iv got has a plywood floor rather than the solid wood I was expecting. It's not a simple matter of 'sending it back' so I'm thinking I may have to reinforce the floor and make the best of it so any advice of how best to do this would be appreciated :wave:
 
Summer&Skye said:
Has anyone reinforced the floor of a hutch or shed? If so what did u use or what would u recommend? As I've said in other posts, the new hutch iv got has a plywood floor rather than the solid wood I was expecting. It's not a simple matter of 'sending it back' so I'm thinking I may have to reinforce the floor and make the best of it so any advice of how best to do this would be appreciated :wave:
Click to expand...

if the floor has some support under it , ie battons or on a concrete base then you cant go wrong with 18mm or even 25mm plywood, incredilbly strong, stronger than traditional house floorboards. put a shhet of plastic membrane down first or even some insulation. im sure your plywood must be 9mm for you to be saying its not very strong
 
Neill said:
if the floor has some support under it , ie battons or on a concrete base then you cant go wrong with 18mm or even 25mm plywood, incredilbly strong, stronger than traditional house floorboards. put a shhet of plastic membrane down first or even some insulation. im sure your plywood must be 9mm for you to be saying its not very strong
Click to expand...

Hi thanks for your reply, the hutch is on legs so no support underneath. I will have a proper look at it tomorrow and see what I can do. I'm not sure how thick it is but when I pushed it from underneath it bent slightly. I'm most worried that any dampness that gets into the gaps around the edges, will cause it to start warping and rotting making it weaker. I've had cheaper store bought hutches in the past where the floors have just peeled away and caved in, I don't want that to happen with this hutch, the idea was for it to last their lifetime! Thanks for ur advice, I'm going to price up some wood this wknd. Would it need to be exterior ply? I will be painting it but I still want it to be as strong as possible.
 
Without seeing the hutch i can not advise to much but 9mm WBP Plywood is fine for the floor or roof of a hutch and its what i use but saying that it don't matter what is used for if the floor it's not supported with joists or whatever.

The floor should be screwed or nailed to the frame it rests on around the edges.

To reinforce it you should place timber supports across the hutch floor, get some timber cut it the shorted distant that spans the hutch. If it's 6ft you should use either 4 or 3 to support the floor. You should screw/nail to the hutch frame and then do the same with the plywood.

If the plywood is 6mm thick then you should replace it to at least 9mm, take the measurements to B&Q and get them to cut one down for you.

In a ideal world the maker should have supplied you with it at least 9mm and be able to fix it down.
 
Daniel said:
Without seeing the hutch i can not advise to much but 9mm WBP Plywood is fine for the floor or roof of a hutch and its what i use but saying that it don't matter what is used for if the floor it's not supported with joists or whatever.

The floor should be screwed or nailed to the frame it rests on around the edges.

To reinforce it you should place timber supports across the hutch floor, get some timber cut it the shorted distant that spans the hutch. If it's 6ft you should use either 4 or 3 to support the floor. You should screw/nail to the hutch frame and then do the same with the plywood.

If the plywood is 6mm thick then you should replace it to at least 9mm, take the measurements to B&Q and get them to cut one down for you.

In a ideal world the maker should have supplied you with it at least 9mm and be able to fix it down.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply, I can't tell how thick it is but it is supported underneath so maybe not as bad as I 1st thought, but I'm still worried about all the nooks and crannies it seems to create. I've started another post with a few pics if u want to have a look...
 
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