I live in a country where Health and Safety is drilled into the subconscious to the point of paranoia which is affecting my build progress (the lack thereof). Let me explain....

I really want to build a car and the only space I have is my 10ft x 16ft wooden shed. It has power and light and I would need to move out a bunch of stuff in order to have enough space for a build but I think it could be big enough. Here's where the paranoia comes in; I'd be welding and cutting metal in a 'building' that is not up to code so I'm thinking of building a proper garage in order to build my car. Having a safe, solid environment would be great right but at what cost? Building a full-on garage will cost way more than building a car in my existing shed.

Is my paranoia justified or should I throw caution to the wind and just get stuck in?

To be fair we did get that alert about not doing BBQ's at the moment...

That being said, I don't feel a wooden shed is any worse than other build environments. My particular garage is bricks and mortar, but I also do woodwork in there. I've welded directly over sawdust and not thought how dangerous things were until after the event.

If you want to be safe on a budget, how about some fireproof curtains on the walls? My wife did order me to buy a fire extinguisher before I started, of course my build took so long that it actually expired long before my car was finished!

The only other thing that springs to mind is the floor. While you're building you'll have heavy weights concentrated on fairly small contact areas, even more so when you start adding an engine etc. If it's a typical wooden shed with a raised floor, you'll be putting holes in it in no time. If you're working direct on slabs, concrete or similar then you'll be fine.

In my experience wood is fairly hard to set fire to with welding spatter and droplets. It smoulders a bit and makes black marks but I've never had it actually catch fire. Keeping the area clean and tidy (not my strong point!) is more important than the timber of the shed as bits of packaging, rags, polythene, cardboard etc do catch quite easily with welding spatter and even sparks from grinding (ask how I know!). I managed to stamp out a burning cardboard box before it caught the timber near it! Lesson learnt...

A fire extinguisher nearby is a very good idea.

The other thing to watch out for is the slow burn - something could smoulder for a while unseen and eventually catch. When we issued hot works permits at work (construction) they always insisted on a "cool down period" of one hour where the worker remains on site for one hour after the last hot work to ensure this doesn't happen.

You could buy some 24 g. Steel panels and tack nail them to the walls
And get a fire protector sheet and lay it on the floor
Also 2or 3 fire extinguisher put one at the back and the others near the doors

The other thing I do if I’ve been welding is go back and check for smoke and fire a few minutes after finishing
Work
Graham

I think I’ll plead the fifth on this one!!!


IMG_0496B[ /url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/uggspics1/]A H, on Flickr

I've welded and ground/cut over a wooden bench for many years without issue. Only time it's has been is if you going very close the the timber and the sparks are collecting in one spot, it might smoulder. Welding spatter is too dispersed for that.

Other flammables in the area are a bigger worry than solid wood. Paper, card, rags etc. If your shed floor is boards watch out for stuff gatering in the cracks. Keep your fire extinguisher handy but in most cases just a plant sprayer of water will deal with most stuff if your quick enough.

Thanks folks. I will crack on with my build in my shed AND I'll make sure I've got at least 2 fire extinguishers and will look into getting fire curtains. The advice to wait after welding is sound so I'll make sure there are obvious, or not so obvious hazards before I finish up a welding session.

I've got a bit of work to do secure all the crap I need to clear out first though.

Much appreciated.

If you're really concerned just piant your shed with intumescent paint or plaster board it.

and fit a smoke alarm, but get one with a 'hush' function so you can silence it for a few minutes.