Building a shed

[joshg123]

Hi Guys,

Story goes, parent bought an investment property for me to live in. And it has enough room for me to build a decent sized workshop on.

Now, building is something i know SFA about. Got a couple of q's

Concrete - Anyone on here have any hookups or a tradesman that wants a cashie? I need it fairly thick as im putting a hoist on it.

Colourbond/ galv shed.... - Anyone work in the industry that could give me some pointers? In terms of cost, what i can get, how fast i can get it.

And, has anyone recently or previously built a shed that can give me some advice on what to and what not to do?

Any help much appreciated.

Ps - im aware that i may have to submit plans of shed to shire for approval ect ect

[iluv2moan]

what do u consider decent sized? id seriously look into bricking 1 up

[joshg123]

6m x 6m at least

Not bricking it, can take a colourbond one down and move it if need be. Cant with bricks + cost

[iluv2moan]

move the shed and leave a 8" thick 6x6 slab in the ground??

[SSICK]

give me a pm if you want power n lights n shit. have done heaps of sheds before.

[Joe]

Read the series on Autospeed.com about building a shed.

I read it and learned a lot in about sheds that I had no idea about, definitely worth a read!

[joshg123]

give me a pm if you want power n lights n shit. have done heaps of sheds before.

I had you in mind for all my electrics,

there will be a mill, lathe and bay lights to wire in too.

[Miggy]

Can't be too hard my dad and some mates built our shed about 15 years ago and none had done it before..It still stands to this day!

[scj91]

Hey mate.


I work for a company called "Spanbuilt" Sheds.

Pretty sure we have two 6x6m's sitting in port hedland as they tried to order Stage 2 Cyclonic sheds in a Stage 3 Cyclone zone.

These are kit sheds by the way,come with all the shit needed for it to be put together.

And another thing,these sheds come with a single garage door,that should be demanded i'm guessing?


I'll chase em up and see what price i can get you.

[iluv2moan]

just a random google find

http://www.buyashed.com.au/6mx9m-garage-with-workshop-p-165.html?zenid=cf30285f8da32a43d155ff70c8ab7770

[joshg123]

Hey mate.


I work for a company called "Spanbuilt" Sheds.

Pretty sure we have two 6x6m's sitting in port hedland as they tried to order Stage 2 Cyclonic sheds in a Stage 3 Cyclone zone.

These are kit sheds by the way,come with all the shit needed for it to be put together.

And another thing,these sheds come with a single garage door,that should be demanded i'm guessing?


I'll chase em up and see what price i can get you.

Wicked :) thanks

[vk-308]

Recently put up a 6.6m x 9m shed in my backyard, with 2 electric roller doors and a pa door

Did the concreting myself, concrete came to just over $1000 for roughy 80-90mm thick, plus bout 70 for hiring concrete trowel.

Shed itself came to about 5500-6g for materials. Was going to put it up myself but after gettin few mates over and having a crack and realising the only plans they had are just a general guide and very basic, figured i was better off goin to work to make the money to pay experts to do it in half the time i could. Came to bout 2500 to put it up and took 2 days.

Electrician was 2500 cash.( i thought it was pricey but he reckoned he was looking after me because he wants me to do some cashies for him)this was for rcd in meter box,shed was bout 15m from box(i dug trench),box down in shed with rcd for lights and power points,2 double power points,2 single powerpoints(for garage doors) and four flouro lights

As for things to watch out for make sure you know what type of shed your getting before you do slab. i made my slab bigger than it needed to be so i would have stacking room out behind shed,presuming my shed finished flusch with the concrete with a bottom rail. Turns out slab needed to be exact size as sheets hang down past concrete so had to get out the concrete cutter and cut my slab down to size lol.

Shed was originally planned to be 7x9 but had to cut it down to 6.6 as council wont let you build anything over 60sqm without getting engineer approval.may be different in your area

[scj91]

Wicked :) thanks



I'll have the answer for you tomorrow as the boss is in queensland,bit late over there.

They are a 6x6m with two garage roller doors.

Win!

[SSICK]

Electrician was 2500 cash.( i thought it was pricey but he reckoned he was looking after me because he wants me to do some cashies for him)this was for rcd in meter box,shed was bout 15m from box(i dug trench),box down in shed with rcd for lights and power points,2 double power points,2 single powerpoints(for garage doors) and four flouro lights



sorry dude but you got totally ripped.

the materials would have cost him less than $300 and he should have done it in half a day if you dug the trench.

[Smoked]

ouuuuch.

we built a decent sized 3 door wide shed on our farm in mt barker..
when you put it up keep it tied in place with rope and stakes because ours fell over mid construction. luckily noone was injured as it came down in a big scissor action .. funny to watch but it was annoying..

[vk-308]

sorry dude but you got totally ripped.

the materials would have cost him less than $300 and he should have done it in half a day if you dug the trench.

I saw the invoice for the four flouros which came to $320 so i would have though materials would have come to atleast $700-800 taking into account all conduit,brackets,cable, rcd box thing etc spent about 9-10 hours here over 2 days so yeh would have thought 1500 would be reasonable.

Did a very neat job for example drilling into shed beams at roof and running conduit down inside of shed beams to power point so u dont see the cable comin down the front etc.

But yeh i think i did get screwed serves me right for not getting a quote off him and trusting that he would look after me as i did when working on his house.

[joshg123]

Excellent,

Vk - How did you do the concrete yourself. Was it a simple matter of just mixing bulk bags of cement? Or did you get a truck in.

[iluv2moan]

truck!

slabs gotta dry slowely in 1 go. ud neve be able to make 100 mixes quick enough

[deeman111]

Depending how you do your shed, they sometimes recommend building the frame, then laying the slab... Then you can put the panels on the shed.

Others Just bolt onto the slab. If thats the case, try and get the slab as level as possible, or have a lot of silicone handy for making the thing water tight.

-James

[vk-308]

Yeh got a truck in. screeded it and formed up edges myself and jus had 2 of us on a barrow wheeling it in. Then jus screed it off as you bring it in.Helps that i had all the right tools and a laser level layin around.

Didnt know how to put in the expansion joints but so have a few hairline cracks in the slab visible but its a shed after all..

[esky]

note for next time, throw some reo mesh in it if you don't want cracks. its the only way to stop it cracking.

[Saf]

Ive just spent near on 2 years renovating my house, sadly the one mistake i made was that i should have driven a D9 thru the house, and built a garage in prefab under the house, washbay, scissor lift, half a dozen bays etc.

But, the few things ive done in my garage that work well ...

- Run a new 3 phase line from meterbox, and setup a new sub-board with circuits for power, lights, compressor, a/c and so on. And install a 3 phase plug near it. Ive never used it, but you never know.

- measure how many power points you want, and double it. Drop a double gpo each couple meters, bit more frequent around the bench.

- Same with air lines. And run airline outlest either side of front roller door for external access.

- Same with lights. Go more, than less with twin baton lights. I have daylight in my workshop, and shadowing isnt a large concern.

- I had to build off boundary becuase of sewage line on my property, hated it then, best thing now. Reason is i put the pad 3m off the rear fence, and have that now as a wash bay. Need wash bay to keep everything else nice and clean. But this means you need a rear roller door.

- A/C. Do it. Its not a wanky feature, but is awesome in summer and winter. Its not like its in a house, but does make a considerable difference if you seal it up a bit.

- Consider bricking up. Your not going to take it with you if you sell, it will only add value to the house, but if its a budget blowout, then can it and go with metal.

[mek]

You might also want to get someone who is handy with civil engineering and re-bar to have a look at the slab if you are putting in a hoist as the point loads will be pretty high...might need some localised thickening.

[vnformula]

I cant supply kits as such put if you work out what ya need can get all the materials, can supply the reo for the slab as well

[ben351]

Here is some quick blue prints i knock up for you ... should suit your style !!!

http://users.tpg.com.au/pschamb/cubby1.jpg

[Miami]

One cool thing I've seen in a "show off your workshop/shed" type thread was spotlights installed in the FLOOR under the hoist. Were recessed, so sat flush with the floor. seemed like a brilliant idea to me.

[NVIOUS]

think i'd rather just use a portable LED light under a hoist then have lights in the floor, would get annoying i think.
The single most important thing to plan is the correct fridge to hold enough alcohol ;)

[joshg123]

Woof Woof Ben

Cheers boys, that buyashed.com has some good deals. Just need to get into the house and get the bobcat out and start ripping shit up

[iluv2moan]

look ho wmuch some of the extras are but!!! i say 5k and thought cheap as - then an extra 1k for a stronger wind rating shed + 500 for colourbond +......

kinda got scary!!

im still all for bricks but

[jagerbomb]

im studying civil engineering at uwa. worked with a building company for 18 months until just recently, where we built some big-ass sheds down at CSBP kwinana (ie 150m x 50m) lol

currently about to build a shed on my property (6m x 12m), which involves the same principles just on a smaller scale.

heres some pointers:

buy a good shed. get experts to help you. make it as big as u can.

our shed is brand new, colourbond, top of the range, really high (u prob wont need as high), has 3 roller doors, 2 personal access doors.. cost 18 grand - in pieces, no slab. (slab has been designed tho). u should be able to get a real good 6m x 8m shed, 2 roller doors (better than sliding) and 3.5 m high for about 10g. even less if second hand. if u want a specific size, its easier to get it designed, plus then u'll have the drawings to give to council.

plan of action:

1. decide on EXACT location (site measure), allowing for required clearance from boundaries, existing services and buildings and allowing access for machinery (concrete truck, and rigging equipment in particular - u dont want have cramped working space or be wheelbarrowing concrete cos the truck cant get to the other end of the slab). consult ur local council building regs. get an idea of where u will source power, and think about getting a water tank to catch the run-off (could be handy)

2. clear a big space - no vegetation within about 3 metres, especially big trees, as the roots can crack the slab.

3. excavate (with bobcat etc) to a depth of 500mm below the slab, and backfill with clean fill (sand). it will then need to compacted very well up to the required level and screeded. make sure it is surveyed properly at this point to make sure its level. (u dont want to end up short of concrete cos it was on the slant or uneven). using blinding (low-strength concrete) as an under-layer to the slab can be a good idea.

4. slab will need to be about 100mm thick and properly reinforced (mesh). it will need to be thicker (150mm) on the edges to avoid cracking/breaking especially if the columns are located there. extra concrete in a 500 x 500 square under each column would be preferable.

5. get a polyethylene (black plastic) liner to keep out the moisture and protect the slab if you havent used blinding. u will need to source formwork for the edges of the slab. long, wide planks are good, (6 or 8 inch by 2inch)

6. the concrete will need to be about 32MPa (strength measure), with 10mm aggregate. (called 32-10).

7. when you pour the concrete, it is best to have someone there who knows concrete and how to screed it properly. a big slab will probably need a helicopter (mechanical trowel). DONT do it when its raining!

8. the best kind of shed is one that you can bolt into the slab (using dynabolts), otherwise u will have to embed the bolts into the concrete (tied to the mesh). this is an exact process as the position of the bolts will need to exactly match the holes in the column base-plates. if they're off slightly, then ur screwed.

9. allow 5-7 days for the concrete to harden

10. get someone to erect the shed for you, or at least have someone there who knows how to properly rig up and plumb the frame.

11. when working on the roof or at height, try not to work off a ladder. building a platform is a much better go. the last thing u want is an avoidable accident to ruin everything.

i know a guy who owns a concreting company that can help u out with all the materials, machinery and a bit of expertise. very likeable irish fellow, and his boys work hammer and tongs.

lets say u'd have a 6m x 8m slab, u'd be looking at 5 cubic metres (1 truck plus a bit) of concrete at $150 per m3. cupl hundred for the mesh, 100 for hire of formwork, 50 for the plastic.. cupl hours bobcat hire to prep the site (80 an hour), hire of compactor (100 per day), 1 days labour (2 guys) to set out the slab and erect the formwork and mesh, and a hour ar so for a helicopter, and a few extra hands to help with the concrete pour.

hope that helps. lol. it actually helped me out to write it all down cos i have to do it myself in the next few weeks! haha

[SSICK]

hit us up if you want it wired for power n lights n shit. lol.

[joshg123]

Sounds wicked man, so how do i go about getting in contact with your friend?

Ill prob prep the site myself, however formwork, crete, and professional dudes to do the screeding and making sure its tip top would be what i need :)

[Joe]

READ THE AUTOSPEED.COM ARTICLES ON BUILDING A SHED :)

[jagerbomb]

i'll give him a ring and see what he reckons..

prob jus need a couple things:

how bigs the slab and the shed gonna be roughly?

wats it gonna be used for? - special loading conditions may need to be considered..

wat suburb? and approximately when?

[esky]

jagerbomb haha 18months into engineering degree and over specifying stuff already. Your well on you way to be an engineer :D

20/20 is fine for a shed slab unless you want to service hallpacks. 32/10 cost like $50 a cube more, so 5 cube extra $250.

also after pouring slab will need curing, let hose run over it for a few days.

other then this jager's description is pretty much spot on.

[joshg123]

READ THE AUTOSPEED.COM ARTICLES ON BUILDING A SHED :)

I did, thanks Joe

I probably should add that ive built sheds/paved/built walls ect before. But i want this to be spot on, no fuckups.

Umm, im still deciding between 6m x 6m or 6m x 9m. Special loading conditions are that id like to put a small 2 poster hoist on it at some point. Suburb is Heathridge and time frame would be at least a couple of months. Still got a lot to do.

[jagerbomb]

jagerbomb haha 18months into engineering degree and over specifying stuff already. Your well on you way to be an engineer :D

lol. gotta be a F*ing good slab!! haha

also, the grano's will know exactly wat concrete is best, but they'll want to water it down to make it easier to work. need at least 80 slump dammit!!

[SSICK]

I did, thanks Joe

I probably should add that ive built sheds/paved/built walls ect before. But i want this to be spot on, no fuckups.

Umm, im still deciding between 6m x 6m or 6m x 9m. Special loading conditions are that id like to put a small 2 poster hoist on it at some point. Suburb is Heathridge and time frame would be at least a couple of months. Still got a lot to do.

put a 32mm HD (orange) electrical conduit in the slab and bring it out with a 90deg bend right next to the hoist and the other end bring next to a support beam with a 90deg bend. make it look pro.

[iluv2moan]

hit us up if you want it wired for power n lights n shit. lol.

couple of questions relating to electrical side of things.

we just bought a 250 amp single phase tig welder which uses a 32amp 3 phase plug. (just that only 3 of the pins are used)

ultimately, we need to have some sort of plug in our residential garage to plug the welder into.

we bought a 3phase plug with built in clipsal fuse (very chunky metal power socket) and have 3 phase power at our house for the air con system but no plugs.

what would be required to get everything up and running - can u run a single phase machine through a 3 phase power supply? or will the box that we bought need to be rewired for single phase input?

cant see us ever usign maximum current draw from welder but will normal residential power supply meet its demands??