A Humble Aussie Shed Build

[Danshell]

Thanks very much for the words of encouragement it is appreciated. It has taken us 3 years from purchase of the land to handover day and the hard work is only just about to begin!

Wow looks awesome!

Since you are putting so much work into your house and shed on your type of land and the conditions of Tasmania, you should consider getting seals around your garage doors. The seals will help keep the cold, dust and insects from entering your shed. Check out cleverseal.com based in Sydney and delivery to Tasmania

Enjoy the build anyway as it looks like you will have your hands full.

Hi Pratstar we are in a BAL rated area so our garage had to be sealed for the fire rating. Im not sure what brand of seals they though but even the tops of the roller doors has a brush seal on it.

 

[Geoff289]

That's sensational to be getting the keys soon. Hope the move in goes well and that it turns out to be everything you wanted it to be.

I guess like me you're keen to start posting stuff about the actual garage which I for one am looking forward to reading.

Good luck with it all.

 

[Danshell]

That's sensational to be getting the keys soon. Hope the move in goes well and that it turns out to be everything you wanted it to be.

I guess like me you're keen to start posting stuff about the actual garage which I for one am looking forward to reading.

Good luck with it all.

Thanks Geoff and yes, the reason I am here is for the garage and the projects I do in it.

Ill be a few weeks away from getting the garage where I need it (actually it'll be years but you know what I mean!) before Ill be too active in my projects.

 

[Danshell]

We had our hand over on a nice wet afternoon.

First impressions of the actual build quality are mixed.

Cabinetry very good...although one top draw in the office just scrapes the benchtop when it opens and the metal draw bodies are a bone colour not white.
Everything else so far is spot on.

Flooring very good. However a couple of the bedroom doorways you can feel the saw tooth through the carpet and the the ensuite entry where the bedroom carpet meets the tiles has had the carpet pulled too tight and it has just exposed the backing material of the carpet. The should be able to fix it by putting an edge strip on it.

Tiling is 100% first class. I had a feeling when I met with the tiler to discuss the layout that he was very switched on.

General fit out in regards to plastering and trims is very good and you can see a lot of attention to detail.

Pretty happy with the lighting and wiring detail, which was our baby so it is hard to complain if we didn't like it!

All services, hot water, heating, treatment plant, roller doors etc work as you would expect.
The Daikin ducted heating system works extremely well. The house is well insulated so that would help. But it is a bit louder than I had anticipated, it think a panel on the steel body is a bit loose and it rattles every now and then. Ill have a look when I can walk out there without getting bogged.

Its only been 2 days but so far zero condensation and the conditions for it have been there, so we are happy about that.

The only disappointing aspect of the finish is the paint work.

Being a spray painter by trade perhaps I expect too much in regards to finish but I'll just say his paint work is rough at best.

He hasn't taken the time to clean up any poor edging around the windows or anywhere for that matter when he has cut the paint in.
His arch's and skirting painting is a bit thin in places and he hasn't even wiped the dust off before painting them in some sections.
All the doors are coated ok but again a few of them have the odd small run, nothing major but just lacking attention to detail or pride in his workmanship.
The front door is appalling.
I'll get some photos when I get time.

But overall we are happy with it and those few minor detail I am sure the builder will rectify when I get him back out here and show him.

No photos of the dirt work yet but we spent all the first day spreading 80t of gravel with a mini skid steer bobcat. It was a wet and wild day. One bogged truck and I even dropped the little bobcat into a hole where I shouldn't have been and got it bogged at one stage But we managed to get the driveway and car parking spaces usable and livable for now.

Some pics of the inside. They were taken at night under lights so the colouring is really weird for some reason. They all look a bit brown, however the greys are a little bit 'cooler' than the pics would suggest.

Entry

'Theatre' Room

Pantry (Some top cupboards are to be installed here)

Kitchen

Office (some top cupboards are to be installed here)

Hallway and Linen

Some Bedroom pics.....not all of them but you get the idea!

Ensuite

Main Bathroom

Main Dunny

Laundry (this has an indoor clothesline and shelving system to be fitted)

And finally the Lounge/Dining area

As soon as the truck hire place opens Ill pick up the removalist truck and start hauling everything over.

No pics of the garages yet...........they will come

 

[Danshell]

Over the next few weeks (I took 6 weeks leave from work) I have a large 'to do' list.

Mount 5 TV's on the walls.
Install extra cabinetry work.
Install Laundry clothesline and shelving.
Fit out the Walk in Wardrobe.
Lots of new furniture to put together!

Pour the slab for the extra 'lean-to' off the side of my main garage.
Put the lean to up.
Concrete between the house and shed and a path from outside door to garage PA door.
Organise garage!!

If I get all that done while I am on holidays i'll be happy.

There is a massive amount of dirt work to do on the outside but it is just too wet to bother at the moment and I doubt itll get a lot better until spring.

 

[HOTFR8]

Looking good. That list will keep you busy.

 

[Geoff289]

Looks great Dan. I'm envious you are moving in.

All in order at Winton on the weekend.

 

[anth]

Beautiful home you have there, enjoy the next few weeks!

 

[hewey]

Looks like it's come together great. Good luck with the to do list.

 

[Danshell]

Thanks for the interest and comments gents.

Day 3 of moving furniture and boxes.......hopefully the last trip though. It is the best part of 2 hours round trip from the old house to the new, so that hasn't helped.

 

[Danshell]

I was hesitant to post in my thread because I dont want to be disrespectful to Steve 1/2 cups family, but I think Steve wouldn't have it any other way so...

The day we took over the house it was wet and wild and very muddy so we had to spread 70 or so tonne of gravel out the front just so we could move in and start using the house........here is yours truly in front of the garage.

And a pic of the gravel process to show that is was happening!

I have managed to get a few things on the 'to do list' done but apparently I am not allowed to show them until they are 'styled' properly!

But the top cupboard in the office are built and installed and I have permission to show these

The most important thing is that I am finally getting to the actual shed build.

For those that have been following, the main garage is a 6m x 12m or approx (20 x 40) built from a typical Aussie steel portal framed construction, as you can see from the pic above.

The garage is currently so full of unpacked boxes, car, camper etc you can barely walk into it. So to be able to turn it into my workshop/man cave we are building a 2m x 10.5m lean-to off the side of it.

This lean-to will not only serve as the store room (it will have wall to wall shelving both sides), it will also have the toilet built into it and a distilling area

My youngest son is a builder for a large construction company. So we were in good hands prepping the slab. Although I will say that what he wanted and what I was willing to do didn't quite meet but the prep was good enough and fit for purpose for my use.

We had to make some temporary 'retainer's' to hold all the material that we dug out. There is eventually going to be a retaining wall in this general area that will house the plants that grow up our rock wall anyway.

We then proceeded to dig out 200mm of wet and sticky clay. It took two of us 6 hours to do it by hand. Had I known he wanted so much material removed I would have hired a mini excavator but there were none available at the time and I need to get this thing up.

I was 4 inches taller by the end of the day..

There was one rock that was 20-30mm too high that we couldnt dig out so we had to break the top off it to get it below grade.

Once we dug it out, we than had to put 100mm of gravel back into it so he could use his compacting machine to give us a nice hard base. (he wanted at least 200mm of base material but I drew the line and cried tired old man so he compromised on 100mm)

This week once the rain stops I will form it up, dig the piers for the portal framing and have the toilet plumbing laid.

If everything goes to plan he is coming over Friday afternoon with his lazer to make sure I have it level and we will put the plastic and steel down to pour it Saturday Morning.

 

[HOTFR8]

I was hesitant to post in my thread because I dont want to be disrespectful to Steve 1/2 cups family, but I think Steve wouldn't have it any other way so...

I see no disrespect. In fact I know he would want to see your updates.

 

[Coolabah]

Looking good Dan !!
Your shed/garage is the exact same size as mine - how high is it ? ( sorry if I missed/forgot that ? )

 

[Geoff289]

Lookin' good Dan. My place will be ready for landscaping in about 3 months if you and your son want to book your tickets over.

 

[Danshell]

I see no disrespect. In fact I know he would want to see your updates.

Thanks mate, I thought as much

Looking good Dan !!
Your shed/garage is the exact same size as mine - how high is it ? ( sorry if I missed/forgot that ? )

It is 2.4 at the lowest point, and I think around 2.9 or so at the peak. I originally ordered a 3.2 but the builder/local council 'supposedly' wouldn't allow it.

Lookin' good Dan. My place will be ready for landscaping in about 3 months if you and your son want to book your tickets over.

Im pretty sore still from shoveling all that clay and gravel, it wouldnt be my career choice thats for sure.

 

[hewey]

Great update, looking forward to watching how you set things up.

 

[Terrick down Under]

You have got so much done, it is looking fantastic. Great work.

 

[Jayman17]

Very nice looking place you have there and a great view as well.
Thanks for posting

Jay

 

[Danshell]

Soooo back to the shed extension.......

As mentioned before we dug it out and then refilled it with gravel, packed it down, formed it up, put the steel in and poured the concrete.

Then I put the lean to up in same construction manner as the rest of the shed.

We had some major weather during the build but I pushed on anyway.

For some reason I didnt really get any 'during' photos, but we framed up the internal wall, fitted the door way to the Loo and to the storage area and plastered the internal wall.

I had a heap of insulation left over from a past project so I insulated the internal walls where I could.
Excuse the poor framing of the Loo but my builder son did the main wall as you would expect a professional to do it and when he left I framed the Loo trying to make use of the left over' material so I didnt have to buy any more!

The shed extension was to house the Loo, the storage area and the 'brewing' bench! It's terribly unorganised and unfinished at the moment but there are a couple of pics to give you and idea of what it will be like.


Brewing end....

Storage end....

And of course the main garage area, again very unorganised and far from finished but this is what I am working towards.

There is so much stuff that needs to be sorted and sent to charity yet to give me the room I want in the shed but Ill get there eventually.

I have a lot of finishing off to do, such as flashing around the external walls, and finishing and painting the plastering etc but again itll all come in due course.

I am back to work tomorrow after 6 weeks off so depression is about to set in

One last pic of the top cupboard in the butlers pantry that I also installed during my holidays....

What the pics dont show is all the work involved in getting plumbing for the garage in lace, the pit drains and general drainage work around the property that I did and the massive amount of organising it has taken just to get the shed and storage area workable after moving it from one house to this one.

Anyway, getting there, not as finished as I hoped over the last 6 weeks but I managed to get enough done to understand what it will look like moving forward.

 

[Geoff289]

Good work Dan!

I'm envious of both the space you have to work with and that are actually doing garage related stuff.

Bummer that you have to go back to work.

Cheers.

 

[Danshell]

Thanks Geoff, still a lot of organising to do yet before I can get into too much QST

I found a few more photos that must be 'approved' for upload

Kmart Lights and Stools!

Kids Bathroom

Rumpus or Theatre Room

All Kmart Styling apparently

New Dining Table

Outdoor setting

 

[rixtrix1]

Beautiful home and shop . Great view off the patio, too!

 

[Danshell]

It has been a little while since I posted anything, mainly due to twork commitments and the weather not really allowing me to get any dirt work done around the place.

But I did manage to finish my garage wall and toilet etc in regards to painting.
And we are finally in a position to actually start some projects.

The divider wall that separates the storeroom and toilet from the main garage.

You probably need to be Aussie to understand this but this is what my wife and kids call 'Bogan Central' where I had some decals printed of my Football team and of course my love of everything Ford.

The Garage Toilet.....which im sure no one really wants to look at but there you go
I am planning on putting a small vanity on the left hand side wall at some stage.

Not Garage related and given how big this area is in the US ill either get laughed at or beat up for posting this very amature outfit but I bought myself a cheap little barrel smoker from one of our big box stores.
I love the taste of smoked meat and I love outdoor low and slow cooking or just barbequing in general so I wanted to test the waters with a cheap simple little smoker.

My first try I cooked a small brisket and a pork shoulder and it tasted fantastic.
Ive since been binge watching youtube channels on the topic so I am keen for next weekend when I can try the stuff I have learnt from those videos!

And Finally I charged the battery, pumped up the tyres and pressure washed my sons 1994 Toyota Supra as this will be the first major Garage project so I can get it painted and out of my way for a real project car with some v8 grunt

And thats it for now. The weather is starting to turn to spring so hopefully over the next 6 months I will get quite a bit of outside work done that is desperately needed.

I am very keen to get this Supra painted and out of my garage so Ill post up the progress of that as it happens.

 

[hewey]

House is coming along nice.

The decals in the garage are a nice touch. Though it seems you're more optimistic about Ford wins at Bathurst than Richmond taking out more than one premiership - with how much room you've left for more dates to be added

The smoked meat looks great. We got one of those Jamie Oliver fake charcoal webbers with no air controls as a Christmas present. Tried it once and heaps of stuffing around and no discernible flavour difference to a regular oven, so got fairly disenchanted with it. But the pink smoke layer on yours looks great.

 

[Danshell]

House is coming along nice.

The decals in the garage are a nice touch. Though it seems you're more optimistic about Ford wins at Bathurst than Richmond taking out more than one premiership - with how much room you've left for more dates to be added

The smoked meat looks great. We got one of those Jamie Oliver fake charcoal webbers with no air controls as a Christmas present. Tried it once and heaps of stuffing around and no discernible flavour difference to a regular oven, so got fairly disenchanted with it. But the pink smoke layer on yours looks great.

Thanks Hewy.

Yeh I put the Bathurst wins sticker up first and when I went to do the Richmond one I realised if I wanted it level with the Bathurst wins it doesnt allow a lot of room for another row.
I do have enough room for one more row, itll just be crowded or Ill be so old by then I wont even bother

 

[Geoff289]

Thanks Hewy.

Yeh I put the Bathurst wins sticker up first and when I went to do the Richmond one I realised if I wanted it level with the Bathurst wins it doesnt allow a lot of room for another row.
I do have enough room for one more row, itll just be crowded or Ill be so old by then I wont even bother

Done the Richmond one yet? First leg of the quinella on Sat, one to go in a couple of weeks.

We share these allegiances. Although I don't pay much attention to the footy as a rule I do come out of the woodwork when the Tigers are roaring.

 

[Danshell]

Done the Richmond one yet? First leg of the quinella on Sat, one to go in a couple of weeks.

We share these allegiances. Although I don't pay much attention to the footy as a rule I do come out of the woodwork when the Tigers are roaring.

Nah not yet, Ill wait until we get a win in a couple of weeks.

I was never a great footy person either really, motorsport is my thing but at my work you're an outcast if you dont have some sort of footy following and of course my boys enjoy it as well. So thats why we (I) did the 'bogan' wall

We have been busy doing a lot of dirt work and started planted some tree's around the place. Hopefully we can throw some grass seeds this weekend and finally get a back yard to put the clothesline up.

I am off to an auction at our local block and paver place on Saturday to hopefully get some pallets of 2nds retaining wall. The wall in the back yard is 30 metres long so its a bit pricey.

 

[frankthezapper]

I've seen a couple of great retaining walls made from old car tyres, "just" lay them on the ground, fill with excavated dirt, ram dirt down, place another layer on top, repeat till you've reached the top. Maybe a few zip ties or fencing wire to hold them together.

 

[HOTFR8]

How is that Bogan? If your whole house was perhaps in Richmond colors I would say Bogan. Nice touch on the Garage wall.

 

[Danshell]

I've seen a couple of great retaining walls made from old car tyres, "just" lay them on the ground, fill with excavated dirt, ram dirt down, place another layer on top, repeat till you've reached the top. Maybe a few zip ties or fencing wire to hold them together.

Yeh great idea really, especially to get rid of old tyres. It wouldnt suit this particular wall though as the bride would soon put a stop to it I think.

And of course the good thing about a tyre retaining wall is less damage to your car if you hit it at speed

How is that Bogan? If your whole house was perhaps in Richmond colors I would say Bogan. Nice touch on the Garage wall.

True mate thanks. I did have a mullet at one stage in my life though.......

 

[hewey]

We're not huge AFL fans, but my wife works at Sydney Olympic Park which is home of the Giants. So we had a mate over on Saturday and watched the game to cheer them on. I think a flogging is the accurate term! The scoreboard reflected the game too I think. Having said that, still a Giants fan, and it's great overall to see them finding their feet in the heart of NRL territory and mixing things up.

 

[Danshell]

Nothing great to report but the weather is finally getting nice enough to do some more dirt work.

We had the large clay bank cut back a bit so I can start the retaining wall.

Our house was a waffle slab so the finished floor level was approx 400mm or so higher than the ground. We have brought in 100's of tonnes of fill to get it up to where we wanted it.

And finally got some nicer soil down and seeds thrown.

As for QST, the diesel heater I installed wasnt really cutting it on the freezing cold Tassie nights. I didnt want to spend a lot money so I grabbed some old truck brake drums and took the exhaust from the same wrecked truck to build some sort of wood burning pot belly.

It is nothing like some of the great builds on here especially our old mate 1/2 cups but it is simple and works fantastic.

Pretty much just the three drums stacked, held together with a stainless band, hole cut in the bottom with a tray attached to catch the ash and act as a vent, a lid that opens and closes and a baffle in the stack. I used the truck exhaust guard as flue guard...I like the look of it

The most expensive part was the stainless Flue and the silicon boot for the roof! But this thing puts out a lot of heat with very little fire inside it.

And finally possibly the best thing to happen was I talked the young bloke into getting rid of his project car as is so it isnt sitting in my garage taking up room
He bought the thing a couple of years ago and he is at the age where girls and socialising is more important so it was going to be a very long drawn out restoration that he didnt seem to have a lot of interest in. It sold very easily as this model Supra is popular apparently.

I now finally have some real space in my garage for me for a change

 

[HOTFR8]

The heater looks great and you are 100% corrcet on the exhuast protection.

 

[Lwel9226]

It is nothing like some of the great builds on here especially our old mate 1/2 cups but it is simple and works fantastic.

Pretty much just the three drums stacked, held together with a stainless band, hole cut in the bottom with a tray attached to catch the ash and act as a vent, a lid that opens and closes and a baffle in the stack. I used the truck exhaust guard as flue guard...I like the look of it QUOTE]

I think it looks good too.... goodonya...


LynnW

 

[Geoff289]

Coming along nicely Dan.

I really like that shed heater.

 

[Terrick down Under]

You have got a lot done, it all looks good.

 

[Danshell]

Thanks for the interest and comments gents.

Again not a lot of QST but the grass is growing although it is only just starting to warm up.

We also purchased our youngest daughter her first car. It is just a low kay, little hyundai automatic so nothing special but besides a few little scrapes and bumps it is in good condition with all its books, service history and the usual repair receipts for the things that go wrong with these little sh!t boxes
It was a cheap little car, well within her/our budget. I wish we could afford a newer, safer (side airbag) car but with 4 kids and trying to be fair to all of them they all had a similar amount spent on them for their first car. Im not a fan of small cars but the girls like them.

I had some wheels here from another little project that I thought looked nice but she didnt like them, so stock wheels and plastic trims it is!!

 

[hewey]

Nice progress, the grass is looking great and so is the garage heater. Nice move on the Hyundai, my wife used to own a Getz, never had any issues and cheap to run.

 

[Geoff289]

Thanks for the interest and comments gents.

Again not a lot of QST but the grass is growing although it is only just starting to warm up.

We also purchased our youngest daughter her first car. It is just a low kay, little hyundai automatic so nothing special but besides a few little scrapes and bumps it is in good condition with all its books, service history and the usual repair receipts for the things that go wrong with these little sh!t boxes
It was a cheap little car, well within her/our budget. I wish we could afford a newer, safer (side airbag) car but with 4 kids and trying to be fair to all of them they all had a similar amount spent on them for their first car. Im not a fan of small cars but the girls like them.

I had some wheels here from another little project that I thought looked nice but she didnt like them, so stock wheels and plastic trims it is!!

A bit of nice grass makes all the difference. Coming along nicely.

I can relate to what you say about equitable treatment of all the kids. I have four too. I don't like small cars either although my partner's turbo diesel VW is fine as it has plenty of torque without too much rpm but tiny petrol cars, particularly autos aren't my thing at all.

 

[Danshell]

Just keeping my humble build trickling along with anything other than shed stuff!

Our driveway was quite steep. It was ok but being so steep made it difficult to maintain because everyone but me would spin corrugations and ruts into it, and coles delivery drivers for instance were too scared to drive their little trucks on it.
So we put a new driveway in lower down the road, which in turn lessened the grade considerably.

I also had a little road put in to give me access down to the bottom of the property so I can start the clean up. Its a huge job but you have to start somewhere.

So I started with a new toy

The grass in the back yard is going well. Every morning we get a couple of little visitors who seem to enjoy feeding on it.

They also enjoy eating all the tree's I have planted so I have started putting wire mesh around them all.

And finally the shed heater is doing its job well on a cold night

Im about to turn my old Greenfield mower into a two seater which will make it a bit wider and safer on the hills around here. Itll be used to tow the little trailer around to collect rocks. It has a locked rear diff so its better on the steep stuff.
So that means Ill finally have a shed project to show instead of all this nothingness