An Aussie Barn Build

[Aussie Mike]

Hi All,

I've been a long time reader on here but haven't posted much. I've been admiring every ones garage builds for a long time and got plenty of ideas from you guys. Thanks.

I thought I might post up my shed build and maybe give you an idea of some of the different ways stuff gets built down here in Australia.

I liked our old house when we first moved in about 20 years back. I'd built myself a 30'x30' workshop in the backyard. It was quiet and we had farm land around us and all was right with the world. Years later and the city had expanded and engulfed us. Farms were now replaced with high density housing, neighbours barking dogs, crime and traffic. The next door neighbours car got firebombed by some vandals at 4AM one morning and my mind was made up, we are moving.

My old 30'x30' shed was good for what I was doing but like anything you expand to fit the space you have. Now with a bigger block I figured I'd had a clean sheet of paper and could build a shed that would give me a bit more room to move.

I've always like the American barn style with the raised center section of the shed. One thing I would have loved in the old shed was a hoist but I didn't have enough height to fit one in. The Barn style would give me loads of room without looking too much like a big tin shed.

This time I decided to get some contractors to build the shed as I just don't have the time these days like I did with the old one.

Here's the land scraped and leveled, a layer of crushed rock in and the footings all concreted in.

The guys are putting up the poles. They just bolt to threaded rods in the footings and they can level them up with the nuts top and bottom on the base plate of the uprights.

 

[Aussie Mike]

The frame is all galvanized RHS steel and bolts together. A lot of the kits I'd looked at were made from C purlins and just held together with tek screws. I wanted something sturdy that's built to last.

The uprights and trusses are 4"x6" RHS and they have plates welded to the ends to bolt the frame together.

I look at a lot of the builds on this forum and see butifully built footings and slab work folowed by timber frame work, insulation etc. It's more common to build sheds in steel down here as I guess we have a very different climate and conditions. Steel is proof against termites which can be a real problem out out way. Our weather is baking hot and dry in the summer and just cold and wet in the winter. We don't get anywhere near the low temps you guys get in the US.

The guys got in a scissor lift as it made putting the whole thing up a lot safer and easier. Here the frame is almost completed.

Cladding for the walls and roof is Colorbond steel. Very popular down here as it copes well with our weather conditions and stays looking good for years, doesn't need painting etc. The Barn is starting to take shape.

 

[BarnFab]

sweet so what size u going with ?

Where abouts in OZ r u ?

 

[HOTFR8]

sweet so what size u going with ?

Where abouts in OZ r u ?

Yes, where are you ?

 

[Aussie Mike]

Here the walls are all finished.

Roof and flashings all done.

the new shed measures 12m wide by 16m long (40' wide by 53' long). More than twice the size of the old shed, Hooray!

 

[BarnFab]

cool, is she going to get a concrete floor ?

 

[HOTFR8]

I'm in Sunbury Victoria out the back on the way to the Black Stump.

Just down the road from me. I know the area well.

 

[Aussie Mike]

I managed to save a bit of money on the concrete by not having to get a pump in. The extra height of the middle door meant they could just back the truck straight in. The worry after they droped the first load was with the weight off the suspension would they get the truck out. There was about 2" clearance from the top of the bowl to the bottom of the door.

I wanted a good slab as that was one of the big disapointments of my old shed. The slab ended up with a flaky surface and cracked in lot of places. The flakey surface meant that paint or any coating wouldn't stick for long.

The slab in the new shed is 32MPA wih F72 mesh and a moisture barrier under it. In the middle bay it's about 7" thick and 6" thick on the side bays.

They hellecoptered it as I wanted a burnt finish but they didn't work it long enough and it ended up with a lot of swirl marks and ridges in it. I got them to come back and diamond grind the surface till it was smooth.

Lighting is important to me as I do a lot of tinkering in the shed at night. I've installed Highbays in the center section as they produce a lot of light for not too much power. I've also got a bunch of skylights. I like a well lit work area and figure I'd prefer natural light If I can get it. The trade off is heat in summer but with the extra height it's been OK.

More pics to come.

 

[Aussie Mike]

The concrete slab level is up over the top of the bottom plates for the uprights and the bolts and buried in the concrete. This ties the frame and footings into the slab nicely. So far it's been a super sturdy shed. I'm very happy with it.

It's been up for a couple of years now and I've been slowly getting things done inside and outside.

For the moment I've just got gravel running up to the front doors while we save our money for a decent driveway.

Still plenty of landscaping to do around the place.

We have had probably 10 years of drought in Victoria so water tanks had always figured into the shed equation. Our whole house runs on tank water collected off the house roof. We have a 20,000L tank on the house. The town water supply is turned off.

It's probably my fault the drought has broken and we've had more rain than we know what to do with since I bought 2x 22,500L tanks for the shed.

These are now installed on a concrete pad out of sight on the fence side of the shed. All the water off the shed roof goes into them and they filled up pretty quick. These tanks will be used to irrigate all of the gardens. It'll be nice to be able to keep plants and lawns alive if we ever get another drought. I had nice turf at our old place that turned to dust and weeds when we went on water restrictions.

Cheers

Michael

 

[Justanoldguy]

Very nice build there Micheal.
Just the way we do it in NZ ...

You are right about the difference in how they do it in the good ole USA.
Pleased we don't get 4ft deep frosts and 4ft deep snow...

 

[Aussie Mike]

Meanwhile inside with Dads help we put up some internal partition walls in the back of the shed. This let me put in a bunch of warehouse shelves to store stuff away. I've been slowly culling the amount of junk I keep over the last few years. I've got rid of a lot of stuff at swap meets and taken trailer loads of stuff to the dump. I've been working hard to cure myself of hoarding old parts and I'm a lot more selective about what I keep now.

I also picked up a 2 post hoist. I wish I'd had one of these years ago! It makes working on cars so much more enjoyable. Gone are my days of lying on a cold shed floor fumbling around to find the right spanner only to realize you left it on the bench.

I've also set up a dedicated machine shop area. I've had lathes and mills for years but in the old shed they were always sharing space with where you were working. They both throw a lot of swarf and coolant around and that's not desirable sometimes.

I lined the walls of the end bay with 19mm structural flooring. It's great for shed walls as it's cheap for the coverage you get. It's strong and you can screw stuff straight to it. It also keeps the noise down a bit so I don't annoy the neighbors at night. I lined the old shed with this stuff and painted it. I was looking at painting it on this shed but figured I'd try something different. In keeping with the barn theme I wanted something a bit rustic looking. I lined the bottom half of the wall with pine lining boards and then stained them with a merbau stain to give them an aged hardwood look. Up top I lined the walls with corrugated zincalume sheeting. I like how it's turned out. It's given the shed a much warmer feel, less industrial. The zincalume sheeting has the added advantage that it reflects a lot of light all different angle so fills the area with light from the skylights during the day or the overhead fluros at night.

Here's one of the partition walls that Dad and I did half paneled.

Working my way around the machine shop past the tool room lathe that was a 40th birthday present from my wife.

The machine shop area is pretty much all done now. I painted the floor with a 2 pack epoxy coating which had been great so far. Just got to learn to keep it clean.

Cheers

Michael

 

[Aussie Mike]

Very nice build there Micheal.
Just the way we do it in NZ ...

You are right about the difference in how they do it in the good ole USA.
Pleased we don't get 4ft deep frosts and 4ft deep snow...

I'm sure glad we don't get 4' snow drifts too. I can deal with cold and wet but not fricken cold and snowing.

What part of NZ are you in? I actually grew up in Hamilton and then moved to Tauranga. Was a member of Bay Rodders back in the late 80's

Cheers

Michael

 

[Aussie Mike]

The other job I got done recently was to get the sewer line hooked up to the shed. This is a job I had to get done before the concrete driveway goes in. Before I got the slab poured I got a plumber in to put in all the drain connections for a toilet, shower and laundry tub. One of my wife's dislikes is me dragging dirt in the house and washing my overalls in the family washing machine.

"I don't know where the dirty marks all over you freshly washed stuff came from. My overalls came out nice and clean just before...."

So the plan is to put a dunny and shower out there and pick up and old washing machine for my overalls etc. I can get cleaned up before I go inside.

With all the rain we've had it's made running things like storm water and sewer a pain. The plumbers did a great job in the conditions. Working hard to get trenches dug and pipes in before the rains game down again and filled things up.

Mud

Even more mud

I've got a fair bit more landscaping work to do once things dry out a bit. I've also got to replace a couple of sheets on the side of the shed as I snagged them with the bucket on the tractor. I was watching the blade on the back and not the bucket on the front

Cheers

Michael

 

[Justanoldguy]

I'm in Mangakino, about 1 1/2 hours south of Hamilton.
I know a lot of the Bay Rodders guys.

 

[jbrucem1]

awesome shed mike..how do you find living in sunbury?considering looking for a job in the area and commuting from the city

 

[Aussie Mike]

I wish I could remember some of the names of the members. The main folks I remember was Greg and Karen Ball. Greg introduced me to the club. He was building a big block powered T bucket. I lost touch with him when I moved to Australia. Later he moved over here too but I've never been able to locate him since.

I was amazed at the time buy one of the blokes in the club that built I think it was a model A tourer in an old portable school room on his farm. When we was finished he just chainsawed a hole in the end wall and drove it out. What was even more amazing was the incredible quality and attention to detail on the car. Especially since he built the whole car with only one arm.

Cheers

Michael

 

[naki kid]

Looks great, got to love the all steal buildings, If you go to my site Our Dream you will see our one, but we live in ours plus have the cars in it to.We are in New Plymouth.I knew some of the older members of Bay Rodders to.Ray.

 

[critter]

Just moved from NW Melbourne earlier this year for all the reasons you listed in the first post. It got a bit out of hand after 8 years there when it went from quite and friendly to noisy and feral..... Cars getting broken into. Every house had at least 2 dogs and 2.5 children....the dogs were well behaved..lol. Your estate is a alot better but the traffic around the town is a joke.
Just a word of warning, edit your post that pinpoints your exact location. Guaranteed I could find your place in less than 5 minutes driving around your estate. People can see whats in your shed here and shop for whatever they need....it happens more often than you would think.

 

[Justanoldguy]

People can get real paranoid about posting stuff on the net.
Personally, I don't think the problem is anything like what
some like to make out.

Besides, my dogs would have a feast if anyone wanted
something out of my shed if I wasn't here... lol

 

[Aussie Mike]

I do worry about posting stuff on the net. Thankfully most of our neighbors are older retired folks so there's usually people about during the day. No tall fences means it's pretty visible what's going on too (however not much good for running naked to the washing line to grab a pair of clean jocks).

 

[critter]

People can get real paranoid about posting stuff on the net.
Personally, I don't think the problem is anything like what
some like to make out.

Besides, my dogs would have a feast if anyone wanted
something out of my shed if I wasn't here... lol

It happens.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/column....htm?AID=4992781&PID=4177199&SID=cft7ywqzdvu2

Sorry for the thread hijack. Just be careful what details you post when linked to your personal property.

 

[Aussie Mike]

Hopefully between a security system and nosy neighbors I should be safe.

 

[Justanoldguy]

It doesn't matter what happens or doesn't happen on this planet.
There will always be someone who will find a link about it or against it.
Doesn't mean it's a good thing or not, it's just how it is.

 

[HOTFR8]

What ever you do just do not post when you go away on holidays. Do not post information on your security system etc. As Clive (Justanoldguy) said some people get paranoid about security. Mind you the harder you make it for some one to get in and the longer it takes for them to break in the more likely the neighbours will call the Police.
Neighbors are the best security. If they want to get into a shed like yours they can just cut panels off the walls although that makes alot of noise.

 

[Aussie Mike]

We do have good neighbors here. I thought at first I wouldn't like the lack of pivacy from the farm fences but I find now it means you are more likely to wander over and have a chat with the neighbors if you are working in the back yard. I think we now know our neighbors better after 2 years than 18 years at the old house.

Hopefully the 19mm structural flooring will make it a bit harder to get through the wall. If they remove a sheet of tin they still have to get through the timber layer on the inside.

Cheers

Michael

 

[HOTFR8]

We do have good neighbors here. I thought at first I wouldn't like the lack of pivacy from the farm fences but I find now it means you are more likely to wander over and have a chat with the neighbors if you are working in the back yard. I think we now know our neighbors better after 2 years than 18 years at the old house.

Keeping the neighbours on side is handy I am often over the road or nextdoor helping them with something. Over the road from me works on boats and fiberglass and I often need to give him a lift and in return I know he keeps an eye on my place if I am away.

Hopefully the 19mm structural flooring will make it a bit harder to get through the wall. If they remove a sheet of tin they still have to get through the timber layer on the inside.

When I added the extension the shed builder told me many do that now as it is not so easy to get in. Much of my shed has internal lining.

 

[gazza]

Hi Michael, great build and photos.
I am in Melbourne and built a similar sized shed, was going to go for a barn style but lack of time and money meant I had to go for a normal style.
cheers
Gazza
ps PM sent

 

[Aussie Mike]

Being self sufficient on water was important to me. The 2 big shed tanks collect from the whole roof area which is a pretty decent catchment. They filled up pretty quickly after I hooked them up.

Storm water pipes run across the back of the shed with some fall in the system. I hate seeing sagging storm water pipes running across the back of sheds so I went a bit over board on the clamps for this setup.

Water from one side of the shed drops into one tank and water from the other drops into the other. There is a filter basket on the top of each of them that catches any leaves etc. With the way the wind and rain runs around here one filled quite a bit quicker than the other. They are now both T connected together at the bottom so they fill and drain evenly.

The overflows from the tanks are plumbed together back into the main storm water. The concrete pad has a bit of fall built into it so any standing water runs away from the shed.

I've got a couple of extra quick connect fittings and ball valves on each of the tanks. I want to be able to quickly connect a fire pump if needed. Bush fires are a serious issue here in Victoria in the hot dry summers. While there is not much fuel around our area at the moment in years to come trees in peoples yards and nature strips will grow and the risk will grow with them. Better to be prepared now.

Cheers

Michael

 

[theoldwizard1]

We have had probably 10 years of drought in Victoria so water tanks had always figured into the shed equation. Our whole house runs on tank water collected off the house roof. We have a 20,000L tank on the house. The town water supply is turned off.

So what type of filtration/treatment do you do before it get to the kitchen tap ?

 

[Aussie Mike]

So what type of filtration/treatment do you do before it get to the kitchen tap ?

The shed tanks are only for the garden and the toilet/shower in the shed so they just get a particle filter. It's just a plastic housing with a stack of plastic washers inside squashed under spring pressure. Water runs through the center and out between the washers and dirt is trapped inside. There's a cap on the bottom you can undo and quickly flush any dirt out or you can unscrew the end cap and remove the whole stack to wash it.

The house tank has the same particle filter but that then feeds into a large carbon cartridge filter. Also we generally drink from the water dispenser in the fridge which has another cartridge filter.

Biologicals aren't really a problem since the top of the tank is closed in and there is a sun shield under the filter basket. There is no algae buildup in the tank. If you are really worried there are chemicals you can drop in there to kill anything but I've never bothered. Only having tank water is quite common in rural Australia. People have been living this way for a couple of hundred years.

The water is sweet and fresh. I hate the taste of regular tap water now after drinking this for the last couple of years. I can really taste the chemicals in tap water now when I didn't notice them before.

The other thing I like about running on tank is I can stay in the shower as long as I like without feeling guilty and I can wash my car in my drive way any time I damn well like. Under the water restrictions we had you couldn't wash your car or water your lawn etc

We were on stage 3a water restrictions for some time http://www.savewater.com.au/index.php?sectionid=779

Cheers

Michael

 

[NASMAN]

Very nice. Enjoyed reading the whole thread.
Love the GASSER sign on the wall. That was my style of Drag racing.
Agree with others over concern about posting too much info, shame we have to feel that way.
No work on my project today, just sitting here waiting for the remnants of hurricane Isaac to go thru our state of Arkansas.

 

[Aussie Mike]

Hope the Huricane doesn't do to much damage there.

Just been reading through your barn build. Amazing work. Love all the timber.


I love the nostalgia drag racing stuff. I used to regularly attend our local drag strip back in NZ the late 80's

I've got plans to scratch build a Front engined dragster but it may change to a Topolino Altered. A dragster would be cool but takes up a lot of space and needs a special trailer. An altered could share the same trailer as my other project cars.

The other option would be to find a Ford Anglia van and build a gasser. I had a 46 ford Anglia rod back in the 80's. Finding the tin to start with is hard these days.

Cheers

Michael

 

[Plushy]

Very nice build Aussie Mike . I am not a big fan of the american barn type sheds but i am a fan of replica cobra with a healthy v8 .

the machine shop are looks good i think i am going to copy your wall lining in that area when i build my new shed .

I am looking forward to seeing more progress shots on the cobra .

Cheers Plushy

 

[NASMAN]

Had a Thames panel, super light and super quick off the line. Nothing like a whole bunch of power and a 90 inch wheelbase.
It blows my mind that half way around the world guys were into the same stuff, even before the internet.
Thanks for the kind words about our barn.

 

[1/2 Cup]

I am envious, great build.

 

[Aussie Mike]

Some might say it's sacrilege but they are just such a great motor.

The car is registered but I took it off the road to do the body work and tweak a few things I wasn't happy with. The rebuild has been a bit slow with the house move and the shed build taking all my spare time. Hoping to be back on the road this summer but I said that last year too.

Cheers

Michael

 

[Plushy]

How long ago did the Cobra hit the road ? My old man wanted to build a GT40 but got put off when they said they were changing the laws for new build cars having to have ABS and ESC did those laws come in or were they only for mass produced factory cars ?

Projects take time i have been rebuilding a blitz truck for 3 or 4 years now a couple of motorcycle accidents slowed me down but it just means having more fun for longer .

cheers James .

 

[Aussie Mike]

The ABS/Airbags/ESC rules dont apply to ICVs (Individually Constructed Vehicles) thankfully. There are still plenty of cars getting built and registered but there are plenty of hoops to jump through to do it. It's hard to build a Cobra for under $40K these days.

Sad to say I got it registered 5 years ago but haven't driven it much since. I'm a chronic tinkerer and keep making stuff for it. I've told meyself after the latest round of mods is done it's going back on the road for a long while. Any mods will have to be done during winter months or still leave the car drivable while I'm doing it.

Cheers

Michael

 

[HOTFR8]

As an ICV or reproduction Cobra it would be easier to put it on Club Permit than fully Engineer and register it now. If you have kept up the registration whilst it has been of the road and you have been working on it well that is better for you.

 

[Aussie Mike]

I've just kept the registration paid to date.

Depending on how much use it gets in the future I may switch it to the club permit scheme. It's a lot cheaper and the last I heard they were changing it to 90 days a year you could drive it and it didn't have to be a club event. If that goes through it would be great because it means you vould pretty much drive it every weekend.

Cheers

Michael