Hi everyone, been lurking on this site for a couple years and dreaming about having my own shop (lots of inspiration here). I bought my first house last year but problem is there was no garage or even a shed and most of my income goes to my agresssive mortgage payment. I have quite a few toys/tools so I've been busy building sheds from mostly reclaimed materials just to get me by for now, with plans for a new metal building once house is paid off in another couple years. I was really stoked when a friend told me he was tearing down his qoinset hut and that I could have it for my property. It's a 34x39 building 16 foot tall with garage door. Problem is when I got it home I'm seeing all the seems that bolt together have been bent up from when they took it down. I tried bending them back in shape but I don't think I'm going to get it anywhere near perfect. I realize I can put lots of caulk in the seems and maybe get a good seal but how long will that last? I know there is products out there I can totally encase the outside of the structure with to get it waterproof but at that point Im not sure if I'm saving much money with this building. Anyone ever put up something like this? I'm way out in the country so not worried about building codes. Sorry for the long post, just looking for advice on whether this thing is going to leak or not.
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Used Qoinset hut
- Thread starter QVmoto
- Start date
FJ 432
Well-known member
If you want a large project, go for it.
My experience with huts is that they're not easy when built new. You have to repeat over and over again "I got it for free".
Welcome.
My experience with huts is that they're not easy when built new. You have to repeat over and over again "I got it for free".
Welcome.
The cost for you will be in time (and perhaps frustration) but a quonset can be reassembled. There's a guy local to me that I know through the 4x4 community whom has put two of them on his property. I've been in both. One was "free" and the other was larger and he paid to have it taken down.
Both of them he spent a good deal of time getting them up and right.
Both of them he spent a good deal of time getting them up and right.
58Yeoman
Well-known member
Hot Rod Grampa
Well-known member
Even new they are not perfect. Degree of deformation may be subjective. Use a good silicone caulk and tighten them bolts down. Spray foam the interior and you will never know where the leaks are. Hope this helps.
txvwnut
Well-known member
Just hammer and dolly it back flat and get some of the foam insulation tape. Put the tape on the flat where it will be sandwiched between the two arches and start standing it up. Then be prepared to tighten a lot of bolts, if you don’t already know you put the arches together loose then square it all up and tighten the bolts.
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Thank you guys for all the great advice! My first attempt at straightening the pieces was with a ball pein hammer and a 2x4 and I got discouraged very quickly, so I'm gonna hit up hf today and grab some body hammers and dollies and just start going to town on it. Do you guys think using the foam insulation tape and high quality caulk would be best or just one or the other? Any recommendations for best brand/type caulk for this application?
QV, I'm not sure if it'll work but a grain bin be a similar type of structure as your quonset hut. They use a mastic between the sheets of the bins during assembly. I'm not sure if that would work for you.
You might also find some information on this site to help you out.
http://www.steelmasterusa.com/quonset-huts/
Finally, it'll help your fellow members giving you advice if they have a general location where you live. Nothing exact but it does help as what might work in one part of the country might not be good for another state or even country as GJ is a global forum with members from all over.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=244260
You might also find some information on this site to help you out.
http://www.steelmasterusa.com/quonset-huts/
Finally, it'll help your fellow members giving you advice if they have a general location where you live. Nothing exact but it does help as what might work in one part of the country might not be good for another state or even country as GJ is a global forum with members from all over.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=244260
txvwnut
Well-known member
When I assembled mine it was suggested to use either a bead of caulk or the foam tape but wasn’t necessary for a new assembly but since yours has been up and taken down I would suggest something in between the arches. I also recommend getting the commercial arch troughs instead of forming the trough into the slab. The reason for this is my blueprints were off by four inches(too narrow) on the width spacing for the troughs.
That's not bad at all. You'll find that as you assemble a majority of that will straighten out in its own. As Eric suggested I'd get my hands on mastic and lap the seems but I'd suggest using white mastic. And once it's all together you're not going to even notice the bad area (if that's the worst of it). For free, I'd toss the extra effort into it.
Lelandwelds
Well-known member
They're time consuming but you dont need much in equipment. I vaguely remember using a roll of clay like mastic with a release liner. It was new and the owner caulked leaks for years after he put it up.
First house isnt your last house.
First house isnt your last house.
So I borrowed some bodyworking hammers and dollies from my dad and started working it a little bit and that seems to be working pretty well. There's like 150 pieces that all need work, some worse than others, but I'm just gonna take my time and get it as best I can. I'm going to go with the mastic tape and cross my fingers that it won't leak, but if it does I'll prob go spray foam as I want to insulate eventually anyways. Going to look into the commercial arch troughs as well but was planning on forming my own. I'm hoping to have this thing up for around 3k including concrete pad, but will prob be paying back favors to friends for the next 5 years though. Thank you guys again for all the advice and encouragement, it was just the motivation I needed to move forward with this project. I plan to take pics and post up in the garage gallery once I start making some progress...