Little Shed Resurrection

[greyshirtguy]

Although it's not a very inspiring project - I figured I would run this thread to which will detail my current project of rebuilding a small kit storage shed that was torn down in a storm last year.

When we bought our new house it had this 6x3 metre kit garden shed in the back yard:

It was just sitting on the ground (no slab) and had a few pegs to "hold" it down.

The ground often got very wet in winter - which limited what I could safely store in there (mostly fire wood raised off the ground) I had planned to do a concrete slab and finally use it for real storage (freeing up our car garage)..

But along came a storm one day and...


Most of the damage was to the "channel" (or c-section) that ran along the edge of the flimsy wall panels to give them structural rigidty. Also, one part of a wall section is a bit too dented to provide the support it should.

Of course, because it's just a cheap kit shed, it has proven hard to get parts to repair it second hand - I've been looking on and off for 6 months now.
The new parts can be bought for it but they will cost a surprising chunk of the replacement cost (a new replacement is "only" about $1400 AUD - which is a bit too much for my budget in the near future....)

So my current idea is to build a relatively sturdy frame on a slab and rebuild the shed around that frame. The frame doesnt have to provide 100% of the structual integrity - the shed will provide some support even with it's slighty dented wall section and broken channel sections (that I will repair with small "joiner" sections)

The cost for some steel (50x50 RHS in 1.6mm thicknes) to build a frame (as per design below) is only about $180 - and of-course I get to enjoy welding it together!!!

I have a 2m length of 50x50x1.6RHS and tried to get a "rough feel" for it's strength by standing in the middle of it (ends supported off the floor) to see how far it would dip under my 85KG - I was surpised by it's strength - it only dipped about 25mm and sprung back. It certainly gave me impression it would be strong enough for my frame design (the lengths in the "trusses" are <2m and between the trusses are < 3m)
I will also probably X brace both wall sections at the "back".

I will also take advantage on another smaller (but slightly wider) shed on a proper slab - by rebuilding onto the end of it - and make one "large" shed.
This will mean I'll need to make the shed a little wider (by using the left-over cladding after "joining the two ends")

So here is the simple design I am thinking of making.....



I'll post updates as I make any progress or design changes (this will be slow as I work in my rather limited spare time)

Oh, and if you have read this far and have any tips/advice - then please feel free to say so!

 

[Cris B]

I'm no expert but I would have said that you will want to cross brace the upright to roof truss sections and add a beam under the apex something like this:

 

[SC_BK]

I will probably get shot down for saying this, but if it was me I would build the frame out of timber


(But I dunno how timber v steel price compares in your part of the world)

 

[oz.]

Timber would be lighter so the roof would be under less stress.

I'd be tempted to add a few bracings going right from the bottom to the top corner. From your description and the pictures I gather the panels don't take a lot to bend so bracing would be my major concern.

 

[greyshirtguy]

Chris - I agree! I was going to put it together first and see how it held up (if it impressed me as super sturdy without them I was going to not worry).....that said, I really do suspect I'll end up adding those braces. Also, the apex-beam is already part of the existing shed - I was lazy and didn't model/show it in the design shown above.

SC_BK and oz - Indeed, I wanted to do timber at first (to some save $$$)....
However the shed wall height is only 1.8m, My height is 1.83m and the roof pitch is quite a low angle - This means my head is slighty ducking inside the shed when standing under the lower areas of the roof. So I wanted a frame design that would be nice and rigid/sturdy while having maximum head clearance! The steel frame will "cost me" 50mm in clearance in the areas where I am ducking, while the wood frame would cost me at least 75-90mm in the same areas. I did some tests in my other shed and the small clearance difference made enough of a difference that do I care about it.

Also, the savings are not that large since the total cost for the frame is $180 (I would guess about $50-80 savings - although wood is about 50% cheaper per linear metre compared to the steel I have selected - I would probably need about 25% more wood for truss design and bracing to achieve same strength/rigidity of frame.)

 

[Cris B]

If head height is an issue is it worth building a dwarf wall foundation to give you 12" extra height? You'd have to extend the doors...

 

[greyshirtguy]

Great minds think alike! I was originally planning to do a "dwarf wall foundation" to extend the height... until I decided I'd prefer to relocate the shed right next to my other smaller (but slightly wider) shed and join them into one longer shed...
6x3 will become 5.95x3.75 joined to an existing 3.75x3.75 (with about 50mm overlap) to make a single shed almost 10m long by 3.75 wide....

I wont bore you with a drawn out explanation of exactly how I'll extend the width from 3 to 3.75 - other than to say that I'll use the two left-over end walls (left over when I "join" the sheds) as a source of extra cladding that I'll need for extending the roof.

Given my intended use of the shed will be for dry storage that I'll access 4-5 times a week - I'll live with the current height (minus 50mm clearance).

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

Seeing as it's been a bit windy out your way and is likely to happen again I'd put a big X wind ties on the inside of every bay/wall ends .
I did mine by drilling some 6 mm flat bar to make an eye where I would bolt it to the upright at the top and bottoms ... loosly bolt these anchors in place leaving 4 mm free thread at the top ends . Then weld on the rebar wind ties to the anchors and tighten up the tops free bolt to tension them Use mylock nuits to prevent them loosening.
At the X cross over point I slipped in a square of 6 mm plate and welded the rebar to it .

We use to live 30 foot up on a big railway embankment above a very flat land scape and had several 90 mph winds hit us over the 8 years was built with not a dither or quiver at all in any of the storms .

This should give you an idea.. even though this shed was way bigger than yours.