This is a big subject for us and I haven’t been too sure how to approach it. Basically the development of the shed has been carried out over more than a year. A lot of issues arose and some of the solutions we found could be of use to some people considering similar options. So we will post now with a relatively broad brush and float back to particular issues or areas from time to time when something seems to warrant a little more attention. Of course, if anyone out there would like to hear about something specific, feel free to ask and we will try to oblige.

Living in a shed in this part of the country isn’t strange. The area is not that far from the places up on the ranges where some quite flash residences have been built on some very nicely cared for, but sometimes smaller, blocks. Down here in the valley the dairy farmers still compete for land with some small beef production properties. The number of lifestyle people seems to be relatively low. Our local town is only really trendy on the weekends when the tourists come in numbers.

Sheds provide a reasonable option for short term accommodation while money for the house is found or the house is built. We have previously avoided the option mainly because we have noted that it is apparently easy to become used to the shed with its increasing level of amenity, and put the house building off for rather too long. This happened so much around Humpty Doo, where we once lived, that living in a house was a little unusual.

We started out with a metal framed, 4 bay, colorbond clad shed set on a concrete slab with roller doors on 2 bays, 2 personal access doors and 2 small windows. Certainly large enough to accommodate 2 people and their occasional visitors, but comfortably and for a year or longer? No, it couldn’t do that. Changes needed to be made to address key issues:

• a water supply was necessary;
• we needed ablution amenities that didn’t require heading out into the rain and cold;
• it had to be warmer in winter, cooler in summer;
• a power supply would allow us to retire the generator from full time work;
• a laundry so that clothes could be washed in a machine would be handy;
• a verandah would allow exit from the shed without immediately stepping into the rain;
• hot water, and cold, reticulated to the amenities and the ‘kitchen’ would be useful;
• a stove would allow the barbecue to go back to being a barbecue; and
• living inside on cold, wet days would be better if there were a few more windows.

Not much of a list. I gave myself 3 months to sort it out – initially.

The first big issue, and one that has not been resolved, is whether this will remain as a ‘shed’, and if you are from the planning department of our local council of course it will remain as a shed. It could conceivably, however, be brought into service as short term and temporary accommodation for all sorts of people. Perhaps even for people who might be interested in camping here and looking after the place while we are off wandering somewhere.

But because it is a shed it needs to be developed as cheaply as possible. Bring on Ebay. It has delivered most of what is here and at prices that are excellent – even if I sometimes feel like the rag and bone man tracking around the place in my overladen ute.

Water

You can become quickly tired of carting water in drums. Two 22,500 litre (5000 gallon) plastic tanks started to address that issue. There was a minor difficulty when it started to rain – and fill the tanks – just as we decided that one needed to be moved a metre or two. It is very difficult to move a tank when it has any water in it at all.

High speed action involving the ute, the Tirfor hand winch and a couple of Snatch-Um straps saved the day but it was line ball between losing the water and moving the tank.

Ablution Amenities

The outdoor amenities provided reasonable service but to be honest there were complaints and a few difficulties. After one experience my mother-in-law announced that she would return when we had a ‘proper’ toilet.

We had taken all of the space within the shed with the expanding gear we found stored in our shipping containers. So a new bay was added to the shed and fitted out with a toilet, shower area, laundry and a large pantry/larder. Easy peasy but it did keep us busy and took rather too long to get there.

Verandah

The verandah and its slab were installed as part of the same project as the amenities bay. We had one 5 cubic metre truck load of concrete delivered and I mixed the remaining 8 cubic metres myself at great value to my level of fitness.

Warmer/Cooler

As our friendly architect pointed out, a millimetre of tin won’t keep the cold or the heat out. Insulation was clearly necessary but lining the interior seemed to be going a little too far and that would make it difficult instal insulation. We found, on Ebay, some foil and foam material at a good price. OK, so at times it feels like we are living inside an cooler bag but we are warmer and cooler as needs be.

A major, and probably somewhat indulgent, addition was the heater. We could have existed with our kero heater, perhaps supplemented, but we found – on Ebay – a Tassie Barrel wood heater. I intstalled it – pretty well if I do say so myself – and it provides us with a nice amount of warmth and a bit of charm. With the heater operating at about 50% capacity we can keep the shed about 12 degrees above the outside temperature.

Power Supply

Our first foray into the local tradespeople supply situation didn’t bode well for our future house building plans. We tried 4 electricians. Two actually turned up to look at the job but they never returned. Eventually, we called in a favour from my nephew who wired the shed and gave us the opportunity to get to know 2 of my great neices.

As well as getting the power distributed around the shed we needed to have the power connnected to the block. The first estimate came in at $65,000. We immediately set off to check out stand-alone solar systems. A top of the line system that would have met all of our needs was available for about $45,000. You do have to replace storage batteries though. It was a possible but we then established that we could bring the power across from the transformer on the main road for a relatively small charge and give ourselves probably reliable mains power if we installed larger than normal cabling. That was the option we took. We have posts and cabling now. The job was done for $22,000 and the bloke who did it turned up when he said he would and did a job to the agreed standard. Our faith in tradespeople was restored – a little.

Stove and Hot Water

This was another trades job. I am happy to muck around with pipes and such but draw the line at the types of pipes that carry stuff that can explode. The local plumber was again reliable and did a good job. My faith in local tradespeople has been restored.

Light

Living inside on a cold, wet day was a little like living in a cave. Pretty dank.

Ebay came to the rescue. A variety of windows have been installed including some large, full length ones that are set in place of the roller doors. We could still do with a few more I think but there are competing priorities.

The other day we were talking to some people about what might be at the end of our new road. They were surprised when we explained that it would be a house. ‘What, another one?’ So, I guess it must at least look the part.