The original plan was to keep things very simple here at the Shed. The real objective is to put the effort, and the funds, into the new house, the block and related infrastructure. We always knew that it would take a while to have the new house built and we put effort last year into making the Shed reasonably comfortable, but I have resisted doing too much else here. However, a garden was necessary and then we apparently needed some flowers and shrubs that don’t necessarily grow fruit. So, I finally decided that I might as well build a shed as well. This definitely does not mean that I don’t need a proper one up the hill.

We simply have too much stuff and most of it needs to be accessible. Tools, machinery and equipment needed a place to be stored. I needed a place to work out of the rain, and it does rain here – frequently. The vehicles needed a place to live. There are hail storms in this part of the world and rushing out with covers to try to protect the vehicles when the first few hailstones hit the roof is no fun.

A little unwieldy but not too bad. The upside of a 2.8 metre roof.

Two shipping containers carried our gear from the Top End. One is in pretty good nick and is now employed as a storage facility for all of the material that we will need in the future or that we can’t yet throw away. The other is old and tired. The roof has rusted in a number of places and it has been a struggle to keep it waterproof. It has come to the end of its road. Thus, it will be incorporated into the new shed where it will have a roof and where it can continue to function very well as a lock up workshop.

The shed needed to meet a a few needs. It had to be handy, provide cover for the vehicles, provide a waterproof roof for the ‘workshop’ container and have some storage capacity for assorted machinery and material.

While we accepted that we needed a shed we were very reluctant to spend too much on its construction. Come in Ebay. I don’t have the patience for this method of shopping but luckily I’m not the only one in this partnership. The recycled corrugated iron came from a bloke over the range who retrieves material from housing demolitions. He threw in the tek screws. I had a variety of post supports left over from other projects. Treated hardwood posts and structural pine joists came from Bunnings. I had most of the fixings left over from other jobs or recycled from structures I have demolished. Knew they would come in handy one day.

Roof going on. Not too much wind but some rain about.

I still need to do a little more tying down. A length of chain through the ‘posts’ of the container and around the bearers will provide a bit more insurance and I will include some extra bracing on a couple of the bays. And it all needs a coat of paint. This will happen in due course but I will admit that painting is a job that tends to take a little while to hit the priority list.

Post support. 400x400x400 concrete block with 200 mm bolts inserted

The total cost to date has been under $2,500. For that I have a 16 x 6 metre shed that incorporates a car port, lock up store and workshop with a couple of bays for storage that take care of the tractor, fuel and the ride on mower.

Needed a bit of light and we had a couple of sheets of poly laying about.

Strapping to tie it all together. Recycled hardwood bearers came in handy.

Home for the Hyundai, Ute and the firewood

Snazzy new clothesline. A permanent one this time.

Almost done. The red container will go up the hill eventually