Hayshed conversion

[jhovel]

About 25 years ago my wife and daughter had horses and we needed a hayshed.

So together with my late dad we built one about 6m x 6m with a 3m high centre section to be able to back a full hay truck in and unload it.

The simplest and cheapest option at the time was what some call a 'Dutch roof'. That is a central roof section with about 25 deg fall to both sides, and the remaining roof on each side having a fairly steep fall. The remaining low sides are then left open for ventilation and the back is completely closed.
The horses have long gone to heaven and the hayshed has become the storage for anything and everything that doesn't need special protection. So it has been filled with lawnmowers, cement mixer, old stove, rotary hoe, planters, a vintage car project and a lot of rubbish not quite ready to be thrown out....

In the meantime, my classic bike collection (future resto projects) has grown and taken up all my working space in 'my' shed.
The current project (parallel to several others) is to convert this hayshed to a 'barn', with a proper floor, power, lights and fully enclosed.
The progress so far over the past few months has been to get power layed underground to a sub switchboard, 4 powerpoints and 4 fluoro lights installed and wired up. EBay provided a suitable rollerdoor - clear polycarbonate - that's been installed.
I had enough corrugated iron behind my shed to close the sides in and SIL provided some very classy looking timber wall panelling in blackbutt to clad the front.

The shed has now been emptied yesterday, and thoroughly cleaned out. Today I sealed the very rough (left over) concrete floor and soon will be boxing the front and setting up levels for pouring a new level floor on top of the makeshift sloping one with about 100mm fall to the left (maybe it settled over the past quarter century....).

Lastly I'll weld up two doors to fit the open sections either side of the roller door, which will then be clad with more blackbutt boards.
I'm pretty excited to have a dedicated space for my bike and car collection and the lawmowers, rotary hoe and cement mixer will fit in as well.
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yep, that's a very young me taking 'all safety precaution during construction' ....

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The festival sign is a relic from my daughter's 'hippy days' and I like it....
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I'll update the pics as progress is made...

[twosheds]

Now that is a really nice looking shed. The timber posts and framing and galvanised iron cladding give it a lot more character than the steel C-purlin framed and colorbond clad one in my backyard.

Regards
Twosheds

[BobL]

Looks great Joe, what about some gable vents?

We wanted to have a similar roofline on our shed but the council would not allow it.

[jhovel]

Thanks twosheds and Bob.
I'll give the vents some thought. Not sure if they are needed, because it is certainly not sealed, but they could look nice....

[DSEL74]

That's a spify facelift. Bet you will have it full in no time!

[jhovel]

Hi Bob,
been looking about at something I might like - and can implement.... Nothing jumps out at me yet.
What were you thinking of? And what reason did you have in mind when you suggested them?

Boxing is now done and concrete floor should be in by Tuesday.... That will be fun - not. There is around 110mm fall across the existing 'slab', but nothing like evenly....

[jhovel]

Well, it's starting to look nice!
New concrete floor is poured - and level. I took some hints from this forum and ordered fibre reinforced concrete. Let's see how it goes in the longer term. There is no steel mesh in the new topping. That would have been too difficult, as the new slab varies in height from 10mm to 110mm and in a small section 175mm thick.
I sealed the original concrete with a penetrating moisture curing polyurethane resin which is meant to provide a vapour barrier. Once that was cured, I estalished the levels with little mounds of premix (in bags) of concrete and a borrowed laser level. We then used the flat tops of these mounds to sit the screed on to level the new concrete. I didn't want to pierce the resin with steel pegs. That worked really well and I would do that again.

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The imprints and messages from my children in 1990 are now buried, and in their place, the new slab now has the hand imprints of my daughter's two children. 25 years later.....
This morning I coated the slab with an industrial acrylic sealer and will give it a second coat this evening. The rest of the afternoon is devoted to building the door frames.... Should all be done and dusted by Tuesday

[BobL]

Hi Bob,
been looking about at something I might like - and can implement.... Nothing jumps out at me yet.
What were you thinking of? And what reason did you have in mind when you suggested them?

Nothing jumps out at me either - maybe try it an see how hot it gets - then something might jump?

Floor looks great BTW.

[DSEL74]

Making progress Joe!

What is the purpose of the fibre? Is it because you didn't use any reo?

[jhovel]

Thanks guys.
Dsel, the fibre reinforced concrete is used in both industrial and domestic slabs by some architects and engineers now - in lieu of steel reinforcing mesh. The fibres are polyethylene and nylon and about 40mm long. They put in a 20kg bag per cubic metre. When pouring and finishing the concrete they are almost not noticable. But when I cut the expansion slots, there is an even distribution of 'hairs' visibly sticking into the gaps.
Here is a photo of a couple of coats of the paint I applied today.
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[KBs PensNmore]

Looking good Joe, is the coats to prevent oil stains etc?

[jhovel]

Yes, to prevent anything staining the concrete and to make it easier to wipe up and MUCH easier to sweep.
For me it also helps finding dropped parts - bolts, washers etc, that often just 'disappear' on my concrete whorkshop floor covered in dirt and dust. I'm planning to seal my workshop floor as soon as I can shift some of my bikes into the new 'barn' and get some space back.....

[DSEL74]

Joe, Does the fibre add much cost, what is it per bag??

It looks great I'm surprised it is painted already, what about drying?

[jhovel]

Hi again,
the paint I used us specifically suitable for 'green' concrete without etching. The first coat goes on diluted with water at 20% and once dry (within a few hours - temperature dependant), the second coat goes on neat. I found the first coat really soaked in well and the second coat put a nice finish on the surface.
Welded up the first door today, ready for cladding, hanging and oiling tomorrow.

[jhovel]

The fibre adds $20 per cubic meter to the cost of the concrete... Steel reo mesh would be a lot more expensive I would think.