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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2020
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    Brisvegas
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    Question Old leaky shed - renovate or rebuild?

    Hi all, looking for some feedback + ideas about what to do with my old shed and carport. I estimate it's about 30 years old, but I'm not really sure. It currently has a number of issues that I want to resolve:


    • Leaks in heavy rain, mainly from degraded grommets on the screws
    • Gutter rusted and fell off from one side
    • Some roof sheets beginning to rust
    • Sliding barn doors are a real PITA to deal with
    • No insulation makes it an awful place to be for half the year


    The shed and carport are the same dimensions: 6000 x 6000, 2900 to the ridge cap, 2400 at the sides.

    Photos:
    exterior01.jpgexterior02.jpgexterior03.jpgframe01.jpgframe02.jpgframe03.jpgframe04.jpg

    I'm trying to figure out if I should go down the path of re-sheeting and insulating the existing frame, or whether it would be more economical to tear it down and rebuild essentially the same shed + carport layout on the existing slab. Whichever path I choose, I won't be doing the work myself - I just don't have the time or the capability.

    A big factor in my decision is the doors. The sliding barn-style doors are heavy and noisy to open and close, bang around a lot in the wind, and only allow one side open at a time. I had a quote to replace them with an automatic sectional door that came to $3.5k, but it seems crazy to put that much money into a shed this old? Complicating the door matter is the lack of headroom to fit roller doors, which I think would be cheaper to install, but I was told would not fit.

    What do you think? Worth saving, or should I start from scratch?

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  3. #2
    Boringgeoff is offline Try not to be late, but never be early.
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    Apr 2011
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    Steve, if it was my shed I'd refurbish.
    To address two of your issues, our old place a few years ago had doors similar to yours which you could only open one at a time so I built an out-rigger head rail out from the shed. When both doors were rolled out under it they stopped flush with the front edge of the shed and the extended ends of the doors had a foot guide to stop them flapping around. There was no full length track at ground level to be tripping over.
    In your first photo that would put your track out in the middle of your lawn, an idea you may not like.
    To overcome the annoying banging of the doors on a windy day in our existing shed I simply made some thin wooden wedges and kick them into the track guides at floor level. Works with doors either open or closed.
    Cheers,
    Geoff.

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Perth
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    Frame looks OK. How rusty are the metal posts down at the concrete level;. If not too bad I'd refurbish.

    Leaks in heavy rain, mainly from degraded grommets on the screws, easily replaced.
    Gutter rusted and fell off from one side - easily replaced
    Some roof sheets beginning to rust - Replacable.
    Sliding barn doors are a real PITA to deal with ; Also not that good for dust/weather control. I'd replace - unless you really wanted to put vehicles in there I would seal it completely but add a 1.2m wide conventional door.
    No insulation makes it an awful place to be for half the year: can easily add this

  5. #4
    Join Date
    May 2020
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    Brisvegas
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    Quote Originally Posted by BobL View Post
    Frame looks OK. How rusty are the metal posts down at the concrete level;. If not too bad I'd refurbish.
    The posts are a bit rusty near the concrete but I don't think they're beyond help - see pic:postrust.jpg

    I wish I could wall the doors off and have a dedicated workshop! But I occasionally need to work on and/or store a car in there, so that's not an option. Agree on the rest of your points though.

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
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    bilpin
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    Plenty of life left in the old girl yet. Re screw the roof and replace rusty sheets as you go. Swap out the slider doors for a good second hand roller or use one slider as a panel and swap out the other for a roller or turn one into a tilt up.

  7. #6
    Join Date
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    Hobart
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    It currently has a number of issues that I want to resolve:


    • Leaks in heavy rain, mainly from degraded grommets on the screws I had this problem with house roof where screw holes had also enlarged. My solution was to replace screws with slifgtly longer and one guage heavier.
    • Gutter rusted and fell off from one side Easy replacement
    • Some roof sheets beginning to rust Wire brush, rust converter and repainted roof - worked for me.
    • Sliding barn doors are a real PITA to deal with See below
    • No insulation makes it an awful place to be for half the year Add insulation. Also think about lining shed walls with Yellow Tongue flooring. Its cheap, increases insulation and you can hang anything off it.


    I don't like barn doors either. My roller door uses 450mm space above the openning. One solution might be to raise the shed height by, say, 450 - 600 mm, so you can fit in a roller door. Would also give you option of some overhead storage racks. Adding extending plices to the c-columns would be easy.

  8. #7
    Join Date
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    One major point to consider is a new shed will require council approval whereas repairs and maintenance to an existing structure does not.
    I don’t know where you live or your local council guidelines but this may be significant as under the current planning guidelines you may not be allowed to build a shed in that location or size or maybe at all if you are already at your maximum plot ratio
    Your current shed looks fine to refurbish but if you are paying for all the work to be done be careful the costs don’t get out of hand.

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
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    Ringwood, VIC
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    Yep, avoiding the need for permits etc gives another couple of grand to the actual build...

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
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    geelong
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    Well looks far from old and decreped Does have a relatively low pitch -but not exceptionally so. If there is issues with rain coming back upwards. could simply silicon the crap out of the joins. But what I see looks perfectly normal. roof fixings leak-silicon (non acetic) Or sometimes only need tightening -but give them some silicon anyway. just in case. Have lived with 120 YO iron roofing before -your issues shouldn't be difficult.

  11. #10
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    Get quotes on a new shed (including permits and disposal of the existing) with the features you want and compare them to quotes to repair, re-door and insulate what you have. Decide and go from there.

    Pete

  12. #11
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Beardy View Post
    One major point to consider is a new shed will require council approval whereas repairs and maintenance to an existing structure does not.
    I don’t know where you live or your local council guidelines but this may be significant as under the current planning guidelines you may not be allowed to build a shed in that location or size or maybe at all if you are already at your maximum plot ratio
    Thats really good point and one I was faced with.

    I had an 30 year old 3.8 x 5.3m asbestos clad shed with cracked slab and wall and twisted roof where a corner of the shed had slumped by 150 mm due to poor soil compaction and wanted a bigger shed. If I removed the old one to needed to be 250 mm further away from the boundary on two which does not sound like much but on a small block that is actually worth keeping.

    So I hd my new 6x4m built right next to the old one, knocked a wall down between the two sheds and joined them together and refurbished the old one. Fortunately, the wall I removed was the one that had the cracks in the asbestos. I jacked up the slumped corner of the roof and welded a 150 extension to the slumped corner post = $0. I left the remaining asbestos cladding in situ and over clad it with the same Colorbond as the new shed. The new shed builders left enough Colorbond and screws behind so I did not have to bus any. For $1000 I had the floor replaced. Old shed was already wired to the house via a 20A Line (news shed has a 32 A lIne). Insulation and lining cost me <$500.

  13. #12
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Location
    Brisvegas
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    29

    Thumbs up

    Thanks for all the input guys. Seems like the overwhelming opinion is to refurbish the existing structure. With that in mind, can anyone recommend a business that does this kind of thing in the Brisbane area? It would be great if I could get one mob to replace the doors AND re-roof the shed.

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