More of that shed...

[BT Humble]

Well.  Friday was seriously windy, so I didn't bother trying to put up the shed frame, and dealt with a few of those niggling small indoor jobs that just never get done because it's so much nicer to be outside. ;-)

I did however get 9 cubic metres of gravel delivered (about 12 tonnes).  It was substantially more expensive than the sand ($385 Vs $0), but it should pretty much pay for itself by decreasing the amount of cement I need to use.  (When you're not using aggregate you need a very rich mixture, up around 4:1 of sand:cement.  With aggregate you can usually go around 4:3:1 in aggregate:sand:cement.  I'll be using 2:4:1).  It also mixes a lot faster, and doesn't form a sticky mass in the bottom of the cement mixer. ;-)

On Saturday I got to work digging the post holes, and by lunchtime on Sunday I'd gotten to this stage:

The slab slopes away downhill by about 100mm over the 8m length of the shed (about 0.7 degrees).  This was done for the dual reasons of saving me a fair amount of extra digging, and to ensure that the water will flow along the rain gutters in the correct direction.  A slope of 1 degree or less is pretty much indistinguishable when you're standing on it.

Previously, this shed had the posts bolted to a concrete slab.  Since this is a fairly high-wind area, I've gone for extra security by welding extensions onto the posts and bedding them into a cubic foot of concrete each.  The slab will then be cast over the top.

You don't have to have all of the postholes at exactly the right depth either, you can prop up any that are too deep while the concrete sets.

BTH

[LEXX]

That's pretty cool, here in Canada you don't see steel frame construction unless it's on a considerably bigger project, or a quonset.  Is this the norm in Australia??  Is it going to be tin siding?  Do you need to insulate against the heat?  What size tubing is that?  Here you don't see metal unless the building is going to be bigger than about 20m x15m as a minimum and a lot of wood construction is still done with shops in the 30m x 40m range, they just use steel trusses and support posts.  Do you guys use Q-decking for second floor concrete floor molds?  Enough questions, eh?

LEXX

[BT Humble]

That's pretty cool, here in Canada you don't see steel frame construction unless it's on a considerably bigger project, or a quonset.  Is this the norm in Australia??  



It's pretty much the norm these days for garages/garden sheds/carports etc.  Timber has become quite expensive in Australia compared to steel (probably because there's more money to be made from woodchipping old-growth hardwood forests than milling them), and obviously steel wins hands-down when it comes to termite resistance.  

20 years ago (when this shed was manufactured) timber framing was still fairly common.  These days you'd see 1mm thick steel C-section being used for the rafters and wall battens as well, rather than the hardwood that's on this one.

Is it going to be tin siding?  



Yes

Do you need to insulate against the heat?  



A lot of people put foil sarking under the roofing, mostly to prevent condensation.  I'm not going to bother, becasue +40C isn't really all THAT hot. ;-)

What size tubing is that?  



1.25" (32mm)

Here you don't see metal unless the building is going to be bigger than about 20m x15m as a minimum and a lot of wood construction is still done with shops in the 30m x 40m range, they just use steel trusses and support posts.  Do you guys use Q-decking for second floor concrete floor molds?  



I wouldn't know, you don't tend to see a lot of multi-story shed/warehouse construction here, and if anything is going to be on a second floor it'll just be a small office-type area.  In that case, they seem to build the floor from timber.

Enough questions, eh?



Thank you, and goodnight. ;-)

BTH