How to Build a Steel Garage or Shed

Owning a nice big garage or shed is part of every man's dream, and there are thousands of people every year that buy a kit and build their own, and many people often do a great job of it. 

But there are both good and bad ways of going about it, so hey, why not build it the best way possible if you're going to build it yourself? 

This blog provides the key tactics to make it both easier and safer in erecting your shed. Of course, we suppose there's not exactly only one right or wrong way to do it, but you'll definitely find something here that you can do to make things better for you. 

One of the most important things initially is determining how much of the shed can be built on the ground before actually erecting it. The more you can do on the ground, the safer it will be - obviously - and the easier it will be, and as a result, quicker. 

Heights can be nasty at times, resulting in things being hard to access, and of course, the risk of falling and seriously hurting yourself is also there. So if you can eliminate or minimise working at heights then it has to be a good thing.

Consider these points:

1. Can you construct the side walls on the ground and stand them up afterwards?
   This will mean that footings need to be in (holes dug for insertion type footings, or foundations ready to bolt the columns onto), and you'll need equipment that can lift the walls (loader, forklift, crane, etc), and then plenty of safe access for the equipment to be able to get in there and lift it without knocking down your neighbour’s house or bringing down the power lines - neither of which are a preferred part of building a shed!

2. Can you construct the roof on the ground?
   This is taking things to the next level from the previous point, but it's quite common these days, especially on bigger sheds, and it really does work. The key here is that it has to tie in with constructing the walls on the ground, and it often means either constructing the roof beside the shed and lifting it on, or doing the roof directly over the footprint, and constructing the walls on either side and then lifting all 3 at the same time. So if you're in a limited-space residential block, then this is very unlikely to work for you. 

3. The sheer size of the shed.
   There are no hard and fast rules here, but as an example, you'll only need to use 2 lifting points for a wall that's only 6 or 7 mtrs long, whereas if you've got a 15 mtr long wall, you'll probably need about 4 lifting points, and this may mean additional or bigger equipment. The same goes for lifting the roof. 

So, building the shed on the ground is a jolly good way to do it if you can make sure you have the space and the resources available. It can also be a lot quicker - you're not running up and down ladders, or trying to drag up long sheets of iron in that horrible wind. 

Righto, let's move on. Another important thing is the initial setup. Within reason, the more time you spend getting your footprint layout correct, square, etc, the easier it will be to build the shed, because building a shed that's out of square is jolly hard going, and building it in the wrong spot - such as over your neighbour’s boundary - is very inconvenient.

Invest your time, and even some money, into establishing some hurdles, and make sure it's all in exactly the right spot, and that it's nice and square. Never take the attitude that you can push it around once it's up there - it doesn't really work that way in practice, and you'll kick yourself in years to come when you go to hang things up or line the shed, etc, etc and it's not plumb and square. 

Of course, building the walls on the ground, including installing all the sheeting, even the guttering, means it's easier to get it exactly square, and then when it's standing and you go to tension up the bracing, you'll be amazed at how accurate it is. 

The third principle to make things easier and quicker is marking the components prior to construction. We don't just mean labelling parts, but putting marks on them. Here are some examples - 

• Stack all columns and rafters together and use a black texta to mark exactly where the girts and purlins need to go. 

• Lay out the wall sheets for the end wall on the ground - accurately overlapping them, get them exactly square - and then use a chalkline to mark where they need to be cut, and precut them before installation.

• Dryfit (fit and then take them off again) things like haunch and apex plates on the ground - put them on, tek them in, and then untek them again, so it makes it heaps easier when the time comes to do it 3mtrs in the air. 

• Use a sliding bevel to accurately measure barge capping, other flashings, etc, and then cut them on the ground rather than put them on overlength and trim them up there. 

These things may seem obvious, but our observation is that many people simply immediately start working on putting their shed up without taking the time to plan it through and identify things they can do to make it run a lot smoother and easier, and it will be quicker as well. 

As always, we hope this blog helps you with your shed building project, and we're happy to assist in any way we can. Call us anytime.