39 replies to this topic

[dazzabozza]

Hi all

I'm looking at getting a shed for some breeding racks as well as general household storage. Was thinking either a 3x6m or two 3x3m back-to-back (actually cheaper this way).

Most of the garden sheds avail are between 1.8 to 2.1m high. Is this going to be too low when using racks?

Insulation.... what's the best way to go now? Cool room panels? Spray on foam? Other methods?

Is having a skylight going to mess with temperatures? Was thinking not to have a window for better security. Thoughts?

Feedback appreciated


Daz

[Peterpiper]

Hi Daz,
If 2 x 3x3m sheds are cheaper, then I would go for them as you will have the same floor space ie 18sq m.
Go for the 2.1m high as this will give you more head height for the racks.
Insulation... you can get foam cut to size, same as the cool room panels.
I would look at shade cloth 80+ to keep the sun off the roof and sides, this would keep the temp down.
The tank lights should give you enough light in the shed or you could put a small tube light up.
I would put one of them spin things on the roof that would pull out the hot air ( forgot the name )

[dazzabozza]

If 2 x 3x3m sheds are cheaper, then I would go for them as you will have the same floor space ie 18sq m.

Noted . May even be able to join them somehow (P.s. I'm not very handy)

Go for the 2.1m high as this will give you more head height for the racks.

The sheds I've been looking at have a wall height of 1.8m and then reach 2.1m at the apex. Is there another way to raise the height of the shed? e.g. building on top of a limestone block border? Or cheaper just to get a taller shed?

I would look at shade cloth 80+ to keep the sun off the roof and sides, this would keep the temp down.

Reckon it'll be necessary if the internal walls are insulated with foam?

The tank lights should give you enough light in the shed or you could put a small tube light up.

I wanted to provide some natural light to assist with growth, health etc during the day. For when I'm in the there I don't mind using fluoros.

I would put one of them spin things on the roof that would pull out the hot air ( forgot the name )

Whirly Birds - good idea Hopefully they'll be high enough to catch the wind.


Daz

[fourdapostle]

Hi all

I'm looking at getting a shed for some breeding racks as well as general household storage. Was thinking either a 3x6m or two 3x3m back-to-back (actually cheaper this way).

Most of the garden sheds avail are between 1.8 to 2.1m high. Is this going to be too low when using racks?

Insulation.... what's the best way to go now? Cool room panels? Spray on foam? Other methods?

Is having a skylight going to mess with temperatures? Was thinking not to have a window for better security. Thoughts?

Feedback appreciated


Daz

Higher the better for racking.
One thing you should look at first really is the floor and power to the shed. Put the floor down and built on the slab otherwise you will loose 100mm, and it all counts.
Two 3x3 would seem the best option specially if storing other stuff one for fish the other for well stuff....
The more air you cirulate the better
Hope all goes well

David

[ado]

May even be able to join them somehow (P.s. I'm not very handy)

I wouldn't suggest doing that. It will be a fair bit of work and you will always have leaking issues (the shed will...not you)


Building a limestone block footing around the bottom and placing the shed on top would be an option if you did want the extra height.
Just make sure you prepare and place the blocks properly (i.e compacted etc) else you might have sinking issues which will be a real nightmare to fix.

Bear in mind that you have to reach the top of the racks...so too high might become impractical

Reckon it'll be necessary if the internal walls are insulated with foam?

I think the shade cloth idea is not a bad one. Placed about 100mm or so above the roof will allow wind to pass through underneath and remove heat.
Another option to consider is the silver backed insulation that is often installed under roof sheeting on houses. Not just the silver sheeting stuff, but the fibreglass insulation with silver backing...comes in bigs rolls
i think its called anticon.
from my sparkie days i noticed how well that stuff works and a roof space with that correctly installed remains relatively cool all day...great stuff

hth
ado

[Peterpiper]

Hi Daz,
I think that the cost of a footing and a wall to put the shed on would be more than having a shed made, you are looking at a total wall length of 18m.
Then you need to fix the shed down so it wont blow away... what hight are you looking for?
For the natural light, just replace some of the roof sheets with the clear ones.
I have put up a few sheds in my time and their not that hard to do. apart from the 6.5m x 12m x 2.4m high that I built 25 years ago..

[dazzabozza]

Some good feedback coming in already

Regarding the footing that's all sorted as I already have an existing section of bitumen driveway I can use.

The sheds I've been looking at come with anchor kits (dynabots etc).

With the racks I'd prob only go two tier. I'll measure up my existing ones to get an idea of what head height I need.

Shade cloth and anticon are both good ideas. With the clear sheeting I was concerned it would effect the temperature too much. Does it act as a good insulator?


Daz

[Peterpiper]

Some good feedback coming in already

Shade cloth and anticon are both good ideas. With the clear sheeting I was concerned it would effect the temperature too much. Does it act as a good insulator?


Daz

You can get the one that stays cool on the underside.. cant think of the name, but bunnings sell it

[Cicolid]

Whirlybird...You would need to block it off during winter to avoid losing all the heat.

Clear panels for light...You could do a "double glazing or secondary glazing" for that panel then the remainder of the roof could be insulated as per normal. If you are interested can have a chat Sun.

Insulation....See FAQ's for Free poly, which could be "glued" straight onto the metal walls etc.

Height of shed...If you go too high you may find it difficult for working on the top tanks.

My 2 cents...Hope it helps

Col

[Adam]

I was going to suggest putting a 100mm box drain the full length of the floor and sloping the floor to the centre. You will need to be aware of corrision of the walls. Raising them on a couple of course of bricks work but so does painting them.

Also carefull consider how you are going to get water in to the shed and out, including siphoning. A sump with a sub pump to put the water on the garden is a good idea.

In regards to the sky light in my experience you do not get percievable benefits in the situation you are talking. I have always traded off the minimal benefits for temp and photoperiod control.

You may find that you would be better off buying second hand cool room pannels and errecting them as your shed. Better insulation etc.

I would install a reverse cycle air cond to do temp and humidity control.

Adam

[dazzabozza]

Some more good pointers there Col & Adam

I was going to suggest putting a 100mm box drain the full length of the floor and sloping the floor to the centre. You will need to be aware of corrision of the walls. Raising them on a couple of course of bricks work but so does painting them.

Will the drain be possible considering the bitumen is already down? I take it u recommend I raise the shed to prevent problems with water gathering and causing corrosion?

Daz

[Myxoe]

hey daz
you can get offcut coolroom panels from a place on the corner of welshpool rd and leach hwy
i think they are free. as for the drain, not really possible if the bitumen is already laid,
unless u are handy with a demolition saw (concrete saw).

[Cicolid]

If you are gong with the drain Dazza I have an 22cm angler grinder & a 26 kg Jack Hammer you can borrow.

You will have to supply the time & energy though. because I don't have either of them.

Let me know if you are interested.

Col

[dazzabozza]

This project is getting close to commencement.

I'm umm and arrring about the size of the shed. Is a 3mx3m going to cut it?

Anyone know much about council approval. I see that some "kit" sheds say "no council approval required". Is this dependant on size?


Daz

[Cicolid]

I would suggest that the size of the shed depends upon the width of the tanks & how many rows you intend to install.

If you just have tanks along both sides & across the end of a 3m x 3m shed there will be a heap of wasted space.
If you have the above, plus a double row up the middle, will you have enough room to work in there ?

The more wasted space means more heating/cooling costs.

Approval for sheds depends on your particular council as they all seem to have different regulations. Best to check with them first.

It comes down to what you are happy with.

Hope this helps

Col

[werdna]

In my experience councils dont really get involved unless a neighbour complains...
If you want coolroom sheets there is a portable building manufacturer on abernethy road between Kalamunda and Gt Eastern Hwy Bypass on the east side, that I used to do a lot of work for, I think it is Fleetwood. They were selling pallets of off cuts for $5 each or something rediculously low.
That is where the company on leach and welshpool buy them from and then sell them for $5 a sheet.

I am about to build a shed myself and am going to go to CSR Gyprock and build it out of stud frame and gyprock inside, tin out. They sell insulation as well and it is real simple.
If you go in there and tell them what you want to do, say you have never done it before and have no idea, and they will show you everything. Shouldnt take too long to build and with gyprock walls you can "get a sparky to" run all cables in the wall and have powerpoint everywhere needed.
I am going to run a seperate lighting circuit thru on a timer so all the tanks lights are automated, and if I need to go in at night I will have a 4ft fluro in the ceiling.

All depends on whether or not you trust yourself to do a good job!


Andrew

[STEVEGREEN]

i dont think you can have both , it's either a fish room or a shed.

if its a fish room , cool room panels , this will keep cost to a minimum , i wouldnt be letting light in or out , and cooling/heating would be done by a r/c aircond

ideally you would install a tap inside the room , and if there is no provvision for a drain i would be running a PVC pipe at least 100mm at a point you can reach every tank for water changes through the wall ( when not using put a cap over it )

with cool room panels your getting the sheeting and the insulation in one hit there strong easy to clean and rarely rust as there design for cold moist environments.

this way you can taylor your space when you pick your tank sizes and like Col said have three rows of tanks , left wall , centre and right wall.

if you go two tanks high ( i rekon 3 ) thats a large body of water and if theres sunlight baking through the clear sheeting ,temp control will not be easy or cheap

another option is tanks and left wall , grow out tubs middle , tanks right wall

i just dont think you can have a storage facility/fish room that will cheap to run.

just throw the other crap in the carport and park on the street !!! hahaha

hope it all goes well.

Cheers
Steve Green

[dazzabozza]

Thanks for the info Steve.

Regarding the coolroom panels are you saying assemble a room using these or get a shed and mount the panels inside it? The 3x3x2.1m (may go taller and longer) shed I'm looking at is around $700. What would a coolroom cost?

I like the sound of having growout tubs. Could be more cost effective that way instead of an extra set of racks/tanks.

Next thoughts are around climate control.

There's 2 units I'm conisdering so far. One is cooling only with no heater but is larger (1.5hp). The other heats and cools (1hp).


http://www.dealsdire...ir-conditioner/ - $399 shipped (1.5hp)

http://www.dealsdire...itioner-remote/ - $438 shipped. (1hp)


Thoughts? Need to know asap as the offer ends tomorrow.

Do I bother with heating or should I stick to in-tank heaters?

What to do wall mounted split systems generally sell for?


Daz

[werdna]

Regarding the coolroom panels are you saying assemble a room using these or get a shed and mount the panels inside it? The 3x3x2.1m (may go taller and longer) shed I'm looking at is around $700. What would a coolroom cost?

The panels make up the walls and ceiling, there is a bit of channel you run along the ground and the panels slide in, then you just put flashing on th corners.

It is really simple to build and you only need a drill, rivet gun and tin snips.


Andrew

[dazzabozza]

Thanks Andrew.

Do u recommend the companies u mentioned earlier? Any idea of the cost?


Daz