# Forum Home Renovation The Garden Shed  Pay or Put up? Kit sheds

## JDub

As many of you know (through all my tedious posts of late  :Wink:  ) Im in the throws of organising my workshop. 
I have cleared the site, got the plans in at council and my BIL is a concretor so he is doing the slab.   *Question is:*  *Do I pay the shed company (fair dinkum) to put it up or do it my self?* 
Its 6.0 x 3.5 x 2.7 (h). It has two large windows, personal access door, roller door, roof insulation..... Pic below 
Quote given to me to put the thing up was $1200.   
Im reasonably handy but never done anything like this before.
They supply instructions but they are very general and not specific to your shed design...   
Thoughts? Experiences good or bad?

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## Wild Dingo

Well... all I can say is... 
gawd help you!!  :Frown:  
Nah you can do it... *with help*... I got my 9x6 up with help... first my two sons then future son in law and finally his father... and the addition of an extra 2 beams of c channel to keep the bloody roof up! 
Shedco being the same company as Fair Dunkum and the sheds being the same type of shed Im thinking you probably got the same massive general non specific instruction manual of their website as I did? bloody waste of friggin time that was...  
You can do it... I ahem we did... others have... you can... But be mindful of that bloody roof the small joiner peices in mine at least wouldnt hold it up in a fit and down came a foot deep sag from the first to third bay... so we had to roar 100 klicks up the road to FSLs fathers farm grab a couple of c channels he had laying around and use one as a bloody upright and the other as a cross member to get the roof up! pain in the ass! :mad: 
But its up! and yours will be to you can do it... a pain in the bum for sure but you can do it. 
Me if I do it again (which I will in a few months) will pay the extra and get them to put the sodding thing up! by the time we had finished we were totally and utterly over sheds. :eek: okay until the tools went in then the love affair was on again  :Wink:   
Oh... if you can find some get some new roller doors the ones that come with these sheds are pure and utter crap... Im presently chasing a couple of B&D Roller doors to replace these ones  :Frown:  
Anyway good luck with it!!  :Cool:

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## DJ's Timber

It all really comes down to how much you want to swear and cuss :Tongue:  :eek: when things don't go well. 
I put my 9x6mt shed up 3 yrs ago and pulled it back down due to buying a house and moving. I did it by myself and took me about a week to put it up and a day to pull it down. I do have a background in building and steel fabrication, so have the know how and tools required to do it :Wink:  . Mind you the biggest shed I have put up was 48mt Longx18mt widex11mt high:eek: . 
It's not rocket science and is fairly easy, you just have to have some patience and make sure that everything is square and lined up before you go putting to many screws and pop rivets in:eek:  
If you go with the installation, it will most likely be done in less than 2 days probably 1 day

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## Ross

I thought of assembling mine myself but futunately SHMBO talked me out of it.  
The builders at it up in less than a day and watching them square everything up and then fit the roller door, the glass door, the windows and the whirly gigger in the roof I was glad she had talked me out of it. 
SHMBO is the best investment I ever made. 
Ross

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## Doughboy

JDub 
Myself and one neighbour put mine up in a day and a half. It was 13m x 6 m x 2.7m had insulation two roller doors, one PA door and a window. I had dramas with length of C purlins for the roof, holes not being drilled and holes drilled in the wrong place, I spent an hour on the blower and the stuff was at my place within the hour and they did not want the left over stuff back. So I ended up with enough wall sheeting to make another single garage and enough roof sheeting to be another double garage and I am not complaining. 
But to be honest save yourself the drama and pay them to put it up.....however make sure you are on the job and oversee it cos I have heard many horror stories about the roof not being square, walls not meeting in the corners covered up with flashing. 
1200 sounds a fair price.  
Pete

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## silentC

I got a quote of $3000 to put up mine: 16m x 6m x 3.3m at the gutter. No way! My brother in law, as it happened, used to labour for a guy who erected Ranbuild sheds (which is what I bought), so he came down and I helped him do it. Bit tricky but not impossible. It helped that he'd done a few before but the first thing I noticed was that he didn't bother following the instructions because "we know how to do it, don't need no stinking instructions". 
I installed the PA door, windows and the roller doors on my own. 
For one the size of yours, I'd do it myself no question, unless I didn't have the time. $1200 is $1200. You can buy a lot of wood/tools etc for that  :Wink:

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## Andy Mac

I put up one  9m x 6m Titan shed by myself with couple of mates, and took me about 5 weekends inc. the slab (and several slabs of XXXX :Rolleyes:  ). It was finicky, and in the end, sheets were put up slightly out of plumb...which amplifies as you progress!! :Shock:  There were details not fully explained in the instructions, and I never did get the roller door to work properly. The next one I had put up by professional installers and they took about 1 1/2 days and everything was shipshape. Pay it, I say! 
Cheers,

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## woodcutta

JDub 
I put my 6Mt X 14Mt X 2.7Mt workshop up in 3 days with help from my sons. It was either that or a smaller shed and have it erected. 
woodcutta

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## Squirrel

I'm all for the do-it-yourself.  I put up mine on my own, only got help with the roller door.  The roller door would be impossible to do on your own and by memory don't release the tension before it's clamped into place.  Just a suggestion, when I ordered my shed, I got one window smaller, I think it was about 500mm high which I put on the end as close to the ceiling as I could.  On this end I put a workbench and still had wall space to hang tools on.  With two large windows you loose a lot of wall hanging space.  With the 1200 saved you could build one heck of a work bench. 
Regards,
Squirrel.

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## boban

I did my 21m x 12m shed mostly by myself.  I must say I wish I had paid the $5000 I was quoted.  It was 4.2m high so it makes everything that much higher and harder.   
Its not the ability to do it thats the issue, its the time it takes, because for me it wasn't second nature stuff.  Not metal anyway.  I hate working with colourbond. 
But, your shed is easily managable and I reckon I would finish it in a weekend.  $1200 tax free for 2 days, not bad wages to pay yourself.  Even $1200 for 4 days where you wouldn't have been earning anyway is a good saving in my opinion.   
I would definitely do that size myself, but never will I do a big one myself again.   
Your best instructions will come from this forum as it sounds like there are plenty of test pilots here.

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## silentC

> The roller door would be impossible to do on your own

  Not so. I hung two of them on my own. 3mx3m. It was exciting, to say the least, but it can be done.

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## Squirrel

> Not so. I hung two of them on my own. 3mx3m. It was exciting, to say the least, but it can be done.

  
Yeah, your right, should never say impossible.... :Rolleyes:   
Squirrel...

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## Wild Dingo

Did I mention the roller doors? GET BETTER ONES!!! The ones that come with these damned sheds are pure and utter crap! :mad: 
Experience 1... having put the shed up as well as we could including the trip to FSIL fathers farm 100klicks away and back putting up some seriously solid C channel (note not the flimsy shyte they call steel c channel nowadays this was REAL STEEL!!  :Cool:  ) and making a few "alterations" to the structure one door moved to the side additional supports in etc etc 
The main roller door (facing the house) would continuously loose the damned stupid pathetic plastic grommit thing that housed the "bar" that locks it... and said bar would drop out and lock the damned door up half way meaning one had to duck down under the door hunt around the floor looking for the stupid pathetic plastic gromit thing and when finally finding it slide it back onto the bar raise the door step outside lower the door and lock... for near on a year thats been the go with THAT door the others the same just that I dont use it as an access door just for air... Ive tried putting pop rivets through that thing but my experience said that that just plain didnt work the pathetic plastic grommit just cracked around the friggin thing leavin it swinging  :Rolleyes:   
Experience 2... out to the shed today unlock said door halfway up wont move... around to other side door open that one easy as... go over to said main access roller door and once there do the hunt for the little friggin pathetic plastic grommit thing and finally find it over near the bench while the damned locking bar on the right has hung itself up on the top of the slider bit :mad: go to try to unlock the other side which is also hungup but inside the damned slider thing swear cuss and fume reach up and touch... read that TOUCH the damned thing thats hung up in the air and it FALLS OFF!! yep the bar just dropped to the ground... oooh bloody brilliant says he  :Rolleyes:  so had a gander at the two of them thin ali for a start small undersized poprivet holding it on for second and a broken pathetic plastic grommit thing for third :mad: 
So instead of doin a final days work out there makin some late starting chrissy pressys for the kids I spent the entire bloody time this arvo FIXING THE BLOODY DOOR!! :mad: Just so it locked and secured quater decently cause it never was able to be locked or secured even half way that meant its locked and secured maybe one third of what it should be! :eek: 
AND!! To bloody well top it off... the other damned door lost its left hand side bar as I locked up this evening when I left... so... FIRST thing tomorrow morning Im gonna have to bolt out there do some major swift alterations and additions to secure the bloody shed while Im away at the mine :mad: and this has to be done BEFORE we drive to Perth a 2 1/2 hour trip in time for the plane :mad: this is a time we reserve for her an I to just share some quiet time together sorting things and other stuff before I leave 
Beleive me THESE DOORS ARE SHYTE!!! Replace them as soon as possible with good quality doors and save yourself some greif  :Frown:  
Anyone know of someone wanting to part with 2 B&D Roller doors PLEASE let me know!!!

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## Caliban

Are you afraid of heights?
Can you use tin snips (wear gloves)
Can you run up and down ladders all day to tack sheets in place, mark them , climb down cut them climb back up secure them?????
The sheets on ranbuild sheds need to be cut by you. 
The roller doors on my shed (ranbuild) are good and I put them up by myself. 2.4 m x 2.7m I used a rope s a block and tackle to get them up high enough.
It is a rewarding feeling but very tricky and sometimes tedious.
It's up to you and how useful you are.
In the end there will be cockups but only you will notice.

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## silentC

> The sheets on ranbuild sheds need to be cut by you.

  Not on mine, Jim. We had to cut the gable end sheets but all the wall and roof sheets were cut to length. 
The doors on my shed came from Steel line. I think that it depends on where you are located as to what doors you get. My doors are good, no complaints there. I bought a Ranbuild deluxe shed. Cost a bit more but worth it I reckon. The portal frames are a lot heavier and the corner brackets are bolted not screwed.

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## JDub

Thanks for the replies all  :Biggrin:   
Although Im no closer to decieding whether or not to do it.....  :Rolleyes:   
Sounds like a royal PITA with lots of things to go potentially wrong, then again, A bit of swearing and hard work and Ive saved $1200 to spend on much needed tools. 
Not worried about the work or time, just worried about getting it right (Im a fussy bugger  :Wink:  )

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## Andy Mac

> just worried about getting it right (Im a fussy bugger  )

  My BIL is like that, he put up an industrial sized shed for his truck business, by himself (has a Hiab) and the ridge gap was out 10mm from end to end, and he was disappointed in himself!! :Tongue:  I'd be happy with 10mm between sheets!!
One thing I did that led to alignment woes, was screwing in the wall sheets too tight. The corrugations tend to flatten out, causing creep, and if the flattening is uneven top to bottom... :Shock:  Maybe get hold of a decent 240v screwgun with accurate pre-tension, it will ceratinly save on time charging batteries endlessly. 
Cheers

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## Caliban

> Not on mine, Jim. We had to cut the gable end sheets but all the wall and roof sheets were cut to length. 
> The doors on my shed came from Steel line. I think that it depends on where you are located as to what doors you get. My doors are good, no complaints there. I bought a Ranbuild deluxe shed. Cost a bit more but worth it I reckon. The portal frames are a lot heavier and the corner brackets are bolted not screwed.

  I stand corrected.
I only had to cut the sheets for either end, including above the roller doors.
Mine is a ranbuild deluxe as well and the roller doors are excellent. Actually, apart from a few alignment issues that were my fault it is awesome. Make sure you order one that has at least 2.7m high walls it makes a phenomenal difference. I can't believe how much cooler my shed is compared to ones with 2.4m walls.

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## JDub

> Make sure you order one that has at least 2.7m high walls it makes a phenomenal difference. I can't believe how much cooler my shed is compared to ones with 2.4m walls.

    

> Its 6.0 x 3.5 x 2.7 (h). It has two large windows, personal access door, roller door, roof insulation..... Pic below

   :Wink:

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## JDub

> One thing I did that led to alignment woes, was screwing in the wall sheets too tight. The corrugations tend to flatten out, causing creep, and if the flattening is uneven top to bottom... Maybe get hold of a decent 240v screwgun with accurate pre-tension, it will ceratinly save on time charging batteries endlessly. 
> Cheers

  
The ones I have seen (and the one at the display site) put the screws through the sheets next to the corrugations (not on top).......

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## DJ's Timber

> The ones I have seen (and the one at the display site) put the screws through the sheets next to the corrugations (not on top).......

  That's all good but the ones on the roof will be on top of the corrugations

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## JDub

> That's all good but the ones on the roof will be on top of the corrugations

  Yep, true  :Biggrin:

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## Wood Butcher

> The ones I have seen (and the one at the display site) put the screws through the sheets next to the corrugations (not on top).......

  Believe me, even screwing the sheets on like this you can get sheet creep. All it takes is for someone to put a smal amount of pressure on the ribs to push it out.

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## keith53

JDub,  
I'd be inclined to pay the $1200 and have it up in a day or so.  That way you're getting a quality erection (no pun intended here) and as has been mentioned, make sure you're there to supervise & keep an eye on things.  This way, you'll be able to 'move in' sooner and begin the really exciting exercise of laying out your shed.  Good luck which ever way you go. :Biggrin:   
Cheers,
Keith

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## Doughboy

Who the hell puts roofing screws in the valleys of corrugated tin???  
People that live with leaking sheds that is who!!!!!  Please if you are a 'perfectionist' as you say don't do it. You WILL regret it in the short and long term.... 
IMHO of course!! 
Pete

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## journeyman Mick

> Who the hell puts roofing screws in the valleys of corrugated tin???  
> People that live with leaking sheds that is who!!!!!  Please if you are a 'perfectionist' as you say don't do it. You WILL regret it in the short and long term.... 
> IMHO of course!! 
> Pete

  Pete,
it's standard practice to crest fasten roofing sheets and trough fasten wall sheets. Been doung it that way for years (as recomended in the Lysaght manual) 
FWIW,
to avoid/minimise sheet creep:
fix first sheet with two screws only, one at each end at the outside edge. Lay next sheet in place and fix with one screw at either end, through the overlap with previous sheet. Measure from the edge of the sheet to the end of the roof to check for parallel. "Fan" the sheets if required by applying more pressure at required end of sheet. Once a sheet has been fixed with a screw in each corner you can go back and screw off the overlaps and then the rest of the sheet.  
Mick

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## JDub

I mentioned this in my Shed WIP thread but thought I mention it here for the other Canberrans that have the misfortune of dealing with our local red tape...... sigh  :Frown:   
1) When putting up a small shed in your backyard you need to put the plans through council (ACTPLA) after they charge you ($150) and eventually approve the plans (up to six weeks). As part of these plans you need a draftsment to draw you a site plan ($vaires). 
2) After the inital plans are through council you then need to employ a private certifier as they no longer do any of the inspections themselves.... private certifiers charge a minimum of $500, and you need to submit more plans to them, and another wait.... they also as part of there approval process need to put a builders name on the approval. Therefore you need to provide a builders license number of whoever is putting up your shed, but if you plan to put up your own shed *you need to apply for an owners builders license!!!* 
3) Owner builders license is another $180 and more forms and a third or fourth trip to ACTPLA...... (I might not put it up myself now out of principal, eg giving ACTPLA more cash) 
4) once your shed is up you need to an electrician to sign off on the work and then submit those forms.... 
This is all for any shed above 10m2 
The approvals etc are gonna cost almost as much as the shed...... 
What a crock of crap. :mad:

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## silentC

Sorry mate, I could've told you all that. It's no deifferent down here, except our council still does inspections, although I don't know for how much longer. 
Technically you can't even build a chicken coup or a cubby house for your kids without development approval  :Rolleyes:

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## JDub

> Sorry mate, I could've told you all that. It's no deifferent down here, except our council still does inspections, although I don't know for how much longer. 
> Technically you can't even build a chicken coup or a cubby house for your kids without development approval

  Yer its not the development approval that was a surprise, the bit that shocked me however is you have to be a licensed owner builder to put up a kit shed, I had never heard of that...... oh and the cost of a private certifier I thought was a bit pricey....  :Rolleyes:

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## silentC

It's all about liability you see. If you build the shed then 6 months later sell the house, the new owner can chase after you to fix it if it falls in a heap or kills someone. I think the warranty period for an owner builder is 7 years in NSW now. Be interested to know if they would make you provide home owner's warranty insurance on it if you did sell it. They do on a house or renovation.

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## Bob38S

You want it finished when ..............?
Pay the $$$$  - PITA I know but your friends won't hate you
Your wife will love you
Your peace of mind will be intact
No one will sue you [if it falls down]
If something is wrong you will have a bum to kick [if necessary]
Consider it $$$$ well spent particularly as you indicate you do not have the expertise.
You'll be in your element when she[d] is up.

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## Waldo

G'day JDub, 
Get some mates and put it up yourself, a shed that size is easy. My Dad and I put up 20x10x3.6m shed, took a bit of grunt but we did it - the whole lot.

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## ian

> *Question is:*  *Do I pay the shed company (fair dinkum) to put it up or do it my self?* 
> Its 6.0 x 3.5 x 2.7 (h). It has two large windows, personal access door, roller door, roof insulation..... Pic below 
> Quote given to me to put the thing up was $1200.  
> Im reasonably handy but never done anything like this before.
> They supply instructions but they are very general and not specific to your shed design... 
> Thoughts? Experiences good or bad?

  look at it this way what tools and equipment (that you don't currently have) will you need to put the shed up?how many of these will be future users as opposed to things that take up shelf space?If you hire what you don't have and will not need in the future what will that cost?can you layout and erect the frame so that it is truely square?how much grief will you cop while you spend a few weekends putting the shed together?then you'll have your answer as to whether the $1200 will be well spent  
ian

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## Iain

Had my 6x12x3 put up by pro's, took 5 days, Day 1, put in frame and footings which are almost a 1 metre cube of concrete, Day 3 building inspector looks at footings, Day 5 walls, roof, insulation, 2 roller doors and PA door put in, jobs done.
SWMBO reminds me of how long it took to get the kitchen done and that it is a fraction of the size of the shed :Frown:

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## JDub

Well, The plans went through Council, so I rang the shed company to confirm pricing for the erection of the shed before I go to the certifier. 
They gave me the name of there builder, he quoted me $1800!  He said he has no idea where the shed company got $1200 from..... 
I was leaning towards getting them to do it but with that price I will doing it myself.... wish me luck  :Wink:   LOL

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## NeilR

Good luck JDub. Im about to go through the same process so will look forward with interest on your progress. I just hope I can get it organised before christmas...pushing it I think. 
Thanks too to all you others for the valuable info. 
Rgds
Neil

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## hjsimpson01

Do the job yourself.  
I got Ranbuild to erect mine. It's been two years and it's still not complete. They have used bits of my kit on other kits during this time, delays all over the show. No rational explanations - just stupid excuses. They organise dates to be there then don't show, they don't advise why they aren't there, don't even organise a new time. It has been one huge nightmare on my end, two years I would never ever ever go through again. 
I still can't park my car in the garage, there is no concrete apron work in front of the garage and I am now in the process of trying to organise my own concrete labourer to do the job. 
One thing is for sure. They cannot organise anything. I mean that. I have emails with dates they have said they would be onsite and they haven't even bothered to call to advise when they don't show up.  
BUILD YOUR OWN... 
Good luck

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## wheelinround

> Do the job yourself.  
> I got Ranbuild to erect mine. It's been two years and it's still not complete. They have used bits of my kit on other kits during this time, delays all over the show. No rational explanations - just stupid excuses. They organise dates to be there then don't show, they don't advise why they aren't there, don't even organise a new time. It has been one huge nightmare on my end, two years I would never ever ever go through again. 
> I still can't park my car in the garage, there is no concrete apron work in front of the garage and I am now in the process of trying to organise my own concrete labourer to do the job. 
> One thing is for sure. They cannot organise anything. I mean that. I have emails with dates they have said they would be onsite and they haven't even bothered to call to advise when they don't show up.  
> BUILD YOUR OWN... 
> Good luck

   :Eek:  2 years a Solicitor comes to mind after 6 months

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## Barry_White

What you have to remember is that the manufacturer supply the shed but the construction is done by an independent franchisee or subcontractor and the problem is there are some good ones and there are some crap ones and a few in between. 
So it is really the luck of the draw on what you get. 
When I was selling sheds (Ezyframe) www.ezyframe.com.au we used  to use subcontractors and if we got two complaints about them they were gone, but some companies don't care because they reckon they will never sell you another shed. 
We used to get 40% or better of our business from repeat business or referrals.

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## Caliban

> Do the job yourself.  
> I got Ranbuild to erect mine. It's been two years and it's still not complete. They have used bits of my kit on other kits during this time, delays all over the show. No rational explanations - just stupid excuses. They organise dates to be there then don't show, they don't advise why they aren't there, don't even organise a new time. It has been one huge nightmare on my end, two years I would never ever ever go through again. 
> I still can't park my car in the garage, there is no concrete apron work in front of the garage and I am now in the process of trying to organise my own concrete labourer to do the job. 
> One thing is for sure. They cannot organise anything. I mean that. I have emails with dates they have said they would be onsite and they haven't even bothered to call to advise when they don't show up.  
> BUILD YOUR OWN... 
> Good luck

  Mate
I understand your pain.
But as Barry said, it isn't ranbuild at fault it is the particular franchisee. Perhaps a call to ranbuild's head office.

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## Ashes1

Just going through this at the moment and am happily paying $1700 to get my 6mx10.8mx2.4 shed put up.  So far, walls and frame up after 1 day and the rest will be finished today (roof with aircell, roller door, 3 windows and 1 PA door).  Pretty happy with the work so far, hoping the finished product is up to scratch.  $1700 for 2 blokes over 2 days seems like a fair price. 
For me, just haven't got the time or experience to put it up myself.  Biggest problem/difficultly I've heard is making sure the frame is perfectly square.  If I was to DIY i'd arm myself with lots of photos of an existing shed as a reference.  Another reason for getting the pro's in is that the beams are heavy and potentially dangerous for us amateur builders.  Wouldn't want one falling on my mates, missus, kids, myself etc while putting it up.

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## JDub

An update since this old thread got ressurrected... I ended up putting it up myself, very glad I did, It was hard work but worth the effort I reckon.
I dont think contractors would have put in the same attention to detail as you tend to do putting your shed up yourself.
That said, It helped that I did have some help from a family friend who is an ex builder. 
Here is my Shed WIP thread:  http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...IP+Shed&page=5 
Cheers
Joel

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## WoodJunky

> I ended up putting it up myself, very glad I did, It was hard work but worth the effort I reckon.

  There is nothing better than the satisfaction you get by taking on a large job like this. I have put up 2 sheds, the second larger than the first and the hard work that was put into it and the end result was well worth the effort.   :2thumbsup:  well done JDub  :2thumbsup:

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