Want to save $1,000 to 10,000 when buying a garage or shed in Canberra?
Below are a list of common mistakes and some handy hints for when you are buying a new shed, garage or carport in Canberra.
1. Know the approvals process and regulations in place for your local council. Don’t know them? Contact a Dealer.
2. Make sure the materials used in your Shed are Australian made and are compliant with the Building Code of Australia.
3. Understand what suits your needs better, an online retailer or a local dealer.
4. Future Proof your shed by taking into account what the future uses of the shed may be.
5. Do you need a registered builder to put it up? Or can you do it yourself and save some money?
6. Realise that your will always fill your shed up with stuff!
7. Make sure your dealer is shedsafe accredited.
1. Not Knowing the approvals process
Does your shed/ Garage or Carport need to be approved by Local Council? Will this cost a small Fortune? What type of approval will it need? What are the risks of having an unapproved structure?
These are just some of the questions we get asked and having a sound understanding of the approvals process can make the process of buying a shed less of a Challenge. Not getting the right information could cost you thousands in approval costs when a simple change to your shed or carport may have meant that it is approval EXEMPT! Not getting an approval when you require one can mean council or service providers such as Icon Water, ActewAGL, Evo Energy or TCCS can issue a notice to have the shed pulled down or worse a nasty fine. As a Ranbuild Dealership, First Sheds can advise on all things approvals, and can even handle the whole process from start to finish.
2. Not buying Australian
Not all sheds are made from well known, compliant Australian materials such as 100% Australian made COLORBOND® and GALVASPAN® steel manufactured by BlueScope Steel. Most Ranbuild shed components are guaranteed to be manufactured from BlueScope Steel product and are therefore backed by the strength and integrity of Australia’s largest manufacturer.
Compliance means that the design complies with the Building Code of Australia (BCA), which is the minimum necessary building design and construction standards issued by the government. To Check if your shed is compliant find out if the supplier is a member of the Industry body, the Australian Steel Institute Steel Shed Group. Ranbuild is a founding Member. Visit www.steel.org.au for more information.
At the end of the day, NO, all sheds are NOT the same. It’s the components used to hold them together that counts. The connection brackets and what secures the structure to the slab are crucial to a strong building. The grade, thickness and tensility of the steel sections are all important components to your buildings structure. Remember it’s not just about how big the sections are or how heavy the building is, it’s about how the components work together to give you a shed that will perform to your needs.
Ranbuild designs are developed and tested at BlueScope Lysaght’s NATA registered Research and Development facility by experienced BlueScope engineers, so you can be confident your shed will be strong and durable.
BUYING ONLINE?? Check that they are made from AUSTRALIAN COMPLIANT MATERIALS and offer full engineering for the building.
3. Knowing who to buy from – Dealers VS Online retailers
when is it most suitable to buy from large online retailers and when is it safer to go with local dealers?
Local Dealers such as FIRST SHEDS Canberra Ranbuild can handle your project all the way from start to finish – this includes getting your site plans drafted, having fully engineered drawings – getting your shed through council approvals, construction of your concrete slab and footings, installing the shed AND running electricity and water to your shed if need be!
In the age of the internet you can buy anything online! Including a Shed… But
Most online retailers can offer a cheap shed, however generally they cannot arrange installation of that product, organise the approvals, include construction of a concrete slab etc. These retailers organise just the shed supply.
4. Not Future Proofing
The average lifetime of a Ranbuild shed built from the highest quality BlueScope and Colorbond steel is over 30 years. Through years of experience we have found there are a few mistakes people can make that costs them $$ in the long run.
Roller door heights: in the short term getting a smaller roller door can save you a few hundred dollars. But what if 5 years down the track you decide to upgrade to a 4wd – or even put roof racks on your existing car, buy a boat with a trailer etc. You then may find your new car cannot fit through the roller door. The frustrating this here is that more often than not, an entirely new shed is required to accommodate for the larger roller door.
Will you be selling?: If you know that you’ll be selling in the next few years then aesthetics of the shed become important. The addition of premium colorbond finishes like MATT colours and premium cladding like horizontal custom orb hugely increases appeal. Couple this with the addition of eave overhangs and the shed takes on less of a boxy feel and more of a homey look, this can be marketed as a room addition (home office, workshop, etc.)
Running Electricity and water: Think how this shed is going to be used and how it may be used in the future? Will you ever need running water or electricity for lighting or power points? If so this is a must do at the time of building as the electricity and plumping is installed prior the slab being poured.
5. Do it yourself? Or get a registered builder
A common question we get asked is can we put our shed/ garage etc up ourselves? The answer is that all our sheds are designed to be DIY friendly and come with extremely extensive DIY installation manuals that walk you through every aspect of building one of our sheds. BUT there is always some assumed knowledge here and access to proper tools required.
GO DIY WHEN: You have some rudimentary carpentry or metal working skills. At least an impact driver, a hammer drill and an angle grinder or electric shears. Some spare time (a standard 6×6 double garage takes around a week to put up) and some friends (at least 2 people minimum are needed.
GET A BUILDER WHEN: You are getting the structure approved and you aren’t a registered builder, don’t have experience, don’t have all the tools, are short on time or don’t have help
6. SHED TOO SMALL
YOU WILL ALWAYS FILL UP YOUR SHED, or garage, studio or whatever you are using your steel building for. Here at First Sheds we put up a lot of sheds that are the second or third shed on someone’s block, and while that is good for our business it doesn’t help you the customers or your pocket.
It’s always a lot quicker, cheaper and easier to do one approval, one site excavation, one concrete slab, one shed installation than TWO! So before committing to your shed, think, will I need another one of these in 5 years? Check out this Garage and Studio that were completed at the same time.
7. Not Buying from a Shed Safe Accredited Dealer
Last but certainly not least is safety! Make sure your shed supplier is safe shed accredited.
BOTH First Sheds and Ranbuild are safe shed accredited.
ShedSafe is the industry benchmark for Australian manufactured steel sheds. Not going ShedSafe means putting yourself at risk in the future.
Shed sellers cannot apply for accreditation until their supplying manufacturer has successfully completed their accreditation process. To be ShedSafe, a company must provide customers with site specific information on their quotes. This ensures the shed has been engineered to meet certain requirements.
Wind loads are the main force (apart from snow in alpine areas) a shed must resist. The wind will always find the
“weakest link” in a shed. An under designed shed may resist very low wind speeds but is highly likely to fail when subjected to the unexpected and abnormal loads.