Browse Forums General Discussion Re: Living in a shed on acreage 4May 06, 2016 1:51 pm Quote: We are almost at the stage of putting an offer on 10 acres. Check with the local council regarding the zoning of the land and whether one is allowed to build a house on it. If the land is zoned farming one may not be always be allowed to build a house on it. My council has a 20 hectare rule (which is about 50 acres) for rural land. They classify an application to build a house on rural land of less than 20 hectares as non-complying. This makes the approval process difficult. Some rural councils will allow land to be occupied (i.e. living in a caravan or shed) during the actual construction process provided there are amenities including a bathroom, toilet & kitchen. Re: Living in a shed on acreage 5May 06, 2016 2:07 pm Thanks for your reply. Zoning is Farmlet. There are around 15 other lots in the area, some already have houses most just have owners living in sheds while waiting to build, same as us. Shire approval required to live in the shed or you can live in a caravan inside the shed. No issues with getting the approval though. Just a formality. Shire permits living in sheds/caravans on anything over 2.5 acres. Just more interested to know how people went about fitting a shed out to live in and also how they coped, if they would do it again or if it was a disaster! Just want to be as prepared as possible Re: Living in a shed on acreage 6May 06, 2016 2:39 pm Quote: Just more interested to know how people went about fitting a shed out I also built an American barn and fitted it out including adding a mezzanine floor. I built the internal walls using light gauge steel studs and lined with plasterboard. The walls and roof were insulated and also with a vapour barrier installed. I installed a second hand kitchen. After one winter I installed wood heater. I installed a verandah on one side as I found it more pleasant to sit outside than inside the shed. I also installed larger windows to allow views outside. I sealed/painted the concrete floors and then installed large floor rugs. I put Lino in the kitchen. Re: Living in a shed on acreage 7May 06, 2016 9:45 pm Depends how you want to use the shed afterward, although 2 years is a while so you'll want to be comfortable. You could frame up some walls and then line with plasterboard. Putting a basic roof would help save on heating costs. That could be removed reasonably easily later. Re flooring you could just put some cheap carpet down. Family of mine did this while they built their dream house on 25 acres. They were probably in it for a few years while they built bit by bit. Re: Living in a shed on acreage 8May 06, 2016 9:52 pm We've done something similar although not on our property but with family. We fitted out a 8m x 5m shed with lining, toilet, shower and kitchenette while we build our dream house on acreage. We added a small aircon unit because it gets ridiculously cold in winter with the minimal insulation. And hot in summer!! We've been there nearly 2 years. We've got 2 kids (3 and nearly 1). Its been pretty difficult at times I'm not going to lie but you can make it really homely with a nice rug and pictures etc. You can do it. Keep your eye on the future, enjoy the present, try to laugh at the frustrations. I always try to think about other countries around the world where whole families live in tiny spaces and it makes me appreciate how lucky we are to nearly have our house built. Good luck!! Re: Living in a shed on acreage 9May 06, 2016 10:13 pm Thank you Matt1. The shed is an American barn and will be fully converted to stables once we move out, we will still keep the toilet, shower, sinks etc so those facilities can still be used Definitely want it to be comfortable while we are there but you've highlighted the importance of not going too full on with it, seeing as it's going to be removed, don't want to spend too much money on it thank you! Scottdreams88, thanks for your reply. That is so true what you say about people around the world living in much smaller and sometimes much worse places than a shed! Will definitely try to keep our eye on the prize at the end! Great advice for keeping things homely and I'm glad that you are finding it ok with 2 kids! Makes me feel better! We will also have 2 children by the time we move in. 3 year old and I'm almost due to have 2nd. Thanks again for your reply Re: Living in a shed on acreage 10Oct 28, 2016 12:39 am Beetaloo Quote: Just more interested to know how people went about fitting a shed out I also built an American barn and fitted it out including adding a mezzanine floor. I built the internal walls using light gauge steel studs and lined with plasterboard. The walls and roof were insulated and also with a vapour barrier installed. I installed a second hand kitchen. After one winter I installed wood heater. I installed a verandah on one side as I found it more pleasant to sit outside than inside the shed. I also installed larger windows to allow views outside. I sealed/painted the concrete floors and then installed large floor rugs. I put Lino in the kitchen. Hi Beetaloo, How would I go about building a mezzanine floor in my home , up in my raked ceiling ? Re: Living in a shed on acreage 11Oct 28, 2016 6:45 pm My American Barn was at least 5.5 meters high (floor to roof) so I had enough height to install a mezzanine floor, The mezzanine floor consisted of 250mm HD C sections bolted to the existing steel posts with 200mm C Sections at 450mm centres as floor joists.and particle board flooring on top. I also installed timber stairs to access the mezzanine floor. The whole process took about 2 weekends to build. Re: Living in a shed on acreage 13Oct 30, 2016 11:01 pm I'm thinking wood mezzanine , timber))) as its internal. I have the height. just wondering on designs and thinking about gyprock underneath the beams to look like ceiling as well as adding down lights. The area underneath is a main hallway /walkway. Re: Living in a shed on acreage 14Oct 30, 2016 11:02 pm I wish I could figure out how to post on here otherwise I'd send a photo ???? Re: Living in a shed on acreage 15Nov 02, 2016 10:37 am @FITG... This is for uploading a photo to photobucket. Other file hosting sites are similar. (Note: You wont see the image until you post your message/topic back here ) 1) Upload your photos to an image hosting site like Photobucket. 2) Click on your photo that you want to post here. 3) Locate the IMG tag under "Share Links" on the right hand side of the photo. 4) Click on that IMG code line which will copy it ( the line will turn yellow and say " copied " ). 5) Paste that into your post here then hit the submit button. If you have a smart phone then using Tapatalk etc for a direct upload here is probably easier... Other photo hosting sites like Imgur etc are very similar. 1 4591 Is it possible to render an old corrugated iron shed.I have heard that it can be done if it is covered with chicken wire first.Not sure of the ratio of the render mix and… 0 4897 Thanks. Yeh ideally that would have been good, but have progressed too far now. Hoping some well placed internal walls fixed up into the battens will provide some… 2 5412 |