Which way would you install the C-columns in a new shed

[FlyingDuck]

I am having problems with the builder of a new shed I am having constructed in Brisbane. The size is 21 m x 9 m x 3.6 m, and it has seven 3 m bays made from C-sections.

The builder wants to install the C-sections so that when you are looking into the shed, the C-sections are facing with the open side looking towards you. I would have thought that for aesthetic reasons you would naturally want the best looking view as you look towards the inside, which would be the flat face of the C-sections.

Apparently his only reason for building it what I consider backwards is beause this is the way he always builds them and is too stubborn to do it as I want.

He managed to put up three ribs the way I did not want before we had had an argument over this, resulting in him spitting the dummy and walking off the job.

Photo 1 is how you would see the columns when looking from the roller doors towards inside the shed, with the open end of the C-sections looking at you. Photo 2 is looking from the rear of the shed towards the front, with the flat face of the columns.

Can I have some opinion, from a purely aesthetic point of view, of how you would have the columns facing when looking towards the inside of the shed - with the flat face or the open face looking towards you?

[glock40sw]

G'day.
I built my 15x7x3 with the "C" open side facing to the back of the shed (away from the open gable end when looking in from the roller doors).
IOW...the same as you want to do it.

The Ranbuild bloke that I bought from said that this is the correct way to do it.

[journeyman Mick]

Trouble is, if they're mounted on cast in brackets or plates it might throw things out somewhat if they're turned around. Can't see that it's really important one way or another, it's a bloody shed!

Mick

[pawnhead]

If you've got your own ideas of how to build a shed, then you should have told him before he started. I can't say that I blame him walking off. If he's already put three frames up and you want him to pull them down and start again for no good reason, then he probably sees you as a pain in the rear who's going to give him problems right through the job.

It's a shed. What's the difference which way they face?

A lot of builders find that there's no pleasing some people.

[Dean]

Just line the shed walls with ply when its done and you wont even see much of the columns

[Burnsy]

You have a 21 metre long shed and you are worried about the way the C sections face I will swap you for my 9 metre long one that is loose brickwork covered in mud wasp nests

In all seriousness, once you have filled it with machinery and tools, who actually walks into a shed and looks at the shed. You walk in, go "holy crap this is a big shed, wish mine was like this", then proceed to drool over all the tools and machinery.

Just my 2 cents worth

[journeyman Mick]

......................A lot of builders find that there's no pleasing some people.

Been there done that too huh?

Mick

[FlyingDuck]

Yeah, well I might be a pain in the butt to some, but I have $40,000 reasons to be so. I have to live with it for the next 20 or 30 years, so I want to get it right now the way I want - is that a crime. Unfortunately many Aussie tradesman act like big girls and get upset over nothing.

Yes, reasons for wanting them facing the way I do are mainly aesthetic and it probably wouldn't matter to most, but after 10 years as a cabinet maker you tend to be a bit pedantic about the little touches that make all the difference. And I'm going to have conduits and switches and stuff running inside the columns, so wouldn't it make sense to try and hide this sort of stuff as much as you can.

And its not "just a shed" for me, its the second biggest purchase I've ever made in my life, and something I've been saving towards for the last 10 years or so.

As far as telling him what I want before I build, I have an existing smaller shed on my property built by the same company with the columns the way I like, and before I signed up I said I want the new one in the same exact style. There are also two pictures of the inside of their sheds on their brochure, both having the columns facing the way I want. So how was I to know that he would start building it the other way? I mean, am I supposed to sit down with him before hand and tell him which way I want every piece of material to go?

[bitingmidge]

I hope you never have to turn around in the shed and see them from the other way!!

Sorry, but there are some things that make a difference aesthetically and some that don't. If they offend you so much, why not cover them?

Of course if that's what you have specified before the commencement of construction, that's another thing. I suspect that the cleats on the girts and purlins and the column hold-downs are not symmetrical, and that flipping them over will take a bit of effort. If you haven't specified it that way, have you offered to pay the builder for the change, after all he's got a day's worth of work to change it round?

I've often been in a position to have to explain to builders that I want something done in a particular way, usually the way I'd drawn it in the first place. Mostly, despite the odd dummy spit, it gets done without real drama.

I suspect the builder figures if you're giving him curry over the way the columns face for crying out loud, you might get hard to deal with when you discover his flashing is .005 mm out of level over the door!

My advice FWIW: if you don't have a reason other than "I don't want to see the inside of the C's from the door, then let it go through to the keeper, buy the builder a slab by way of a token apology, and get your shed finished!!

Cheers,

P

[bfx]

Ducky,

I have a couple of shed of similar size on my property. Both have RHS for the ribs so this wasn't an issue but the horizontal beams are c-section and the builder positioned these so the flat side is the most visible. ie The lower beams are flat side up and the higher ones are flat side down. He pointed this out to me and said most of his customers preferred it this way.

IOW some builders go out of their to please the customer. He's now completed four jobs for me and been recommended for other jobs in the area.

If your builder can't come up with a reason better than "that's how I have always done it" then he is only interested in pleasing himself. If the orientation impacts the position of brackets etc then he should have pointed that out.

As to covering it up by lining the shed, one of my sheds is insulated and lined but the ribs are still exposed.

It will probably be a very good shed either way. It's just a shame the c-sections will remind you that builders can also be pains in the rear.

Bill

[echnidna]

He managed to put up three ribs the way I did not want before we had had an argument over this, resulting in him spitting the dummy and walking off the job.

if you are really lucky he might come back and finish the job

[Barry_White]

When I was working for a shed company we always designed and built the shed with the columns open side facing the the rear of the shed. We always did a slab or pier layout plan to reflect this for the hold down bolts.

This was only asthetic and does not affect the performance of the shed.

As Mick said if it has already been set out that way the positioning of the hold down bolts may prevent it from being turned around. If they were drilled in anchors it wouldn't have mattered.

[Barry_White]

Ducky,

the horizontal beams are c-section and the builder positioned these so the flat side is the most visible. ie the higher ones are flat side down. He pointed this out to me and said most of his customers preferred it this way.


Bill

Great place for the rats to live and lets them run around the shed without being seen.

[pawnhead]

The whole point is that it doesn't matter structurally which way they go, and I doubt very much that it's specified on any drawings, so if you're not happy with the way they are, and you didn't tell the builder which way you wanted them before he started, then it's your problem.

If you want them turned around you should offer to pay him extra to pull them down an re-erect them. He doesn't care how much the shed is costing you. All he cares about is being treated fairly, and getting paid for the work that he's contracted to do, without having to throw in extras for free.

Of course if it's you that bears the cost of the extra days work, then I'll wager that the way the columns face isn't such a big deal after all.

[Jacksin]

My Olympic garage, supplied in kit form that I erected following their manual had all columns and portal C-section trusses flat faces facing the front entrance. The front 2 columns were reversed (flat side to the rear) which had the 'opening' covered by the front corner cappings.

I think your beef is certainly legitimate and is with the company who haven't passed your wishes on to the erector and they are liable for any cost increase (provided you have your requests in writing). Lets face it, its your money and if the erector wants to act like a prima-donna and get the sulks, tell him to bugger off and ask for another erector who is not so childish.