Hi Jack,

Wow! that looks great, a picture paints a thousand words, and I can't wait to see it when the residents move in.

How about a little structural advice for anyone contemplating building themselves a brom house. For example: Type of timber, post, rafter and batten sizes as well as distance between rafters and battens.

I'll bet you lost some sweat digging the excavation or did you get Tamera to dig it?

Just out of interest, did you have to put a development application in to the council for this and if you did, how long did it take for them to process it. I'm just curious as they take forever to process down our way.

A great professional looking work in progress, and I can't wait to see the finished product.

All the best, Nev.

Hi Nev, no development application was submitted ,you dont really need one as they are classed as demountable buildings but councils work on bluff and most of us do not know about the law and land development,anyway thats a lengthy subject ,as for the building ,well the roof beams are 100 x 50 mm and if longer than 4 metres will need a centre support ( these are 5 metres and shade house is 6 metres so the will get a centre support of 50 x 50 mm ) the wall posts are also 100 x 50 mm ,the braces are 50 x 25 mm ,its all screwed together with self drilling galvanised hex head screws ( makes for easy dissasembly ) the roof battens are 75 x 25 mm pine decking , all the timber is C.C.A treated structural grade Pine ,and must be painted with a good quality 100% exterior Acrylic ,each module is a maximum of 2 meters apart ,any further and the roof battens sag under their own weight ,the benches are fastened to the wall studs ,it would be best if i post some photos of these ,benches can not be wider than 1 metre thats as far as you can reach across with comfort ,centre benches are generally 2 metres wide as you can reach from both sides , only the roof battens and benching battens are nailed ,all else is screwed ,posts sit on the ground on a foot plate ,and a peg is driven in the ground along side of the post to anchor them , all cross braces are 50 x 25 mm ,can post detailed piccies of all that if you want Nev,the angle of pitch on the roof is up to the individual ,but over 5 metres the slope is roughly 80 centimetres ,the high wall faces north ( a must )roof battens are spaced 1.25 metre apart ( maximum spacing ) i have used this basic design for 40 years its very economical for the size building you get ,very strong and easily reconstructed ,as well as long lasting ,benches do add a significant cost if properly constructed ,do it right and you do it once ,thats what keeps the cost down over a long period of time ,
i trust this answers some of your questions Nev,
cheers ,Jack

Hi Jack,

Thanks a lots for that information, it's great to get details of something that really works and is a design that has been tried and tested over the years.

The main thing that caught my eye was the fact that it looked so neat and tidy with everything looking to be in the right proportions.

You see so many shade houses where the timbers are big enough to support a house simply because people forget that they only have to support the weight of shade cloth or a lightweight roofing material.

Keep up the good work Jack

All the best, Nev.

P.S. Ask Tamera if she got my email

Wow, that is a really impressive structure, and as splinter says it looks nicely proportioned and is very pleasing to the eye. I look forward to seeing it once the residents move in. Thanks very much for posting the construction details, I am planning to build a shadehouse myself later this year and it will be good to have the benefit of your experience to hand when I start planning.
Cheers
John