Sheds and carports look like the easy end of carpentry. Then you watch a flat-pack nobody bothered to anchor take off across the yard in a southerly buster. The shed itself is only ever as good as what's underneath it and what's holding it down — and that's the bit people skip.
I'm Dave. I build and assemble sheds, workshops and carports across the Gong and the wider Illawarra, from Helensburgh down through Wollongong and Shellharbour to Nowra and the Shoalhaven. Licensed, insured, and you're dealing with me start to finish — not a different bloke each visit.
Built from scratch or your kit put up properly
Two ways this usually goes.
You want the whole job done, so I supply and build it. Garden shed, a decent workshop out the back, a single or double carport — base, frame, roof and fixings all sorted as one tidy job. You end up with something square that'll still be square in ten years.
Or you've grabbed a kit from Bunnings or one of the shed mobs, it's been sitting in boxes in the garage for three weekends, and the instructions have well and truly beaten you. That's half my shed work, honestly. I'll prep the base, build it true, and bolt it down to something that actually holds. The metal in those kits is fine. It's the anchoring advice in the booklet that's optimistic — and around here, with the wind that funnels off the escarpment and the coastal gusts on top of it, a shed tied into a bit of soft ground is asking for trouble.
Slabs, footings and tying it down
What sits under the shed decides everything.
A little garden shed can go on a level paved or well-compacted base. But a workshop, anything you're storing real weight in, or a carport that's catching wind all day — that wants a proper concrete slab with footings sized for the job. We get the falls right so water runs away from it, which matters on the older fibro and brick places round here where the drainage was never crash hot to start with.
Then there's the slope. Plenty of Illawarra blocks drop away hard, and you can't just plonk a shed on the dirt and hope. We cut in, build up, or pour a stepped slab so you finish with a level floor instead of a door that won't shut. After that it's the anchoring — dynabolts into the slab, cyclone-rated brackets where the exposure calls for it, posts concreted in for a carport rather than spiked into clay.
You never see any of it once the job's done. It's the whole difference, though, between a shed that stays put and one you're chasing down the street.
Colorbond or timber, and the approval reality
Most sheds and carports these days are Colorbond steel. Quick to put up, tough, no rot, no termites, and it handles the salt air better than people expect as long as you're not literally sitting on the sand. Full colour range too, so you can match the house or the existing roof. For a carport it's hard to beat for the money.
Timber's still the go where you want it reading as part of the house rather than a kit — a carport on treated pine or spotted gum posts, tiled or Colorbond roof over it, framed to suit the place. Costs more, and near the coast it'll want a coat of oil now and then. Looks completely different to a bolt-together steel one, though.
Now the approval bit, straight up. Smaller sheds and carports often slip under exempt development, which means no approval at all — but there are limits on size, height, how close to the boundary, and what your block's carrying (flood, bushfire and heritage all change the answer). Step past those and you're into a CDC or a full DA through Wollongong, Shellharbour, Kiama or Shoalhaven council, and they each read it a bit differently. I'll measure up, check where you land against the rules, and tell you which bucket you're in before you've spent a cent. No point building something that has to come down.
On price: a basic kit assembly might be a few hundred to put up properly, a supplied-and-built shed runs into the low thousands, and a slab-and-carport job climbs from there depending on size and ground. Either way you get a clear quote, not a number that quietly grows.
Got a kit gathering dust, or a yard crying out for a carport? Give me a bell on 0414 007 351, or send through the details for a free quote. Happy to come have a look and tell you what'll actually work on your block.
Common questions
- Do I need council approval for a shed or carport?
- A lot of smaller sheds and carports fit under the exempt development rules and need no approval at all, as long as they're under the size and height limits and far enough off the boundary. Go bigger, build close to a fence, or sit on a flood or bushfire block and you're usually into a CDC or a DA. I'll check your spot against the council rules and tell you straight before we start.
- Can you put up a kit I've already bought from Bunnings?
- Yep, that's a big chunk of what I do. Bring me the flat-pack and I'll prep the base, build it square, and bolt it down so it doesn't end up two streets over after a southerly. A lot of those kits go up wrong or get anchored into nothing — I sort the footings and fixings the instructions skate over.
- Do I need a slab, or can the shed go on the ground?
- Depends on the shed and the ground. A small garden shed can sit on a level paved or compacted base, but a workshop, anything heavy, or a carport really wants a proper concrete slab with the right footings. On a sloping block you'll usually need some leveling or a slab regardless. I'll work out what suits when I look at it.