Free storage structure!

turbofiat124

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I realize I've posted some crazy ideas and stuff on here but maybe this tops it all.

Can you guess what the original purpose of these 12 panels were used for? I got these from my job. They were going to throw them away but I asked if I could have them and got them for free.
 

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turbofiat124

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No takers?

Well it's a 20' diameter, seven foot tall cooling tower shroud. Also called a drift eliminator. The one in this photo is a bit more flared out at the bottom than the one I got.

fan-stack.png


The one they removed, the lip at the top cracked after 25 years of vibration so they replaced it. I can patch it and fix it with Liquid nails and fiberglass.

I got to figure out the easiest and cheapest way to put a roof on this thing. I'm defiantly not using a tarp.

I'm definitely going to be putting a support beam in the center. Probably a salt treated 4X4 post. Then at least four beams running to edges. Then may tie those together with some more 2X4s.

A flat roof would be the easiest. But wouldn't channel water away as well. I live in the southeast so snow is not a real concern. Last big snow we got was 10 years ago. Maybe 16". I could always stick a kerosene heater inside it if they are predicting a really heavy snow storm.

I could use some corrugated roofing material. I could use salt treated plywood but would need to coat it with something otherwise any standing water might rot it. Then I'd need to seal the gaps with caulk or silicone.

Wonder what they use to coat the top of single wide trailers with flat roofs?

Wife says I should get a roofer and go with something like this:

31-Hawthorne.jpg


Keep in mind this is a dirt cheap storage building.

I'm planning on putting my lawnmowers, ATVs, car parts, lawnmower equipment (wagon, lawn sweeper) and basically junk inside it. So it doesn't need to be 100% water proof. Just something to keep the rain and UV light from deteriorating these items. Any small leaks that do occur, I can always throw a tarp over my mowers.

You guys got any good ideas as far as a roof is concerned?
 

GrassBarber

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You’re going to need some sort of structure to support a roof.
 

Mikel1

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I do like that roof your wife has picked out:thumbsup:
 

Scrubcadet10

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At first I thought walls to port a potty
 

BlazNT

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I used to build houses for a living and I can tell you-you will need to build a frame for the roof. It will have to support all the wood of the roof then any rain and Snow you may get. For every rafter, you need a 4x4 to the ground with a concrete pad at least 6" deep and the center pole needs to be a 6x6 to the ground with concrete pad 6" deep. Let's not forget the braces from one side to the other to stop it from collapsing from all the weight.
 

Boobala

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I used to build houses for a living and I can tell you-you will need to build a frame for the roof. It will have to support all the wood of the roof then any rain and Snow you may get. For every rafter, you need a 4x4 to the ground with a concrete pad at least 6" deep and the center pole needs to be a 6x6 to the ground with concrete pad 6" deep. Let's not forget the braces from one side to the other to stop it from collapsing from all the weight.

Better listen to (BlazNT) - (Chuck) .. He's buil some pretty IMPRESSIVE "house's" in his day !!

3b18d9cc4c5b480d85240cbe371b227c--outhouse-ideas-outhouse-plans.jpg..1099a7b4a8fdb54143356839acc26895--grandmothers-my-grandmother.jpg..17028190.jpg..35071403-image-of-an-outhouse-or-outdoor-toilet-in-the-country.jpg..the-two-holer-paul-mashburn.jpg ... :thumbsup: ...:laughing:..:laughing:..:laughing:
 

turbofiat124

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If I have repeated myself, apologies. I copied this from a post I made from another fourm.

So I am running out of space for my lawnmowers, lawn equipment, ATV, other toys, etc.

Here are some photos of my current project. I'm going to be using it as a storage building.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1AVox6kIMd0vYIXHJ9WYe_P9ikLbDm1sH

So what is it?

The other day at work I noticed one of our cooling tower shrouds (technically known as a drift eliminator) sitting in the gravel. After 25 years of vibration, the fan, motor and gearbox cracked the top lip so they decided to replace it. They had repaired it with fiberglass over the years. The whole thing is made of fiberglass.

I went inside it and thought, WOW this would make a great storage building. It's about 20 feet in diameter and 7 feet tall which would give me about 320 square feet. So I talked to the shop manager and manged to get it for free. They were going to through it into a dumpster.

The company that built it and brought the new one took it apart so I came out on my off day and loaded the panels (12 in all) with the fork truck onto my trailer.

It took two days for my father and I to assemble it. This thing was an absolute "B" to put together. the panels weigh about 100 to 150 lbs a piece. I've got to go back and tighten all the bolts. Instead of using the access entrance panel, I'm going to cut the damaged section out where the shaft went to the gearbox and build a door for it. For the roofing, I'm planning on using that corrugated roofing material. I'm going to call some of these roofing companies and see if they have any scrap/leftover panels instead of buying new ones.

I'm going to line the floor with plastic and tuck it under the bottom and get some of that "AstroTurf" for the floor.

Everybody said, why don't you poor a concrete pad and build a pitched roof? Well this thing is only going to be used to store stuff most people would let sit out in the weather and rot anyway. if I does leak a bit, I'm not that concerned about.

My only concern about using a flat roof is snow but we don't get that much snow here. I can always crank up my 30,000 BTU kerosene forced air heater to melt the snow off if we do get a big snowstorm.

The ground is somewhat flat but the building is pointed down hill a few degrees. This will work to my advantage so any water will run off it.

I'm documenting my build so stay tuned if you want to know how it turns out.
 

Pumper54

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Search on line for " yurts " and see how roofs are put on them. I think you will surprised at how easy it would be to roof your structure.

Tom
 

Padroo

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I recognized those fiberglass panels right away. I worked in a steel mill and there are a lot of them used for cooling towers. I have changed a few of those big fan assemblies before.

Good luck on your project.
 
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