Buying a Shed Online in SA: Kit or Built?

You can buy a steel shed online, but for anything bigger than a garden shed you are really ordering a kit that is made to your size after you pay a deposit. You pick the size, roof, doors and colour, the supplier quotes the shed and the freight, and it arrives flat-pack for you or a builder to put up. A kit makes sense if you have the skills, the gear and a couple of helpers. If you do not, or the shed is big, a local builder who supplies and erects it is usually the better buy.

We do both from our Mount Pleasant workshop: shed kits shipped anywhere in Australia, and sheds we build ourselves across the Barossa, the Adelaide Hills, Adelaide and Murray Bridge. Here is how buying a shed online works, and what to check before you pay anything.

What "buying a shed online" actually means

Garden sheds come in a box off the shelf. A garage, workshop, farm shed or carport is different. Most of them are fabricated to order, so the online part is usually a configurator and a quote request rather than a checkout. On our kit page you choose:

• The product: shed, carport, pergola or lean-to.
• The size: sheds in 6 x 9 m, 9 x 12 m, 12 x 18 m and 15 x 24 m, or a custom size. Carports from a 3 x 6 m single to a 6 x 9 m triple.
• The colour and finish: standard Colorbond in your choice of colour, unpainted Zincalume, or a custom paint finish.

We come back with the freight quote within 1 to 2 business days, and the kit is fabricated once the order and deposit are confirmed, typically 2 to 6 weeks depending on the product and our workload. Want to see it first? The free 3D Shed & Carport Designer lets you set the size, roof, roller doors and PA doors and check your ute, boat or caravan fits.

Five checks before you pay a deposit

These apply whoever you buy from.

1. Approval first. Only small garden sheds are exempt in SA: 15 m² or less, no higher than 2.5 m and a roof span of 3 m or less, plus siting limits under Schedule 4. Anything bigger needs development approval. In the Barossa, the council's Build a shed guide gives a general size of under 80 m² for town blocks and up to about 200 m² on rural living blocks. Get the approval sorted before you order, because the drawings you lodge have to match the shed you build.
2. Structural details. The building application needs structural details for your shed. Ask the supplier what engineering and drawings come with the kit and whether they suit your site.
3. What sits underneath. A shed needs a slab or footings. Find out what the kit is designed to sit on and who is doing that work. It is usually the biggest job on site and it has to be right before the frame goes up.
4. Door and height clearances. Measure the tallest thing going in (the tractor with the ROPS up, the caravan with its air conditioner) and size the doors and wall height around it, not the other way round.
5. What is in the box. Your written quote should list exactly what is included. Concrete, tools and anything that depends on your site are usually not.

Freight, delivery and unloading

• Freight is quoted to your postcode, in writing, before you commit. It is not included in the kit price.
• Delivery is generally kerbside or to an agreed drop point with safe truck access. Have help on hand to unload unless unloading has been arranged.
• Check every part against the paperwork on arrival, note any damage on the delivery paperwork and send photos straight away.
• Because a kit is made to your size and colour, change-of-mind refunds generally are not possible, so double-check your measurements. Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law for faulty goods still apply.

The full detail is in the shipping, freight and returns section of the kit quote page.

Kit or built for you?

A kit suits you if:

• you have built something similar before, or have a builder lined up to put it up
• you have the gear and the help to stand portal frames and work safely at height
• you live a long way from Mount Pleasant, or you want to save on labour

Getting it built suits you if:

• the shed is big, like a machinery or hay shed with wide spans and tall columns
• the block is sloping or the shed ties into the house or an existing shed
• you need it finished before harvest, vintage or the next storm season
• you would rather not spend your weekends on a ladder

Buying a shed if you live in the Barossa or near Mount Pleasant

If you are in the Barossa Valley or near our workshop in towns like Springton, Birdwood and Eden Valley, you get the best of both, and the same goes for the Adelaide Hills, Adelaide and Murray Bridge. You can order the shed as a kit and put it up yourself, or have us deliver it and build it. Either way it is fabricated down the road, and if something needs changing later, we are mobile welders who can fix it on site.

Further away? The kit ships flat-pack anywhere in Australia. Start with the kit quote page, check your block in the PlanSA zoning tool, or call Sean on 0455 579 207.