Roll-off shed - Floor or no floor?

[Drakester]

Hi Guys,

I'm weighing up the merits of having a floor in my planned roll-off shed obsy, and have seen designs on here both with and without floors...

The way I see it:

With floor:

• Pro's: Better protection from elements. Able to store kit boxes etc up off paving base.
  
• Cons: Need to make sure floor supports shed (and me when sat inside imaging) when jacked up on wheels. Heavier to roll off. Need to cut groove for pier.
  

Without floor:

• Pro's: No worries about reinforcing floor to support me when sat inside. Lighter to roll off. Less rolling hardware required.
  
• Cons: Worse protection from elements, Need to reinforce walls etc to make up for lack of floor. Kit stored on paving base.
  

Are there any other considerations I should, erm, consider?

Cheers.

[ollypenrice]

Sorry, this is a shed which will roll away entirely, not a roll off roof? If so, you'll have some kind of cutaway slot in any floor to go round the pier? And then it will double as a warm room once rolled off?

(Lots of 'ifs' there!!)

I have a couple of these without floors but if you are going to use a pier rather than a tripod then I think a floor would be great. Since visiting setups might be tripod based I decided against floors but I'm thinking that I might go fixed pier and floor to make the rolled-off warm room much better - and warmer. The reasons you list are convincing.

It also occurs to me that you could make a 'desk pod' extension to a full roll-off so your PC could stay in situ or at least make setup faster. The one below is on one of the rolling roof setups but it could easily be added to a full roll-off shed. I can see some work ahead...

[pete_l]

If it was me, I wouldn't make the floor part of the roll-off shed, I'd have it as static, around the pier. The reasons are as you say: having to cut a slot to slide the floor past the pier and also the increased weight to roll away.

What I'd do is to build the floor on it's own frame around the pier but within the shed and then have the shed walls an inch or two outside the edge of the floors frame. (Though how you're planning to roll the trailing wall past the pier / kit I'm not clear about.

Then you have the best of all possibilities. The floor protects boxes stashed on it from damp rising through a concrete base. The floor will be decoupled from the pier, so no vibrations will be transmitted through and yo won't have to cut slots, or move the additional weight. It will cost more, as there will be a second frame to hold the suspended floor joists.

[Drakester]

Thanks for the replies, just to clarifiy..

I've got a 7x5 pent shed, with a door in the middle of one of the 7' walls.

The plan is to fix a sliding-gate wheel in each corner of the shed, and roll the entire structure backwards on 2 rails (which are to be fitted in-line with each of the 5' walls) a couple of metres away from the pier. The pier (& scope) would fit through the door of the shed. I would then use the "empty" shed as a warm room for imaging.

I'm ideally hoping the shed is small enough not to sag too much between the wheels, and I can therefore get away with the orginal structure of the shed (incl floor) but with a slot cut in the floor for the pier to engage into when the shed is "closed", but I have visions of the whole structure buckling or wheels being sheared off if I stand inside it when it is in the open position..?

I guess reinforcing the floor and/or adding more than 4 wheels might be an answer...?

Thanks agaim.

[pete_l]

The difficulty is the structural weakness that the slot in the floor causes. You'd have the joists for the floor running in the same direction that the shed rolls, so the slot fits between joists. But then you are lacking a continuous beam across the doorway as you need a gap in that to get past the pier.

You could get round that problem by installing 2 more wheels: one on each side of the door to support the gap, but then you'd have all the weight of the floor and whatever / whoever was standing on it borne by just those 6 wheels. It might take a few more!

[ollypenrice]

I welded my roll offs up with steel chassis so they are stiff enough. However, surely having a floor with slot on the rolling part is stiffer than having no floor in the rolling part? (I think sketches would be good at this point!)

Olly

[Drakester]

Thanks Pete/Olly.

I think having a floor is the way to go for the time being for me. The amount of rain we've had up here in the last 6mths certainly is one of the main factors and the added warmth of not standing directly on paving slabs.

I had an idea of maybe having a "second floor" (just osb or ply) which hinges down over the slotted floor when using it as a warm room.

I'm also thinking of using adjustable legs/levelling castors to bolster the areas around the slot, or anywhere else which looks a bit strained.

I really like the desk pod idea too Olly. I was thinking about something similar, but maybe hinged so it can be stored vertically when not in use?

I'm no artist, so sketches are probably out of the question! but will post progress pics as I go.

Planning to start work this weekend

[ollypenrice]

Thinking about Pete's point about the joists in the front part having to run parallel with the rails, you could always have four rails, with two inner ones being there just to support the floor either side of the slot. Or, perhaps better, the floor either side of the slot could be supported on wheels which simply run along the ground? They won't really take much (or any) weight until you stand on the floor.

Or another idea; support the floor either side of the slots with some kind of bolt that drops down and sits on the ground once the shed is open? Or just have a couple of handy blocks to slip under the unsupported part? Or (sorry about this thinking aloud!!!) could the support blocks not live permanently on the ground behind the closed shed so that in they'd be in the right place? In fact why not have a couple of wheels bolted to the floor and pointing upwards to support the floor as you roll off the shed. Aha, that might be favourite!

I've had a hinge-down table in a roll off shed before and it worked really well. I just love not having to take the PCs in and out though. Mind you, in my case there can be three of them which adds to the hassle.

All my roofs and sheds run on just 6 wheels, the kind you buy in DIY stores. However, they need U section rails which can fill with ice. At some point I'll look into an inverted system using U section wheels running on a vertical steel strip. These are available for those big sliding doors on warehouses and farm buildings.

Olly

[ncjunk]

Olly,

I have the u section wheels sliding on a "humped" strip of metal, for want of a better word, very good, smooth and solid.

It's the same as we get on the sliding gates, they just weld a metal rod in place as the track.

[Drakester]

Haha. Thanks for thinking aloud Olly. Inveted wheels idea sounds great! I'm going to leave it until the shed is "Operational" to see what level of support is required, but suspect it will be a mixture of the castors/blocks/adjustable legs for supporting around the slot.

I've already bought 4 of these wheels, and 2 "Humped" rails :

http://www.barrier-components.co.uk/hardware_for_gates/sliding_gate/fac_components2/10116_wheel

They weren't cheap, but they look like they'll support the shed and glide nicely (Hopefully!)

The company delivered next day by the way. Great service

Cheers.

[ollypenrice]

Neil and Drakester, great link for the wheels and rails. Thanks.

Olly

[ncjunk]

Compared to the normal wheels i was trying to use it's like another world. Right tools for the job as my granddad said...runs as smooth as a babies bottom....not that i have tried running my roof on babies bottoms...i'll stop there.