Shed of the year 2024, Sponsored by 
My Shed Poolroom houses my collection of antiques and collectables Purchased in 2004 its a 6x4 metre store bought tin shed I had originally intended to build a bar in one corner However once the pool table arrived I could see it was necessary to build a leanto as a bar areaP Being tin the shed can get hot inside in summer so my son and I added a 2nd roof layer with heavy foil insulation plus fibre wool bats inbetweenP I also added a wind driven whirligig roof vent under which I added an electric extractor fan which is mounted upon rollersonrails and so can be drawn into position directly under the whirligig hole via cable pulley and a pullhandle in the corner see images Switching the fan on for a short time upon entry in summer enables quick extraction of any buildup of excess heat With the fan switched off and the pullhandle unhooked gravity rolls the fan down and out of the way When switched off the fan louvers automatically close so in winter it can be drawn up to close the whirligig hole completely as I fitted an old bicycle tyre inner tube between the two forming a lip seal P I also fitted a small air conditioner I found at a garage sale and added a ceiling fanP I fitted spongebacked foil insulation to the roof and back wall of the of the leanto the bar and for further heat insulation and also for decoration I added a collection of brightly coloured boogie boards to the bars ceilingP When first erected the interior walls of the shed looked bare so I began collecting interesting things to place on the walls simply as decoration to fill the blank spaces but somewhere along the way I caught the collecting bugP On holiday at a Bendigo guest cottage my wife took a fond liking to the cottages awning support brackets and so having taken lots of photos I purchased some flat iron from the local hardware and had a go at replicating the curly brackets and replacing the boring straight supports drawing upon my meager high school metal work class knowledge which I thought was long lostP On a night of cyclonic wind my neighbours shed roof blew off and a length of his ridge capping speared though the end wall of my shed I have so much on the inside walls now that replacing a section of tin would be major operation So for a quickneasy fix I roughly sealed the hole and made up a faux exterior vent see images a handy hint for fellow sheddiesP On a country drive I spotted an aeroplane whirligig see image which inspired me to have a go making one myself to top off the shed I researched old planes and fell in love with DC3s n 4s Along with about a thousand pop rivets there is a stainless steel tea flask at the core with copper tubing inside the wings A friend kindly donated aluminium offcuts for the outer skin Thanks John I used tarp eyelets for windows a street sign offcut for the tail fin drink cans for the engine cowls and the nose cone is part of an old desk fan All the other bitsn pieces which make it a weather vane were gathered over months at junk stalls etc I would very much like to make a twice as large Lancaster Bomber for the other end of the shed as soon as I convince the Mrs who is a bit cool on the ideaP In regards to the ongoing fitoutadditionsimprovements Practically everything except the basic shed kit has come from the local recycle yard or council cleanup etc Timber steel brackets awnings mirrors doors panels insulation etc P The shed is definitely my Happy Place and personally I dont think photos do it justice I came to Australia 38 years ago and still have a fond memory of the classic English pubs in and around Manchester These early memories have definitely influenced the decor of my shed
visit my shed at www.manbower.com or on YouTube below (click play)
