SteelChief Heritage Roof Steel Frame Corrugated Shed

SteelChief standard size 1.8 x 3.04m wooden skillion roofed garden shed – We decided on a SteelChief standard size 1.8 x 3.04m wooden skillion roofed garden shed as we thought it would look good, and a wooden frame would make tool attachment easy. SteelChief was easy to communicate with and the installers were very helpful in inspecting the enclosed site. They did an efficient job in delivery and erecting the shed. Unfortunately, SteelChief’s design and installation of the roof was very poor. The roof is made up of three 2m corrugated Colorbond and two 2m polycarbonate sheets riveted together with channel framing around the sides. However, 1. There is no roof frame, and the roof is only held down by the Colorbond sheets screwed to the walls. All screws are in the valleys instead of the crests; attaching corrugated steel on a roof like this risks leakage onto untreated pine below and rusting around the screw holes.

2. The 2m long polycarbonate skylight sections are only supported by rivets to the adjacent Colorbond sheets, which means they lift and flex and flap even in light winds. Manufacturers recommend the sheets be screwed down to purlins (covered with purlin tape) with a maximum 1m spacing to prevent flexing and banging. The attachments must allow for expansion and contraction which rivets don’t allow. The fixing of the polycarbonate does not match recommendations on the internet (see www.plram.com.au). On windy days the banging roof makes working in the shed impossible and on windy nights it keeps us awake.

3. The channel framing riveted to the downside ends of the roof restricts water flow from the roof into the gutter ensuring a build-up of water on the roof and likely leakage.

When we emailed my concerns to SteelChief, we received the following reply from their quality control team.

“The screws securing the roof have rubber washer seals which will prevent water ingress. The skylight sheeting is secured at each end in the framing channels and at recommended intervals down the length. It has been installed to our build specifications which have not presented any issues previously. The channel framing at the gutter end will allow water to flow into the gutter. Again part of our standard design and build.” Follow up points: The channel framing gap at the gutter end through which the water is said to flow is a maximum 1-2mm. This was blocked by dust from the air the first time it rained and resulted in water pooling and covering the colorbond roof screws in the corrugation gutters.

I believe SteelChief’s reply shows they not only have a problem with their quality control, but they are also unable to properly investigate customer problems in order to improve. We should not have had to reconstruct the roof ourselves to deal with its shortcomings.