What is a shed house?

If you’re looking for an innovative way to build a house, holiday home, or weekend getaway, it may be worth considering a shed house. While most houses are built with timber frames or brick, shed homes provide an affordable, convenient, and readily available alternative made from steel.

In this article, we explore the concept of a shed home and why they're popular around Australia.

Whether you’re planning to start construction soon or simply exploring your options, this article has everything you need to know. We also share our recommendations for companies you can build a shed house with, as well as one of our recent shed house projects for inspiration. 

Shed houses Australia

Unlike a conventional house with timber framework, shed houses are built inside the shell of a steel shed structure. On the outside, the building looks like a shed but with windows, doors, and residential utilities added. Inside, the shed is fitted out as a residential space, with lighting, plumbing, electrical, interior walls, and appliances.

Reasons to build a shed house

The reason shed houses have become so widespread is because they are adaptable and suitable for a wide range of purposes. All around Australia, converted shed houses are used for the following functions: 

• Full-time living
• Holiday accommodation
• Weekenders
• Short-term rentals like Airbnb
• Supplementary accommodation
• Granny flats
• Teenager retreats
• Rural retreats
• Farm accommodation
• Temporary accommodation while you build a house.

Benefits of shed houses

The key advantage of shed homes, and the main reason for their popularity, is the cost savings. While traditional home construction can be expensive, a shed can be erected in a matter of weeks. This gives you a weathertight space to store possessions and complete the interior fit-out in your own time.

• Cost-effective construction
• Faster build times
• Easy kitset construction
• Fewer permits are required
• Low maintenance
• Expands your liveable space
• Expands your storage capacity
• A sleek, minimal aesthetic
• Can be used for a range of functions, including accommodation, storage, and as a workshop. 

If you’re interested in building a shed house, see our recommended companies below, along with our recent shed house project in Lake Cowell. 

Top 5 shed house builders in Australia

Many Australian shed companies offer residential options as well as their standard commercial and rural shed designs. By taking into account affordability, design options, and liveability, we’ve outlined the top 5 companies you can choose to work with.

Widespan sheds

Widespan is a leading shed house supplier with agents in all Australian states. Their Class 1A liveable sheds provide a base for a local designer, builder, and certifier to fit the interior and turn it into a liveable space. They can be used as a teenager’s retreat, man cave, granny flat, kid’s playroom, home office, or guest house.

Optional features include skillion roof design, gable roof pitches, insulation, ventilation, windows, doors, interior dividing walls, mezzanine flooring, fibreglass skylights, and vermin protection.

Sheds n Homes

With locations all around Australia, Sheds n Homes has a range of steel-framed kit homes with the option of raised flooring. They supply all the components you need to build the bones of your structure, including the steel frame, roof cladding, external wall sheeting, stud frame walls, bearers and joins, fixtures, and guttering.

The kit includes a detailed construction manual, with engineering and floor plans completed to ensure compliance. You are responsible for putting the kit together, sourcing interior materials, and arranging the contracting for flooring, windows, doors, lighting, decorating, the kitchen fit-out, and the bathroom fit-out.

Easy Sheds

Based in Albury, NSW, Easy Sheds has a range of lifestyle sheds. These shed house designs include workshops, garages, drive-through sheds, and horse shelters to upgrade the storage and liveability of your property. Note that these sheds are not designed to be a permanent residence, but rather to supplement the house or accommodation on the site.

If you are building a house and need a structure to live in temporarily or store your assets, the Easy Shed residential range could be an effective option. Optional features to add include carports, fibreglass skylights, roof ventilation, insulation, roller doors, personal access doors, dividing walls, and mezzanine flooring. 

Fair Dinkum

With locations throughout Australia, Fair Dinkum Builds offers custom liveable sheds for a whole range of purposes whether that be a farm-stay holiday rental, or something more permanent. Whether you need a simple liveable shed or something more bespoke, Fair Dinkum offers a range of add-ons and finishes to meet various tastes and budgets. Extras include patterned feature walls, partitions, whirlybirds, stairs and more.

The Shed Company

With more than 30 stores across Australia, The Shed Company designs and delivers high-quality Australian steel kit homes. These sheds are a cost-effective way to extend your liveable space while also supplementing your storage. Designed as the ultimate Aussie retreat, the range includes granny flats, teenager retreats, family homes, and weekenders. 

Shed house inspiration: The Weekender

Located in Lake Cowell, this 36 x 10.5 x 3.5 metre shed was built as a weekend getaway and recreational vehicle storage. The ABC Sheds team lined the interior of the shed with Bondor insulated panels, ensuring maximum comfort in any weather conditions. The owners use it themselves and rent it out for additional income which ensures the shed house is utilised, all-year-round.

While our sheds are typically large structures used for commercial, industrial, agricultural, and horticultural applications, we have built shed house frames in the past. If we do supply the frame, it’s then up to you to fit-out the interior whether that be for a holiday getaway, extra farm accommodation or an Airbnb rental. To see your options, use our online shed builder tool or ask our team for a quote.