Mother Nature decided to spend my tax refund for me- dropped the south
half of a 50-foot forked pine tree on my backyard shed. Insurance will
only cover a small part of it, once deductible and cap on tree-removal
reimbursement ($300) are factored in. Most of shed is still sort-of
okay- another tree caught the fallen one before it could smash shed and
the fence around it entirely. Contents are fine. Walls are a tad bowed,
but the 3 of the roof purlins? (sideways rafters) and a couple roof
panels are toast. I think that if I could find 'close enough' matching
parts, I could blacksmith the thing good enough to last a couple more
years. Not sure of brand- I think it is an Arrow, but maybe an OEM they
produced for a store or something- no nameplates or trademarks on it. I
looked at the same-size Arrow that Lowes carries- what a flimsy POS.
(The floor model was mangled, and the metal was thinner than mine, and
had much less interior reinforcement.) Menards has their floor models
20 feet in air, so you can't look closely, but didn't have any larger
and/or high-headroom metal ones on display. Mine is 10x13, gambrel roof.

I'd like a real barn out there, of course, but not enough to pay the 3-4
grand for a stick-built one, or the extra taxes for a permanent
building. This thing actually met my needs pretty well till wind and
gravity kicked in. Anybody got any ideas or suggestions? Arrow web site
doesn't list parts, and the manuals for the current ones show some
changes. (2piece purlins, probably to make easier to ship, vertical
siding vs horizontal, etc.)

Failing parts, I may have to bite bullet, and (come warm weather) buy
another one to put together. Anybody got any cheap recommendations? I'm
not a fan of plastic sheds, especially in this climate. And like I said,
the current Arrows, at least the ones the Borgs around here carry, are
crap. I could hillbilly repair it well enough for my needs, but I plan
to sell in 3-4 years, so I wanted something at least presentable looking.

--
aem sends...

aemeijers wrote:
Mother Nature decided to spend my tax refund for me- dropped the south
half of a 50-foot forked pine tree on my backyard shed. [...] I think
that if I could find 'close enough' matching parts, I could blacksmith
the thing good enough to last a couple more years.

Some heating and A/C people do sheet metal for ductwork; they might be
able to fabricate some replacements if you give them a sample. Some
roofing places may also do sheet metal for flashing. Or, since this
sounds somewhat non-critical, see if there is a trade school or
community college with a sheet metal class, and approach the instructor
about a class project. One problem here is that these guys might only
have galvanized sheet handy, which is fine for the rafters, but might
not match the other roof panels. (Painting galvanized steel doesn't
always work very well.)

Not sure of brand- I think it is an Arrow, but maybe an OEM they
produced for a store or something- no nameplates or trademarks on it.

You might email Arrow and ask, maybe including a couple of pictures.
They might also suggest additional places to look for a nameplate or
part number.

Alternatively, prowl your neighborhood for sheds of a similar vintage
that also had trees land on them and talk to the owners; maybe you can
make one good one out of two bad ones. Or look on your local
Craigslist; I've seen more than one "backyard shed for sale but you have
to come get it" ad on there.

Another place to ask might be places that sell the big metal buildings,
for warehouses, big garages, airplane hangars, etc. They may have some
standard parts that you can make work; a piece of rafter that is short
enough to be useless to them might be more than long enough for your
shed. They will have painted metal siding in various rib patterns and
you might be able to get a match for what you have.

Matt Roberds