Need to Know:
This article is a glossary of standard terms used in building farm sheds.
A lot of these terms are common across barns, carports, garages, boat sheds, caravan storage and all kinds of farm sheds and outbuildings.
- Understanding these industry terms will help you get a deeper understanding of your shed project.
Managing Director, Buffalo Built
In this Article:
Shed Terms Explained Part 1: The Different Parts of Farm Sheds
Building farm sheds with Buffalo Built is a hassle-free process for the majority of our customers, however, when you’re new to the shed world we understand that some industry terms can be tricky to grasp.
Below we’ve put together part one of a glossary of standard shed terms to help you get an understanding of the different parts of your shed. A lot of these terms are common across barns, carports, garages, boat sheds, caravan storage and all kinds of farm sheds and outbuildings.
Shed Terms Glossary
Column: These structural members are upright and connect the roof of the farm shed to the ground.
Eave: An eave is part of a roof that meets or overhangs the walls of a building.
Footings: Shed footings can also be known as piers. These are typically bored holes in the ground. Steel hold-down bolts are cast into these piers for the columns to be fixed to.
Gable: A Gable is the most common roof line for farm sheds. A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The term gable wall or gable end more commonly refers to the entire wall, including the gable and the wall below it.
Girt: Girts are steel wall battens that support the wall cladding.
Mezzanine floor: Mezzanine floors are a raised floor inside a shed. They are often used in barns where sheds have extra height that can be used.
Purlin: Purlins are longitudinal, horizontal, structural members in a roof to support the roof cladding.
Tek screws: Tek screws fix the cladding to the shed. They have a drill point on the tip of the screw, giving the screw the ability to drill its own hole with no pre-drilling needed.
Learn More Shed Terms
Take a look at our other articles in this series:
Ross Barker
Managing Director, Buffalo Built
Buffalo Built: Building Dream Farm Sheds for Decades!
Our passion is fabricating sheds for local customers, who have trusted us to design garages, carports and all kinds of residential and rural sheds for over 20 years.
We’re here to help you through the entire process of building a farm shed, from start to finish. If you would like to talk to us about your future shed plans please contact our team.