Thinking about buying home gym equipment...

[Tombo]

I have about 15 square meters of concrete in my backyard, its level and used to have a shed over it (but deteriorated and stuff) now I'm thinking of investing 5-6 grand ($Aus) into a 15-50kg (about 35-110lb) dumbbell sets with racks, some thick barred dip bars, a squat cage, an olympic barbell or two and about 250-300kg of assorted plates, my dilemma is that the area isn't covered - Is it worth or is it even plausible to look for something that can 'cover' or protect all that equipment from wear + tear and weather/rust without custom made stuff? or should I just build another roof over it? lol.

[BayGBM]

I would not buy such equipment unless I were storing the equipment indoors such as in a garage or abasement.  The cost of building a shed to protect this equipment might be more than you are willing to spend.  One might be able to justify the cost of doing it if you wrote it off as a home improvement expense and built a shed big enough to both cover all your equipment and also serve as extra storage space for the house.

[240 is Back]

weather will eat away at it.   lift cheap at home with a nice bench with incline option, a few size DBs, and a 300 pound oylmpinc set and 2 extra 45s... all for under 300 USD.  You can do chest day, back day, shoulder and arm day.

lift at a gyn 1 day a week for legs.

[webcake]

I have about 15 square meters of concrete in my backyard, its level and used to have a shed over it (but deteriorated and stuff) now I'm thinking of investing 5-6 grand ($Aus) into a 15-50kg (about 35-110lb) dumbbell sets with racks, some thick barred dip bars, a squat cage, an olympic barbell or two and about 250-300kg of assorted plates, my dilemma is that the area isn't covered - Is it worth or is it even plausible to look for something that can 'cover' or protect all that equipment from wear + tear and weather/rust without custom made stuff? or should I just build another roof over it? lol.

You will need protection for it. I live in Aus too (Sydney) and i remember when i first started training and i had just a bench and some free weights at home outside undercover, and i live real close to the beach and within a couple of months it started rusting from the salt that is in the air. If your gonna spend a fair bit on good equipment, you will want it to stay rust free and last.

[Tombo]

Yeah i had some crap stuff i bought when i was younger, and that faded away, but if were getting stainless stuff i was thinking the extra bucks would make it last. My dad left the carcass of a catamaran at this house, and getting that shipped off, so theres a decent concrete slab under it, and I'd prolly have a few hardwood beams and supports, then galvanized steel over the top, weather isn't really too harsh around here - I'm more inland, north-western Sydney area webcke, but theres always the morning dew, which is killer. Thanks for your input everyone.

[sync pulse]

Investigate a prefabricated structure.  Many companies in the USA sell pre-made offices and such.  Maybe the same in Australia?