Seven Simple Tips For Building Outdoor Sheds

Photo by thoth92 at Flickr

Often the little things are the ones that make one project successful or not. You may invest a lot of time and some money in your shed building, plan the big details well and then let the small issues eat your head. So consider paying special attention to the details. Here are some good ideas that will help you take good decisions about some overlooked things.

If You Are In A Hurry, Buy Prefabricated Kit

Let's start with this. The prefabricated kits are fool proof and have simple and easy construction. Usually the shed kits also come with years warranty - something that you don't get if you build your shed entirely from scratch. So if you are not looking for do-it-yourself challenge and you just want a shed done, buy a prefabricated kit and forget about doing it from scratch.

You can learn more about that from our articles about prefabricated shed kits.

Get The Foundations Right

If your foundations is bad even the best shed project may get destroyed. If the shed don't step well on the ground this may cause water leaks, rust, rot, dust and even small rodents getting inside.

Making good foundation is a hard task unless you are experienced. You may need to build a foundation of concrete or a good framework of joists and boards.

If you are not confident in your skills and measures or in the quality of your materials, better consult with an expert. Don't overlook the foundations or all your further efforts may be wasted.

Save Money By Building The Shed With Plans

The prefabricated kits are great and easy way to build a shed but they are fairly more expensive than doing it all yourself. If you decide to use plans and do the work yourself you will save from several hundreds to maybe a thousands bucks.

The shed plans are offered in many variations and can be found online - check for example our recommended web store for a great variety of quality cheap plans.

Of course you can research the Web for free plans - this is an option to save $20 - $100 from your project, but remember you get what you pay for. Most free plans are either too simple or very outdated and there is no good variety.

You can click on the link to learn more about how to built a shed with plans.

Make Your Shed Tall And Narrow

If all you need from your shed is storage space, then you can use the headroom better than most people do. A tall and narrow shed can offer more space for storing things than a low shed with a bigger footprint. This is because the main part of the materials goes for the foundation and the roof. You can create a very functional tall and narrow shed with some of these plans.

Of course if you want a large shed which to serve as Summer office or guest house, making it too narrow is not an option.

Work Efficiently

Building a shed is a several days project if you do it with a prefabricated kit, a week or two if you go by using good shed plans or several weeks if you decide to do everything totally from scratch.

Of course these terms may get quite longer if you lack organization and planning. So write your goals, create a plan and keep your tools organized. Schedule exact time every day or the weekends when you will work on the shed. It's not required to put a lot of time in that but you must know how much you are going to spend and stick to that.

Take Your Time

In relation to the previous tip, consider taking enough time to do a good work. It's easy to get frustrated and rush the things if you listen to people who tell how they have built their shed in a day. But remember you are essentially creating a building that will serve you and your family for years. A well done garden shed can increase the price of your property while a poorly looking one can even reduce it.

If you are inexperienced, it's a good guess that you'll need to double your own estimate about the time you are going to need. Live with that and don't get impatient. The time put into the project is well worth it.

Learn About Shed Styles

Most sheds that you are going to see nowadays are pretty boring and look just like a box. At best case their owners use some imagination when paining them. Does your shed also need to be boring? I don't think so.

There are so many shed styles which can be used to make your shed unique, functional and beautiful. If you visit this site regularly, you'll learn about all of them. For now, let's just give you an idea how many they are: Santa cruz sheds, Glen Echo sheds, Melbourne, Catalina, Palmerston, Arrow sheds, Payoneer, Sonoma, Haida, Telluride, Copper Greek, Bar Harbor and more. You don't really need to build a boring square box, do you?

Have you started building your shed yourself? If not, you read this article just on time. Use the tips given here to create the most beautiful shed in your neighborhood. When you are done, submit your pictures to us so we can publish them and let everyone know about your great achievement.

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User comments:

Deb at Oct, 22 '09 16:51
Good tips. Where can I learn more about the shed styles, could you elaborate?
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