How To Build A shed

Vinyl Garden Sheds - How To Choose And How To Build

The vinyl garden sheds are the practical alternative to the more complex and high maintenance wood storage sheds. They usually don't look as beautiful but do exactly what they need to do and save you money and time. As everything made of plastic, they don't rust or rot and are quite easy to assemble together and install. Very often the small vinyl garden sheds come preassembled which saves you the time and hassle to build the shed yourself.

One huge advantage of the vinyl storage buildings is that they keep relatively stable indoor temperature. They don't bake the stuff inside when the sun is strong and don't freeze like metal garden sheds.

%ADSENSE-SMALL%

Before You Buy

If you are planning to buy a vinyl storage shed, there are several things to consider:

Ensure you are buying the right size. Don't rely on your eyeballs, but calculate the volume and see if it does the work for you.

Are you getting the best price? The lower end of vinyl garden sheds start from $300 - $500. If you just need a small storage, don't pay more. And don't forget that similar sized steel or metal sheds will cost more.

Do you need a building permit? In most places such will not be required for a vinyl shed, but it's recommended that you check in your city or town first.

If you need a larger garden shed and still prefer to use vinyl - because of its excellent price, long live and robustness - you may find a lot of great kits to build from.

Some Good Vinyl Garden Sheds

Below I have reviewed few good garden sheds made of vinyl. You can see what are the advantages and disadvantages of each type. If you want to buy some of the listed ones, go ahead, they are pretty well selected.

	Garade Sheds - Duramax Vinyl Garage 10'x31' The garage vinyl sheds can replace the garage in your garden or just free it up from the stuff that doesn't belong there. They are really large and worth every penny they cost. This Duramax vinyl shed is reinforced with metal inserted columns and is more stable than many similar sheds. It can sustain all kind of weather conditions including loads of snow. This shed is not cheap but is currently on hot sale. If you need a cheaper solution, this one is half size (but still large enough) and around 60% cheaper
	Complete Deluxe Sheds - Duramax Betty Mills 10' X 10' Vinyl Shed Deluxe If you want a vinyl garden shed that looks cute and still stores a lot of stuff, but doesn't take so much space in your backyard, you need a complete deluxe storage with doors and window. Assuming you aren't going to use it as a garage, a 10' x 10' shed should be more than sufficient. This one costs just a little above $1,000 and offers plenty of storage space along with a foundation kit crafted of galvanized metals. Click here for more info.
	Budged Vinyl Coated Sheds - Vinyl Milford If the large garden sheds made entirely from vinyl are expensive for you, you can consider buying a vinyl coated shed. For example this Vinyl Melford model costs well under $900 and is larger than the complete deluxe reviewed above. The main reason for that is it's made of steel and is only vinyl coated. That doesn't make it worse at all - the shed is beautiful, durable and robust. Learn more here or visit our store for more similar sheds.
	Budged Vinyl Coated Sheds - Vinyl Dallas This is yet another budged solution - Vinyl Dallas sheds are also steel sheds with coat which offer a lot of storage or working space for little money. For example this 10' X 8' shed costs between $600 and $700 and is large and comfortable enough to be used as a workshop.

How To Build A Shed Foundations

A Short Illustrated Guide

In this short guide we will assume you are building a rectangle shed - like most outdoor storage sheds are. If the foundations of your shed will have more complex shape you should apply the same to each rectangle.

Step 1.

Measure a square area in your yard and flatten the ground if needed. The area should be few inches larger than the actual shed dimensions.

Install 9 deck piers - one in every corner, one in the middle of each side and one in the geometrical center of the foundations.

There is no need of concrete in the foundations especially if you have choosen a place with hard ground.

Step 2.

Here is how to install the deck piers: dig a hole which is wider than the deck beam pier.

Fill the bottom few inches with sand and gravel and compact the filling. Put a paver over it to ensure stability

Center the deck pier and level it carefully.

Fill the hole with gravel and ground and make sure the deck pier is stable enough. You need to ensure there will be no water going inside.

%ADSENSE%

Step 3.

Attach three parallel beams over the deck piers as shown on the image.

Use nails or screws to join the parts. Make sure everything is aligned.

Step 4.

Install as many joists as needed perpendicular to the 3 beams.

You may need to use secondary wooden blocks to stabilize the joists.

Make sure there is equal distance between the joists.

Step 5.

Attach two boards at the both sides where are the joist ends. This will fix the josts.

The edges of the boards must be aligned with the ends of the boundari joist.

The entire construction looks as a lattice as seen on the pictire.

This forms a very stable construction.

You are almost ready!

Step 6.

Cut a piece of thick plywood with the size of the shed bottom.

If you don't have a large enough piece you can use several small ones.

Step 7.

Here you go!

Use nails and screws to attach the plywood to each of the joists and your shed foundation is ready!

Do you want to get started? I recommend you to check these shed plans, pick a model you like and go ahead!

How To Move A Shed

Photo by Josh Michtom at Flickr

Imagine you have built the beautiful shed you dream about just to discover the first rainy day that there is a huge water drainage going exactly through its place. Or worse, what will you do if you have invested hundred bucks and few weeks in building a great wooden building using only shed building plans and the circumstances force you to move to a new home?

In both situations you will not want to leave your shed where it is, would you? Don't worry, you don't have to. Just learn how to move a shed and your lovely building will be salvaged.

%ADSENSE%

Preparation To Move Your Shed

Before going to move your garden shed, make sure it is strenghten well and there are no broken parts. If there are any holes or cracks they may cause big damages during transportation.

Depending on where you are going to move the shed you will need some tools and a vehicle. If the new location is within your existing yard - because of drainage or sunlight problem, new landscape ideas or something else - then you may eventually need no vehicle (read about the pipes method below).

For sure you will need a jack - maybe even two, a spade, a rope and planks or pipes.

Before moving the shed you need to uplift it few inches above the ground - use the jacks for that. You may need the spade to dig around the corners where you are going to put the jacks. The uplfting is needed so you can insert boards or pipes under the shed which will be used for moving.

Moving A Shed Using Long Pipes

This method is most appropriate if you are going to move the shed only on a small distance and of course only within your own garden. The main advantage is that you will not need a car neither you'll need to install wheels under the shed.

Here is how moving on pipes work: Put 3 long and robust pipes under the shed at equal distance from each other. Start pushing or pulling the shed slowly rolling it on the pipes. When the third pipe is left behind the building, it still has two pipes to keep it up without falling. Move the backward pipe on the front and go on.

Obviously this method is slow and not approrpiate in every occasion but it's perfect for moving just a little.

Moving A Shed Using A Vehicle

If you need to move the shed at entirely new location, you'll need a slightly different setup. Once you have lifted the building up, install long boards or pipes under it and tie them to the shed. Then you can either put wheels under the entire construction or uplift it on a trailer.

If you don't have a traler and choose the wheels method, make sure that the shed is well hooked to the car with a quality rope.

Get on the car and drive carefully dragging your shed to the new location.

Moving a shed is not a rocket science but it still takes time and may cost you some money. Make sure the operation is really worth it. There are many affordable outdoor sheds available and moving a hut that's almost falling apart does not make sense.

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.

%ADSENSE%

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.

Types Of Sheds And Barns For Your Garden

Wait: Don't buy or build your shed before reading this! You may just discover that the shed you really want is very different than what you thought about it. There are more types of sheds and barns than you can possibly imagine. So let's try to sum the most important of them and then you can choose.

Different Materials For Sheds And Barns

The material of which your shed is or will be made is one of the most important factors determining its quality and price. The steel/metal sheds are probably the cheapest and fairly popular. They are stable and can survive many years unless the steel get rust. To avoid rust you need to protect the shed or buy/build a shed from stainless steel, but that's more expensive.

%ADSENSE%

The timber/wood sheds are most preferred for several reasons. A good timber shed is very secure, even more secure than a metal shed. The timber sheds don't suffer from rust and don't bake your stuff at hot times neither freeze in a cold Winter.

There is something more to consider - if you want to add or change something in your shed, the wood is much friendlier material to work with. This is especially valid if you plan to build your shed or barn yourself.

Many people create large and very good timber sheds which can be used as a guest house, Summer office, workshop etc. You can't really do that with a metal shed, it's just not comfortable enough.

The sheds made of wood are more expensive, but unless you want only to store things, the investment is well worth it.

Since few years you can find plastic sheds and plastic shed kits on the market. They are more resistable than all other sheds, often cheaper and do not need frequent maintenance. Plastic shed kits are easy to build and sometimes allow freedom in the exact construction. Buying a plastic shed or kit is a very wise decision but again it depends on the purpose - if you plan to spend much time in the shed, the best material remains timber.

What's The Purpose Of Your Shed?

Speaking about purpose, people use sheds and barns for many different things. Before buying or building your shed think about what you are going to use it for. This will help you define not only the material but also the size and the design of your building.

The farmers need barns for agricultural purpose like storing food, vehicles or even animals. The barns are typically larger and the design is not that important. Some barns have all the walls and doors, while other have just a roof and 2-3 walls.

If all you want is to store things like tools and furniture, you can go with a small square steel or plastic shed. The popular Arrow sheds are used exactly for such needs.

If you have time/money for more advanced project, think about creating a shed with larger purpose. Since you are going to build or buy a shed anyway, why not create it large, beautiful and functional enough to extend your home space? A well isolated timber shed can serve you to meet guests or create a home office. Such a shed can nicely increase the value and the price of your property.

You Can Buy A Ready Shed, Build From Scratch Or Choose Something In The Middle

We'll discuss this topic several times in the site. You can read a ot about how to build a shed on this site. As the sheds are simple constructions you have a lot of choices how much to do yourself and what part to buy.

If you have money and all you care is to have a shed or barn, just purchase it and let the professionals do everything for you. It's that simple.

If you want to save some cash and/or enjoy doing things yourself, choose a shed kit. The shed kits can be pre-cut or pre-fabricated. You can find a great variety of kits here.

Are you enthusiastic enough to build it all yourself? Then build your shed using only shed plans. They are a pretty cheap and secure way to build your garden shed.

And finally, if you are super enthusiastic and have some knowledge in CAD/CAM technologies or at least are master in Corel Draw or Illustrator you could try creating your own plan and building a shed based on it. Exciting, but the most time consuming. We'll have tutorials on that soon!

Storage Shed Plans - Exciting And Affordable Option For Enthusiasts

Do you like to build things yourself? The do-it-yourself fans build stuff not just to save money. They simply love what they are doing with their own hands. If you are one of those people, then building a garden shed is one of the first projects you should think about.

Building a shed yourself will save you money, but better don't primary look at it as a financial gain - because the time you invest in the process also counts. The most important point about building your barn is that you'll have some fun, learn new things and be proud of the end result.

Photo by Brenda Anderson at Flickr

Why Using Storage Shed Plans?

It is quite tempting to draw the plan of your garden shed yourself. If you have no experience in drawing plans and CAD/CAM knowledge, don't do it. Building anything by wrong plans will end up wrong.

%ADSENSE-SMALL%

There are thousands of storage shed plans available online and most you likely will have no problem to find exactly the type of shed you are looking for. The plans are typically sold for less than $30 - $40, sometimes even less than $10, so it's not really anything to hesitate about for financial reasons.

On the other hand, building a shed with storage plans is much cheaper and a lot more exciting than purchasing a shed kit and constructing it.

How Hard Is To Build Shed By Using Storage Shed Plans?

If you have purchased good shed plans and have decent materials, building a garden shed is not too hard thing to do. It is involved and requires some patience, but if you enjoy the work you should be able to complete the building in just several days.

You need skills to cut and draw on wood, to work with scales and measures and you need to have some basic sense of geometry. That's almost all that is required.

Building a shed by storage shed plans is a project perfectly suitable for a single person. If you are a couple or a larger team working on it you are likely to finish much faster.

The Cost Of Building By Storage Shed Plans

The shed plans are pretty cheap so you'll have to spend money only for buying materials or tools. The cost of the materials will vary a lot depending on the size and complexity of your shed and also on the market prices in your country and area. In some cases $300 - $400 will be more than enough, but the more complex sheds may cost up to $4,000.

If you don't have any of the tools required (a saw, turnscrews, yardstick etc) your costs will increase of course.

If you decide to go ahead and search for shed plans, I recommend this web store - they have a big variety and the prices are affordable. The storage shed plans can be downloaded instantly so you don't need to wait days for shipping.

How To Build A Shed Using A Kit?

Photo by geocam20000 at Flickr

I guess since you are on this site you are not interested in purchasing a ready pre-made garden shed. You have at least a little passion and skills to do things yourself. And that's great. Besides saving some money, doing things yourself brings a lot of fund and fulfillment.

The garden sheds are simple constructions but still require a good bunch of knowledge, skills and nice amount of work to get done from scratch. For people with intermediate level of knowledge and passion about "doing yourself" one of the best things is building their shed using a shed kit.

What Is A Shed Kit?

Have you ever played with a Lego meccano? The idea behind the shed kits is similar. They are sets of parts which need to be constructed together in order to build the final shed. The shed kits also contain detailed plans and instructions of the building process. Some kits will include also the paint and a gum. The tools needed are not included however.

%ADSENSE-SMALL%

The shed kits can contain parts of wood, metal, plastic or any other material that is typically used for building sheds and barns. The wooden kits are probably the most popular because most do-it-yourself enthusiasts prefer to work with wood rather than metal or plastic.

How Much Time Does It Take To Build My Shed With A Kit?

Depending on the complexity of the design a well created and documented shed kit may take you just a day or even less to build. Some very complex sheds may take up to 2 - 3 days especially if you are not experienced.

That's less compared to building a shed from scratch with shed plans - a week or two. And if you decide to go by your own plans, creating, measuring and calculating could take another 1-2 weeks.

By all means building shed with a kit is the fastest do-it-yourself option.

How Much Do Shed Kits Cost?

The prices of the kits hugely vary depending on the size and complexity. A simple arrow shed kit can cost from few hundreds to a thousand dollars. There are plenty of such shed kits available at The Betty Mills Store.

The kits used for building very complex and beautiful shed can exceed $2,000 - $3,000. Some of those barn buildings however can be even used for living or as guest-houses.

Common Mistakes People Do With Shed Kits

Buying a shed kit is not a big investment but you should still spend your funds wisely. Some people buy shed kits driven purely by emotion and because they like the design instead of choosing kit who suits their need.

Here are some common mistakes to avoid when buying a shed kit:

The bigger sheds look great and can serve for a lot of things, but are you sure there is enough space for it in your garden? Consider the space in your yard before buying.

Some shed kits are very cheap, but are they of good quality. Don't risk to buy a low quality shed kit trying to spare $100 or $200. But only from reputable suppliers like The Betty Mills Store.

Building a shed from kit is easy, that's why many people rush when doing it. Carefully plan where to put your shed, avoid wet or too hot places in your yard.

Some builders are so excited that they think just looking at the parts of the shed kit is enough for building it. The plans and instructions are for you to read them. They may contain some specific information which should not be overlooked. Don't skip reading the manual.

There are hundreds of affordable shed kits available on the market. If you want an easy and cost effective solution for building a garden shed, then go with a kit. If having fun and gaining knowledge is more important for you, then maybe you will prefer to build a shed using only plans.

I Hope You Will Enjoy Your Storage Shed

In the last six days I shared with you everything that you need to know so you can start building your storage shed.
I hope you have started to act or at least planned when exactly you are going to start working on your storage shed.

At the very minimum, at least make sure to get an instantly downloadable construction plans so you can start feeling that the things move :) (you can get plans here ).

If by any chance you hesitate if you need a garden storage shed or not, let me just remind you how many things you can do with it:

- You can use your shed as a garden office. This is the best thing you could do if you work from home. Even the BBC has reported that many people use their sheds as garden office, it's really such a common thing.

- You can store all your garden tools in it. That's the most obvious usage :-)

- The shed can be used as a greenhouse in the Summer. It's an excellent place to drink an afternoon tea or an evening beer/cocktail

- Your kids for sure will like that small new "house" in the garden

- If you like to build things (and probably you do, since you are reading this free course), your shed can be your workshop

... and many many more. It's a pity that so many people have unused space in their gardens - space, which could be used for a beautiful garden shed.

That's it for now. If you like or don't like this course, please hit the comment button and let me know! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Good luck!

The Outdoor Shed Building Process

By the time you are reading this I hope you have already learned a lot about building storage sheds. You are ready to start your small but exciting project. Depending on your availability you will have a great looking storage shed within a couple of weeks or a month.

Let's now recap the process so you can really take action:

Choose the right material for your storage shed. Most sheds can be made of wood, metal or plastic. The wood is beautiful but can get rotten, the metal can rust, but is very sustainable to any other outside attacks, the plastic is probably the best, but could be more expensive. (lesson 2)

Choose your storage shed location. You don't want to put your shed over important utility lines. You may want to see it from your window, but ensure that you have a permit to build it in any place or that such a permit is not needed. (lesson 3)

Can you build a storage shed yourself? It's really not that hard if you have skillful hands, some experience and sense of geometry. Sometimes it can even save you money, although it takes time. But if you like to build things, doing it yourself is fun.

To ensure that your project won't be a disaster, buy good downloadable plans. I can recommend you instant downloadable plans from http://shedbuilder.info/recommends/shedplans.html - big choice and thin prices. (lesson 4)

Building your shed with a construction kit. This is the most effective and enjoyable way to build your storage shed.
Using a kit ensures that you have all the high quality materials and instructions at one place. It's cheaper than buying a ready shed and gives many more choices. It's also a lot easier and faster than building a kit yourself with a plan. I strongly recommend you that you consider using a good storage shed kit.
The best place to buy excellent kits at reasonable prices is the Betty Mills Store (lesson 5)

The last thing I need to tell you is: just take action! If needed go back to our site about build it yourself sheds and learn the articles again, but then start action.
If you read this tutorial but don't do anything, you have just wasted your time. If you are not sure which method to choose, buy instantly downloadable shed plans and see if you feel like doing this job yourself.

I wish you great success. Just don't postpone, start right now. See you in the next lesson with some last thoughts!

The Most Effective And Fun Way To Build A Storage Shed

Photo by elektrik98 at Flickr

Did you buy some downloadable shed plans to get more familiar with the concepts? It would be nice if you have done that. But even if not, don't worry.

Building a shed entirely on your own can be too time consuming and the results are not always very satisfying.

The most effective and fun way to build a storage shed is not doing it from scratch, neither buying a complete shed.
It's buying a kit and building your shed from it.

Why?

The good kits offer complete and fool proof way to build your storage shed, while at the same time you have freedom to choose between thousands of models and designs.
And last but not least, building from kit saves costs compared to purchasing a ready shed; and saves time compared to building from scratch.
%ADSENSE%
When choosing a kit, you need to pay attention to several things. Do not skimp on quality or size. What you need in the long run is a large and lasting construction.

Pay attention to the panel's timber. The tick timber will make your shed more sustainable to difficult weather conditions.

To prevent water leakage, the wall panels must overlap. The flooring needs to be tick so it can hold the weight of the equipment you are going to store.

Don't forget the advantages and disadvantages of the different materials, before purchasing the kit. If needed, check the previous lesson.

Outdoor shed kits come with all pieces and instructions you need. There is no way to go wrong with that. All you need to do is to buy a quality building kit from a reputable store. There are tons of low quality kits which will waste your time and energy.

I can highly recommend you to buy your kit from the Betty Mills Store - They offer everything that you may think about at the highest quality and very affordable prices.

See you next time with a small recap of the most important things. You are almost ready to go! Soon you will know how to build a garden shed better than the professionals!

Building a storage shed yourself

Photo by ttstam at Flickr

I hope you have taken in consideration the advice from the previous part of this course and have carefully thought about your storage shed location. It's important to do that before building your shed - as moving it too many times won't be such a fun (however if you definitely need to move the shed, don't worry - they are all pretty portable!).

The best way to build a storage shed is by purchasing a kit. It saves time and money and you'll get a professional stable shed. We will talk about building a shed from a kit in the next part.

Now, if you feel ready for adventures and like to build things entirely on your own, go ahead. You still need to buy a shed plan so you know what to build. I recommend you buying instant download plans from
http://shedbuilder.info/recommends/shedplans.html as they have big variety and very affordable prices.

Choose a design which suits your home. Make sure it can be colored appropriately and the shed space and dimensions will fit the space dedicated for it.

%ADSENSE%

When you choose a plan and download it, open it and check the dimensions to calculate what kind of materials and what size you are going to need.

Basically you are just building a box, so it really won't be hard. You may need first to create the floor - either concrete or wooden. Then just follow the instructions in the plan. At this time you will need quality tools to work on your wood, metal or plastic, depending on the material you have chosen.

Building a shed on your own requires some basic sense of geometry, carpentry skills, time and patience.
With good plans however, it can be a lot of fun.

Once you've done it successfully you'll be able to continue with more challenging projects.

If you are looking on the more practical side, you want to save time and money and still have a great storage shed, you should go with purchasing a shed kit. I'll tell you more about this in the next part!

Choosing Your Storage Shed Location

Photo by WisDoc at Flickr

Did you decide on the material for building your shed?
At this time it might be a good idea to already purchase your kit or shed construction plans. I'll let you know later in this lesson how to do it.

Just before that, please spend some more time thinking.
Where is your shed going to be placed?
If you just put it somewhere without proper checking your place first you may regret later. I've seen people who place their sheds over important utility lines (water, phone, gas, internet). If one of the lines needs to be repaired, their shed will have to be moved out.

Check with your local utility companies where the lines pass through.

Think about where you want to see your storage shed from your house. You are going to build a beautiful shed, so you won't mind seeing it. But it should not hide your house from the street or the most beautiful views from your window.
%ADSENSE%
Probably the most important thing to consider when picking a location is the sunlight and the water fall. Is there water collecting on certain places when it rains? Such places won't be good for your shed, especially if it will be a wooden one.

A lot of sunlight could be good, depending on what you are going to store in it. If you want to keep your bicycle in a metal shed, better consider a shady place.

Usually views facing South and West bring in the most sunlight. So it's a good idea to build a shed whose windows are on the South side.

Finally before going further, call your local building and zoning department to get a permit for building a storage shed if such is needed.

At this point you can go further a purchase your plans or kit so you don't have to wait for them to be delivered.
It's good to be ready when this course is over (and that will be very soon!).

If you decide to go ahead with a kit (much better option, although it may seem more expensive at first view), I can recommend only the Betty Mills Store - a huge variety, excellent quality and fair prices.

If you feel capable of doing it all yourself (It is fun! But you need to have plenty of time), go ahead and purchase Shed Plans instantly delivered to you. Considering how cheap they are you can purchase several different plans anyway just so you can get better idea what is all about.

Sorry, the lesson was long this time ;-) If you are really enthusiastic, I'll tell you how to work the things out with just a shed plan in the next part of the course.

Choosing The Right Material For Your Shed

Photo by Buffalo ReUse at Flickr

Are you ready to build your outdoor storage shed?
Don't hurry to buy plans or kits, you need to plan your work first.

What kind of shed you want to create?
Depending on the material, most sheds are made of wood, plastic or metal.
You may also hear about vinyl, cedar or coated sheds, but for now you just need to know the characteristics of the most popular materials:

Wooden Sheds

The wood is beautiful and sustainable material.
The storage sheds build of wood can withstand strong winds and severe weather conditions.

%ADSENSE%

There are some disadvantages of course: the wood can be attacked by thermits, it has a tendency to rot with prolonged exposure to water and gets burned if exposed to fire.
All of these issues can be avoided with proper treating, but this of course increases the cost of the shed.

Metal Sheds

Most metal storage sheds are made of galvanized steel with a double baked-on polyester enamel finish. They are very solid and have long life. They are rot, weather and rodent proof and of course completely fire proof.

Usually the main metal shed's disadvantage is its tendency to rust, but this can be avoided with proper treating.

Often the metal storage sheds are cheaper than those made of wood. So if you wonder how to build your shed on the cheap, metal may be the answer.

Plastic Sheds

The plastic sheds do not need any maintenance.
They don't rust or rot and are very easy to clean or paint. The plastic sheds are light and easy to construct.

The plastic sheds however are usually more expensive than the metal and even the wood sheds.

The choice you are going to make depends on your pocket and the different material characteristics.
I would probably go for a plastic or metal shed, but you may prefer the cozy feeling that the wood gives.

In the next part we will discuss the location of your shed.
Until then think about the material and see if some of the kits given above won't suit your needs.
Using a kit is the fastest and most flexible way to build your storage shed.

You can find all kind of sheds and shed kits at
the famous Betty Mills Store - it's the hugest selection you'll ever see and the prices/quality ratio is really good.

Welcome to the Shed Building Course

Thanks for visiting this e-course!

I am happy to hear that you want to know how to build a shed yourself.
This will be an exciting venture.

The sheds are basically simple constructions, but if you have no experience in building such things you may find the process of doing everything yourself a bit overwhelming. The problem is that you need someone to help you to go through the different phases - deciding on the shed location, type, materials, selecting the right plans or kit.

%ADSENSE%

This short guide will be your leading hand. And you will be ready to build your shed in seven days.

Then you may decide to use a shed kit or to go entirely on your own just by downloading a construction plan.

There are several main steps you need to take if you want to create a really good storage shed:

1. Choosing the right material

2. Choose your shed location

3. Obtain storage shed plans

or

3. Obtain a shed kit (you'll be done much faster and easier for about the same price!)

4. Actually build the shed

This mini e-course will cover all this in just seven articles.

You can now continue to the next part.