Building a Garden ShedTips for Helping You Build Your Own Garden Shed

My wife and I recently moved house and fortunately there was not a lot of redecoration required as the previous owner, an elderly lady, had been very house-proud. The garden was rather neglected with a rickety outdoor garden shed that needed coming down before it fell of its own accord. It didn’t take me long to empty the shed and demolish it but it became obvious that it would need replacing as the old lady had left us all of her late husband’s gardening tools plus flowerpots, bags of compost and so on and there was no room in the garage.

I had some experience in building a garden shed so the first item on my list was to get a good set of outdoor garden shed plans.

There are quite a few things to take into consideration when planning your shed and I’ll list just a few here:-

- Is your area liable to suffer from heavy snowfalls in the winter if so you made need to a stronger roof or a flat roof may not be ideal at all.

- Strong winds would require you to use better fixings, tie downs etc.

- Security, is your area prone to burglary, sheds attract petty thieves looking for stuff to unload at flea markets? If so a good solid door and heavy padlock would be the ideal.

- Does it get really hot during the summer months; this may require venting the roof so as not to damage your contents. Also you will need to consider what roofing felt or sealant will be needed.

- Avoid using cheap timber and buy good sealants and paints.

A good set of garden shed plans should cover all the above scenarios and more. Some will include other projects that you might like to try.

Here’s a tip that you probably won’t find in your set of plans: I would seriously recommend that having decided on the size of your new shed that you select the next size up, if you only choose one with enough storage area for your present needs next year could see you without space for new acquisitions.

With summer on the way your thoughts may be turning to the garden and maybe investing in that new garden shed that you have been promising yourself.
If it has been the price that has held you up why not consider building your own?

Here are the steps you should take:

Firstly decide where you will site the shed taking into consideration how it will look in the garden, the floor area and drainage.

You can now invest in a set of garden shed plans; this should be your only outlay so far. Shed plans are available online and come in sets of many designs and sizes. You would choose from the ones that match your shed floor area.

When choosing your new shed you will need to decide whether or not you will need windows, electricity and importantly where the door will fit.

You now need to check that your shed does not violate any building codes or upset the local tenants association; you do not want to build only to be told to pull it down again. All the information required for these checks will be on your garden shed plans.

The foundations need to be prepared and you can choose a concrete base, a gravel base with the shed sat an inch higher on blocks to encourage air circulation or sit the shed on treated timbers.

You can now take your set of garden shed plans to your local suppliers and from them order all your wood and hardware (nails, screws and hinges etc).

All or some of your timbers can be pre-cut to size which is a great time saver, some suppliers will not charge for this.