Learn me Garden Sheds

Ok, what I really need here is a larger garage but I live in the suburbs on an absurdly small lot with a short driveway.  Expanding the garage is a no go.  Next up, getting a larger garden shed, something big enough to hold my KTM 640 Adventure and the garden tools. 

Right now I have a very small garden shed, maybe 4x4 or 4x6.  I can fit something 8x10, which should be enough room for the moto and lawn mower, snow blower, etc.

One garden shed place (shed liquidators?) wouldn't install in my location because they want 3' of free space around the shed.  I don't have that.  So then I started looking at Home Depot/Lowe's instead.  While the red cedar sheds looks awesome, they also come with an awesome almost $4k price tag! 

What about a RubberMaid plastic shed?  Or a metal shed?  Or ???

If you have the time and some fairly basic carpentry skills you can and should build your own.  My shed is an 8x10 and it's amazing how much stuff I can cram into it.

In reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) (Forum Supporter) :

Time is an issue.  I simply don't have the time to bang out something like this.  Even buying a "kit" from Home Depot/Lowes I don't have the time to assemble it, I'd hire that out...

Good to hear that a 8x10 will hold what I'm thinking.

Don't do a self assembled metal shed if you can help it. Cheap, flimsy and a bear to put up. I put one up for my Dad last October, and after leveling the ground, and building a floor, he could of had a prebuilt installed for not much more in price (and a whole lot less aggravation.) It's functional, but I'll never assemble another as long as I live.

See if you can't find someone else who doesn't have a silly 3ft rule for a prebuilt.

Just my .02 cents.

While the plastic sheds are expensive for their size, I will say they go up really easily.  I've got a 7x7 in my backyard that is probably 15 years old now, and is a bit beat up (although that is mostly because of heavy tree branches falling on it).  Metal is cheaper, but everyone I know that has built one said it's no fun dealing with all the sheet metal screws used to assemble it.  Seems like that, plus the edges on the walls combine to tear your hands up.

i had a Rubbermaid one for years. it was OK. The doors would come off as there was no good way to secure them in plastic. it blew over (even screwed to a wooden deck and holding a snow blower and lawn mower).

I built one this past summer. Drew up my own plans and built it myself. that is the way to go, it is way better built then the Lowes sheds at less then 1/2 the total cost.

Let me first say, i make sort of a living doing stick construction.  So, Its my first go to.

But, last week one of my long time customers wanted me to build a Lowes shed they had purchased for lawn mower storage etc.    I agreed, after all their checks don't bounce.

Start to finish it took me 5 hours by myself (including picking it up from Lowes).   amazing number of screws.   Followed the instructions in order.  No problems.

They are happy with it for their purposes.  Just saying

I'd hit up this guy.

https://denver.craigslist.org/for/d/quality-shed-sheds-build-on-site-10x12/7265818406.html

Watch the Size. I know here in El Paso Co. they require a permit for anything over 120 Sq. Ft. Not sure if Centennial is the same but something to think about. 

I've lost count of the number of the small Suncast, blown molded, deck boxes I've put together, and a few of the larger ones.  I've put together north of 20 of the 3x4' short boxes, mostly Suncast, Lowe's sells them as Craftsman now, same box.  I've put together a few of the tall, telephone booth/out house size boxes too.

For short term storage, quick and easy assembly, and transportation to a remote site, they're great.

After 2-3 years, UV and temperature changes will have split both rear corners, wind storms will have likely removed the top, and possibly the sides.

For personal use, I'd pass on any of the plastic storage buildings.

I've had great luck with rubbermaid sheds, built a couple myself and the current house came with a 6x6 one.  Easy to put up, components are lighter than lumber, they don't rot, they don't rust, termites don't eat them, and I've never had one blow over.  Sometimes being non-biodegradeable is a good thing.

I couldn't get the facebook embed to work, but here's a time lapse of me replacing a storm damaged ~5 year old Rubbermaid deck box with a new Suncast/Craftsman box, at one of my research sites.  They get brittle, and don't like strong winds.

https://fb.watch/3hD96OE_v_/

Here is my garden shed I built 

All the way left in the pic 

I'm in this exact pickle right now.  I have a 1 car garage and I can't even walk inside it.  Motorcycle, lawnmower, snowblower, tools, parts.... I'm going to buy a wooden shed kit.  They can be dodgy so you have to shop carefully.  I'm going wood mostly for easy customizing like adding heavy duty shelving, loft storage, etc.   You can get proprietary shelving to go inside the rubbermaid sheds, but you can easily double your investment doing that.  I'm in a similar situation.  No one will deliver a shed to me because of where I want to put it, so build-in-place is my only hope.

I did one of the super-cheap steel sheds on my lake spot about 10 years ago and I won't do that again.  They're fine, but just stoopid flimsy and the doors never slide like they should.  I'm waiting for the time I get to the lake and find that a thumb-sized twig has collapsed the roof.

I was initially worried about lifespan of wood sheds, but I built a shed kit with OSB for Dad at the lake property and put a coat of stain on it once every 10 years and it has survived remarkably well for going on 30 years now.  My neighbor has a rubbermaid shed that is about 10 years old and (although still sturdy) it has become chalky and brittle.  His latch broke and in the process of trying to replace it he split the door with a drill bit.  I'm not convinced that the lifespan of the plastic sheds is really all that great.

I was going to buy the lumber and build my own shed, but with lumber prices and availability right now I don't think I can do it for the same cost as a pre-cut shed.  Most wood shed kits don't come with shingles and a floor, so add in the cost of some PT lumber and a bag or two of shingles.

I ended up buying one from TuffShed.  They're coming out this Tuesday to install it.  They were able to change their design so they can put it together from the inside, since I don't have the space to walk around it and have it put together from the outside.

Got Junk hauled away my old shed yesterday.  Space will be really tight, I'm kinda wishing I'd gone with a 7' wide shed instead as the 8' one will barely fit where it needs to go...

So the shed was supposed to get installed this morning.  I get a call from my wife asking me to Facetime her, so I do.  She puts the installer on the phone, turns out the shed isn't 8' wide, it has 4" wide somethings (can't remember) that stick out.  So it won't fit where I want it to go, it's too wide.

The space for this is really tight, once my old shed got hauled away and I remeasured the space I was worried it wouldn't fit and somewhat regretted not ordering a 7 foot wide shed vs the 8 foot one.  Well, turns out I really should've ordered the 7 foot wide one.

In talking with the installer he said they can change the order for a nominal fee and to call Tuff Shed.  So I did.  My scheduler said the manager was talking with the install crew to figure something out.  Hmm, ok.  Called my wife, who told me the installers had packed up and were no longer at the house.  Called the scheduler back, who seemed confused by that but promised me the manager would call me.

I'll wait till this afternoon and will call again if I haven't heard.  Hopefully they can either just make me another shed that's 7' wide or modify this one to make it 7' wide, then come out and install it...

I built mine from a kit

So Tuff Shed came out last week and installed a 7x10 shed.  Seems well built, matches the color of my house very well and is definitely the largest shed I could've put in that spot.  Need it to warm up some more so I can get in there and start working out mounts for rakes, shovels, etc...

In reply to docwyte :

I believe the appropriate quote here would be:

"pictures, or it didn't happen..."

Glad they worked it out for ya, and the difference in size from the old shed is gonna be impressive. 'Course ANY size will eventually become too small!

Pics coming tomorrow!

Pics as requested!  It does stick up past my fence a few feet but matches the house well...

Here it is behind the fence.  Pretty much the largest shed I could stuff in that space.  They did include ramps, which will make getting the snow blower, lawn mower and dirt bike in/out much more easier

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Could you have the shed delivered to you and then move it to where you want it? 

When we moved here there was a shed behind the shop and I didn't like where it was.  The shed had skids under it. 

To put it where I wanted it I had to spin it 180 degrees, move it about 80 feet away from the shop, and then move it about 100 feet back to the wood line.  I was able to move it by dragging it with my Suburban, tow straps and chains and using a come along for the fine tuning of the move. I had put in 4 concrete piers with a 2x8 laying on top of the piers.   I used to floor jack to lift the shed up onto the 2x8 and slid it back into place with come along attached to a tree behind it.  I moved it 21 years ago and it is still doing fine

.  

So in other news I got a letter from the HOA yesterday saying I couldn't have the shed.  My old shed was small enough that the fence (6' privacy fence) hid it from view.  This one can be seen over the fence line.  I knew I was pushing the boundaries and in retrospect I should've gone with a smaller, shorter shed that could've hid better behind my fence.

Most everyone has a shed in the neighborhood (technically you're not supposed to) so I responded to the HOA asking to meet with them and saying I'd build a higher fence to hide the shed.

However it's possible that I may either have to get rid of the shed entirely, or figure some way to chop a few feet out of the height of it to make it hide behind the fence.

Bummed!

In reply to docwyte :

Frigging HOAs.  I'd definitely go with the taller fence method.  If they don't go for that, make sure that EVERY SINGLE shed in the neighborhood is also in compliance.  And that you will be a pain in everyone's ass if they choose to push you about yours.

PS: Nice shed, congrats.