You Can Build Your Own Shed
When we first moved to our current home in 1988 there was no garden shed on the property. We were barely living from paycheck to paycheck as it was, so who wants to go into debt to build your own shed? When my husband and I lived up in the northwoods of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, we built our own cabin by tearing down other old buildings and re-using the best materials. My husband is especially talented in designing and building simple and useful structures such as our garden shed shown above. We had building material we brought south with us and used it to create the garden shed building. You don't have to be a master craftsman or carpenter to build your own shed. One of the best first projects you could try, especially if you're not experienced in construction and renovation projects, is to build your own shed. For one thing, you are not adding on to existing structures when you design a shed, like when you are building a fireplace or a deck. What this means is that the shed will not affect the overall layout of your house, so you don't have to worry too much about having the garden shed perfect. Any mistakes you might make as you build your own shed do not affect the appearance of your house. Even if you totally fail to build your own shed, you have only temporarily spoiled the appearance of a small section of your backyard, not disfigured your living room. Another reason why you might want to build your own shed as a first project is that it is so easy. Almost all designs for sheds are simple and utilitarian. Whether you want to build your own tool shed, or a home workshop, it doesn't have to be pretty, or well insulated – just sturdy enough to stand up in all local weather, and well laid out for its purpose. Because the designs are so simple, it is easy to modify them to build your own shed in exactly the dimensions that you need in your particular project. By contrast, if you try to change the dimensions of your deck, you might have a much harder time getting everything to fit perfectly together. Before you build your own shed, it is important to figure out exactly what you need from it. If it is a tool shed, then you should figure out precisely where, and how, you plan to store your tools. The same goes for anything that you want to put into it when you are finished. Personally, before I built my own shed, I marked a wall in my house with pieces of tape representing the various tools which I needed to store in it. This allowed me to figure out precisely what sizes the wall needed to be, as well as where to put hooks when I was done. I could even figure out where to put my workbench, and store my gardening supplies, which saved me quite a bit of agonizing when I was done. Of course, half the reason to build your own shed is not the use you get out of it at all, but simply the joy of putting it together. If you like kits, garden sheds are available. You can buy a garden shed kit starting at under $1400 in some locations. Check out the great deals at Home Depot online. (Forget about searching online at Menards or Lowe's; unfortunately neither has a really good web presence at this time.) You can build your own shed for a lot less than the cost of contracting someone else to do it. What looks hugely expensive from bids can be done for a lot less money with a LOT more work on your part. Still, the whole process is something you can approach with an open mind so that you can build your own shed to suit your particular yard and your storage needs. Crating lumber is an excellent source of building materials, by the way. So don't let the cost factor stop you. You can build your own shed for under $500 easily if you spend some time putting free or very inexpensive materials together for the construction. Keep in mind you will need time to clean the used materials prior to re-using them. But I have to say it feels really good to be able to build your own shed for just a few hundred dollars. Author Credit: Copyright 2006 © Mary Campbell Do It Yourself NewsBuild Your Own Shed Resource Pages
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