grindstonealley

To keep everyone involved in check, we did a quick list regarding some of the things addressed so far…  Maybe it’ll help you ward off anxiety and keep you  more focused.

1.   Don’t get in over your head.  Choosing the right type of shed is important, but don’t bite off more than you can choose, especially if your skill level doesn’t match up.

2.  Make sure all parties involved are on the same page for where this shed is going.  Staking it out will give a quick visual for the location and help you avoid a critical error requiring more frustration and money to move this thing.  Plus, it’s heavy and I DON’T recomend trying to move it.  This is where finalizing the size comes in as well.

3.  Do some research as far as time and materials.  Next post will cover some basic materials and scoping out the deals.  Break it down and plan things out for what’s to be tackled first.  Again, avoiding frustration and the feeling of being overwhelmed is a good thing.

4.  Make sure that you’ve got the things you need as you get into this project.  Plans – check.  Building materials – check.  Help – check.  And get going!

5.  Motivate  yourself by setting realistic goals, like pouring the foundation one weekend, framing the next weekend, siding and roofing the following weekend.  And don’t be afraid of getting alot of help for this.  You might over tax yourself and get worn out and un-motivated when you’re going solo.

6.  When this whole fiasco is finished…  invite the friends, family and crew over for a nice cold beverage and admire you’re hard work.

7.  On second thought, don’t just stand there looking at your shed… build a deck and some benches that will make the after party more comfortable.  Start planning your next project!!!

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We’ve mentioned a couple times how you should pick the shed that will fit your uses best.  But there’s a couple types to choose from… style that is, not use.

In honor of my grandpa, I’m putting the ever-so-popular outhouse as my first selection for a shed.  He used this at the garden for all of his rakes, sprayers etc.  Feel free to cover the hole.

Chris’s parents opted for this basic style for their shed.  We modified it a little bit to allow for a larger door for pops to pull in his lawn mower.  Shelves were added along the side to increase storage.  We had plenty of room for the bikes as well as his tools like the air compressor.

Gambrels are great options if you have alot of tall items to store.  Or if you add shelving, you’ve got more depth, so you don’t have to worry about loss of space, adding to the flexibility.  Some people call these barn sheds.  Growing up on a farm, I guess I’ll give it to them.

A cool name for a cool shed.  Every time I see a saltbox shed, I think of Nantucket for some reason…  probably because these sheds are most seen in the New England area.  I always picture them up agains a tree line – hence the longer rafter one one side.  Your choice what you do with them.

Lean-to sheds are great for tucking things away into.  They’re simple to construct and can be easily tucked away.  This one is a half-height shed that’s ideal for hiding garbage bins and other lawn care supplies.

So that’s a quick look at the types of sheds.  Nothing fance, just the basics.  Hopefully you can see the differences and more importantly the potential each shed has for you.  Give it a little thought and pick your poison.

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So you want to know how to build a shed? Well you’ve got some options on how to do this, but first you’ve got to make a few decisions. Shed building does require a little thought and some things to consider along the way. Like “what’s this shed for?” And “how big is this shed going to be?” One of my favorites is “how much is this going to cost?” But here’s some things I bet you haven’t considered yet. Like “what requirements do I need to fulfill for the city? How do we build this so it doesn’t fall over? And how do I get this to look like it belongs here?”

Shed building doesn’t have to be a daunting task. A little planning goes a long way. If your shed is just for gardening purposes, you might get away with a smaller 6’x8’ shed. But if you want to store the lawn mower, your power tools and a few other gadgets, a larger shed with more shelving might fit the bill a little better.

If you’re in a village, township or city, your local government probably has some hoops to jump through for your project. It might be as easy as a few setbacks from your property lines and an estimate of cost to obtain a permit. But it also might require a set of plans and a fee for this permit. It’s all a hoop.

And you might want to make sure your newly dreamt of shed doesn’t fall down. If you live in a place where it freezes, you’ll definitely want to put your foundation below your frost line, whether it’s a concrete pier or strip footing that the floor rests on. From there you can do a concrete floor or a treated wood floor, totally your preference. The concrete floor is a little more work, but a better overall choice in my opinion for stability and durability.

Your shed can look like an extension of your house. Cruise your neighborhood for ideas and see what works for them because it could easily work for you… or it could teach you what to avoid like the plague. Caution though, as they might not like you wandering through their yards. Vinyl siding doesn’t go with everything, so it’s not always the best choice. Sacrifice and modifications happen, so don’t get discouraged.

Where you draw the line on cost is again up to you. We discovered that a pre-built shed from the big box stores like Menard’s and Home Depot were quite pricy. After doing the breakdown for cost of lumber, concrete, rock & a new tool for every project, we ended up being money ahead for this build… something that made everyone involved happy. Not to mention a more customized shed that we had a hand in creating. As weekend warriors ourselves, we did the old fashioned nose to the grindstone to customize and build something we couldn’t find anywhere else. Our shed building experience is a blast, we hope yours is too.

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So for the past several weekends, Chris’s parents have consulted and employed us on how to build a shed. This basically means that we’ve had to find plans, come up with a purchase list, estimate costs and the whole 9 yards. Even though Chris has construction experience, he was a little tentative about the whole procedure.

We did the traditional research, visiting local home & garden shops, eventually deciding that what we saw wasn’t fitting the bill for the parents. So we jumped online to find plans. Thankfully we came upon MyShedPlans.com. This seemed like a fantastic choice for not only us, but for his parents. We purchased the extensive sets of plans, immediately reaping the benefits, since his mom isn’t the most visual person. What we thought we were looking for was simple garden shed plans, but we found a backyard shed that fit the needs of everything from the garden tractor to the air compressor with extra room for plenty of storage.

Purchasing MyShedPlans saved Chris and I time and his parent’s money. For Chris and his dad who have some construction background, these plans and layout were definitely above their expectations. And for his mom and me, the plans were so step by step we could have built this shed ourselves.

Never did we think we could have learned how to build a shed for such a great price and in a minimal time frame. MyShedPlans is a worthy investment for anyone who is looking for a project, even if it’s not a shed. This has plans for benches, dog houses, picnic tables and so much more. Little does Chris know, I’ve got plans for him to build a porch swing for my parents… their anniversary is coming up soon.

Posted under Projects