Most houses simply don’t have enough storage area, especially outside for Dad’s stuff, like tools and building materials. If you are a home handyman you will have a fair collection of tools and a range of left over building materials from the last few jobs. Can’t throw this stuff out because we are definitely going to need it one day. Besides, it pays to keep a selection of bits and pieces on hand to save running down to the hardware for every little job. What we need is a purpose built storage come work area just for us.
We are already handy so this is going to be a breeze. First make sure we have the approval of the local authorities to start building and determine where we are going to put our new workshop. Be mindful of the regulations regarding set backs from the back and side boundaries. Once all that preliminary stuff is out of the way and we have decided on the size, it is time to get to it. When we set out for the concrete floor, work out the sheet sizes of whatever we are going use for outside lining. These will probably be 8’x4′ and design the size to suit. That way we don’t waste any.
Box out the outside of the shed with 2″x4″ and peg securely into place making sure it is all level. You can utilize the garden hose with a piece of clear pipe in each end and filled with water to give accurate levels. Inside this boxing dig a trench in the ground right round the outside about 1′ deep and 2′ wide.
Use the dirt inside if you need to fill any holes to get the area an even 4″ deep. Lay some sheet reinforcement and tie the joins together and you are ready for concrete. Have the concrete delivered the next day and invite a couple of mates over for a BBQ to help you lay it. That is Saturday and Sunday of the first weekend done.
Make sure all the rest of the materials are delivered before the next weekend because you are going to be busy. Up early Saturday and into it. Select the plates from your lumber usually 2″x4″ or 1 1/2″x3″ and lay them round the outside edge. Once you have cut them right round do the same again with another plate on top of the first one and roughly the same length. Then you can set out your stud spacings on these plates. Start at the corner and put a mark every 2′.
Make sure you put one exactly where the 4′ sheet will join. Mark the studs for your door and any window as well and square the marks down over the two plates so you have two plates that exactly match. Then each pair of plates roll over on to their edge and move apart and lay the studs in between on each mark. You will have all the studs cut to length before you start. Then you just nail the studs together through the two plates and you have a wall.
Use a long tape to measure from corner to corner and push and pull until that wall is exactly square and tack a diagonal brace at about 45 degrees to hold it square. If that is the steel brace you will need to run your power saw across each stud at the mark at the depth of the brace. Only tack this at this stage in case we need to adjust slightly later on.
Stand this frame now and hold upright with a temporary brace out to a peg in the lawn. Go round and do the same with all the pairs of plates and you have a frame standing. The plates at the top are held together by a metal fastener and on the bottom just nailed together. Before this stage we need to decide what do with our roof. The quickest way is the make one side a bit shorter so we can just lay rafters across and have a skillion roof. We will need to make our two end walls on an angle and cut each stud separately as it will go from 8′ high one end to say, 7’6″ the other.
Go round and add extra studs to the corners, plumb and straighten the walls and nail off the bracing. Then add your rafters. Just lay these across your frame and they will need to be at least 2’x4′ or bigger depending on the width of your shed. A good guide is half the span and add 2 so if you have a 12 wide shed half that which is 6 and add 2 which makes it 8 so you will need an 2’x8′ rafter for that span.
That will be strong enough later to hang stuff off in your shed. These rafters only need to be 3′ apart and just nail them to the top plate. If you want an over hang on either side or both allow this in the length of your rafter. On top of the rafter you will need roof battens to fasten your iron. These will need to be about 30″ apart and fastened securely. Some diagonal metal roof bracing strips from corner to corner so you have a cross shape on your roof is a good idea here. And that is Saturday done and you are ready for a beer. You have done well.
Sunday we will attach our lining to the outside. Get it long enough to cut up around your rafters and butt under the iron so as to give you a fully enclosed shed. Screw the iron down on the roof. Install any doors or windows and you are done for Sunday. Weekend two and your shed is finished. Not too hard and not too long. So get into it and you will soon have your own place for all your handyman stuff.
Build Storage Shed Within The Budget
It is important to live in a house that has a storage shed. There are some things that you should not keep inside the house mainly for safety reasons apart from other reasons. After all, the lady of the house does not really want your lawn mower petrol can sitting in her laundry cupboard. It is not safe and is a definite no no for inside the house.
So whether you rent a house or buy a house, make sure you have a storage shed outside in the yard. If you are searching for a rental home it is a simple matter to make sure it has a shed or if the landlord will provide one. If you are buying a home make sure it has a storage shed or room for you to include one very soon.
If you are building a new home or having one built you should have included some sort of outside storage in your building plans. As we have said, there are many things that one should not really keep inside the house. We mentioned fuel for the lawn mower etc. and that should be outside. The same with all those chemical sprays that we use on pests in our garden.
If you are a vegetable grower you will know how much of that stuff you will have sitting around. There will be sprays and powders and all sort’s of nasty stuff which should be outside. If we have small kids then this stuff is a definite danger and not only should be outside but under lock and key.
Of course, we will have all the garden tools laying around as well. Mum will not like them stuck behind the laundry door and if they are left outside they are going to deteriorate and will soon need replacing. Every man has some basic repair tools as well for jobs on the car to jobs around the house. These tools all need a safe home as well as the related bits and pieces like screws and nails. What about all that nasty stuff for the car.
Oil and engine additives and stuff like brake fluid. Some of this stuff can be very nasty in the wrong hands. Just imagine if your little one found a bottle of brake fluid out near the car and was playing with it and managed to spill it all over the car. That would make a lovely mess of the paint work.
So we have decided that we must have a storage shed out side in the garden safely away from kids. Funds are always tight so we will have to build it our self. That is not a difficult job as long as we have some good working drawings and tips to work to. There are plenty of shed plans out there with easy to follow drawings so that is all you need to get started. Get on to it now before your kids are in any more danger.
How to Build Garden Shed with Low Budget
Every man needs a shed. That is the common saying we here a lot and one that is used to sell sheds on TV. But it is so true. There are things that every household must have and these things need to have a place to live. The garden shed is the obvious solution for storing stuff like the lawn mower and garden tools etc. If you leave that sort of stuff outside in the weather it will soon deteriorate and will soon be no good and will need replacing. Because the outside jobs are usually relegated to the man of the house the garden shed usually becomes his domain. Hence the term, ‘every man needs a shed’.
Because the man of the house now has a shed he can store all his other stuff there too. Things like tools and paint brushes and half full tins of paint etc. This gets all that sort of stuff out of the house and out of Mum’s way making more space in her cupboards. Other stuff like chemicals for the garden etc. are safer locked away in the shed too so that the young kids don’t get into them. The result of that is not nice. So it could be said that while the shed is the man’s domain, it is just as useful for the lady of the house as she can relegate all the nasties out there out of harm’s way and create a safer environment for her kids.
The snag is, when we have just moved into our new house, our finances have been stretched and there is no available funds for garden sheds. The only alternative is for a do it yourself garden shed that the man of the house can build in a couple of weekends and save lots of labor costs. Materials though are expensive too and we don’t have the advantage of bulk buying or tradesman discounts. The option there is to search auction sites for building materials being special-ed out cheaply or even secondhand materials that we can utilize.
You will often find an auction selling building materials in pack lots and they sometimes sell quite cheap because many people don’t want to buy such a large quantity. If you can find suitable packs that will do the job for you then you can save a lot on your garden shed materials. The alternative is to talk to your mate who also wants to build a garden shed and arrange to buy packs together and then split them between you.
That way you are buying at a premium and are not going to be stuck with a lot of left overs. Leftovers are not a real problem though as you can re-sell in smaller lots which are always popular. In fact many people buy very large pack lots of building materials and have it delivered to their nature strip. They then advertise it the following weekend by the meter and make a tidy profit. There is a little money making tip for you.
So all you need now is some garden shed plans and you are off. There is plenty of shed plans around of many styles and sizes of sheds. Pick some up and you will soon be in your own garden shed.