I need to buy a shed to use as a workshop.

m511y

m511y

Less is more
So I just bought my first house and the one drawback is this house has no garage. It was to good of a deal to pass up but I don't have any place to work on or store my bikes. A friend of mine has a large shed that he uses as his work area and it suits him just fine. I actually kind of like the idea. Has anyone on here purchased a shed? What brands are any good? What do I need to keep an eye out for? Please help.

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watch for 2x4 construction vs 2x3 construction for one. Some sheds look good on the price tag at the store but dont include a floor or shingles. Not sure where youre from we have alot of amish built sheds out here that seem to be nice quality. If you have the time and skills it is probably much cheaper to build one your self. You could spend the same money and probably build a larger one.
 
What he said, many of the home improvement store sheds are junk.

The one you posted the pic of is sitting on the ground. It will be rotten in a year or two. You want one sitting on treated 4x4s to get the floor off the ground. I'd want a plank floor vs. OSB for strength using it as a shop.

From the WERA board;

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An awful lot of sheds in the big hardware places don't include floors, shingles or windows. If you are skilled you can build your own for less than half the price of the store sheds (including floor, shingles and windows. Keeping them off the ground is most important. KeninIowa's suggestion of treated 4 x4s is one that should be remembered.
 
Coming from a construction background, I've built a number of sheds for my motorcycle-building friends, and the most important thing...already addressed, but I want to reiterate it..is to overbuild your foundation and floor...

This is where a lot of the shed kits fall down, with their idiotic suggestions that you just plop the floor on the ground, or on a few lame 2x3's. This is just my personal preference, but I don't want any siding within 6 inches of the ground, so I essentially build a platform and put the shed on that.

You want either PT 4x4's, or, usually with the sheds I built, perimeter foundations of PT 2x6's bolted to PT4x4's in the ground (either with or without concrete , with 2x6's every 16 inches. It wouldn't even cost that much to make the platform out of 2x8's.

For the floor, I'd use two layers of plywood, probably 1/2", or maybe even 5/8", with overlapping seams...you only have one chance to make the foundation and floor, and you're going to have some heavy equipment inside...springy floors and siding in contact with the ground just add up to a shed that will rot away and be miserable to work in...
 
I got a Tuff Shed. I needed it up quick when I moved, and had the dough to spend on it. Mine is the minimum I could fit my woodworking shop tools in. I went from a 10' x 24' single car garage space down to 10' x 14'. It's a jigsaw puzzle of equipment and supplies but works for me. I appreciated being able to dial the specifics of what I wanted in: door and window locations, venting, etc. Then the day I moved, a truck showed-up and 4 hours later it was done.

Todd
 
Hahaha. Go for 1200 square feet with 15 foot ceilings. If you're gonna go, go big!

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It really is cheaper to build them if you can just find the time to do it. I will have about 10k in mine finished out, and that's engineered truss roof, floating slab floor, 15 foot peak ceilings, 200A electrical service drop, water, net, doors, the works. The sheds you get are overpriced, but I have seen a few of them on Craigslist. If you have a way to haul one, you can get good deals there. Go as big as you possibly can, because you will outgrow it!
 
I'd throw a bed of gravel down (excavate maybe 6-8 inches), tamp it and throw some limestone screening on top, tamp that, and lay those large patio paving stones. They're pretty cheap and a heck of a lot easier then pouring a pad. Basically same process as doing interlocking paving stones.

Throw the shed on top of that and you're golden. Elevate the gravel/patio stone foundation a few inches above grade and you'll stay high and dry.

If you're handy enough to assemble a shed kit, you're handy enough to buy some plans online and go get the lumber to build it yourself. You'll save a ton of money that way IMHO.

Another option is to search out Craigslist etc. for roof trusses, and build the shed walls to suit whatever cheap roof trusses you might stumble across. The shed is 4 walls and a roof. Nothing complicated. A hip roof like the shop pic above gains more headroom and makes it feel bigger without having to build taller walls. 8 foot high side walls makes life really simple - 8 foot 2x4 studs, 8 foot plywood sheets...

You can also get nice exterior plywood siding - 3/4" thick and it's grooved/textured on the outside and takes a stain or paint. About $40 a sheet if I recall (used it on my garage). You need plywood on the garage anyhow, and this also serves as the finished exterior.
 
Very sound advice from Tim. And he's right. Pretty much anything that spans 20 feet or less width wise can use a standard rafter and ridge beam system. If you go over that, a truss really needs to be used to the stability. Seriously. The way that my shop looks as you see it up there is at right about $3000, and that's WITH the metal for the outer walls. It's all about bargain hunting. My quadraplex electric feed was free from the tornadoes (saved $400+). My trusses are manufactured home trusses that I found on CL and modified into a scissor truss for headroom for $25 a truss. All of the metal was removed from a demolished chicken house. The dirt work I got done was traded for rebuilding a motor on a guys Honda Rancher quad. It was just me and a few buddies that have built everything so far. I recommend building your own, as you'll get what you want and save a fortune. We built a 10x14 not too long ago for $200. Material scavenging is where it's at.
 
Wtf? Amazing shop Kiley! And here I was proud of the 16 x 10 I just got! And as far building your own cheaper, for me that wasn't the case. I live on an island with very strict building codes and high permit fees and inspection fees. For me it turned out to actually be cheaper for me to buy premade and already approved for use in my city. But the building has a roll up door, full two by fours and sixes, treated lumber exterior, sixteen inch stud centers and 24 inch ceiling joists. Sixteen inch centered treated two by sixes under the floor and it sits off the ground with straps running to augured anchors.
But Jesus Kiley, that shop is fucking amazing dude.
 
Ha! Thanks man! And you're right, I forget about the strict building codes and what not. I live in the woods and don't get out much!
 
Yep. I live in a 100 year flood plain, and I can not build a garage. Legally, I have to buy a pre-made jobby.
 
I know that the 10' wide that you always get in the pre-man buildings is because of what you can haul on the highway. Do they make "double wide" pre bade buildings that you attach together?
 
They make them wider but the price is way more than the square footage is worth. Due to the cost of longer lumber and hauling. They make double wide jobs though I would think.
 
This may not work for you and your zoning issues, but you can get the boxes off of box trucks for low money and they will even deliver them. They are sturdy, will have roll up doors and some have translucent roofs to let in light. You can set them on a cement pad or railroad ties. They are not permanent and may look like ass but if that bother you, you can side them to match your house or put a wall, fence or landscaping around them to hide it. They are also limited in width to something like 101" outside but you can get them in 15 foot to 40 foot depth. You can also put two side by side.

I have a large garage at home but I am looking at doing this at the in-laws house for extra storage and to hold dirt bikes when I get around to building a track on their land. I have seen them from $500 to $1200 depending on size and condition. You can also rent them by the month.
 
JustinLonghorn said:
People also modify shipping containers to use as sheds/garages/houses/etc.
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That would be awesome! Not so sure the wife would appreciate a shipping container in the back yard though.
 
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