How To Build A Backyard Shed

Shed Building Checklist

8 Things that must be done before building your new storage shed.

It is important to spend some time planning your storage project before purchasing materials to build it.

1- Check For Building Restrictions: Check with your city or county building department for accessory building requirements or building permits. Make sure to complete any requirements that affect your project before building. Things like maximum square footage and heights, minimum building setbacks from property lines and existing structures and wind anchoring for areas with high winds are the types of things that need to be considered before picking the shed plan to build.

2- Choose Your Shed: Pick out the shed design and size that best fits your Storage and Design needs.

3- Get cost estimates: Have at least 3 lumber yards give you pricing for the materials on your materials list. TIP: You can turn in several different shed materials lists into the lumber salesperson at the same time. If you are hiring out the construction you will want to contact at least 3 contractors that have good references to bid the cost of construction.

4- Determine your shed building budget: Make sure that you have enough money to complete your shed. The larger the shed and the more elaborate the shed interior and exterior finishes are the more costly the shed will be. If the shed is built on sloping ground you may need to install concrete piers and beams to build the shed on which will add to the cost of construction.

5- Pick the spot to build your shed: Layout the shed location in your yard or garden. This can be as simple as taking your garden hose and using it to mark the outline of the shed floor on your grass or you can use 4 stakes hammered into the grass. Seeing the shed marked on the ground will give you a feel for its size and how it will affect the space you are building it in.

6- Learn about shed building: You can read this tutorial to learn how to build all the different parts of your shed before lifting any tools. Things to learn about include: foundation, floor and wall framing, rafter building, installing siding, building the roof, installing roofing and building the shed door.

7- Order The Building Materials: Pick the lumber yard you want to use and then order the materials to build the shed with. If you don't have a way to get the lumber home you can have the lumber yard deliver the materials.

Shed Building Tips

Some things to consider before learning how to build a storage shed:

Use your storage space wisely.

Organizing your storage space is important to getting the most out of your new shed and the shed walls are some of the most valuable real estate in your shed. Keeping things off the floor, except for very large items, is the key to a well organized shed. Take the time to install hooks and a shelf or two to allow you to keep hand tools and working supplies on the walls. The floor should be reserved for working space and large tools that cannot be lifted to the walls.

Figure out how much storage space or work space you need?

The amount of storage space you need is important to figure out so you do not end up building too small of a shed. A good way to figure out what you need is to move the items you plan on storing to one of the corners of your garage and seeing how much space they take up.

Also consider what your future needs are. Do you plan to purchase lawn furniture or other large items in the future that will be stored in the new shed?

If you are building your shed to act as a work studio or office space or workshop you will need to make sure that it is large enough for the work you want to do.

Find out what the building requirements for your area?

Every area has slightly different building requirements for accessory buildings and storage sheds. It is best to find out what they are before building so you are not forced to move or worse, tear down your new shed.

The most common requirements are that the shed needs to be 120 square feet or less, 15 feet tall or less and 3 feet from the property line and minimum of 12 feet from the primary dwelling to not need a building permit

Pick the spot to build your shed.

This question is affected by your personal needs and any building regulations that may affect the construction of outbuildings.

Personal needs include where you want the shed in relation to the rest of your yard or garden. The new shed may affect the traffic flow in your yard, it may affect a play area or cast a shadow on your garden.

The shed door location will affect how the shed is accessed. Make sure that the door is located on the side of the shed that is in the path of traffic that you want to use to get to the shed.

Building codes affect the location because most areas have minimum setbacks and height restrictions.

Know the cost before starting to build?

The cost of your new backyard shed will vary depending on the size, style and cost of materials. Improper budgeting is one of the biggest reasons that construction projects run into trouble and even though a shed is a smaller project it is still important to know the costs before starting.

Size: The typical range of cost of materials is between $10.00 to $15.00 per square foot. To estimate the cost you would multiply the square footage by the cost, so a 12x16 shed is 196 square feet. If you say $12.00 per sf. then the math would be 196 s.f.x $12.00 = $2352.00

Style: The style of the shed affects cost because some sheds are simpler to build than others. Lower cost sheds have simple roof lines with no windows and a home built door. Adding windows, steeper roofs, factory built doors and more expensive siding typically adds to the cost of the shed.

Cost Of Materials: Buying lumber in large amounts is a lot like buying a home or used car: the price fluctuates based on time of year, how much the store purchased the lumber for and what price you can negotiate.

How To Buy Lumber.

Get Three Or More Bids: It is always good to have multiple lumber suppliers give you a price on the lumber package for your storage shed. They buy lumber in large quantities so the price they sell it at is affected by what they paid for it and this is usually different for each supplier. So one of the suppliers you are having price the lumber will be cheaper than the others.

Service: One thing to consider is the level of service provide by each respective lumber supplier. If your favorite lumber store will match your lowest bid, and they almost always will, then that is your supplier.

Negotiating: When buying lumber in large quantities you can often negotiate the price a bit. At the very least you can