Gambrel Roof Plans

There are several things to consider if you’re comparing storage shed construction to storage space rental. How many square feet do you need? How big is your property? Do you need a climate controlled space? How much stuff are you storing for long-term or seasonal use?

The bottom line is that if you only need short-term storage, then renting is cheaper, but if you need to store for the long-term, and especially if you’re not concerned about climate control, then building or buying a backyard storage shed is the cheaper solution by far.

Let’s go through the numbers. I live in Atlanta, and I got these prices from a big nationwide storage rental brand. Even in my metro area, the prices varied considerably based on local demand (population density, housing/property cost-per-square-foot), higher in the city and suburbs, and lower in the sparsely populate ex-urbs.

Here are some typical storage footprints, the cost of renting over eight years, and the resulting cost per square foot.

Size	Monthly Cost	8Y Cost of Renting	8Y CSPF
4×4	$31	$3,278	$205
5×5	$47	$4,969	$199
5×10	$55	$5,815	$116
8×10	$86	$7,929	$99
10×10	$91	$9,260	$96
10×15	$109	$11,523	$77
12×16	$125	$13,215	$69

Like I said, over the long-term, renting even a small storage space can easily cost you twice as much as a pre-manufactured wooden shed (~$1,600). And with the cost of an 8×10 storage building kit well under a thousand dollars, you’ll earn back the purchase price and start “saving” money, in terms of the monthly rental fee you don’t owe, before the first year ends.

And since we’re talking numbers, a tasteful, well-made storage shed adds value to your home and increases its resale value. Chances are you’ve got a wood-framed house, and wood is the best material for a modest backyard shed, giving you almost unlimited options for trim and decor to compliment your home. Wood is cost-effective and with a good set of plans, it goes up fast, so find a plan for a shed you like, and put those storage rental fees back where they belong, in your wallet.

My wife and I bought our home with an attached carport. Sure enough, a few years after we moved in, we had so much stuff sitting in there that we couldn’t even fit a little bit of our car under the roof. I won’t lie, it was an eyesore, and we were feeling a bit of the hairy eyeball from some of the neighbors.

We don’t have a big yard, so we wanted to attach a storage shed to the back of the carport, which had a wood-frame rear wall with siding. We wanted to build the shed frame out from the back, and then cut a door in the rear wall.

We thought with all the special work required, that we’d need custom plans from an architect, but after making a few calls, we realized that was way beyond our budget, so we started looking for DIY plans that maybe we could modify to meet our needs.

A lot of our searching turned up plans and stores selling pre-built, metal carports, but finally, we found a great set of 12×16 shed plans, sized to match our carport, with styling options we could adapt to fit in with our homes exterior design.

I’m pretty handy and so framing the shed and attaching it to the back of the carport wasn’t too big of a deal. If you’ve ever worked on a porch, deck or patio for your house, then you’ll have no trouble building a shed. The original contractor had done a pretty lousy job with the siding, and one of the posts had a little water damage, but it was not too bad, and so we applied some wood rot treatment, and made sure we had a nice tight seal between the carport roof and the shed, with adequate drainage to prevent additional moisture from collecting.

The big new thing I tackled with this project was cutting the door, here’s the most important things I learned, in case you’re considering a similar design:

• Figure out where your wiring, pipes and ducts are before you cut – we didn’t have any plumbing or duct-work, but we did have a light-switch, crazy given the water damage, but we got an electrician out to safely cap the wire and move the carport light onto another circuit. I hate messing with electricity, and if you find wiring, plumbing or duct-work in the way of your door, it’s probably time to call a contractor.
• Make room for the door-frame – seems obvious, right? But make sure you’ve got enough room for the structural framing.
• Don’t forget the floor – not such a big deal for us, since it was just a storage shed, but we did add a splashguard to the bottom of the door to prevent rainwater from flowing under

We’re super happy with our new shed, and I managed to acquire two new power tools along the way (score!). Let me know if you’re looking to attach a shed to your carport, and I’ll try to answer your questions. Otherwise, good luck and happy building!

When my wife and I (okay, it was just me, but I had her moral support) started looking for a storage shed, we didn’t really know anything about them, we just wanted a decent-looking structure that would free up some space in our carport.

I made the rounds of our local home-improvement megastores, but I found the selection was kind of limited at the Home Depot and Lowe’s in my neighborhood, and they were all a bit smaller than what I had in mind.

Returning home, defeated but undaunted, I googled around and found a “shed superstore” with every type of garage, gazebo, pole and wood barn you can imagine… and a few sheds too. But they were a couple hours out of town, and most of the sheds I saw on their site were too big, I was starting to feel like Goldilocks, where would I find the shed that was just right for me?

Then, on the brink of despair, a search result caught my eye, modular sheds, long story short, this proved to be the answer to our shed search, and if you’re thinking about a 12×16 shed, then you should definitely consider the modular option.

What is modular design?

Any construction project that relies on modular design means that the structure can be broken down into component parts or sections, which have some degree of inter-change-ability and extensibility. You can swap one section out for another, say a door, window or roof, or you can add sections, usually to increase the size of the shed footprint (length x width). I have seen a few two-story sheds online, so you can go for height, just be sure you know what your residential zoning requirements are, and watch out for nearby power lines.

I’d never built a shed before, but I’m handy enough, and I’ve accumulated a pretty extensive set of tools in my workroom (which may or may not have gotten a few upgrades during the course of this project “strictly necessary” of course, but after reading a bunch of online how-to articles, and watching some videos, I felt like this was do-able, and would make a nice project for the fall.

I found a set of plans online that had flexible layout options to give us the footprint we wanted (L-shaped) — Shoot me an email if you want to know which ones and I’ll send you the link. Put in a call to my local lumberyard, and got psyched for a weekend (or four of shed raising!

Well then Murphy’s law, we then proceeded to have the wettest fall on record for the past eight years. I had my plans, and the materials were on order, but weekend after weekend was lost to heavy rains, and we had to postpone delivery 6 times. Finally though, we got a break, and the flatbed rolled up with my lumber.

When building your shed, expect the unexpected

I won’t lie and say things went perfectly smoothly from there on out. I got off to a rocky start because I hadn’t done enough work to plan out my foundation. Water is a wooden shed’s ultimate nemesis, and with all the rain, I had planned to pour out a slab foundation, but the rain had made that impossible, and so I shifted to a floating, or on-grade foundation.

Well a good thing to know if you’re putting in a floating foundation, is that you want your floor joists supported by solid concrete blocks, and blockhead that I am, guess what kind of blocks I had? Yep, good old hollow cinder blocks. So returning those and getting the solid blocks took out half of my building time the first weekend.

We hit a few more snags along the way, I was excited to try putting in a sky-light, but that will have to wait for my next shed. Thankfully, I live in a warm climate, and so we only had our first cold snap before my final weekend “sprint” to put on the finishing touches. My wife is happy with the way it looks, and we’ve got a nice, clean carport again.

Ready to build your own shed?

If a storage shed is your next DIY project, start with reliable, proven shed building plans. Just like me, you can find the perfect plans online, without paying out big bucks to an architect for a custom design. We got tired of all the lousy and confusing information out there on the internet, and so we put this website together to help you find your best shed design or made-to-assemble kit.

Building a shed is fun, and I love looking out my kitchen window each morning as the sun hits our backyard and thinking “Yep, I built that,” but it might not be for you. There are plenty of “off the shelf” solutions for a storage shed, but just be sure to look around and/or get in touch with any of us here, I’d hate for you to make an impulsive decision that ends up costing you big, and maybe even worse, reminds you every time you visit your back yard.

The only storage shed plans you should use are those that are of high quality. When it comes down to it, a well-designed plan will ensure a well-built storage shed. A quality plan should include everything you need to begin and complete the entire process from a materials list to illustrations that are self-explanatory. A do-it-yourself project such as building a storage shed should be simple and easy enough for anyone to do.

There are a number of storage sheds available that are either already built or most of it is preassembled. These types of sheds are typically of cheap quality and probably won’t last as long as you expect it to. Building your own shed will ensure that it is exactly what you want and what you need. It is also your way of making sure that it is built to your specifications and you know the exact quality that the shed holds.



Storage Shed Plans

The importance of quality

If you haven’t built something before and one small step is missing, the final product could be faulty. If you aren’t knowledgeable enough to know that a step is missing, the consequences probably won’t be noticeable for some time. When building or making anything, generally there is a certain process to follow. Most plans require steps to be taken in a certain order and there is a reason for this.
The reason is that you are building upon each step. If one step is not done correctly or is left out, you will have to try and compensate for it at a later time. When building a storage shed, it’s obvious that you can’t begin working on the roof until the walls are in place. Quality storage shed plans will walk you step by step from the very beginning until the very end. In addition, they will ensure that you have everything you need before you get started and that you have completed the entire process before you put begin to put your tools away.

Choosing storage shed plans

You probably won’t need plans that are complex and require the services of an engineer. In fact, you shouldn’t need anyone to help you read and understand plans that have been well thought out and provide you all of the information that you will need to know before you begin your project. With storage shed plans that provide you with a materials list, informative illustrations, clear and precise instructions you can build a storage shed without having to call in a specialist.

The plan you choose will vary upon what your shed will be housing. If it will be strictly for storage of unused items, then you may not want any windows. If it will hold your gardening supplies you many want a plan that incorporates a step or ramp, a window and shelves. The best plans will give you a good idea of the entire process and what the storage shed will look like before you even begin.

This is important, especially for those who are learning. You will be creating something from scratch and it’s nice to know the “ins” and “outs” about the project before you get your hands dirty. There are a number of plans available so choosing one that best suits your abilities and needs is important. Also, remember that quality storage shed plans will give you all the information you will need to successfully complete the project.

You need to have a multi-dimensional approach when you prepare a site for your wood storage shed. This means that you need to plan for multiple factors so that the site is at its best condition before you start building the shed.

You need to consider issues like convenience, safety, accessibility, and durability before you start preparing the site. The site must be easily accessible and convenient to build a wood storage shed on. The site must also be safe for a wood storage shed to build on. These are mandatory points in the check list and you may also optionally consider the aesthetic dimensions, if you can afford to do so.

Decide on the location of the wood storage shed first. You must first decide what you are going to store in the wood storage shed. If you want to have plants and flowers in the shed, then you might want to have a location that receives a lot of sunlight and is close to a water body (the latter may not always be possible).

Wood Storage Shed

If you want to store things related to utilities, you may want to have a location that is close to your residence. In a nutshell, what you are going to store will play a decisive role in the wood storage shed location.

Decide on the dimension and size of the wood storage shed. Again, the kind and the amount of stuff that you plan to store will be an important factor in deciding how big your wood shed will be.

After you have decided on the exact dimension, you may want to clearly mark off the area. Stake out the exact location and put stakes in each corner to mark the area clearly. This step will help you identify all possible obstructions to the site (for example, trees, fences, shrubs and large rocks that you will need to clear later).

After you have decided where you are going to have your wood storage shed, clear the area of all debris and other obstructions (for example, trees, fences, shrubs and large rocks). Then use a board to pack the site down and ensure that the ground is as flat as is possible. Also ensure that the board has a slight pitch on the rear so that water drainage is facilitated.

It is suggested that you mark an extra foot or so for the site location to cover any mistakes in dimension estimation later. You might also want to fill the pad with about 2 to 4 inches of crushed stone, which will aid adequate drainage.

If you are a first timer to building a wood storage shed, it is important that you follow the installation manual as closely as possible. You may make customizations in the plan as you gain some experience.

Storage sheds are built to create more room for storing home equipment and other things that keep holding the garage and there is no room for car. These sheds have solved the problems of people regarding storing things in better way. Another thing that is very important that sheds are used for doing some work separately from home environment that often artists and carpenters do. Lots of people like to build storage shed themselves to learn carpentry skills and have fun. They work with family for it is hard work to build storage shed themselves. Shed kits and plans are very helpful for you if you are going to construct your first shed for storing purposes. These shed kits and plans are easily available online and offline as well.

Numbers of benefits are associated with use of shed kits and plans as they are easy to follow and have step by step guide to go through the process of shed building. Some shed plans also provide you diagrams and blueprints of structure of sheds for more convenience. Shed plans and kits save your time, space and money and also hassles created by unawareness of shed building. Building storage sheds with the help of shed kits is much better than wasting time, money and other resources that you utilize in shed construction. Having shed plans, you will not need to hire some professional for this project.

Before learning the skills of shed building you have to consider what material you need for which type of shed. Shed plans will guide you what material is trendy and you should use in your shed building project. Whenever you take shed plan in your hand, you will surely realize that lots of things you are ignoring but are necessary to do for perfect and useful storage shed. If you have decided to prepare wood shed in your garden, shed plan or kit will better guide you which type of wood you should use. Shed kits and plan will guide you regarding use of best timber for your shed.

Not only shed plans or kits but shed building software is also available. They are very efficient and also being very popular for easy and perfect shed building. You can learn lots of things from shed building plans and kits. These plans are packed with instructions and helpful tips for you even if you know nothing about shed building. Building your storage shed can be a fun and enjoyable activity if you got proper instructions and detailed information regarding perfect storage shed building.