If you are a home owner and your home has yard you are going to need somewhere to store things, lawn mower, garden tools, firewood and all manner of other bits and pieces. Best to avoid all that clutter in your garage otherwise, sooner or later you won’t be able to park your car in it.

A shed is a great place for tucking all those things away, you can even partition it for different uses, one part could be your log pile and another for your tools, lawn mower and all those bits and pieces that you don’t want to throw out.

Sheds are a bit like houses, as soon as you have one it’s too small, so if you are going to have a shed, have a BIG one or at least the next size up from the one you have already decided on.

What sort of shed are you going to have, well that sort of depends on exactly what you are going to put in it and what you intend to do in it. There are all sorts of sheds from garden sheds, storage sheds, log sheds, lean to sheds, potting sheds and many others.

Where are you going to put your shed? Is it going to be tucked away in a corner of your yard, or are you going to make it more of a feature, somewhere to go and pot your plants perhaps or build your wood working projects. Wherever it’s going to go you need a level surface to put it on, somewhere with good drainage so your stuff doesn’t get soaked with ground water. If your shed is having a wood floor you can use gravel or road base to sit it on, 3 or 4 inches (75 – 100mm) in depth will be enough, it’s easily levelled and will provide the drainage you need.

When you have decided what sort of shed you want, how big it’s going to be and where you want to put it then you need to check with your local authority to see if you need planning or building permission? Are there any special regulations you need to comply with? Check with your local authority to find out BEFORE you buy or build your shed.

Do you need electricity in your shed? A bit more planning if that’s the case, where’s the power coming from? How are you going to get the power to your shed? In most cases you will need to take the power underground usually about 2 feet (600mm) in conduit. You’ll need to check with your power authority as to what requirements you will need to meet, you may need a licenced electrician to install it. Electricity shouldn’t be messed with if you don’t know what you are doing, apart from the risk of electrocution, if it isn’t installed properly it could start a fire that could burn down your house and your shed.

If you are building a shed as a workshop, somewhere to escape to or even a play room it’s worth the extra time and effort to insulate it before you start putting all your stuff in it.

If you are going to put stuff in your shed that has any value, tools lawnmowers, whatever, consider how you are going to make it secure.

Once you have all this resolved, you then need to decide whether to buy your shed and have it built, buy a kit and put it together yourself or build your own shed.
Building a shed is great family project, you can even get the kids to help, it’s not too hard especially if you have a good plan with a complete material list and a basic tool kit.

Whatever you decide have fun doing it and do it safely.