Make or Buy a Shed

[Martin]

Anyone had experience making a wooden shed from raw materials? Is it cheaper than buying one?

TIA Martin

[Gogs]

Dont know if this is any help to you but I just put up a metal one which was quite cheap but its was hassle to put up, then put up one of the plastic Keter ones and it was a lot easier and quicker, doesn't need treating like wood

[Christian McArdle]

My calculations showed that a home built one would be similar in cost, but would probably be made of more solid materials. However, the speed of erection of the manufactured one blows away a home made one. To get some DIY in, I did prepare the base, assemble it, insulate it with Kingspan, plasterboard and paint it inside and out. They look much better painted than stained, too. So it looks like a beach hut, but rather that than looking like a few fence panels.

Plasterboard and paint inside really does keep the spiders away, too.

Christian.

[Martin]

This may sway me to build one from scratch.

However, the speed of

I like the idea of platerboarding the inside.

Thanks,

Martin

[John Cartmell]

Probably about the same price - but you can make just what you want. I wanted a shed in a narrow space next to a brick garage and used the garage wall as one long wall of the shed. It would have been impossible to buy ready made materials to fit and a bespoke equivalent would have cost far more. It was easy to make using shiplap.

[Andy Dingley]

Every which way.

I can't beat the timber price on cheap sheds, and I'm working from raw trees and a bandsaw mill! However I also build them to be rather better made than the usual Happy Shopper "factory nailed panels with screws through the corners" approach. I just wouldn't be happy with one of those as a shed. If you price up larch from somewhere like

then you can beat the typical "construction" softwood prices substantially, even if you are then using

4x4 uprights (or 6x6 if you're Paul!)

A chap _needs_ a Shed.

[Andy Hall]

It's certainly better to make a shed than to buy the flimsy rubbish that the DIY stores sell. It won't be cheaper, but it's easy to make one that will be substantially better in terms of strength and quality.

This is true for standard sheds. However, if you wanted a more substantial thing like a cabin, then those made from 28mm machined timber that slot together are pretty good (especially if enhanced with your own features).

[Mike Dodd]

Built mine last year from scratch.

For what it cost - circa £200 (then add a bit for felt / glass) I got a nice 6.5 x 8 shed using 16mm shiplap boards. Nice build (says I) and to the dimensions that I wanted. Looked at all the sheds available in the main DIY shops first to work out how not to do it; Spent a couple of weekends getting it together, jobs a good un.

Worthwhile tools - if you're using shiplap or similar - electric chop / compound mitre type saw, circular saw, usual hammer / nails. On reflection I might have preferred to hire a decent nail gun.

Satisfying job, and I couldn't get anything remotely close enough in terms of build quality for the price.

One last thing... Find a decent timber merchants to source the materials

[meow2222]

You can make a much better customised shed for the same price, which will last far longer, something much cheaper from fence panels, or something truly 'orrid for a tenner.

So whatever route you take, its better value moneywise. Just more work.

NT

[Andy Hall]

Definitely. It's worth putting together a project list with all materials listed and calling around a few of them to get the best price, making it clear that any crappy wood will be returned.

[david lang]

I'll bet your local timber merchants just love it when they see you walking through the gates.......

Dave

[Andy Dingley]

Mine do. I spend money and I'm loyal to those suppliers. One of them sells me "crap wood" or "good wood", depending on what I need it for.

The supplier (Robbins) that just wants to sell me whatever they've got on the racks, and can't do any large-scale machining on it that I might need just doesn't have me walking through their gate any more. They clearly don't _want_ my money, so I don't give it to them.

[John Rumm]

cheaper than buying one?

No...

(Way nicer shed though ;-)

[Andy Hall]

Love/hate relationship really. :-)

Generally I go and pick it myself if it's for a woodworking project.

If it's bulk softwood for a project like this, I typically mill it myself anyway so that I can get the shapes I want.

Another aproach I've agreed sometimes is after having agreed the price, is then to suggest to them that if they think that there could be problems with some of the wood that they might like to allow X% more to cover crappy bits.

Usually, good quality stuff and extra arrive......