What do people think of metal sheds?

[Al Reynolds]

Hello uk.d-i-y folk,

What do people think of metal sheds?

Argos have the "Yardmaster Deluxe Metal Garden Shed" for £399. This is quite a bit cheaper than the equivalent sized wooden shed (this one is 2.85m by 3.87m by 2.02m)

features are: - Maintenance free galvanised steel. - Translucent roof panels. - Double sliding doors. - Anchor kit included. - 2 person assembly. - Packed flat for home assembly. - Pale green in colour.

The main disadvantage I can see is not being able to fit stuff directly to the walls, but some wooden sheds are pretty flimsy too. Are metal sheds more or less (a) stable (b) secure (c) warm than wooden sheds?

Should I just buy £400 worth of wood and build my own design?

Thanks in advance for any help, Al Reynolds

[PoP]

CostCo one appears to come with a base.

PoP

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[T i m]

[T] I bought one of those flat pack plastic over steel (more like tin) frame sheds a few years ago. I think it was 6' x 4' and was +AKM-99 or summat. Popped up to somewhere in Norfolk from Nth London on a Sunday morning to get it and had it built in the the same day. It was like a huge Meccano kit!

It was all pretty flimsy but served it's purpose I suppose ...

10 years later it's still there with a few holes in the plastic cladding as it has gone brittle (I gave it to the bloke next door) and it is being held up by a couple of rose bushes ;-)

I *was* considering making some 'nice' steel (50 x 25 box steel frames) garage / workshop / sheds for folk that would be modular construction and reasonably secure. Something that would take a real (corrugated cement fibre) roof and a lining .. .. just not got round to it as yet ..

All the best ..

T i m

[the q]

condensation or can take precautions.. Oh and Make sure you do secure them down they will blow away! Try a search for langhale gardens they were considerably cheaper than Argos for the Yardmasters when I bought mine.

The Q

[Jerry.]

Condensation, and more condensation....

[T i m]

[T] That may have been the place I got mine from!

All the best ..

T i m

[Al Reynolds]

Is that because wooden sheds are generally draughty, and therefore don't suffer from condensation unless you block up all the gaps? I can see that condensation might be a problem if I wanted to keep metal tools in the shed ... anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Al

[Al Reynolds]

I was wondering what precautions you could take? I would probably be keeping some tools in the shed so I would need to keep the condensation down.

Al

[T i m]

[T] You could be on the right lines partly because metal sheds can't breathe and also because they conduct heat well (ie aren't good insulators)

I can see that condensation

[T] My lathe, if left uncovered, get's condensation on it if the outside warms up quickly now it's in the 'workshop' (not quite finished, ply lined concrete garage). It was fine when it was in the spare bedroom / workshop pre children ;-)

I intend to make one end sort of a 'room' within the workshop with a ceiling and a frost type heater and the other end is where I can work on the motorbikes .. ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

[N. Thornton]

I'm not convinced galv steel is really maintenance free, not if you want it to last anyway. Metal will be colder than wood as it is a heat conductor, whereas wood is an insulator to some extent.

If you have the time then sure, you'd get a much better quality shed for far less than 400. But it takes time.

Regards, NT

[DC]

If you do go for metal shed, I be inclined to put a plastic Damp Proof Membrane in the base to help minimize damp and ultimately condensation.

DC