Can I save money on a shed if I build it?

Or do I come out about even if I just by the premade kit from Home Depot or Lowe's. A guy at the store said I might save $50.00. Thanks.

Reply to
jm
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When I had to make the same decsion, I found that they were similar in price. The difference was speed. We paid for the HD shed, and the guy built it in a day. It would have taken me several weekends.

Reply to
Rusty Myers

You would build it to be more sturdy, at the same price, if you built it yourself. Plus the best reason to build it yourself, is that you built it yourself. :-)

Reply to
Morgans

You also get to choose better quality materials. I bought a kit this summer; a lot of the boards were green at the time. Now they're warped.

Reply to
Joe Shmoe

You probably already have some idea as to the value of your time: either you have more time or more money available.

A c>Or do I come out about even if I just by the premade kit from Home

Reply to
Thomas Kendrick

You'll save more than that. My boys and I built a shed two years ago for $950 that would have cost us $1300 to buy from Lowe's, and have a better product.

Yep. And I got an added bonus in having my sons (age 13 and 10 at the time) help me with it.

I used treated plywood for the floor. The kits use standard plywood, and treated is available as an outrageously overpriced option.

I also hand-picked the 2x4s for studs and rafters. I'm sure I got much better wood than I would have in a kit.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

Reply to
Doug Miller

One advantage you have building it yourself is that you can have ultimate input in the design, Look at the prebuilt models and pick and choose what you like about each.

Reply to
rllipham

I just did this and came out about even in price. The difference for me was the quality of materials. I was able to use better materials than they use. Also, I was able to have a custom design. I could not have used a standard design for my intended use. I spent about four hours on design and then one day building the shed. I spent time over several more days painting it.

Brian

Reply to
Brian Mahaney

If you do not consider what your time is worth, you can save a bundle. I am getting ready to build my own and will save about $800 on an 8 by 14 room.

Reply to
Leon

my shed cost more than a pre built (Tuff Shed) but it looks WAY better, and fits the limited area I had to place it in. It also is painted to match the house, the roof is very similar to the roof of the house, and I enjoyed building it from scratch, with all plans contained solely within my head. I used something called Sturdifloor, IIRC for the floor, which is super solid. I insulated the ceiling and the walls that are in the sun. Since it is against a fence and near the house, a lot of it is pretty much in the shade. In the middle of a hot summer day, it's cooler in there than my house. oh, yeah, I also installed two vents at the gable ends for cross ventilation. It has one window, a metal Stanley door and enough headroom for my 6' 4" self to stand in. I went at least $400 over predicted cost and mashed one fingernail. Shortly after I finished, I then bought a framing nailer!

the exterior is tongue and groove exterior siding that I primed with LOTS of Bin primer and then two coats of Kelly Moore Oyster semi gloss exterior latex enamel. After 5 years the paint still looks great.

Oh, and rather than run electricity to the shed, I installed a solar powered light for those after dark visits. Got that at HD for about $65 IIRC.

dave

jm wrote:

Reply to
Bay Area Dave

Do you think the price would have been the same for if you had it built with the better quality of materials and custom design. Comparing apples to apples I bet you came out farther ahead than the same price.

Reply to
Leon

john:

I went through this same problem a couple of years ago. I elected to build because the local sheds (like TuffShed) were about $1200 for the size I wanted and the materials for what I wanted to build were about equal. However, my materials were WAY better. Ceder siding, T&G ply flooring, etc. Also I had some friends help which was fun and in the end, I also justified some of the tools I bought to do the shed.

Would the shed gone up faster if I bought it from a company? Yes, of course. Would it look better? Not necessarily and I would have missed out on learning a lot of carpentry. My time was not in the equation, since I wrote it off as a learning experience.

I'd say, if you need it soon - buy it, but if you want to learn and have fun learning - build it yourself!

MJ Wallace

Reply to
MJ Wallace

Where did you get the plans?

Reply to
jm

What plans and where did you get them? I have found plans that were good on parts of the shed, but shady on other parts.

For example, I found one where the floor was well explained, but the roof, which looked complicated to me (but it is an "ordinary" room the upside V shape; sorry don't know what else to call it - gable?). I don't know how to cut rafters. It looked hard. Maybe it is. I don't know, but I couldn't tell what angle to cut them at or how the roof fit on the walls.

Reply to
jm

I know I have asked others in this thread, so sorry; maybe I shoud start another thread, but what plans did you use?

Reply to
jm

After looking at sheds built locally and the ones in a kit, I ordered plans for the one I liked and am now building it. I originally wanted a 12X16 with a gambrel roof, (spelling?) which would have cost me around $1500 to $1800 to be built by one of the companies here. I opted to change the plans I bought to make it 12X20 (would have cost $24-$2900 to have built) and figure the costs will be around $1200. Not counting the cost of the foundation which I built on concrete piers to raise it 12"-20" above ground level because of potential high water in the back of my property. The foundation would have cost more if I had that built. I also bought a nail gun, PC 350RH and a compressor, which I wanted anyway. So to me I have the enjoyment of building it, the knowledge I gained the extra tools, and will come out much better than what would have been built for much more money. My time has been well spent in the project plus the added company and friendship from a neighbor who has been helping. C Cole

Reply to
C Cole

What I did was scope out the sheds at the shed shop, and build one similar.

No plans[*]. 8'x12', stud wall construction 24" o.c. 3/4" T&G floor on 2x8 joists on 24" centers with 2x12 PT frame resting on pre-existing concrete pad. T1-11 exterior, asphalt shingle roof (using 2x4 rafters). If I were to do it again, I'd use 1/2" or 3/4" sheathing on the roof rather than

3/8" (which may require beefier rafters) - but we have no snow load to worry about here. Installed a window on one of the long sides.

As it was to be used for hardwood lumber storage, I doubled up three of the studs on one long wall, notched them in three places (3/4" x 3.5" notch on facing sides of the studs) and bolted some short (18") 2x4s in the notches to support the lumber horizontally.

Total cost about $800 and two weekends vs. the shed shop's $2500.

[*] Well, I drew my own prior to construction and did a full scale floorplan on the living room carpet using masking tape to test out the dimensions and usability (door and window locations were constrained by the location of the shed). Do consider where your T1-11 exterior sheathing joints will end up vis-a-vis the studs in the studwall. DAMHIKT.

Good excuse to get a framing nailer.

Reply to
Scott Lurndal

Framing the roof (even a simple gable roof) is a bit more complex than building the walls and ensuring that they are plumb. The problem is that this will probably be the only roof you ever frame, so the learning curve is not very useful in the future.

Simple method - go measure an identical shed and replicate that structure.

Less simple method - watch a professional crew frame a roof on a new house.

More complex method - purchase a book on roof framing such as "Roof Framing" by Marshall Gross.

The method basically involves -

  1. Install the ridge beam parallel to the centerline of the building and elevated such that the roof pitch is at least 4/12 so it will drain. It is temporarily supported at the proper height until the common rafters are installed to support it from the tops of the walls.
  2. Install ceiling joists to hold the tops of the walls in the plumb position.
  3. Cut the common rafters at the proper angle to meet the ridge beam. Cut the birdsmouth on the other end of the rafter such that it sits flat on top of the wall with sufficient extension to allow for fascia board (where guttering would be placed) to be at least 12-24" from the outside of the walls.
  4. Nail all common rafters in place. Remove temporary ridge beam supports.
  5. Install vertical studs in each gable (the triangular areas at each end of the ridge beam) to support siding to cover these openings.
  6. Place roof decking over common rafters beginning at the bottom.
  7. Install felt, flashing and shingles or other roofing material.

You will need several 8' stepladders during some of these steps. Borrow as needed and make sure they are 300# rated.

Reply to
Thomas Kendrick

I drew my own plans up with AutoCad.

Reply to
Leon

One thing to remember about using T&G plywood for the flooring is that the T&G will take up about 1/2" from the width for each row. If you put down 3 rows of it, you will be 1 1/2 inch from the width of 12' which you would expect if you did not know. If you use T-11 siding which overlays on the edges, it comes out to being the correct width when you put it up. (T-11 siding is wider than 48" to make up the difference,) (T&G plywood is not as the tongue sets in a 1/2" when butted against the other sheet.) I found out the hard way and had to cut down the width of the shed by 1 1/2" to get the proper floor dimensions to work out without having to buy and cut another row of plywood to get the extra needed. You can't just add an inch and a half.. but would have to rip the sheets to give a proper width to get it nailed down. So make sure you measure the plywood you are going to use before you make your final layout for your base and walls to see that it is going to be what you think it is. C Cole

"jm" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com...

Reply to
C Cole

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