Did you know that your garden can be a great place to grow fresh fruits and vegetables? Well, now you do! With the right amount of space, availability of sunlight and proper maintenance, it doesn’t get much better than a garden as an extension of your home.
If you haven’t yet got one but would love to have a simple garden as soon as possible, building your own garden shed might be the answer to your troubles.
A garden shed is basically a storage area for gardening equipment and other accessories which you don’t want to see all of the time.
Since it is located close by so, it won’t take up much space in your yard either. The best part? You can build it yourself! Read on for the details and step-by-step guide on how to build your own garden shed – trust me – it will only take you about an hour or so!
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Step-by-step guide
This is a step-by-step guide to how you can build your own garden shed in your backyard.
Step 1: Plan the location of your garden shed and put down gravel or pavers for drainage.
Step 2: Get a piece of plywood that is roughly 5 feet by 8 feet, and make sure it’s even on both sides.
Step 3: Attach the plywood to the ground with proper screws.
Step 4: Place the lumber next to the plywood and start building your garden shed! Make sure to leave enough room around the edges so you can easily get in and out of it.
Step 5: When you’re done, paint or stain it a nice neutral colour, so it makes an aesthetically pleasing addition to any backyard space.
What You’ll Need For A Shed
The first thing you’ll need to get started building your garden shed is a few supplies. That includes some plywood, a nail gun and the necessary screws, nails, and other woodworking tools.
Other than that, you will also need a saw or an electric jigsaw (ideally one with a cutting blade), clamps, a leveller, and possibly some expanding foam or insulation, depending on the design of your structure. The last thing you’ll need is to paint – just make sure it’s paint that can stand up to harsh weather conditions!
Get Estimates for the Shed Material
Measure the area and get estimates for the materials needed to build your garden shed so that you know a ballpark figure.
The length of the shed will depend on what size you want your garden to be. You can also plan out how deep you want it, decide on your transportable preferences, and make sure that it’s large enough to store all of your gardening equipment.
Decide on the Size of Your Garden Shed
The first step to building your garden shed is deciding on the size of it. We recommend that you only build a small shed – not too big, not too small. You want something that will fit in your backyard but also work for you in terms of the space and the equipment that you can store inside. In our example, we used a 20 x 30-foot plot of land for our garden shed with plenty of room for all of the gardening tools!
Select the Materials for Your Shed
Materials:
- Sheet of plywood
- Sheets of exterior grade plywood
- Sheet of particle board
- Metal L-brackets
- Wood screws
- Metal corner bracket
- Metal bolts with washers and nuts
Tools:
- Utility knife with a cutting blade
- Prybar or screwdriver for prying pieces apart (unless you have a power drill)
- Cordless drill and drill bits
- Level, measuring tape, pencil and pencil sharpener.
Install The Flooring in Your Garden Shed
The first step in building your own garden shed is to install the flooring. You can use any type of hard or soft surface, like laminate flooring, sealed wood flooring or carpet. If you want the finished product to be a little more sturdy, installing a cement tile base is an option as well.
Next, you’ll need to measure and cut the basic shapes for the walls out of 2x4s. This will provide your frame for building the walls of your garden shed. Once you have all of your pieces cut out, it’s time to start assembling them together with nails and screws!
Add Walls and Roof to your Garden Shed
The first thing you will want to do is to put walls, and a roof on your garden shed. This can be done by using any of the materials that you might have in your garage, as well as using scrap lumber. These materials can also be found at home improvement stores like Bunnings, Lowe’s or Costco – which makes this process much more convenient than building the entire structure from scratch.
The walls are the main part of the structure, so they should be sturdy and strong enough to support all of the weight that will be placed upon them. You will want to use 2 x 4 inches for the walls, but if you don’t have any, then you could use 2 x 3 inches instead.
However, make sure that it is straight and has no bends so that it doesn’t sag when heavy items are placed upon it. The roofing material will depend on what type of material you would like for your roof – metal, wood or even tin. If you choose tin for your roofing material, make sure that it is painted or lined with plastic so that rainwater can pass through without causing damage to your garden shed.
