Are you thinking about building a DIY Shed, but aren’t sure if you should do so?  Consider the benefits of doing it and you will be rushing out to buy the necessary supplies.  Not only will your home property value increase, you will be the hit of the neighborhood with all of the wives who wish their husbands would do the same.  The men won’t like you much, but with all the female attention you are receiving, who really cares?  Well maybe this isn’t true but hey, it’s always fun to dream.  It also gives you a great excuse to be outdoors and heck, maybe it will help you get into better shape with the workout you’ll get.

The first step in building your shed is to determine the local laws in your area regarding a structure of this type. This will save you a lot of headaches in the future, especially if there is any chance your wife will have to deal with the authorities if a problem does arise.  Just imagine the fuss that would cause.  Once you have determined what you need to do to comply with the law, you need to start planning your shed.  Now the fun part begins.

Start with the foundation and floor as this is what you will build your shed on. This may sound like common sense, but unfortunately many people do not start here.  I’m sure you can imagine the results.  Take the climate of your area into consideration along with other factors as ground movement can affect the stability of the structure.  By building the shed yourself, you will have more control over this so problems don’t develop in the future. Your local home improvement store where you go to purchase materials can often help with this.  Don’t do anything else until you have a solid foundation and floor in place.  This will make life much easier.

When the time comes to put the walls on your storage shed, a bottom plate made of treated lumber is essential.  If water does manage to enter the shed, the risk of wood rot is reduced.  Oriented strand board or plywood is needed for corners also to increase wall strength.  The roof can be made with simple rafters you construct yourself or you may choose to buy roof trusses.  Either way, the roof and exterior walls need to be covered with overlapping felt to prevent wood rot.  Don’t forget the doors either although, after listening to your wife complain about the amount of time you are spending on the DIY Shed, you may wish to board yourself in!

Be sure to check out the DIY Shed building plans and come back here to post your comments about it, I’d love to hear your personal stories and feedback.