A Guide to Shed Construction

A shed can be an extremely useful and versatile addition to any backyard. It can provide lots of additional storage space and can even, with the right design and decoration, become something of an attractive feature in your yard.

Choosing the right type will ensure that you get the best possible shed for your money – and one of the most important decisions regards the material the shed is constructed from.

Here, we will discuss the main materials that are available, their pros and cons, and help you make an informed decision.

Wood

Naturally, this is the most traditional choice and sheds have been constructed of this material for decades.

One of the big advantages of this material is the customization. Of all the shed materials, wood is the easiest to work with, meaning that a wide style of designs are possible.

You could for example design your own shed from scratch. Even if you build a standard off the shelf shed kit, the sheer variety of paint and stain colors make it easy to customize to fit your design schemes.

Wooden sheds can often be more expensive than other materials however. They can also be more vulnerable to weather damage and must be varnished or weather coated regularly.

It is also hard to make a wooden shed very secure, and any would-be thieves will usually find it relatively easy to break in.

Plastic

Very much the new kid on the block, good quality plastic sheds have only really been available for the past couple of decades.

The big advantage of plastic sheds is that they are easy – they are easy to build and they are easy to maintain. Unlike wood for example, the pieces simply slot together, they are lighter than metal so easy to manage and securing points are nicely laid out.

Once constructed they need little to no maintenance, again unlike their wooden counterparts they are essentially weather proof straight out the box. My parents have hired a local contractor (click here for the company website) to get theirs built and were extremely happy and decided to go for a detached garage with the same company. I can only speak for one of their location, and I got lots of great things to say! I even left a review after I saw my parent’s garage, if you’re not yet into leaving local reviews, be sure to check out this guide. Bottom line is, if you’re looking for a Chesapeake garage builder, then start with these guys.

Pricing wise, they roughly fall in the middle of more expensive wooden sheds and cheaper metal ones.

The downside is largely the appearance. They are hard to customize, with very few (if any) paints suitable for their surface. In addition to this, they have a very child’s playhouse kind of look that, frankly, can be kind of off putting.

Security wise they are not much better than a wooden shed either – a skilled thief will make short work of any locks on a plastic shed.

Metal

Metal sheds lie somewhere in the middle of Wood and Plastic. Generally, they are cheaper than both type of shed. Beware however – very cheap metal sheds will be made of thin metal, and they will soon start to corrode.

A good quality metal shed however will last a long time – upwards of 25 years is not uncommon – and they are essentially weather and insect proof. They provide the best security of all the shed types too.

On the negative side, they can be quite complex to build, and require a good solid concrete base. Whilst not as unattractive as plastic, they are certainly not as pleasing as wooden sheds, and customization is limited making them hard to fit into a decorative garden.