I've never built a structure in my life - but - I am considering building
a small shed in the back yard.

Both my friends who have sheds told me it's not worth building your own
shed; just have one delivered and you put it together on site.

They say the cost, in the end, is about the same. Of course, both of them
had theirs delivered (and even then, it was a pain to erect) so maybe I
need to ask others.

I don't have any special-price access to materials, so, I'd be paying
whatever the local cost is for materials.

For those of you who have built a (roughly 100 sq ft) shed, can you give
me a rough estimate on the overall costs?

For the moment, I have no definite plans, but, to give you an idea, I
assume I'd want at least a concrete foundation for the edges (even though
there is no frost to speak of where I live).

The floor will be whatever materials make sense. I'm sure concrete would
be wonderful but probably expensive so I might end up opting for a
slightly elevated wood floor (while there is no freeze, in the winter, it
does rain a lot).

The sides would be of wood, and, I might stucco it for easy maintenance.
I'm open on the windows & doors (dunno why a shed would need windows but
many seem to have 'em).

Roof would be whatever roofs are made of nowadays. It never rains here
from about May to about December (roughly). Then it pours for the entire
winter. And then no rain again for the entire summer. (Only two seasons,
in effect.)

I'm assuming I'll do all my own work. I've seen plans on the net, so, I'd
end up mixing and matching a few sets of those, I guess.

I realize costs can vary greatly - but - I was just wondering if you had
experience comparing the cost of the pre-fab ones versus building your
own.

Any advice?

mmendozabn wrote:
I've never built a structure in my life - but - I am considering
building a small shed in the back yard.

Both my friends who have sheds told me it's not worth building your
own shed; just have one delivered and you put it together on site.

They say the cost, in the end, is about the same. Of course, both of
them had theirs delivered (and even then, it was a pain to erect) so
maybe I need to ask others.

I don't have any special-price access to materials, so, I'd be paying
whatever the local cost is for materials.

For those of you who have built a (roughly 100 sq ft) shed, can you
give me a rough estimate on the overall costs?

For the moment, I have no definite plans, but, to give you an idea, I
assume I'd want at least a concrete foundation for the edges (even
though there is no frost to speak of where I live).

The floor will be whatever materials make sense. I'm sure concrete
would be wonderful but probably expensive so I might end up opting
for a slightly elevated wood floor (while there is no freeze, in the
winter, it does rain a lot).

The sides would be of wood, and, I might stucco it for easy
maintenance. I'm open on the windows & doors (dunno why a shed would
need windows but many seem to have 'em).

Roof would be whatever roofs are made of nowadays. It never rains here
from about May to about December (roughly). Then it pours for the
entire winter. And then no rain again for the entire summer. (Only
two seasons, in effect.)

I'm assuming I'll do all my own work. I've seen plans on the net, so,
I'd end up mixing and matching a few sets of those, I guess.

I realize costs can vary greatly - but - I was just wondering if you
had experience comparing the cost of the pre-fab ones versus building
your own.

Any advice?

Just curious -- where are you located where the temperatures and weather
conditions are as you have described?

And, I would say to listen to what your two friends who already have sheds
have said. Since you said you have never built a structure in your life,
trying to do what you have in mind (with stucco, and a roof made of
"whatever roofs are made of nowadays", etc.) sounds like overreaching to me.

"mmendozabn" wrote
I've never built a structure in my life - but - I am considering building
a small shed in the back yard.
The floor will be whatever materials make sense. I'm sure concrete would
be wonderful but probably expensive so I might end up opting for a
slightly elevated wood floor (while there is no freeze, in the winter, it
does rain a lot).

The sides would be of wood, and, I might stucco it for easy maintenance.
I'm open on the windows & doors (dunno why a shed would need windows but
many seem to have 'em).

Roof would be whatever roofs are made of nowadays. It never rains here
from about May to about December (roughly). Then it pours for the entire
winter. And then no rain again for the entire summer. (Only two seasons,
in effect.)
Any advice?

You can build a shed for half the pre-made. You can build a shed for double
the pre-made. You can buy a pre-made for $300 or for $3000.

There are so many variables from low end junk to high end masterpieces. Not
knowing what you are looking for it is impossible to give an answer. The
big question, do you want to tackle the project? If you are doing it to
save money, you can buy for the same or less pre-made. If you like doing
that kind of work, want to be able to say "I built that", then go for it.
Don't forget to add in the cost of tools if you do not already have them.

In article ,
mmendozabn wrote:

I've never built a structure in my life - but - I am considering building
a small shed in the back yard.

Both my friends who have sheds told me it's not worth building your own
shed; just have one delivered and you put it together on site.

They say the cost, in the end, is about the same. Of course, both of them
had theirs delivered (and even then, it was a pain to erect) so maybe I
need to ask others.

I don't have any special-price access to materials, so, I'd be paying
whatever the local cost is for materials.

For those of you who have built a (roughly 100 sq ft) shed, can you give
me a rough estimate on the overall costs?

For the moment, I have no definite plans, but, to give you an idea, I
assume I'd want at least a concrete foundation for the edges (even though
there is no frost to speak of where I live).

The floor will be whatever materials make sense. I'm sure concrete would
be wonderful but probably expensive so I might end up opting for a
slightly elevated wood floor (while there is no freeze, in the winter, it
does rain a lot).

The sides would be of wood, and, I might stucco it for easy maintenance.
I'm open on the windows & doors (dunno why a shed would need windows but
many seem to have 'em).

Roof would be whatever roofs are made of nowadays. It never rains here
from about May to about December (roughly). Then it pours for the entire
winter. And then no rain again for the entire summer. (Only two seasons,
in effect.)

I'm assuming I'll do all my own work. I've seen plans on the net, so, I'd
end up mixing and matching a few sets of those, I guess.

I realize costs can vary greatly - but - I was just wondering if you had
experience comparing the cost of the pre-fab ones versus building your
own.

Any advice?

I stick-built an 8' x 12' shed (96 sq. ft. so no permit needed.) I had
the help of a friend with more building experience than I have, and glad
of it. This was about 20 years ago and the lumber at that time was about
$800. It's built on pier blocks, 4x4 stringers, 2x6 joists, and a
plywood floor. 2 x 4 walls. Shingled gable roof. T1-11 siding.

Later I added two windows, insulation, drywall, electricity, track
lighting on a dimmer, a phone line, and cable TV. I guess altogether I
put about double the lumber cost, so about $1600 in circa 1990 prices.

If you can operate a saw, a hammer, and a tape measure, you can build
your own shed. Along the way you might learn that you don't know as much
about saws, hammers, and tape measures as you think you do. I did.

On Jul 4, 10:38*am, mmendozabn wrote:
I've never built a structure in my life - but - I am considering building
a small shed in the back yard.

Both my friends who have sheds told me it's not worth building your own
shed; just have one delivered and you put it together on site.

They say the cost, in the end, is about the same. Of course, both of them
had theirs delivered (and even then, it was a pain to erect) so maybe I
need to ask others.

I don't have any special-price access to materials, so, I'd be paying
whatever the local cost is for materials.

For those of you who have built a (roughly 100 sq ft) shed, can you give
me a rough estimate on the overall costs?

For the moment, I have no definite plans, but, to give you an idea, I
assume I'd want at least a concrete foundation for the edges (even though
there is no frost to speak of where I live).

The floor will be whatever materials make sense. I'm sure concrete would
be wonderful but probably expensive so I might end up opting for a
slightly elevated wood floor (while there is no freeze, in the winter, it
does rain a lot).

The sides would be of wood, and, I might stucco it for easy maintenance.
I'm open on the windows & doors (dunno why a shed would need windows but
many seem to have 'em).

Roof would be whatever roofs are made of nowadays. It never rains here
from about May to about December (roughly). Then it pours for the entire
winter. And then no rain again for the entire summer. (Only two seasons,
in effect.)

I'm assuming I'll do all my own work. I've seen plans on the net, so, I'd
end up mixing and matching a few sets of those, I guess.

I realize costs can vary greatly - but - I was just wondering if you had
experience comparing the cost of the pre-fab ones versus building your
own.

Any advice?

Don't fret about the cost, just give it a go. It's part of growing up.

Joe

mmendozabn wrote:
I've never built a structure in my life - but - I am considering
building a small shed in the back yard.

Both my friends who have sheds told me it's not worth building your
own shed; just have one delivered and you put it together on site.

They say the cost, in the end, is about the same. Of course, both of
them had theirs delivered (and even then, it was a pain to erect) so
maybe I need to ask others.

I don't have any special-price access to materials, so, I'd be paying
whatever the local cost is for materials.

For those of you who have built a (roughly 100 sq ft) shed, can you
give me a rough estimate on the overall costs?

For the moment, I have no definite plans, but, to give you an idea, I
assume I'd want at least a concrete foundation for the edges (even
though there is no frost to speak of where I live).

The floor will be whatever materials make sense. I'm sure concrete
would be wonderful but probably expensive so I might end up opting
for a slightly elevated wood floor (while there is no freeze, in the
winter, it does rain a lot).

The sides would be of wood, and, I might stucco it for easy
maintenance. I'm open on the windows & doors (dunno why a shed would
need windows but many seem to have 'em).

Roof would be whatever roofs are made of nowadays. It never rains here
from about May to about December (roughly). Then it pours for the
entire winter. And then no rain again for the entire summer. (Only
two seasons, in effect.)

I'm assuming I'll do all my own work. I've seen plans on the net, so,
I'd end up mixing and matching a few sets of those, I guess.

I realize costs can vary greatly - but - I was just wondering if you
had experience comparing the cost of the pre-fab ones versus building
your own.


Every once in a while I see a shed on Craigslist for cheap. I've bit on a
couple of metal sheds (disassembly required), but was too late in my
response.

"mmendozabn" wrote

All the pre-made kits I've found look like garbage. At least all the ones
set up at Lowes and Home Depot and Costco and OSH and ACE Hardware are.

If you like doing that kind of work, want to be able to say
"I built that", then go for it.

I want it to match the home. Nothing pre-fab will do that.

Sounds like you are ready to start. Most of the pre-fab are rather
utilitarian at best.



How does $1K for the pressure-treated lumber and $1K for the ancillary
materials sound (e.g., gravel, concrete, nails, window, hinges, flashing,
paint, stucco, roofing tile, etc.)?


With that budget, you can build a damned nice shed. From your other posts,
it seems as though you have enough tools to start and either have the skills
or can learn them easily. Let us know how it progresses.

mmendozabn wrote:
On Mon, 04 Jul 2011 16:38:57 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

I've bit on a couple of metal sheds (disassembly required)

I don't like the 'cheapness' look and feel to the metal sheds.

And, I certainly can't stand the plastic.

What's I'm going to attempt is wood with stucco. I'm not sure if I'll
opt for the all-cement floor or if I'll just dig a foundation of
cement blocks around the perimeter.

Okay. I've seen several wooden sheds on Craigslist also.

They have to be moved, but that should be cheaper than building one.

As a compromise, get one of the free metal/rubber sheds and stucco the
thing.

RogerT wrote:
mmendozabn wrote:
I've never built a structure in my life - but - I am considering
building a small shed in the back yard.

Both my friends who have sheds told me it's not worth building your
own shed; just have one delivered and you put it together on site.

Just curious -- where are you located where the temperatures and
weather conditions are as you have described?

And, I would say to listen to what your two friends who already have
sheds have said. Since you said you have never built a structure in
your life, trying to do what you have in mind (with stucco, and a
roof made of "whatever roofs are made of nowadays", etc.) sounds like
overreaching to me.

mmendozabn,

In your later posts you wrote that you have tons of tools, the wood shop
experience, you can use any type of saw, and that you don't like the look of
pre-made sheds and want your new shed to match the style and color of your
house. That changes the picture. So, go for it and build your own.

A few things you may want to consider a 1) if there are any code or
permit requirements for putting up a shed in your area; 2) learning exactly
how the roof should be constructed so it won't leak (materials, how they are
installed, etc.); learning about stucco over wood (probably tar paper on
wood as a barrier, then wire mesh nailed over the wood to hold the stucco);
and ways to mix built-in color into the stucco to match the color of your
house stucco, unless your house stucco is already painted and not it's
original stucco color (in that case, just match the paint and paint your new
shed stucco). Also, someone else posted recently about his shed being too
hot in the summer, so consider a roof vent, ridge vent, or wall vents near
the peak of the roof for cooling.

Oh, and "before, during, and after" pictures for all of us to see of course!

Good luck.

On Mon, 04 Jul 2011 23:45:51 -0700, Smitty Two
wrote:

In article ,
mmendozabn wrote:

On Mon, 04 Jul 2011 10:19:33 -0700, Smitty Two wrote:

so about $1600 in circa 1990 prices.

I think I'll budget about $2K in costs.

Does that sound about right?

I'll be going wherever you guys go to get lumber. Home Depot? Lowes? OSH?

I dunno how much inflation has affected lumber. 20 years ago I bought
the lumber at, uh, a lumber yard. Do those still exist in your area?

I would encourage you to start with a *complete* plan. For example,
don't just build the walls assuming that once they're up you'll figure
out the roof. Likewise with windows, doors, electricity and lighting if
you're putting those in, etc. DAMHIK.

Learn Sketchup and design the thing down to the cut, if need be. I use it for
almost everything.

http://sketchup.google.com/

So if you have the plan, you can readily price the materials list from
your chair.