Choosing the Best Garden Shed and Location

by

John Trodey

A storage shed can be one of the most useful and practical additions to your back yard you can make. Once you have one, you may wonder how you got along without it! The most common type of outdoor sheds are garden sheds, used for storing mowers, weed trimmers, shovels, rakes, and other gardening and yardwork tools. Often, people use them to store bicycles and large outdoor toys as well.

Pick a location that is easy to access. That may sound like a “no brainer,” but consider that garden sheds put up in the farthest corner of a yard may be the least obtrusive, but also inconvenient enough that family members will prop up their bikes or tools somewhere else rather than putting them away. If your shed is conveniently located, you and your kids are far more likely to take the extra few seconds to put away tools and equipment, making your yard much neater.

Also consider whether you will want easy access to water in and around your shed, whether for watering landscaping, for potting plants, or hosing down equipment. If your shed will be used to store any chemicals such as gasoline or fertilizer, be sure choose a design with adequate ventilation.

Garden sheds require a level site and should not be placed at the bottom of a hill unless you improve drainage by putting in a bed of gravel or other appropriate foundation under and around the shed. If you plan to use your shed to store large items, consider having double doors or even two sets of doors on a larger shed to make it easier to store and retrieve items. Most sheds come with the option of interior partition walls, which can be used to separate the interior into compartments for different uses.

Outdoor sheds come in so many different styles that it is easy to find one that will complement your home’s architecture. Custom finishes and a range of siding options mean that you can make the color of your shed match or complement that of your house and / or other outdoor structures. A number of different roof lines are available, too, helping you customize your shed to get just the right look.

Other ways you can incorporate your storage shed’s look into the overall look of your property include adding pavers or flagstone paths between the main house or back porch and the shed, and by adding flowers, trellises, or shrubs around the shed to give it a more permanent look, as if it has always been there.

If you’re unsure what size shed you need, of course you should consider the size and quantity of the items that will be stored there. But you should also physically stake out various sizes to get some idea of how large the shed’s “footprint” will be and how imposing it will look. All you need are some stakes, strings, tape measure, and a mallet, and you can easily stake out a 10 x 12 area (or whatever sizes you’re considering) to get some idea of how much space the structure will take up. One final step before ordering an outdoor shed is to check with your local zoning department to see if you need to have a building permit, and if there are any setback requirements relative to your property lines.

If you are looking to expand your storage outside with

storage sheds

then you will find a variety of

garden sheds

to store all of your garden accessories and tools.

Article Source:

ArticleRich.com