Storage Building Plans

Welcome to my site about building storage. We'll be adding a lot of useful info for how to decide on what type of storage to choose along with deciding on the plan.

One small detail we'll cover is also the difficulty level of doing such a project. Storage building plans come in difficulty levels of novice to professional. Getting in over your head is a sure fire way to fail.

 Storage Building Plans

After a few years battling about the storage shed with my wife, I finally got down to business. 

I had already decided on not using a kit, (it tends to be quite a bit more expensive) but to get some great storage building plans and go at it from scratch.
Now, some of these plans are quite costly, so I spent a considerable amount of time researching plans online.

I was looking for storage building plans that were:

1. Easy to follow and organized.
2. Had lists of supplies and photos/videos showing the steps.
3. Contained a variety of storage building plans, not just ONE that you just plunked down $200 for.
4.Gave me the option to modify my plan once I saw the blueprints. (Some plans are just not worth the time needed to be invested)

While I' have done some other projects, so am not toallty foreign to building,  I didn't feel like building a master piece either. 
After looking all over the net, not being able to decide on a plan, especially not one that would cost several hundred dollars, I got a large selection of plans for about $47.  Click here to see what I got. Really good plans with detailed step by step layout of the entire project. A nice detail was the supplies list which made it easy to price the project before getting started.

What We Learned Building A Garden Shed.

Here are some of the things we learned as we went along. Some of them we should have thought of ahead of time... well, live and learn! 

• #1  Check with your local authorities whether you need to have a permit.. If you do, you just need to get it. It is usually not expensive. (While cutting into electrical lines or water lines may cost you a bundle...) My neighbor was charged over $2000 for cutting the television cable when he made his paved drive-way... Chances are nobody will ever know about your storage building, but it is so easy to get a permit it isn't worth the potential problems if you don't. 
• #2 Placement. Where is the storage building going to be? Will it be easy to access? Will it obstruct the view of the mountains? (Sometimes the most obvious gets overlooked....) Is it too close to the property line? (this is where that permit comes in) In wet weather, will water run towards the shed? Will it sit in water?...
• #3 The Foundation. What type of ground will the storage building be sitting on? Cliff? Boggy and wet? Sandy? The type of substrate beneath the shed will determine what type of foundation you will need.. (The plans we got helped us to determine what type of foundation we had to use.)
• #4 Cost. What will the cost be in materials, and or, labor? The plans that we got had a handy materials list, so we just brought it to our local hardware store and had our project priced in no time.
• #5 Purpose and Design. What is the purpose of the storage building? What are you going to be storing in it? Will you be storing tools,  lawn equipment, generators, gas grills in it? Do you need the contents to be secured? What type and design will suit your needs and the design of the other structures on your property.
• #6 Square Footage.  Don't make the mistake of building a storage building that you will find is too small after the first summer. Go as large as you can and as large as space permits. 
• #7 Tools. Do you have the tools you need? Skimping on power tools can make the project a huge headache. Scout out the cost of renting your tools and plan things in order to minimize the time you will need the tools. Our plans helped us to see when and more or less how long we needed to for the rentals.
• #8 Assistance. Having an extra set of hands, and an extra set of muscles can speed things up considerably. Not doing the listing on your own can also save you from injuries. Hire someone for the day, have a "work for food" party for your friends. (No beer until after you are done!)

OK, that pretty much sums up the pre planning. Pre planning correctly can make your project into an easy and successful thing, or it can be a total nightmare...