A garden or backyard seems incomplete without a garden shed. Without a doubt, garden sheds in Melbourne, Sydney and other major metropolitan centres, can have a significant positive effect on the property value of homes. Aside from being aesthetically pleasing, a garden shed also serves as an extra storage space, a private work area, or a custom-built entertainment centre, depending on the needs of the homeowner.
Build or buy: Which is a better choice?
For the most part, garden sheds in Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane are either prefabricated, or custom-built. Both choices have their own set of pros and cons. If you are among those planning to install a garden shed in your yard, you might want to weigh up your options before investing in them.
Choose to build a garden shed if…
You really want to stand out from other garden sheds found in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne or elsewhere. With a custom-built shed, you will have full-control of its design. This can be useful especially if you are aiming for a themed garden. For example, a rustic-looking shed would go well with a traditional garden. In the same way, building your own shed will make it easy to complement the design and colours of the main house.
Building garden sheds is also fun if you like tinkering and crafting with your hands. Doing it yourself would help you cut down the costs, as you only need to worry about tools and materials.
The downside of this option is if you neither have the time, energy, nor creativity to build your own shed. If this is the case, you may end up with a half-finished shed that might need to be torn down by professionals because of how it was constructed.
Choose to buy a manufactured garden shed if…
You want to save time, energy, and effort. If you think you are all thumbs, there is a wide selection of prefabricated garden sheds in the Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne markets available for you. Purchasing a prefabricated shed gives you an unshakeable assurance that it is soundly built; thus, you won’t have to worry about inadvertently using cheap materials and poor construction.
Whilst you are given a limited amount of control on design, most stores that sell prefabricated sheds offer a variety of shed styles and colours that you can choose from. You often have a choice of accessories or upgrades that you can include with your shed purchase to help customise the final look. You also have the choice of purchasing a prefab shed that is already cut into panels, or something more DIY friendly where you can assemble the shed yourself. Unlike building a shed from scratch, a prefab shed can feel more like putting a jigsaw puzzle together with clear directions.
Prefabricated sheds may seem expensive, but when compared to the cost of purchasing materials if you are building your own shed, the final amount is often much more affordable. Still, purchasing a DIY Kit garden shed appeals to most households as it is less time-consuming and more practical than building and designing it on your own. You can even purchase a shed online, making the entire process that much easier!
With a wide array of choices, you still need to conduct thorough research before deciding on where to purchase your shed. This is especially true if you set your heart on purchasing a garden shed online. Don’t settle for the cheapest shed you can buy. Even with a reputable seller, you still need to do your homework to prove the quality of their products.
This is not to say that building a shed is better than buying one or vice-versa. The best choice still depends on your financial capability and building skills (or lack thereof).
As with any big home improvement project, you need to have plenty of time, patience, creativity, and a realistic budget to achieve your goal. Unfortunately, some homeowners get too caught up with minute details that they fail to anticipate some of the most common missteps in constructing even a simple garden shed.
Garden shed mistakes
Here are some of the mistakes you should avoid:
#1: Forgetting council building laws
Although complying with your council building laws seems a given, a surprising number of people tend to forget this one simple rule when planning for a home improvement job like building a garden shed.
What can possibly happen when you choose to ignore local council building laws? In some areas, you will be forced to pay approximately $30,000 if the council finds out that you had built an illegal structure in your yard. You will also have to pay a few thousand dollars more if they find other infractions such as amateurishly installing your shed’s electrical wirings.
Building restrictions vary throughout Australia. Whilst it is tempting to assume that a small garden shed won’t make much of a ruckus, it is still better to consult your local council before moving ahead with your planned garden shed. Most councils will have their rules easily available to you on their website. Find out more here.
#2: Trying to build a garden shed without a purpose
For most, Garden sheds in Melbourne or any other town are more than just to make gardens and backyards look aesthetically pleasing. They are highly functional structures, so it would be best if you can maximise the extra storage they provide.
Aside from keeping various gardening tools and equipment, a garden shed can also serve as a storage area for furniture and other items that clutter your home. With a shed, you don’t need to spend money on rental storage spaces.
For this reason, it is highly important that you consider your storage requirements before building a garden shed. You need to have a thorough inventory of the things that you are planning to keep inside your shed.
This is not to say that you have to go for the biggest garden shed you can buy. You should consider the location for the shed. Just make sure that you are still left with some space to walk around your shed.
#3: Forgetting to consider the Australian climate
It might sound cliché, but not all garden shed materials are created equal – some are simply not meant to be exposed under the harsh conditions of Australian climate. Under normal circumstances, a steel garden shed is the optimum choice, as it is durable and has a longer lifespan than timber or plastic. Unfortunately, in hot regions, a steel garden shed must be avoided if you don’t want to experience the feeling of being ‘baked’ during summer. In the same way, an apex-roofed garden shed will look charming and yet, using it in cyclone-prone regions can be disastrous because it is prone to being carried off by strong winds.
In other words, there really is no “one-size-fits-all” when it comes to choosing the right materials for your garden shed. You don’t want to spend your time, energy, and money on an investment that is not guaranteed to last long. Do your research on which material and design combination would be the best in your area before constructing a garden shed in your yard.
#4: Making the price the biggest factor in building or purchasing a garden shed
Everybody loves a good bargain. In today’s economy, it is foolish to ignore the price tag of items. However, focusing solely on buying the cheapest materials or choosing the least expensive prefab garden shed is one serious mistake you can make.
Whenever you feel like skimping out on the materials or labour in building your garden shed, always remember the adage: you get what you pay for. Garden sheds made of plastic materials are considered the most economical and yet, using them is not recommended by most professional builders, as they tend to become brittle when exposed under the Aussie heat.
Moderately-priced materials can give you the best of both worlds when it comes to quality and affordability. After all, a garden shed is still an investment that can potentially increase your property value; thus, choosing cheap materials for the sake of cutting down costs will just hurt your chances of pulling your property’s market price upward.
#5: Not allocating adequate budget for customisation
Even with prefab garden sheds, you can still add some personal touches on cladding, windows, and doors. Customising your shed will make it easier to complement the ongoing theme of your garden or house. Accessorising it can increase its general appeal, and some decorations also offer functionalities.
For example, adding windows to your garden shed will make the structure look charming and help you save on energy bills. Windows will let the natural light in. There are also some who choose to install barn-style sliding doors instead of the usual garage-style doors. This is to eliminate the need to provide adequate space for the door opening. The fact that sliding barn-style doors are more aesthetically pleasing is just a bonus.
It is necessary to give some extra thought and budgetary allowance for garden shed accessories and customisation. Reputable sellers offer garden shed accessories, whilst some allow customisations in their prefab sheets before installing them. A few well-thought decorations can set your garden shed apart from everyone else’s.
#6: Forgetting to lay down an even foundation
This is another supposedly obvious thing that people often overlook. Whether you chose a custom-built or prefab garden shed, it will need a steady foundation. Most consumers tend to forget that prefab sheds do not come with a floor and that the walls need to be anchored with concrete to stand, which is why a stable foundation is a must.
A good garden shed foundation will set the structure slightly off the ground to help with proper water drainage. As a rule of thumb, never choose a location where the foundation needs to be laid out in a wet, sloping, or low-lying area. You also need to choose a location that allows you easy access when you are carrying heavy gardening tools in and out of your garden shed.
By doing this, you are effectively securing the safety and convenience of those who will also regularly use the shed.
#7: Assuming that building/designing the structure would be easy
It is just four walls and a roof, right? How hard can it be? Many consumers have been led astray with the simple (wrong) assumption that they can build a garden shed all by themselves. With so many how-to videos available on YouTube, it is quite easy to delude oneself that taking on a project like this would be a piece of cake.
If you have never picked up a hammer before, it is only sensible to hire a professional to build or install the garden shed for you. In line with that, do not just pick any builder’s name from the phone book either. As much as possible, ask for referrals from trusted family members or friends. For those who choose to buy prefab garden sheds, most reputable sellers include installation in their services. It is better to be safe and hire a professional builder than risk wasting money on a do-it-yourself project you cannot quite finish.
If you choose to purchase a DIY shed kit, be sure to make best use of the available resources. Read the instructions and familiarise yourself with the steps, speak with you shed manufacturer if you have any questions, and watch videos of assembly if possible. This will give you the best shot at assembling your garden shed correctly and efficiently.
Go for EasyShed
If you need help in choosing, building, and installing your garden shed, go for EasyShed. Its team of professional sales personnel will gladly answer any of your concerns and provide you a reasonably-priced quotation for its services. With EasyShed, you do not have to worry about the quality or price of the material.
Best of all, EasyShed is a 100% Australian storage and garden shed manufacturing company. This means that all their products are guaranteed versatile and durable–even under the harshest weather. Their products also include a five-step detailed instruction on how to assemble your garden shed. Even someone with no shed-building experience can easily install it without breaking a sweat.
To order, just visit the EasyShed website and choose from its wide selection of garden sheds, add in your chosen accessories, input your billing and shipping details, and presto! Your purchased garden shed (and all its trimmings) will be delivered either to your home or your chosen depot in five to ten business days from the date the order was placed. Check out EasyShed today!
