find me a shed

March 17, 2006 11:32 AM

Help me find a back-yard shed which will fit on an existing slab.

I've got a shed on an existing concrete slab in my back yard, between the back of the garage and the concrete block properly line fence. The trouble is it's full of termites and dry-rot. I'd like to find something like this , but it's about half as big as I need it. The slab is about 5x18, and the biggest YardSaver shed that Arrow offers is 4x10.

This is to store bikes, ladders, random lawn equipment, all the crap that won't fit in my garage but the kids and I need to get out occasionally. Southern California weather, aside from the termite problems, is pretty mild, so it doesn't need to be too robust, but I would like it to last at least 10 years.

My google skills, while prodigious, aren't helping me. Ideas?

posted by soundslikeobiwan to home & garden (7 comments total)

Build it! A free-standing shed is about the easiest thing in the world to put together, and there are even framing kits that make it as simple as putting together a model (made out of 2x4's). Ask at your local hardware store (preferably not a big box hardware store) and I'm sure you'll find someone to help you plan out a perfectly fitted custom structure for the same or less money than a pre-fab would cost.
posted by Aquaman at 2:38 PM on March 17, 2006

I designed and built a 10'x12' barn-roof shed in a weekend- it's about the simplest construction project imaginable. Mind you, I'm a fairly handy person, but that shouldn't stop anyone from trying it. I saved about $700 over the cost of a prefab shed, and I even put a sliding, screened window in mine.

What you have to watch out for is getting infected with the "Hey, I bet I could build a house, that was so easy" bug.

Because, emboldened as I was by the shed project, my very next project was a 16x24 foot two-room addition to my house with a walk-in closet and full attic, where I am sitting and typing this. It gets in your blood.
posted by pjern at 3:38 PM on March 17, 2006

There are all-plastic, snap-together sheds that are available. I've seen them at CostCo, Home Depot, and Lowes. No dry-rot or termite problems with plastic.

Here's one a Black & Decker one at Lowes
posted by ShooBoo at 3:58 PM on March 17, 2006

ShooBoo -- Note the slab dimensions -- 5x18. That's the sticky point; most of the sheds, except for the YardSaver pictured above, are basically big squares like the one you found. I want a rectangle, and a really deep rectangle at that. The width of a garage.

Others: note that the shed I'm replacing was the previous owner's attempt at building his own shed and saving a few bucks. (a) it leaks, (b) it was made of crap pine 2x4s which are now the consistency of lace doilies, and (c) life's too short to make my own buildings ;-)
posted by soundslikeobiwan at 4:05 PM on March 17, 2006

I really should have read more carefully.

But I found something that may work:

Here's one less than five feet wide at CostCo:

posted by ShooBoo at 4:37 PM on March 17, 2006

I found a list of shed builders. I am not sure if you want to spend this much, or that it is close enough for you, but from that list, the Shed Shop offers something called half sheds. A 4 x 16 foot half shed is $2400.
posted by gearspring at 7:43 AM on March 18, 2006

If you can find something close in size, you can just build it on a foundation of half cinder blocks (concrete blocks) and place it towards the back of the slab, and pretend the rest of the slab is a sort of front porch to the shed.

We had to build a shed, no existing slab, but a lot of drainage and the shed is on the low spot of the yard. We used a 16 point cinder block sort of foundation, set in the ground to make it level with a combo of full & half blocks, which allows the drainage to run under the shed. Toss a weather-resistant plywood floor in it and you're done. It's a kludge job, but cheaper, and you can afford to replace it in a few years if you want/need to.

That way you can use any size close, and the half blocks only make it a few inches above the slab, so it would look like it belonged there.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 1:51 PM on March 18, 2006