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Adding a garden shed to your back yard can achieve many things. 

1. You can de clutter your house by using the shed, as a storage shed for seasonal items such as heaters etc
   
2. Keep your garden tools, mowers, brooms, power tools etc in it.
   
3. Use it as a studio or workshop.
   

Too many ways to use a shed to list them all here, but in addition to adding a useful space to your yard, a shed can also increase the value of your home, and greatly more than the cost of the shed if you do it right.

It’s important with all home improvements that you consider the capital cost of the improvement.  If increasing the value of your house is a major consideration, you don’t want to be spending more on an improvement than you stand to gain by way of an increase in your property’s value.  Many are the tales of a house being purchased, many hundreds of thousands being spent on a reno only to find the market has dropped, the house is overcapitalised and it sells for less than the cost of the initial purchase plus the renovation costs.

Sheds are less of an issue, but you can certainly spend more than you should.  I’ve seen a Japanese shelter themed shed that whilst it is certainly beautiful… I can’t see how with a $28,000 price tag the owners are ever going to recoup that in improved house sale price.  The area of this house in particular is not one where beautiful sheds will be appreciated so this addition is to me, an over capitalisation.

“Yes, it cost us a packet… but we didn’t want a plain steel shed sitting in the back yard…. It’s just not us.”

I hear you on this…. a modern designer house…. It’s not necessarily going to be enhanced by a steel shed in the backyard.  But you don’t need to go to the expense of building a modern designer shed….. you just need to build a modern, designer brick screening wall.

 

In the attached photos you can see this pretty snazzy concrete rendered brick wall that hides the steel shed behind it.  So a modern, clean look is achieved at a fraction of the cost of building a designer shed, to match the designer house!

You can have a screen like this built for under $3,000.

As an East Coast of Australia born and bred shed man, I had no real idea of the conditions my fellow shed men on the West Coast had to contend with.  I mean…. When I see Perth on the news it looks like a modern city, the areas South of Perth such as Bunbury and Busselton look Green and Lush… it’s all got to be more or less like the East Coast Right?

How wrong I was.  The term where the desert meets the ocean truly does refer to the West Coast of Australia.  Rainfall all along the West Coast is minimal, grass and trees are rarely seen between Broome and Geraldton.  The wind is often from the Ocean, be it a South or North Westerly… and its often strong so sheds need to be able to withstand not only the day to day pounding of strong winds, especially in summer… they need to be able to withstand the corrosive effects of a constant see breeze.

All of the sheds sold by Shedspot are designed and made in Australia.  Our sheds our made from quality Australian Steel.  Steel, is not steel.  A great deal of overseas steel is made from recycled steel so the makeup of it is at best random, at worst, filled with undesirable impurities that can effect strength, and ability to withstand corrosion.

As well as being made from high quality steel, many of our Sheds come with the strength to withstand cyclonic winds – handy not only when you live in a cyclone area, they are handy everywhere.  Whilst cyclones only happen in cyclone areas, severe storms can and do happen anywhere.

So if you are on the West Coast, and are looking for a Shed that is guaranteed to last for at least 10 years(likely much more) – to withstand cyclonic winds and the constant corrosion of sea breezes then Shedspot is the place to look for your new Garden Shed

I remember my dad having endless tools in his shed. And not just tools, containers of nuts and bolts and washers and screws that he’d collected over time. Whenever something broke in a mower, a trailer, a bike… my dad could dig around in his shed, and find a replacement. Never was there a case of “If only I had a welder” He had 3. “If only I had a paint stripper” He had one, though we live in double brick house with brick interior. Car Lift? Yep. Grinder? 4. Drills? Hand, upright, 12 volt, 240 volt and impact. Hammers? Dozens, one for every task? Sockets? Metric, imperial, short, long, small, large.

I kind of took this treasure trove for granted till a bought my first home in my twenties and realised apart from some very basic tools; my shed was pretty empty of the stuff that makes a tool shed useful. It was downright depressing, a bit demasculating actually. Here I was, an Aussie man with a shed…. and I was embarrassed to let other guys into it. Something had to be done.

With a mortgage that I could only barely manage, buying new tools and bit and pieces was never going to be an option. I became garage sale shed man. I was at garage sales every Saturday and Sunday first thing. Not looking for furniture and abdomen exercise machines… I was after jars of nuts and bolts. Old tools. Not busted tools, just old ones. You’d be surprised the numbers of guys who get a new drill for a present, then retire the old one. Good quality tools just don’t seem to wear out and I became an ardent spotter of the dirty but good quality tools lying on the garage sale tables.

One old guy was going into a nursing home, and he was reluctantly selling the entire contents of his shed. His shed…. was a beautiful thing. He’d made his own custom wall mounts for every tool, and painted silhouettes for each one so every tool knew its place. I chatted with him for over an hour and by the end he was convinced his tools would be going to a great home if he sold them to me… i even bought his wall mounting system!

From different garage sales I got jars of wire, rolls of tape, whole socket and screwdriver kits, welding and soldering tools, grinders, drills. It didn’t happen overnight, but it happened and at a fraction of the price of new. Oh so of the bits and pieces will never likely be used, and some of things bought did not work.

I also shopped one ebay, and went to auctions. It seems plenty of people just can’t face the task of cleaning out relative’s where said relative has gone to the big shed in the sky… and lots of great stuff is just boxed up and shipped off to auction to be sold for pennies.

So if your shed lacks that tooled up feel, but your budget is small,, my recommendation is to checkout

Garage Sales

Ebay

Auctions.

New tools are great, but old tools at a great price are great too.

A good shed is simply a must in your garden – you can take all those tools and kids’ toys that are lying around and give them a storage place, where they won’t get lost and they’ll be safe from the weather.

Even if you don’t have a big garden, there’s a shed small enough to suit you. You’ll be surprised by the amount of space you’ll save you just by getting things like lawnmowers and chairs out of the way. And if you do have a big garden then you can really shed your inhibitions!

Once you’ve decided on size and you’ve chosen a garden shed, there are two ways to get it put up: either you can do it yourself, or you can pay someone to do it for you. Sheds often come with an option for delivery and assembly, so just ask.

Doing it yourself can be fun if you’ve got a spare weekend, and it’s really satisfying to see something you’ve built yourself standing in your garden. Sheds these days come with easy instructions and can be surprisingly quick to make, although it is advisable to rope in a friend or relative to help you.

However, if you’re not the do-it-yourself type, it’s worth considering getting the company to do it for you. It isn’t all that expensive, and they will have built that shed a thousand times before – so you know it’ll be done right. But perhaps it’s time to shed your inhibitions and have a go at building something yourself!

If you want to get into some serious home handyman jobs, you might find you need to do some welding at some stage.

Welding dates back thousands of years to the Bronze Age. Over the years, the art of welding has advanced and improvements made to make it easier, safer and more useful. Welding can be done inside the workshop shed or garage, or even outside, and on land or underwater – even in outer space!

To get started you will need the basics:

• A 230 volt AC power source – also known as a “buzz box”;
• A welder’s helmet with additional goggles underneath to protect your eyes;
• Gauntlet style gloves;
• A heavy leather or other natural fibre jacket and cap;
• Thick rubber soled boots;
• Heavy duty denim jeans;
• E6011 and/or E6013 all-purpose mild-steel electrodes – Get both 1/8” and 5/32” diameter rods to use with metals of 1/8” thickness or more;
• A pile of flat steel scraps in various thicknesses (though ideally you want 1/8” to 3/8”.) from your local metal supply yard;

The safety equipment is not an optional extra in welding if you want to avoid serious injury. Once you’ve gathered all this, you’re ready to start AC arc welding. There are a number of opportunities around to learn to arc weld, check at your local TAFE or check online – You Tube has a number of videos on the subject.

Don’t forget, when you’re welding in the garage or shed, you’ll need to shield any flammable items from sparks.

Regular maintenance of your garden tools will increase their life, help prevent personal injury, and increase your gardening enjoyment.
Garden Hoses
Proper storage will stop your hose from kinking and cracking and stopping the water flow. Use a reel and if you have reticulation and rarely use your hose, store it in your garden shed.

Metal Garden Rakes

An upturned rake can inflict painful and sometimes serious puncture wounds when stepped on, to say nothing about the possibility of the handle flying up and hitting you in the face. When you aren’t using it, send it to the shed!

Wooden Handle Tools

When you first get them home, apply several coats of quality varnish or paint. Bring already damaged wooden handles up to scratch by sanding splinters until smooth, then paint to prevent further wear.

Metal Tools

If the metal edges of shovels, hoes, rakes or other garden tools are nicked, smooth them with a metal file. Any rough surfaces should be gone over with steel wool or other abrasive which is good for metal. Any moving metal parts should be oiled occasionally.

All tools should be stored in a dry spot like the garden shed – after all, that’s why you bought it isn’t it?

If you’re about to create a garden of your own for the first time, why not start by having all the right gear! Below are a few of your garden basics. Start with what you need most and in no time you’ll have all the equipment you need to create a masterpiece.

• Lawnmowers – they come in many shapes and sizes – from a push mower to easy pull action petrol mowers to the ride on mowers for your acreage.
  
• Garden Shredders – although not essential they’re handy for decreasing the bulk of your trimmings quickly so that you can dispose of them easily. Gardening shredders with an electric shredder are suitable for branches up to a maximum of 40 mm.
  
• Cultivators – these are used to help in cutting the hard compacted soil smoothly. They are perfect for cleaning the moss, aerating the soil and in thatching. A cultivator will aid in preparing vegetable plots, flowerbeds, etc.
  
• Hedge Trimmer/Pruning Sheers – self explanatory!
  
• Spading fork – this is a versatile tool used for aerating and transplanting. Use this to split grasses and perennials. It can also be used as a manure fork, mulch fork, and sorting hay.
  
• Mattock – used for breaking up the clay soils and working around established trees with roots. A unique two-in-one tool, if you have a mattock there is no need for a pick and a hoe.
  

To add to our series of posts on the strange things people have found in their sheds, the following comes to us from the UK.Waiting to be revealed to the world for between 4,000 and 5,000 years a neolithic flint axe sat in a garden shed drawer for another 40 years because the owner of the shed did not recognize its significance – according to a 2007 edition of the Evesham Journal.

The Neolithic age or new stone age was a period that is recognized as the last part of the Stone Age. The Neolithic era, following the end of the Holocene Epipalaeolithic period, marked the beginning of farming, which evolved into the Neolithic Revolution and finally the age of metal tools in the Copper Age, chalcolithic or Bronze Age.

Arthur Mason, aged 80, from Elmley Castle, originally found the axe while walking out in Cropthorne. Thinking nothing more of it, he left it sitting in his garden shed drawer until he decided to show it to his friend Tony Tarran. In the course of their “shed chat” about curious things they had discovered, Arthur showed the axe to Tony who convinced Arthur to make some enquiries about the axe.

In an attempt to find more information, the two men took the neolithic axe to the Almonry Museum in Eveshamand then to Worcester Portable Antiquities to pinpoint the exact era it originated from.

Most people dream about finding a rare item, but it took Arthur 40 years to realise the importance of his discovery. The axe looks small but it’s an important archaeological find and is now in the Worcestershire City Museum where it can be privately viewed.

If you’ve found something odd in your shed, feel free to share it with us!

There are many ways to use your backyard shed other than for housing gardening tools. You could use it as a workshop for building small pieces of furniture. Or, you could use it as a craft room for creating all of those wonderful things that are fun to make, but make too much mess in the house.

Some garden sheds come in very simple and basic designs. They have a door and window for light and little else. You get to fill up the walls and floor however you like.

The key to getting the right garden shed is to know what you will be using it for. Are you an artist who needs a place to draw, paint or sculpt? Are you a woodworker making small furniture and birdhouses? Are you a craftsperson who makes jewellery or small knickknacks?

Perhaps you already have a garden shed that you want to convert into a small workshop or craft room. With a little bit of creativity and hard work you can do that. Just clean it out and scrub it down. Put in any tables or shelves might you want and maybe a few chairs and you’re ready to start using your new room.

Is there a shed hobby you’ve been longing to pursue?

Mother Nature is doing if tough these days. Getting your children involved in the outdoors early in life can help them learn to appreciate our world and care for it.

Here are some of the benefits that gardening can provide children:

1. Science: In planting, children will learn about the plant’s life cycle and how, with proper care, their plants will thrive.
2. Life: There are many correlations between your garden and human life that can be demonstrated to your children through gardening. For example, as plants need water, sunlight, air and soil, so too people need water, shelter, air, food. A weeding activity can educate how bad influences should be avoided to allow life to progress more easily.
3. Relaxation: Studies show that gardening can reduce stress because of its calming effect. This is so for children and adults. Children need to learn ways of coping with this often stressful world. It also helps build their self-esteem.
4. Quality Time with the Family: Put aside your stressful work life for a while and enjoy the garden. You can talk while watering the plants or you can work quietly beside each other. Where possible, always do what you have to do, together with your kids. You might discover a lot of new things about your child while working with them in your garden.

Is it time you got your kids into gardening?