Tool shed plans make it a breeze to build a storage shed for your garden tools, woodworking tools, DIY equipment, and lots of other useful accessories. Careful storage of your treasured implements is key to ensuring their long and useful life, and by building a tool shed you are giving them a dedicated home where they will not only be properly kept, but also easy to find.

A Place For Everything, And Everything In Its Place

tool shed plans

Have you ever needed a pair of pliers, a steel rule, a particular size screwdriver or some other item in a hurry — and been frustrated because you simply couldn’t find it in time? Building your own tool storage shed can help to put an end to the irritation and time wasting of searching in drawers and boxes to find those items that everybody needs from time to time, whether it’s to deal with a sudden emergency or to get on with a favorite hobby or construction project.

Building a shed for all your tools doesn’t just give you a place where you can keep them safe and well organized — it also liberates the rest of your house from these sundry fittings and gadgets. So you actually have room in the garage for your car, your kitchen drawers are freed up for cooking utensils, and when you have finished a job is easy to put everything away.

Resources For Building A Tool Shed

Finding the building resources to help you make your own shed is not as hard as it may at first seem. There are plenty of excellent shed plans available to give you detailed drawings and photographs, stage by stage guidance on how to proceed, and practical lists of building materials, from lumber, screws, and nails, to roofing shingles, doorknobs and window fittings. You can get a 24 page plan like this for free right now just by entering your name and e-mail address in the box at the top of the right hand column on this page.

Some considerations to take into account:

How big a shed do you need? You may be planning for a mini storage shed, but you may well find that it’s so useful that you start using it for other types of storage too — for example, to store your patio furniture during the winter months, to house your lawnmower, or even a child’s Wendy house or paddling pool. There’s nothing more frustrating than realizing that your beautifully finished tool shed is suddenly too small for your needs.

Check your zoning laws. Regulations vary from town to town and state to state, and you may need to get planning permission for the type or size of structure that you’re intending to build. Make it a priority to find out from your local government agency what criteria apply for where you live, so that you know what you need to do to be in compliance with these rules before you start your project.

Where should your tool shed be located? You obviously don’t want it too far from the house, because you need to be able to get to your bits and pieces easily. And if you’re only building a little shed, they may be all sorts of convenient corners in which to place it. If it’s near the house, it may be a nice idea to try to make its design complement the look of your home — even if it’s simply the paint color you choose or the wood stain that you apply.

What material will you choose? While a tool shed may be constructed from metal sheeting, vinyl, or lumber, many people prefer the look of a wooden shed for the warmth and attractive texture of its timber. Each type of construction material has its pros and cons, and they all require some degree of regular upkeep. Metal sheds are strong and can offer a degree of fire or termite resistance, but they can rust over the long term, and some types of metal sheeting can be quite easily damaged. Plastic or vinyl sheds do not have the same susceptibility to rot, and can sometimes be relatively inexpensive. But for some homeowners, they lack the visual appeal of wood. Wooden sheds tend naturally to blend in with backyard surroundings, but being a natural material, lumber needs regular maintenance to ensure a long life. Some timber maybe pretreated against damage from water, fungus, or insects, and it’s possible to choose a wide variety of preservative stain colors, such as maple, oak, or red cedar, to give your tool shed a charming and attractive finish.

Start with good building plans. There’s no reason to make your shed building efforts more complicated than they need be — and if you’re unused to this type of project, you’ll be pleased to have step-by-step instructions that show you every stage of the work and piece of the puzzle in easy to understand diagrams and language.

Different Plans For Sheds

You can find a variety of different design plans available for download — for example, roofed sheds in the so-called “gambrel” style, which have the advantage of more extensive loft storage space under a high roof. Another popular and a distinctive style is the “saltbox” design, which has a roof that slopes down lower on one side, and resembles the containers in which salt used actually to be kept. These have an attractive, rustic appeal, and are a traditional style for barns and some New England houses from the colonial era.

Featured Video

Watch these guys building a tool shed – the whole family gets involved!