Buying a Wooden Shed Kit
When you buy a wooden shed from Garden Buildings Direct, you will receive the parts for you to build it with just a few basic DIY tools and one other helper. Most of our sheds are constructed of pre-assembled panels, so building it will be simple with the help of our clear instructions. We include plenty of spare nails and screws, too.
Building a Wooden Shed
When you order one of our shed kits, you should ensure that you prepare the area where you are going to build it. The shed will need to go on a firm and level base. Many people use concrete slabs, bricks or treated wooden supports for this. For more information, check out our article on how to build a shed base.
To build your wooden shed, you will need these items:
- A Philips head screwdriver
- A hammer and rubber mallet
- A drill with bits
- Gloves to protect your hands from splinters
- A ladder for installing the roof
- A spirit level
- A hand saw, for any parts that need to be trimmed
Which type of wooden shed should I buy?
Think about the primary purpose of your wooden shed, and whether you will want to use it for storage or as a workspace for DIY or other projects.
There are two types of cladding on a wooden shed:
- Overlap sheds - these have wall panels where the planks slightly overlap one another in a downward direction, to allow rainwater to flow straight off. This is the lower cost option.
Tongue and groove sheds - the wall panels on these sheds are built from timber planks that are slotted firmly together along the edges. This results in a firmer and more watertight cladding.
Here are the main types of wooden shed you should be aware of:
Garden Workshop
Workshop sheds are ideal for doing carpentry, mechanics and other DIY work. Choose one that has plenty of space for the work you plan to do, but also with a durable style of cladding and with a level of comfort for spending long amounts of time inside the shed.
We do not recommend doing welding or any other blowtorch work inside a wooden shed, as these buildings are flammable.
Garden Storage Shed
The most classic type of wooden garden shed, a storage shed is perfect for keeping your lawnmower, BBQ, wheelbarrow, gardening tools, spare parts and all manner of things. For a small number of items these can be thin tower sheds like the BillyOh Master Tall Store. But our wooden sheds also go up to 20x10 feet, to give you plenty of space.
If you’re looking for a shed specifically to store your bicycle or motorbike, check out our range of bike sheds.
There are other ways to store things outdoors besides shed buildings. Check out our garden storage range for more great options.
Log cabin shed
These types of sheds are recognisable by the way the log boards criss-cross at the corners. Offering a type of construction that is more insulating, durable and comfortable to be inside, log cabin sheds are an increasingly popular choice among garden enthusiasts.
Building a log cabin shed is a slightly different experience to our other sheds, because these will be constructed log-by-log instead of modular pre-assembled panels.
Using wooden sheds for leisure
Wooden garden sheds are good for more than just storage units and workshops. They can also be a place to relax and enjoy your hobbies. Here are our buildings which are the best selections for this purpose.
Summerhouse shed
Part summer house, part shed. These buildings can serve both purposes, either because they are extremely comfortable single rooms, or because they have both a relaxing lounge area and a storage compartment attached.
Check out our summerhouse sheds to see if these are right for you.
Pub shed
Who wouldn’t love an outdoor beverage zone in their own garden? Whether you love to throw garden parties or just enjoy a drink privately outdoors, there are a couple of options to do this:
To add a drink serving experience inside your existing shed, add this garden bar. This is best suited to tidy sheds and log cabins. Don’t forget to decorate the walls and add lighting to create the pub vibe you really want.
Or get a purpose-built garden pub shed to take the experience to the next level. This is ideal for those summer parties and when you have lots of people with you.
Do I need a pressure treated wooden shed?
Pressure treatment is a process where timber is put through a machine which forces wood preserver deep into the fibres at high pressure. This provides long-term protection against wood and rot. Several of our wooden sheds have a pressure treatment option at purchase. While this comes with an additional cost, it increases your guarantee to 15 years.
To see which sheds come with this option, look at our list of pressure treated sheds.
When your pressure-treated shed is delivered, you should not paint it for 4-6 months as the preserver inside the wood will not have completely dried yet. Painting it too early can lead to mould growth.
