Garden Shed Buying Tips

You have done your research about council permits and approvals so now it is down to selecting a garden shed for your backyard. But what are the things that could trip you up?

Now it must be said that it is pretty hard to buy a bad garden shed in Australia.
But it is easy to pay more than you should.

The devil is in the detail. Here is how a garden shed retailer can create the illusion of a hot price.

1. Is the Garden Shed the same size?

It's all in the mathematics, because every garden shed has three dimensions, width depth and height, small changes in each dimension means you are getting a lot less shed.

Compare a 3.0x3.0x1.8 shed to a 2.8x2.8x1.7 shed. Not much difference really, but wait do the calculation, the 2.8 shed is actually 17% smaller than the 3.0 shed.

Make sure you are comparing like sizes when you do your price comparisons.

2. Steel Thickness

An easy way to compare how much steel you are getting for your money is to compare the weights of sheds when doing your price comparisons. A lighter weight shed means you are getting less steel for your money.

Most garden sheds have steel that is between 0.30mm-0.35mm thick. However some makers use 0.25mm steel and now some have even moved to 0.20mm. Ask your retailer what thickness of steel is used in the shed you are considering. You are getting 28% less steel if your shed uses 0.25mm steel. It therefore should be a lot cheaper. Sheds using 0.25mm steel will have a shorter warranty as it is unlikely that they will last as long as a shed made with 0.30-0.35mm steel.

3. Finish

In most cases you will have a choice between plain galvanized and a polymer coated steel colored shed. Now from a performance point of view there is not much if any difference here. However polymer coated steel is more expensive than galvanized steel, so you will have to pay a little bit more. You should expect to pay a premium of around 20% for a polymer coated shed. Unfortunately there are a few shed retailers that will advertise a hot price on a galvanized model and then put a huge premium on the polymer coated equivalents.

4. Bolt Down Kits

Bolt down kits are the brackets that you will need to fix your new shed to a concrete or timber base. Some shed retailers do not include bolt down kits with their sheds as standard. The logic goes something like, some people do not need bolt down kits as they peg their sheds to bare ground. They then charge an extra $30 - $40 for the bolt down kits. Bolt down kits are not worth $30 - 40, it is just another way of getting some extra cash and presenting a cheaper price up front. Make sure your shed comes with bolt down brackets as standard. Then you only need to buy either Dynabolts for concrete or coach screws for timber, an extra investment of $6 -12.

5. Double vs Single Doors

Most medium and large garden sheds have a set of double doors on the longest side. Double doors are more convenient to get lawn mowers and other medium and large equipment into your shed. However in an effort to make a cheaper product, a number of shed makers are now manufacturing sheds that can easily accommodate double doors with only single doors. This is fine if a single door is all you want, however it makes doing a valid price comparison all that more difficult.

6. Free Delivery

Many shed retailers shout "free delivery" in their advertising. It is not until you read the fine print that the free delivery is only to a state depot, not to  your house. Often these depots are located in very inconvenient places and are only open during business hours for you to arrange pick up. You will have to arrange transport of your shed from the depot to your house.

Other times the free delivery only refers to a small selection of sheds, maybe 3-4 out of a range of 20.

So when you are doing your research on your new shed, don't be fooled into paying more than you really should.

At Sheds4Less we believe that buying and building a garden shed should be cheaper and easier.