Different Materials For Sheds And Barns
The material of which your shed is or will be made is one of the most important factors determining its quality and price. The steel/metal sheds are probably the cheapest and fairly popular. They are stable and can survive many years unless the steel get rust. To avoid rust you need to protect the shed or buy/build a shed from stainless steel, but that's more expensive.
The timber/wood sheds are most preferred for several reasons. A good timber shed is very secure, even more secure than a metal shed. The timber sheds don't suffer from rust and don't bake your stuff at hot times neither freeze in a cold Winter.
There is something more to consider - if you want to add or change something in your shed, the wood is much friendlier material to work with. This is especially valid if you plan to build your shed or barn yourself.
Many people create large and very good timber sheds which can be used as a guest house, Summer office, workshop etc. You can't really do that with a metal shed, it's just not comfortable enough.
The sheds made of wood are more expensive, but unless you want only to store things, the investment is well worth it.
Since few years you can find plastic sheds and plastic shed kits on the market. They are more resistable than all other sheds, often cheaper and do not need frequent maintenance. Plastic shed kits are easy to build and sometimes allow freedom in the exact construction. Buying a plastic shed or kit is a very wise decision but again it depends on the purpose - if you plan to spend much time in the shed, the best material remains timber.
What's The Purpose Of Your Shed?
Speaking about purpose, people use sheds and barns for many different things. Before buying or building your shed think about what you are going to use it for. This will help you define not only the material but also the size and the design of your building.
The farmers need barns for agricultural purpose like storing food, vehicles or even animals. The barns are typically larger and the design is not that important. Some barns have all the walls and doors, while other have just a roof and 2-3 walls.
If all you want is to store things like tools and furniture, you can go with a small square steel or plastic shed. The popular Arrow sheds are used exactly for such needs.
If you have time/money for more advanced project, think about creating a shed with larger purpose. Since you are going to build or buy a shed anyway, why not create it large, beautiful and functional enough to extend your home space? A well isolated timber shed can serve you to meet guests or create a home office. Such a shed can nicely increase the value and the price of your property.
You Can Buy A Ready Shed, Build From Scratch Or Choose Something In The Middle
We'll discuss this topic several times in the site. You can read a ot about how to build a shed on this site. As the sheds are simple constructions you have a lot of choices how much to do yourself and what part to buy.
If you have money and all you care is to have a shed or barn, just purchase it and let the professionals do everything for you. It's that simple.
If you want to save some cash and/or enjoy doing things yourself, choose a shed kit. The shed kits can be pre-cut or pre-fabricated. You can find a great variety of kits here.
Are you enthusiastic enough to build it all yourself? Then build your shed using only shed plans. They are a pretty cheap and secure way to build your garden shed.
And finally, if you are super enthusiastic and have some knowledge in CAD/CAM technologies or at least are master in Corel Draw or Illustrator you could try creating your own plan and building a shed based on it. Exciting, but the most time consuming. We'll have tutorials on that soon!
