Everyone understands the benefits of a well-organized garden shed in terms of saving of time, energy, and money. If your tool-shed is uncluttered you will not have to waste time locating your trowel. Gone will be the frustration of having to waste energy moving the wheel barrow and that extra bag of potted soil to get to the lawn mower. And you will not have to waste money on an extra pair of gloves simply because you cannot find your own.
Hose keeping
If you have ever tripped on a coil of hose and gotten hurt, you will remember how excruciatingly painful it can be. Keeping the coil of hose on a large hook can solve the problem. Choose a hook that has a steep angle to hold the coil of hose in place.
Tool hanger
Tools with longer handles are best stored where they do not hamper movement and yet can be reached easily. Nailing a tool hanger to the inside of your shed’s door will create ample space on the walls for shelves and benches for pots.
Build shelves
In tight quarters there’s never sufficient light. As a consequence you must use open metal shelves to allow sunlight to permeate through the shed. Adjustable shelves help to match shelf to tool height.
Unclutter
Merely using shelves is not enough if everything is ultimately going to be piled up on them. It would be advisable to use metal or plastic bins to store the stuff.
Magnetic help
Mechanics have for long used magnetic bars to store, and manage their tools. It is always stellar to extend the idea to your garden shed so that your pruning shears and trowels can be store safely. Choose a magnetic strip strong enough to bear the weight of your tools and you will have the tools always readily accessible.
Have space for a potting bench
Clear some space in the shed and make room for a potting bench. That is the best way to you can plant or repot your favorite plants even on a wet day. The potting bench will also allow your potting mix to remain dry.
Maintain a calendar
Maintain a calendar of gardening activities and it will save you the trouble of remembering when you last fertilized the lawn or planted seeds. Using a metal one will help create a precious place for plant tags, seed packets, and small parts with magnetic holders.
Wicker basket
Something as mundane as a wicker basket suspended from the door of your shed will create a space for small and most frequently used paraphernalia such as shears, trowels, gloves, or, maybe, even a reference book. It’s the easiest place from where you can grab your equipment and begin working.
Baskets
An old bushel basket can be put underneath the potting bench to store mulch, birdseed, or potting mix. You can easily purchase bushel baskets at the flea market for a bargain, but any basket or bin will be handy for the job.
Make wheeling easy
You can make wheeling anything in and out of the shed by using a portable ramp. This one will be easy to make. Just a couple of 2x4s and a ½ inch plywood combine to create a ramp high enough to wheel equipment in and out while being use and small enough to store when not.
Shed design
Before you head to the hardware store to buy stuff that will enable you to build a storage shed of your own just make a pile of all the gear and paraphernalia that you would like stored and measure its aggregate length/size. If you are going to store bigger power tools then it is pretty obvious you will need greater space.
Prioritize
Once your shed is up, determine which equipment you are going to use more often and which you need less frequently. Equipment that is going to be used often should always be kept at the front and at the center. The rest can be assigned to the back portion. Trowels and gloves should always be kept in a way that they can be readily accessed.
Tools to be hung
Frequently used tools such as hand rakes, hedge sears, and small saws for cutting small branches and cultivators should be kept hung on the side of your shed doors. This not only protects the blades from inflicting damage on other tools but also help in enhancing their lifespan. However, they should be suspended from the lower part of the wall to protect you from their blades and prongs.
Do not store extras
Sort objects into groups. For instance, chemicals, cords, seeds, and pots can make up one group. Donate whatever equipment is surplus or discard the ones that are beyond use or repair or are rusted.
The most important feature when constructing a garden or storage shed is to start off with a solid level base. There is no guarantee that your backyard or garden space will be completely level despite looking reasonably so.
This may not be an issue for many people, but if you are going to have a working bench inside the shed, where you plan to spend much of your hobby time, it is important that the bench is sitting level and not tilted at an angle. Without any doubt, no one would appreciate dining every day at a table that is inclined at an odd angle. You do not want your milk spilled on your lap, you want it sitting just fine in your cup.
A Potential Colossal Error
Most importantly, to make it easy to assemble the shed, the base has to be completely level. In case the base is off level, it will only start showing when you get to the point when you have to start assembling the roof and you start running into all sorts of trouble because of the level issues.
The easiest way to guarantee that your floor will be level is to buy a few tons of aggrade or crushed stone from your local hardware store. Crushed stone aggregate is a mixture of small stones and fine dust. This mixture after due leveling and compacting will offer the same strength as concrete because the stone will bind into the fine dust and provide the perfect base for your shed’s floor.
Setting Out
You can begin by marking the levels of the place where you plan to put up your shed. After this is done, drive four small 2’ wooden pegs with spiked edge at one end into the ground at approximately four points that will approximately be the four corner points of your shed. You will need to make your base a little bigger than the base of the shed. It will be a prudent idea to ponder awhile on how your shed is going to look like. Will it be imposing or is it going to obstruct the view or maybe end up blocking light?
Only when you are satisfied about the exact position where you want your shed to come up should you move on to the next stage. The next thing is to create four level points at the four corner positions and mark them on the four pegs you hammered into the earth. Later on, if necessary, you can cut the stake down while they are still moored well enough in the earth up to these level points.
The simplest way of achieving this is to identify which you think is the highest corner in the space and hammer than peg in the ground, to about 4 – 6 inches of the existing ground level. By doing this you have ensured that the top of the peg sits 4/6” above ground. This exercise is meant to find an average height that would be suitable for all four corners without using too much aggregate.
There are several ways of controlling an excavation. But this one being a small excavation, a spirit level used together with a long (8′ or 2.4m) 4×2 timber will be fine. You can use a spade to strip the turf and top soil to a depth of 50mm and then excavate to the depth of 75mm in one corner. Resting the end of the 4×2 on the corner peg, measure down to ground level. It would be prudent if you could cut a piece of timber of this length. You can then take your excavation forward, checking with the 4×2, the spirit lamp and the timber that you are not going too deep.
Placing Crushed Stone Layer
Before you have compacted the stones, rake it as level as possible. To compact the stone you could hire a vibrating plate, but if you need to burn those extra calories you can use a hand tamper to compact the ground. Hand tampers are 25 lbs in weight with an area of 4”x4” which you raise repeatedly and let it fall to compact the stone. Keep pounding the stone into the earth until it is compacted and at the same time keep taking levels as you did while excavating. Add or remove the aggrate according to the requirement.
Pressure Treated Wood Foundation
It is necessary to ensure that the timbers are laid perpendicular to the direction of the floor joists. The pressure treated timbers should be 4”x4”, to permit ventilation under the shed. Usually pressure treated timber has a long lifespan when in contact with the ground but installing the weed barrier and the stone should prolong it further. Moisture is what leads to decay, so remember that any steps taken to ensure dryness will prolong the life of the timber.
