John Dirks Jr Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 What do you think of this kit? Is it an ok deal at $999 http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.as ... allpartial Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles46 Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 John, I just finished building a 10 x 16 storage building for myself and with tax, title, and dealer prep, I spent over $2,500 on it so $999 and the only other thing you need to purchase is paint and shingles sounds like a fair and reasonable price for it. Click to Enlarge 50.63?KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kibbel Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 You can get really cheap materials that are leftover from construction jobs. The problem is that the gathered available materials dictate the form of the shed. Click to Enlarge 48.39 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 If you're OK with butt ugly, it's not a bad price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkenney Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Poor reviews by people that actually built it, cheap materials (substandard). One guy writes, ".. it would be easier to stick build." Had a similar experience with a kit my father bought 25 years ago. Cheap! Build it yourself. The adage, "you get what you pay for..." is appropriate here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtblum Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 What do you think of this kit? Is it an ok deal at $999 http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.as ... allpartial No, its not a deal for a guy who just took on his own bathroom and kitchen. Go spend four or five hundred bucks, learn to frame a wall, a floor, and lay out a rafter. You will gain a lot more knowledge of how things go together, having done it yourself, than you ever will from a book or from one of those "Joe homeowner" jigsaw puzzles. Spend what you save on a new tool or beer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 What do you think of this kit? Is it an ok deal at $999 No, its not a deal for a guy who just took on his own bathroom and kitchen. Go spend four or five hundred bucks, learn to frame a wall, a floor, and lay out a rafter. You will gain a lot more knowledge of how things go together, having done it yourself, than you ever will from a book or from one of those "Joe homeowner" jigsaw puzzles. Spend what you save on a new tool or beer. John D's likely about as good a framer as any on this forum, I reckon. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted July 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Yeah, the first thing that came to my head was I could do it cheaper by buying the materials myself. My better half had the idea for the kit but when I told her there's probably only $400 in material there she balked. Her position is that limited time and procrastination would be worth the other money. I'll think about it some more. There are free plans all over the web. The thought of doing extra work to save money and learn something is always up my alley. Thanks for your input everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kogel Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 John, tell your wife you're going to build Bill's wedding cake shed, starting with the first floor this year. [] When shed kits go bad. Click to Enlarge 67.58 KB I like this one. It is solid concrete with a poured concrete roof. Dynamite shack, I think. Click to Enlarge 135.54 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lamb Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Did you ever consider vinyl. No paint, no roof shingles, no rot. I installed this 8 x 10 for a friend a year ago. It snaps and screws together. It comes with basic shelves, hooks, etc. There's a window and a couple of skylights. He says its doing fine so far. I give it a positive rating. http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... ifications Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark P Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 I've been planing / thinking of building a shed for about 5 years now. Everytime I go and look at a kit I think to myself I can build one for a hell of a lot cheaper. I even bought a bookf of shed designs. Procrastination and available time are real issues. You can either buy the kit and put it up in an afternoon, keep thinking about if for the next 5 years, or start swinging that hammer - and all the stuff involved with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
resqman Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Built a 12x12 shed in 1987 or 88 in the backyard of my then home. Sold the house in 1991. Drove by the old home recently. Shed is still standing and has recieved a recent coat of paint and new shingles. Took a day to dig holes and set posts. A day to frame the floor. Day to frame and raise the walls. The rest was complete with a week. I was 24 years younger, no kids, and short on cash. Cost me about a grand back then. I have been looking at the kits recently. 2x3s 24 on center. OSB siding board, no top plate. Kits prices usually EXclude a floor system. Add in the cost of a decent floor (not 1/2 inch chipboard on 2x3 sleepers). It is a single story shed. It is used to store lawn tools and other durable stuff. The framing only needs to keep off the weather. The problem with not using a kit, is you will tend to overbuild. Not bad but the cost savings may disappear when you compare 2x3 24 oc vs. 2x4 16 oc and other similar type cost cutting measures the kits use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 ...........or start swinging that hammer - and all the stuff involved with that. Air nailer. As someone that ruined his hands swinging a 28 oz. waffle head for too many years, buy a toy compressor and air nailer. It'll work fine for shed work. I'm glad folks believe it's better to build one's own. Those vinyl jobs are the worst; they work, but smack of disconnected suburbanite silliness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Raymond Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 If you can't talk the missus out of a kit then go with the vinyl building. As ugly as it is, it will actually provide all of the time savings she is imagining. Otherwise buy a book and Kurt's toy compressor and build something you can be proud of. If you can find the time to remodel your kitchen and your bathroom you can make time for a shed, and save money if that is part of the plan from the onset. Or not...this builder is practically in my backyard http://artisansheds.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtblum Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Air nailer. As someone that ruined his hands swinging a 28 oz. waffle head for too many years, buy a toy compressor and air nailer. It'll work fine for shed work. Perfect. There's the new tool you can have from the money saved by building it yourself. Mine's built from a salvaged treated deck frame, Scrap 2x's, sided with 10 inch wide strips of Chinese plywood from some shipping crates, (Kurt will love that) and the roof is covered with cut offs from the Omega lite panels used to side the new hockey rink at the college here. Total for material = $0.00. One of these days, I'm going to put a door on it. Yup. I'm a cheapskate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lamb Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 ...........or start swinging that hammer - and all the stuff involved with that. I'm glad folks believe it's better to build one's own. Those vinyl jobs are the worst; they work, but smack of disconnected suburbanite silliness. Kurt, I believe you are becoming unhinged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Becoming? That's somewhere near where I started. It's how I found the HI business. Everyone gets to do whatever they want; on a very deep and personal level, I don't care what anyone does in their house projects. I only care about what my customer's do that are relying on me for good advice. On another deep personal level, vinyl sheds are an affront to every tenet and sensibility of design I hold dear. Simplicity, Honest, Propriety.....they ain't got none of them. Now, if it was a vinyl building in an entirely new form that broke through some previously thought to be inviolable design barrier, then I'm all for it. Vinyl shed cast to look like a wood frame building with cutesy fascia and hardware details......(?)..... woof... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyrmnk Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 I built a 12'X16' from scratch. Chose to elevate it on posts set in concrete for termite resistance (i.e. a small deck). Built it a few years ago and it is doing great. Chose LP siding, and just used 2X4 rafters attached with hurricane ties and collar ties and it hasn't budged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted July 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 If one were to buy lumber and stick build their own, what are good size choices that result in the least amount of leftover scrap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 You might want to look into the 4' module. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kogel Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 If one were to buy lumber and stick build their own, what are good size choices that result in the least amount of leftover scrap? Choose 8, 10, 12 and 14 foot lengths, 14 footers cut in half make rafters for a gable roof on a ten foot wide shed. 10 by 10 is a handy size. There'll be room in there to store 8 foot sheets of plywood, studs, etc. I built a 24 X 24 double garage with a barn style roof. All the off cuts from the framing fit in a wheel barrow, a pile of little angle pieces. Start by sheathing the floor, then lay a pair of rafters out using the edges of your floor to gauge the span. Cut the angle and use that rafter for a pattern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Baird Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Hey John Kogel, that 2nd pic you posted was in the film, "Blair Witch Project", no? See my shedly wedly, at approx $3K over 3 yrs, still needs wiring, with lots of salvage material. Wife calls it her "studio". Click to Enlarge 85.23 KB Click to Enlarge 78.67 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted July 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2012 Kurt has a point when he referred to the kit as "butt ugly". It would be good to avoid that. Then I saw this. I bet I can talk the Mrs. into the extra time and money for this idea. Although, I'd edit the plans and build it on a free standing deck structure instead of a slab. I'd go treated plywood for the interior floor and 5/4 decking for the porch part. What do you think? http://www.familyhandyman.com/DIY-Proje ... ront-porch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lamb Posted July 7, 2012 Report Share Posted July 7, 2012 Although, I'd edit the plans and build it on a free standing deck structure instead of a slab. I'd go treated plywood for the interior floor and 5/4 decking for the porch part. What do you think? http://www.familyhandyman.com/DIY-Proje ... ront-porch You'd be better off with a slab to keep the skunks and other critters from living underneath. I started a skunks under the shed thread last fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted July 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2012 As far as under shed critters are go, chipmunks and rabbits abound with an occaisional opossum, raccoon or groundhog. Also have plenty of fox and feral cats to keep the rodent population somewhat in control. I'm not concerned with under shed critters really. Wood floor structure is the plan. So, whats the least expensive way to build worthy free standing 16'x16' deck floor structure? How many posts and what spacing? I'd like to build a 2x6 joist structure directly off of posts to keep it as low as possible. Or, would 2x8 allow me 24' OC and save money? Below is the general idea of the structure that will be on top of the deck. My finishing might be different. I don't want to over build. It's just a shed but I do want it to last. Download Attachment: P1280144.JPG 1661.45 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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