Adding a shed to your property can be a great way of increasing storage and adding value to your property. Many people invest in sheds because they’re a great way to keep tools in a structured and organized way away from the house so no one accidentally uses them.
If you live with children, having a shed can be a great way to keep heavy-duty, dangerous equipment away from the reach of children for their safety. You can build a custom-made shed, one that’s DIY, or one you’ve assembled from a kit, and all of them will cost separately.
There are many costs you need to consider when building a shed. Many factors will affect these costs, and you’ll need to figure them out for calculating the cost of a shed.
Factors Affecting the Cost of a Shed
The Purpose of the Shed
You can use the shed for multiple reasons. You could be building the shed for storage, as a gardening shed, as an office, or as your child’s playhouse. All four of these purposes mean that you would design and build your shed differently. Their sizes, the wiring you do, and the insulation you use will be different. For example, if you plan on using the shed as an office or a play area even for a small duration, it needs to have more ventilation than the other two options, and this factor can shift costs.
The Area
You calculate the costs of constructing a shed in terms of square feet, which means the greater the area, the greater the costs you’ll incur in materials.
The Materials
Some materials are expensive, and some are not. The materials you use will affect your costs and the quantities you use. You can use wood to build sheds. However, you can also use concrete and metal. However, the latter will cost you significantly more.
The Size
The area affects the cost of the sheds, but so does the size. The greater the dimensions and size of the shed, the more it will cost you. Bigger and taller structures can cost you more money even if the coverage area is the same; thus, this is a factor to look into before construction.
Roof Shed Price
The roof is the most important part of a shed. It needs to be secure and safe so it can hold its own in case there’s any natural disaster. You should very carefully look into the material you will use on the shed’s roof. People recommend not to use expensive materials but to have the construction done well instead.
Labour Costs
If you’re making your shed as a DIY project or using a kit to make it, you can forego these labour costs. However, if you’re using external help, look into how many people you need to employ and how much you’ll have to pay them. Some services you might have to use are an electrician, a handyman, a carpenter, or even a shed building company. Labour costs on the construction of a shed generally cost $70/hour.
Insulation Costs
If you’re only using your shed for storage, you don’t need to insulate it. If you’re using it as an office or your children’s playhouses, you will have to spend some money insulating it. It has a wide range of costs, you can use low-cost fibreglass or ICF blocks that are more expensive. Insulating Concrete Form blocks are better if you need your shed to be a living space of sorts.
Additional Costs
If your shed is greater than 100 square feet, you might need a permit to build it, which comes with extra costs. If you want to build from plans instead of hiring a company, buy the plans as well. There are also the costs for the aesthetics and the lighting. How will you paint the shed? The furniture or objects you’re going to use in a shed will depend on their intended purposes, and this is bound to affect your overall costs.
Final Thoughts
Building a shed involves many costs. However, the first thing you need to do is make a plan. You should only proceed when you have a plan with you. If you don’t have a plan set out, you are likely to spend a lot more money, and the result will be something that isn’t functional or aesthetically pleasing to you.
