. . . knowledge for the do-it-yourself homeowner . . .

Do-It-Yourself Barn, Shed, or Outbuilding

A great way to start learning about construction is to build your own barn or shed. Start with an outbuilding on your property.

Whether it is used as a playhouse, a tool shed, a garden shed, or a chicken hut, it can be a lot of fun as you try out your building skills. It's almost a guarantee that if you build a shed of any size, you'll discover a few techniques that work (or don't) for when you do the next "do-it-yourself" building project. How to consistently mark wood for cutting or how to hold a stud for nailing --even how to lay out a wall is hard to learn if you can't actually DO it more than once.

Here are a few questions to think about as you start your outbuilding:

How many doors? It might seem like a strange question but if you build an ordinary garden shed and later decide you want to air it out... two doors are nice. Or, perhaps a door and a back window?

Will it ever have electricity? Planning an area for a control panel or entering wire is easy --when the construction is happening. Cutting a hole in the wall later might be more challenging.

How wide should the door be? You might build the shed for one purpose but then realize something like "I could store the lawnmower, tractor, or wheel borrow in there too!" ...but,only if you made the door wide enough. There are standard sized for doors and buying a custom door will cost extra, but you might be glad you built it that way.

Will it ever have running water? Perhaps now you don't plan on needing a vegetable sink or an extra shower, but what if it was easily doable? A bit of pre-planing could allow you to have a setup ready for plumbing to be installed at a future date.

Will I ever want to add on? If you aren't limited by location, a shed can easily be the forerunner of a larger lean-to or half of your future garage... but planning accordingly is helpful.

Barn plans and ideas are available for the Do-it-yourself homeowner. We hope you find the following links helpful in building yours.