Sheds: Build Or Buy? ULTIMATE Cost Breakdown

I've been asked to build a shed, but the client is also considering buying a pre-fabricated shed. So In this video, I do a full cost breakdown comparison of the timber and labour required to build vs buy - using costs from timber merchants, sawmills and DIY stores! Which is cheapest? And which will yield the best quality shed? Let's find out!

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[danielwillits]

I dread to think how long you spent researching and collating all of these figures… and that time should (in my opinion) be factored into quotes for jobs like this too. Customers often overlook how much time you spend designing, calculating and ordering the materials before a job has even started. It can easily add up to an extra days work. I did a double car port build recently and about 15% of the labour charge was for time spent planning and ordering materials

[staipari]

Your Brother gets a new shed, you get great content to film, we get great content to enjoy. Win win win. Get some tool companies on board to sponsor it and double dip! Love your work.

[ian_morg]

I did my own in lockdown, a 12x10ft shed with a pent roof, epdm covering, 3x2 framing, 18mm ply floor, 12mm roof, breathable membrane and 25mm feather edge cladding with s/h UPVC windows and I made my own door. It came to under £2000 just before prices went mad. I couldn’t have done it without watching your build videos, Liam Griffin’s summerhouse builds and 21st century caveman’s videos too so thank you.

I’ve insulated it with recycled bottle insulation and clad the inside with a mix of pallet wood and 11mm OSB and also installed a Campervan style diesel heater.

I had quotes ranging from £1500 to £6500 to have this built and some quotes didn’t even have the same spec!!

[johndoe]

Had an 8x12 foot shed built several years ago. I first looked at the DIY kits at the big name stores. They cost $2, 500 for the size I wanted with 24 inch on center framing and a 6 foot roof. I found a local builder who built a similar 8x12 foot shed with 16 inch on center framing and 7 foot with, plus put in the footings, for the same price. So glad I looked for a local builder. Saved a lot of money and frustration of building it myself, and got some business to a local business.

[markhickson]

Thank you so much for your second shed building series. I'm an OK DIYer and following your films I decided to build a shed to my specification. Ordering the wood online saved me hundreds and I was very pleased with the quality. I built a concrete base myself (after watching lots of additional videos). I also went a mixture of 4"x2" and 3"x2" for the frame, 19mm wooden floor, 15mm T&G cladding and OSB for the roof. I decided on a 50 year rubber membrane roof which added bit of cost but I'm really happy with it and it was easy to fit. I built it all on my own, with help from my 5'3" wife when I needed another set of hands. I was 55 when I built it. I'm really pleased with it. It took 5 weekends including digging and laying the base. It is as solid as any shed I've seen, the finish is to my level i.e. less than 1mm error on any measurement. Total size is 3.6m x 2.4m x 2.4m (max. height) pitch roof. The dimensions are set by the space I had available and to reduce cutting of the wood lengths as I could get 3.6m and 2.4m wood lengths. Total cost for the shed materials was £1200. It took my time which I didn't factor in the costs but a lower quality flat-pack was going to cost me more than £2500 at the time. I love it and I'm really proud of it. When we have visitors in the garden they comment on how lovely it is and ask where we bought it from. So pleased I followed your advise. Oh I forgot, I also added a membrane between the frame and the cladding. I've had no problems with moisture, or insects. Love it!

[stuglover]

Film it Keith. The shed trilogy. Love a shed build.

[andrewhead]

In 2014 I bought from a local supplier a 10 x 8 foot shed. Including installation on a row of concrete gravel boards (which I infilled with gravel) wad £1, 100. I put plywood in the floor to bulk it up. I ad bought the plywood to protect a brick path that was to have a mini digger transverse). After 11 years it’s still solid. So its cost me about £1, 290. Two costs of timber treatment and one if paint puts that up to about £1, 400. So that’s £140 a year. The shed is still solid. The feet roof still waterproof. It had power that supplies garden lights, a pond and two fridge freezers in the shed. I reckon if you can get a shed that costs you £3 a week, that’s good value. In today’s money £200 a year or £4 a week.

[markdyballuk]

i found self-build or buying a really difficult decision. I watched countless hours of your, Matts and Liams (and plenty of others) self build shed videos. I wavered between I can do this and I can't do it whilst looking at countless online retailers which never met exactly what I wanted. All along it seemed if I wanted to buy one it would involve some pretty hefty compromises which I could never be happy with. Right towards the end I found a local-ish company which offered a few sheds BUT had a large number of options/upgrades which meant I could pretty much get a shed which wasn't a compromise. Believe me it took half a lifetime to find them, but now, as I have just finished painting the outside, I am really pleased with my choice. It wasn't cheap BUT in fairness it offered me all that I wanted. If I had made it myself I would have used slightly thicker timber but it is more than good enough for my needs.

It does need insulating (which I will do myself) and I did make a 6x2 timber frame for it to sit on but the suppliers fitted the shed for free and it took them less than a day to erect. I don't feel the countless videos I watched wasted time at all, they introduced me to both an attitude that anything is possible and helped me understand the methods to working successfully in any DIY project which I thank you (and Matt and Liam) for.

I was fortunate to be in a position to be able to choose to buy rather than build and I am truly grateful for that. There are plenty of projects coming up to test my DIY skills and I thank you for your inspiration Keith.

[yannisb]

I recently bought a 8x5 pent shiplap shed from tiger sheds. Best spent money ever. I don't classify myself so competent so that I can build a shed from scratch and this was a great option for me. It came intact, it's very strong and support was fantastic even when I had some issues with the lock. It really is down to the merchant

[Timbr]

Good comparison there, one of the big issues for me with sheds was indoor/doorway height as I'm over 6 feet tall. I built my own in the end so i don't risk knocking myself out every time i go in the shed! I had a lot of fun doing it too, thanks to you, the restoration couple and a few others for the shed build videos they really helped.

[Tensquaremetreworkshop]

For me, it is a combination of build quality and custom sizing that swings it. My standard method is 2 x 4 studding frame (normally the cheapest way to buy timber) then 12mm ply inside and shiplap outside. Insulation (and wiring) between. Solid, warm, and cost effective. And you can hang stuff anywhere you want to.
Foundation- concrete with waterproof barrier, no question. Zero maintenance, any load.
Apex- that is where you put your windows. Best light, and no wall wasted.

[Richie_D]

I ended up building my own shed when i needed more storage space. I used salvaged wood when i had ample access to it and it saved me a fortune over the rubbish pre made stuff. I had to buy nails, screws, felt, hinges and plywood for roof and side walls but, the base, wall and roof frames didnt cost me a penny. It also allowed me to customise the shed layout internally for storing all my tools and bits. I would love to see the shed build as a video. As always it would be great to watch

[troy]

2 years ago i built a summer house my self 12foot x 18foot, the base is breeze blocks levelled and cemented in place, blue pallets held together with inserted 3x3s all screwed together, and 2x8s around outer edge to make it look nice and pull it all together, painted whole base with black jack, a damp proof layer laid over top with 6 foot x 4 foot 18mm osb sheets as the floor, wall frames were made up of 2x4s with 12mm ply on outside, filled with rock wool insolation and plaster board on inside, kept an eye out for upv windows and doors in the area being replaced and gave a few quid for those, roof beams every 2foot ( doubled in middle and ends ) with 18mm osb sheets again, paid for a professional to do roofing felt ( biggest one off payment ) including good quality paint and finishings like aluminium edging for corners and around window and door frames sockets and switches, it all came in under 3.5k. i was quoted between 10-15k for the same thing from some of the more well known shed/summer house suppliers, took about 4 weeks to build in off time. its solid looks quality in its grey and black paint job with aluminium finishings and my mates all got there orders in for one of there own as soon as they saw it and found out the price lol, if you keep your eye on lumber prices and strike when there cheaper you can save way more than you think, and the only tools you'll really need are a jig saw, circular saw, hammer, drill, the two biggest costs were the fixings and roof, was my first time taking on anything of this size and was surprised at how easy it was, plus made some great memories building it with my little brother.

[taosclark]

I love your cost comparison videos and the check in on previous projects. Makes your builds that I watch feel much more genuine!

[ianwatkins]

I built a shed over the winter for a small space where no pre-built shed would fit. Your videos were really helpful and The Carpenter's Daughter too. It's worked out really well. Bought the timber from the local Lavers timber yard. Found them very helpful and prices were pretty good. Material costs were around £1000 including shelving it out with 18mm ply - it was designed as a storage space, two doors with parliament hinges so the doors folded back against the shed. I am a reasonable DIYer and it was pretty straightforward to build. If I can do it, anyone who knows how to hold a hammer and a circular saw can do it 🙂

[davidsteele]

Built a 4.8m x 2.4m shed last year. Really pleased with the result and stronger than anything online. It was also about a £1000 cheaper ignoring labour. I'll always build rather than buy.

[andrewgoodall]

I've been planning a shed for months. God knows how many times I've watched your shed building vids lol. In the end, I've bought a cheap metal one, 10ft by 8ft, that I've yet to construct, based on cost, £304. This comes with the caveat of height (and other things of course). These things are for short people, or for not walking around in. So I have to still build a 2x10 height floor frame and place the shed on top of that, hanging 2x4 floor joists at the bottom of the 2x10, giving a height increase of about 5 inches. This will induce a step when getting into the shed. You decide whether this solution is worth the saving. I'm not done buying the materials yet, but I'm going to put total cost at around £600.

[JBNat]

Amazing breakdown video. As someone time poor (and lacking tools and expertise) this actually helped me justify getting a prefabricated build, but something with good quality and good reviews.
Amazing video, the effort that goes into setting up all your shots is great, the one on top of the roof made me laugh out loud.

[woodworkingandepoxy]

Ive got a 2 car garage ive been using as my shop since my wife and i bought the house 3 years ago. But we ended up building the dog pen off the side door of it, so the dogs are in the garage too so ive been considering building a seperate shop in the backyard so i can keep it cleaner, more moisture resistant because i don't have to keep the door open so they can go in and out, and less bugs to deal with. This came in handy. Love these cost comparison videos

[mikeuk]

Gobsmacked at the cost comparisons you outlined for this shed build.😮