Crap in the garage

OK, not really crap at all... I've got a big 2 car garage. Its so big in fact, that it's a 3 car garage in the winter with a miata parked at the front. My problem is all of the other stuff. I've got a push mower, walk behind leaf blower, chipper, snow blower, bikes, and soon to be a bunch of stuff for the kid.

Building another garage is out of the question at this point, although it is the silver bullet. I think a shed is the next best thing and I think I have space for it.

I've come to ask GRM for advice on both size and what to put up. Home depot has some nice Rubbermaid and Rubbermaidish products that look nice, have good reviews and should stand the test of time. From my measurements the 7' by 7' will leave me with room to spare for my yard equipment. I'll want to put a lock on it, but I think they all allow for that.

On the other hand, I could probably build something more traditional.

So, does anyone have experience or opinions on these types of sheds, or suggestions on other sheds?

If you think you need a 7x7 get a 10x10...even though you'll fill that up too. I have a rubbermaidish shed that I have had for 15+ years. Aside from being dirty its exactly how it was new. Just as ugly as ever though.

I've thought that a long skinny shed might be the way to go. Because of the layout of my yard, I have about 8 feet between the garage and fence, which is just a walkway and catchall area anyway. It occurred to me that one of the problems with a shed is the stuff that winds up buried at the back. So, 4' by 12' or 14' with a lean-to style roof backing up to the fence would let me have a door in the end to run the mower and blower in, a series of doors down the front allows easy access to the rest of it.

Extra work, surely, and more difficult to build, but ultimately the right fit for me.

When my 24' X 28' garage got cramped we built a 9' X 20' attached shed for the lawn equipment and overflow. Inside walk through man door and double doors outside to drive the tractor out. Doesn't sound like much but it holds a lawn tractor, push mower, 2 snow blowers, wheel barrow, XL-250, generator, pressure washer, spare tire/ wheel sets, air compressor, auto parts, ladders, shelves... lotta shelves. And I still have room. It coulda been bigger but that's all code would allow.

Build as big as you can.

I second the wide and shallow idea. I find that it's much more useful to have easy access. You are much more likely to put things away where the belong if you don't have to struggle or dig to get to things. I removed just about everything that is not a tool from my garage. One small shed for yard equipment and another for sports equipment, bikes, kids stuff. In that one I built a simple platform out of 2x4's and plywood to divide it and make the most of the space. Bikes on the bottom, sporting goods on top. For house stuff, I installed an access ladder for my attic and created some storage space up there. Seasonal stuff, luggage, etc. goes up there.

I rather agree with build as big as you can. I've never found a space I couldn't shove more junk into. To counter that logic though, I tend to gather more junk when I've the ability to put it somewhere.

Wide works better than skinny. I'd much rather have everything one row deep. Otherwise, if I've got to pull the mower out to pull out the tiller to get to the string trimmer, it's just not going to happen. And if it does, it's likely to get thrown back, resulting in chaos.

Go big or go home. The amount of crap you own will almost immediately expand to fill the available space. Either way, you're screwed.

foxtrapper wrote: And if it does, it's likely to get thrown back, resulting in chaos.

Embrace the chaos! Order is but an illusion!

1988RedT2 wrote: Go big or go home. The amount of crap you own will almost immediately expand to fill the available space. Either way, you're screwed.

Quoted for truth.

When I had a 12X16 it was too small.

I now have a two car attached, a 26X26 shop and store some stuff at the office. I could still use more room.

My Father has a 40X80, a 25X60 and a 4 car garage. Yep, too small.

My shed (came with the property when I bought it) is 8' wide and 10' deep. It's good for yard equipment but that's about it. Kid stuff lives under the deck.

Costco has one they are selling at the moment that I was looking at. I don't remember the $$$$ but it was very large and looked very durable.

EDIT Here U go. http://www.costco.com/sheds.html

I'm a fan of Amish sheds, but those don't come cheap. Iirc, mine is 10x16 and it ran us $3500, but it's solid.

No thank you.

Here is a pic of mine.

Built it myself 20 years ago. 8' x 12' to get under the 100 sqft that would have required a permit. 4x4 PT timbers for base with 5/4 deck boards for floor, T-111 siding. Left side of door has a bench for all the wife's flower stuff. Right side has snowblower, 21" walk-behind mower, Chipper/shredder and a 33" riding mower. Garden tools are hanging on front and back walls.

In reply to Hal:

Your tomatoes look great. I had a similar shed once. Mice, raccoons, and snakes all lived underneath.

Datsun310Guy wrote: In reply to Hal: Your tomatoes look great. I had a similar shed once. Mice, raccoons, and snakes all lived underneath.

The tomatoes are from a couple years ago. We usually can 20-30 quarts each year.

Only thing I have had get under the shed was groundhogs. I wouldn't mind except they ate the tomatoes. I dug a trench around the shed and fastened a 12" wide strip of ¼" hardware cloth to the shed and filled in the trench. No groundhogs since then.

This is what I was afraid of... I know that if I put up a 20x40 garage, I could fill it in a weekend and I'd still need a place for the lawn stuff. Hopefully I'll have time to go look at the prefab resin stuff this weekend and just pick one.

We can build a shed with a 100 sq ft footprint without involving the city. It seems that they have not factored in height, so unless you go crazy, I would go with a 10" ceiling.

I am considering just this since I hate giving up the 100 sq ft out of my heated insulated shot to store garden E36 M3.

I built an 8'x12' 14' tall with a storage loft, gambrel style roof. It held a ton of stuff and was under the 100 square foot regulation.

Don49 wrote: I built an 8'x12' 14' tall with a storage loft, gambrel style roof.

That's what I should have done to get the extra storage space above. I made the peak of the roof 8' so I could just use 2 sheets of T-111 for each end (trying to keep the cost down).