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Today, our shed buying experts share their top tips and give us the inside scoop on how to pick the perfect shed, including what NOT to do!

If you need more space but don’t want to spend a fortune on an extension, a shed buying trip could solve all your problems. Sheds make a great addition to almost any type of Australian home, providing additional storage space, somewhere to take care of indoor gardening chores or even a band rehearsal room if that’s what you require. But you must be careful when buying a new shed. If you don’t consider all the relevant factors carefully, you could make a big mistake.

In today’s blog post, we’re going to share our shed buying knowledge, in the hope that it will help as many people across Australia as possible. By the time you’ve finished reading this shed buying guide, you should be in a position to select the perfect shed for your needs.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Buying a Shed

Whether you’re about to buy your first or thirtieth shed, we urge you not to make any of the following shed buying mistakes:

• Failing to Consider Your Space Requirements

  
  It seems so obvious that it’s barely worth mentioning but you’d be surprised how many people fail to spend enough time considering how much space they really need when buying a shed. Of all the shed buying mistakes, this is one of the most common and potentially the most damaging too. If you buy a shed that’s too small, you’ll have to buy another one and hope the original can be returned. If your new shed is too large, it will cost far more than it ought to. In either of these cases, your shed buying activities will end up costing more than was really necessary.

• Overlooking the Importance of Material Choices

  
  The materials from which your shed is made could make a big difference in how easy it is to maintain and how much it costs to keep the interior at a comfortable temperature year-round. Any comprehensive shed buying guide should make it crystal clear that materials matter. Whether you’re buying a carport, a single garage or an open bay shed, steel construction is the preferred option in Australia.

• Ignoring Your Home’s Architectural Design/Exterior Aesthetics

  
  If you don’t care about kerb appeal, you can skip this section. But if you care how your home looks from the outside, you need to think about how well your new shed will complement the existing aesthetics. A starkly modern industrial shed, for example, might not look very good next to a house with a mock Georgian facade.

Now you know what not to do, it’s time to find out what you should be doing, with our shed buying checklist. Let’s find out how to determine exactly what you should be looking for when shopping for your new shed.

How to Create a Shed Buying Checklist

To create a comprehensive shed buying checklist that you can refer to when evaluating your options, you should:

• Assess Your Needs and Purpose

  
  What you want to do with your new shed is of great importance. The way you plan to use your shed should inform your choice of style and materials, and possibly the proposed location too. If you want to keep chickens, farm sheds are what you should be focusing on. If you need somewhere dry to park a couple of vehicles, focus on double garage sheds instead.

• Measure the Available Space

  
  To make sure that you don’t come home from a shed buying expedition with a structure that’s far too big to fit in the available space, we recommend measuring the space carefully. If you’re not sure that you’ve measured everything correctly the first time, don’t be shy to try again. It’s vital to get these measurements right.

• Research Shed Styles and Options

  
  You can’t make an informed purchase if you don’t know what’s available, which is why we recommend researching current trends in shed styles before embarking on a new shed buying adventure. You should also spend some time looking at all the options, extras and accessories that shed manufacturers are offering in Australia today.

Having considered what you want to do with your shed, calculated how much space you need and researched current shed designs, you should now have a much better idea of what you’re looking for on this shed buying quest. Now let’s run through some final tips to make sure that your new shed is a complete success.

Final Tips for a Successful Shed Purchase

You’re almost ready to get started but before you place an order online or head to your local suppliers on a shed buying trip, don’t forget to:

• Set a Realistic Budget

  
  You can’t make the right shed buying decision if you haven’t first worked out how much you are willing to spend. By setting a firm budget right at the start, you can avoid wasting any time evaluating sheds that are out of your desired price range.

• Compare Brands

  
  Make yourself a brew, find somewhere comfortable to settle and spend half an hour comparing the different brands you find online. If you can, visit the manufacturer’s website for each brand and see what quality control procedures they follow. What you’re trying to do is get a broad overview of the marketplace today.

• Reading Customer Reviews

  
  Finally, spend a few minutes reading customer reviews for each brand of shed you find. Too many 1-star reviews or numerous mentions of the same issue should be taken as red flags.

You should now have a shed buying checklist with details of the space you need, your functional requirements and the amount of money you’re willing to spend. You should also have a summary of customer reviews for the brands you’ve encountered and a good idea of which ones can be trusted.

If you’re looking for the perfect shed in Australia, the next thing you need to do is contact us. We manufacture and sell a huge variety of premium steel sheds, including custom designs.