Plastic shed - Yes or No?

mide2837

Hey there,

I've never had a garden nor a shed.. I want to make sure I choose the right one, but clearly I need help.
After spending days and days and days... online looking for a shed I've narrowed it down to 2 options -a 6ft x 8ft wooden shed OR a same size plastic shed. The price is almost the same, however I was told by a gardener, that a concrete base would be needed for both since my garden is new and very soft. The concrete base + building up the shed would cost 1,500 EUR. A bit pricy for me, but maybe it is the regular price for concrete base + labor.

Pro & Con wooden shed:
* looking nice
* annual maintenance
Pro & Con plastic shed:
* no maintenance needed
* no window on the side and grey

I have a disability and I won't be able to paint the wooden shed annually, I would need to pay somebody to do that.

Question:
* does anyone have a plastic shed? If yes, what is the experience so far?
* Ireland (Portlaois to be specific) can be rather windy. Would the plastic shed "survive"?
* do you know if the plastic shed could be painted (to add some nice touch to a grey shed)?

Thank you very much for any help and advise.

beggars_bush

mide2837 wrote: »

Hey there,

I've never had a garden nor a shed.. I want to make sure I choose the right one, but clearly I need help.
After spending days and days and days... online looking for a shed I've narrowed it down to 2 options -a 6ft x 8ft wooden shed OR a same size plastic shed. The price is almost the same, however I was told by a gardener, that a concrete base would be needed for both since my garden is new and very soft. The concrete base + building up the shed would cost 1,500 EUR. A bit pricy for me, but maybe it is the regular price for concrete base + labor.

Pro & Con wooden shed:
* looking nice
* annual maintenance
Pro & Con plastic shed:
* no maintenance needed
* no window on the side and grey

I have a disability and I won't be able to paint the wooden shed annually, I would need to pay somebody to do that.

Question:
* does anyone have a plastic shed? If yes, what is the experience so far?
* Ireland (Portlaois to be specific) can be rather windy. Would the plastic shed "survive"?
* do you know if the plastic shed could be painted (to add some nice touch to a grey shed)?

Thank you very much for any help and advise.

you can put a shed onto some blocks laid on the flat.
does the same job once the ground isn't too soft. Dig off grass, put some gravel down and then put the blocks down level
timber sheds don't take much minding. Bit of paint every few years, replace the felt once every few years.

looksee

You can mend a wooden shed, a plastic shed once broken is pretty much dead. I had a wooden shed just put on blocks on the garden, no messing with digging out or gravel and it was fine for about 18 years when I left the house. Having said that, digging out and putting down some proper stone would be a better job and I would do it if I were doing the job again, but a half decent wooden shed (ie don't just buy the cheapest you can find, do some research) will last, no problem.

loyatemu

we've a wooden shed in place (on blocks) for over 5 years, zero maintenance so far. It has pressure treated timber and a box-profile metal roof.

got it from these guys: https://www.gardensheds4less.ie/our-products/kendal-sheds/premium-kendal-range-8ft-x-6ft

If you were going to the trouble of putting in concrete I would get a metal shed.

Otherwise a wooden one on bricks, but not one with a felt roof.

Steel shed on a concrete base is probably your best bet. Concrete base is easy to do yourself if you can get a small enough quantity of concrete delivered.

Zardaz

A good quality timber shed will last - if you get a metal roof on it. Otherwise the felt will fail within 10 years.

A concrete base for a timber shed is recommended, but timber on well levelled blocks or slabs is ok too.

If you get a steel shed, a concrete base is essential. And ensure that a DPC is present in the foundation. Otherwise, dampness will rise out of the foundation when its warm, and then condense on the inside of the metal shed on cold nights, which will eventually rust what ever is inside.

A timber shed with a metal roof will have a similar issue (although less, since the timber will breathe out some of the moisture), so ensure that a vapor membrane is fitted under the roof, and that it doesn't actually touch the roof valleys. (use some latts or 2x1s as spacers.
Otherwise condensation will occur and possibly rot the roof timbers and will make everything damp in the shed when it drips down off the rafters.

Ensure that the rain coming off the roof is directed away from the base of the shed and its foundation.

If you are sure the shed will be dry, consider running power out there. It might be handy if you ever want to put a tumble dryer out there. That will significantly add to the cost though as a sparks will be needed, and the proper cable and stuff will be required.

Fine Cheers

Agree re comments on roof, avoid felt if you can. Will be ok for 10/15 years maybe but will need replacing. For me, and as you have explained your personal situation, I would be avoiding a timber shed just on the maintenance issue.
€1500 sounds a bit steep for your base. Can you chat the supplier of the plastic sheds on what options are re bases ? Google Shedgrid, don't know a thing about them but another member here might. Have you much digging to do ? Is garden reasonably level ? Is a steel shed out of your budget ?

I have a plastic shed and a wooden one. Wooden shed is pressure treated so no need to paint unless you want a different colour. Will need paint in a few years.

There is not a lot of weight in my plastic shed to be fair. But the wind has blown it around the garden recently and it has gotten damaged as a result.

The plastic shed already looks bad and is not even 1 year old.

My wooden shed is 8 years old and has aged very well, but I used good quality shiplap to build it with.

Hocus Focus

I have a wooden shed. It's based on a bed of old coping stones off a wall I took down. I give it a coat of Fencelife every few years.
I began to have problems with the felt roof after about 10years so I got three sheets of corrugated steel to cover it. The hardware shop (Murtaghs in Ashbourne), was able to get me a galvanised ridge piece custom made.
If you do use corrugated, take care to put the screws through the tops of the corrugations, not the valleys.
I would imagine a plastic shed would deteriorate pretty quickly due to the effects of UV light, and hinges etc, if made of plastic would not last long.