Custom built shed, or a 10×10 shed kit?
I’ve built a lot of sheds over the years, and before I started building them I used to sell them to customers as part of my job at a local Home Depot. That wasn’t all that long ago–back in the early 2000s–and it seems like the market has just plain exploded since then. What hasn’t seemed to change is the smoke and mirrors of the buying game.
As a builder, I’m often asked by customers to give them a quote for a custom shed, and soon after that, I find myself explaining why my cost is so much higher than the sheds you can buy from Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, or other local outdoor shed suppliers. I know what you’re thinking…you’ve heard this before.
But look, anybody looking to buy a shed has to understand that in terms of costs, a builder operating in the field can’t compete with a factory or assembly-line style facility. Even if you compare a cupola for the top of a shed, the cost for a builder is going to be far higher than the cost to a dedicated shed business that can buy cupolas in bulk for a lower cost. And that example assumes that you’re comparing building components apples to apples. I can tell you that this is often not the case.
Let’s consider materials: A 2×4 is a 2×4 is a 2×4, right? Wrong. My local home center stocks probably 4 or 5 varieties of 2x4s, cut from various species of wood, of various levels of quality, dried to various levels of moisture content, and sold for a variety of prices. I’m not saying that your 10×10 shed kit isn’t using the best grade of studs, but did you ask to be sure? What about the type of fasteners holding those parts together?
I’m sure you get the general point I’m making by now, so I’m going to cut to the chase and give you a list of things to look for when shopping for a shed kit:
– Does the price on the sticker match the shed it’s attached to? Check for the fine print and “Prices as low as…” language!
– Does the shed kit include a floor, or is that sold separately?
– What does the company charge for delivery, and is it possible for the shed to be dropped where you want it? Common snags include tree limbs being too low, trees blocking the entry of the delivery truck, or a septic leach field that you can’t drive over.
– Do the construction methods seem solid? Most of us have walked through at least one or two houses under construction, or at least seen them in pictures and on TV. Trust your eye and intuition. Does the building look sturdy and like it will last, or does it look to be put together hastily with the bare minimum amount of structure and attention to finish detail.
– Does it LOOK good. Nothing drags down the view from your back porch like an eyesore of a shed. Yes, it’s a utility building, but in some ways so is your house. Aesthetics are important because beautiful things are more likely to get maintained.
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How about the best of both worlds? I highly recommend shed kits from Jamaica Cottage Shop (website: jamaicacottageshop). I'm not affiliated with them at all, just a very satisfied customer. My 10-year-old shed looks about like it did on day one.
You can buy anything from plans to pre-cut lumber kits to fully-assembled sheds. JCS' products are nothing like the big box store sheds. They are what you would expect from Vermont craftsmen, AND very reasonably priced (free shipping!). They have a shed for every purpose and you can even have them tailor their designs to your personal needs.
Just imagine everything you would want from the ideal shed supplier and Jamaica Cottage Shop is doing it.
Agreed. Not so easy in SouthCentral Alaska, even on the road system. There must be other places in the USA where sheds are difficult, too. There's a total of two lumber suppliers - Home Depot and SBS. Pretty much the same. Depressing. Your Home Depot probably has more choices, ours has a small customer base, after all. Quite a few locals producing sheds; haven't been impressed, or couldn't afford. Then there is the option of milling your own lumber. You have a choice of White Spruce (usually beetle-killed, still standing) or White Spruce. Don't want to waste the occasional Birch. Get someone to ship to Alaska? Between those companies that won't ship "to foreign countries" and those who won't ship here at all even if you pay up-front shipping costs), well, choice is limited. Assumptions: you own a Wood-Mizer or Alaskan Saw Mill, have the time, skills, etc. That you can find enough Beattle-killed white spruce still good enough for lumber for a shed, and can pay for it & for delivery. Why do we live here? It is cheaper than, say, the state of Washington. But it can take a few years to be able to afford to get or build a shed that meets the criteria of this article. So I'm doing without until then, since i want it done right.
HD offers installation on many things - at an extra cost, of course. Have you thought about getting bids to have a complete shed purchased and installed on the same type of foundation that you would build and then show them the comparative quality and cost? Even if the HD cost is still higher, I bet it won't be nearly so great a difference as when they compare your cost to the posted price in the store. You then only have to convince them that your quality and/or other custom features more than makes up for the difference.
Remind them: the joy of a low price is soon forgotten while the pain of a junky product lives on for as long as you own it.
I really think you need to destroy the comparison, not just win the dollar-matching contest. Market differentiation, I guess you'd call it. The last shed I built had three arch-topped windows, an eyebrow-arched door, even an arch-top vent high on one end. It was on a reinforced, thickened-edge slab and it was stuccoed on the exterior to match the house. That's a lot more expensive than an HD shed, but it is in such a different league that comparison is meaningless. (A large conduit allowed an extension cord to be brought in and battery backed up low voltage solar lighting made it even more expensive, but those aren't necessary to differentiate from a box store shed.)
But just being able to match the exterior of the home doesn't have to be that expensive and makes the shed so much better than an off-the-shelf cheapo. Then they aren't just comparing your bottom of the line shed to HD's. They are comparing a nice custom shed to a low-end model.
You could also remind them that the shed is real estate and a good one will enhance the value of the home for a long time, while a junky one will just entail an added expense when a buyer has to tear it down.
Another difference between mass produced vs. custom, and it’s hugely important to me, is that the custom path allows for more than a 7’ ceiling. Now, many urban communities are changing their zoning & building regs to allow more densification and therefore taller out-buildings. This amounts to an opportunity for nimbleness by the custom builders and factories simply cannot respond in kind.
In the end, customers need to understand that with the mass produced version, they will be forced to settle for everything, including the color, and deviations from that will be more costly than hitting the mark straight out of the gate because those changes amount to “remodeling” of the finished product and that is fundamentally more costly work.