How to Choose a Storage Shed: Size, Material, Base and Permits

Add the floor space of everything you store, multiply by about 1.35 so roughly a third of the floor stays open as a walkway, and round up to a standard shed size. Hang trimmers, blowers and rakes on the walls to save floor.

For most homeowners, resin. Resin sheds such as the Lifetime 8 x 10 ft. Outdoor Storage Shed, Suncast Tremont 8 x 10 ft. Resin Storage Shed and Rubbermaid Extra Large 7 x 10 ft. Resin Storage Shed include floors, never need paint and do not rust where a mower deck scrapes a wall. Rubbermaid rates its wall panels to hold 75 pounds each with its shed accessories.

Steel wins on floor space for the money: the Arrow Classic 10 x 8 ft. Steel Storage Shed gives 74 square feet for $614.99, and the Arrow Shed Elite 10 x 12 ft. Steel Storage Shed adds Galvalume panels and vented gables. Budget for a floor or slab, anchors and time, since metal sheds have many small parts. Wood, like the Handy Home Beachwood 8 x 12 ft. Wood Storage Shed, is the choice when you want a workshop feel, a loft or custom shelving, and are willing to paint and roof it. The full breakdown is in resin vs metal sheds, with rankings in the best resin sheds and the best metal sheds.

Every shed needs a level, well-drained base, even kits that include a floor. An uneven base racks the frame, so doors stop closing and panels pull apart, and ground contact wicks moisture into floors. Manufacturer instructions specify how level the base must be; follow them. Common bases:

• Compacted gravel pad: a frame of treated timbers filled with compacted crushed stone, commonly about 4 inches deep, extending a little past the shed footprint. It drains well and suits resin sheds with floors. A Bully Tools Steel Hand Tamper compacts it, and the gravel calculator gives tons.
• Concrete slab: the strongest base and the best anchoring surface for steel sheds and riding mowers. Most steel sheds without floor kits are designed to sit on one.
• Pavers: a leveled paver pad over compacted base; plan with the paver calculator.
• Wood platform on skids or blocks: common for wood sheds like the Handy Home Beachwood 8 x 12 ft. Wood Storage Shed, which includes a framed OSB floor.

Some kits include a base: the Duramax Woodbridge Plus 10 x 10 ft. Vinyl Shed is sold with a foundation kit, while the Arrow Yardsaver 4 x 10 ft. Steel Lean-To Shed floor kit is sold separately. Place the shed on high ground, not in a low spot that collects runoff.

Plan for a door opening at least 6 inches wider than your widest machine. A 42 to 46 inch lawn tractor is commonly about 58 inches wide with the discharge chute, and a 48 to 54 inch zero-turn about 66 inches, so many sheds with a single door or a narrow double door will not take a riding mower even when the floor is big enough. Measure your mower with the chute down and any bagger attached, and compare it to the listed door opening, not the shed width.

• Double doors are the norm for riding mowers. The Handy Home Beachwood 8 x 12 ft. Wood Storage Shed lists pre-hung 64 inch double doors.
• Dual entry helps long or bulky items: the Lifetime 15 x 8 ft. Dual Entry Outdoor Storage Shed has double doors on the front and side.
• Ramps: a riding mower needs a sturdy ramp over the door sill and base edge. Check whether a ramp is included and its rating; otherwise build or buy one sized for the machine's weight.
• Door height matters for tall handles and a mower with a roll bar.

If you store a zero-turn, see shed size for a zero-turn mower, and for tractors shed size for a riding mower.

Use only the ratings a manufacturer actually publishes, and ask when you cannot find one. Among the catalog sheds, the Suncast Modernist 7 x 7 ft. Storage Shed lists a roof rated for 40 pounds per square foot of snow; for the others, check the product manual or contact the maker before buying in heavy snow country. Local building departments set design snow and wind loads for permitted structures, and a shed that needs a permit may need to meet them.

• Snow: steeper roofs shed snow better. Clear heavy accumulations from low-slope resin and steel roofs with a roof rake from the ground rather than climbing on the roof.
• Wind: light resin and steel sheds can slide or lift in high winds, especially when empty. Anchoring is the fix, not weight inside.
• Trees: do not place a shed under dead limbs or large overhanging branches.

Often not for small sheds, but check before you buy. Model residential codes exempt small one-story detached accessory buildings under a size limit, commonly 120 or 200 square feet depending on the code edition your area adopted, but many towns set their own limits, and even exempt sheds must meet zoning rules:

• Setbacks: minimum distances from property lines, the house and other structures.
• Easements: many lots have utility or drainage easements where structures are not allowed.
• Height and placement: some towns limit height or bar sheds from front yards.
• HOA rules: homeowners associations frequently regulate size, color, material and location, and may require approval first.
• Electricity: running power to a shed usually requires a permit and a licensed electrician.

Call your local building department with the shed's footprint and height, and call 811 before digging a base or driving ground anchors. For installation and foundation cost estimates, HouseProjectCalc covers contractor pricing.

Anchor every shed as its manufacturer specifies, because the instructions are designed around that shed's frame and weight. The anchor depends on the base:

• Concrete slab: concrete wedge or sleeve anchors through the floor frame or anchor brackets.
• Gravel pad or soil: auger-style ground anchors screwed deep into the soil and attached to the frame with cable or brackets, or anchoring to the timber frame of the pad.
• Wood platform: lag screws or brackets into the floor framing, with the platform itself tied down.

Steel shed makers commonly sell anchor kits separately, such as an Arrow shed anchor kit, and several void wind coverage without anchoring. Anchor before loading the shed and before the first storm, not after. Call 811 before driving long ground anchors.

Condensation forms when warm humid air meets a cold surface, and steel roofs and walls are the worst for it: water drips onto tools on cool mornings. Resin sheds sweat less but still trap humidity.

• Ventilate. Choose sheds with vents: the Lifetime 7 x 7 ft. Outdoor Storage Shed has two, the Keter Factor 8 x 8 ft. Resin Storage Shed has built-in vents and the Arrow Shed Elite 10 x 12 ft. Steel Storage Shed has vented high gables. Add vents where the maker allows.
• Block ground moisture. A vapor barrier under a slab, a gravel base that drains, and gutters or downspout extensions like the Amerimax 4601 Downspout Extension (2-Pack) on nearby roofs keep water away.
• Store equipment dry. Brush off wet clippings and let snow melt off blowers before closing them in.
• Keep things off the floor on shelves and wall hooks, with gaps for airflow.

If you only need to store cushions, hoses and a few hand tools, a walk-in shed is overbuying. A deck box like the Keter Luma 230 Gallon Deck Box holds 230 gallons, and a vertical unit such as the Suncast XL Vertical Storage Shed (106 cu. ft.) (106 cubic feet, with a floor and double doors) fits a push mower. The Suncast Glidetop Horizontal Storage Shed (98 cu. ft.) is a low-profile option under a window. These need no permit in most places and no base beyond level ground or a patio. Once you add a snow blower or a second mower, a 7 by 7 foot shed is the better value. More options are on the best deck boxes.