I wouldnt go with the metal type. We got one last year, and with just one heavy snow fall the roof collapsed! We managed to fix it with wooden support beams, but it was a mess! Go for the wood!!!

I'll second the advice to avoid metal. There was a metal shed on our property when we bought and I was so glad to get rid of it and replace with wood.

Ours was a partially pre-built kit and if I were to do it again, I would add a rodent barrier of hardware cloth around the perimeter. We retrofitted with this along the entire east wall while repairing damage done by a large rodent ... after cleaning up a nasty, nasty mess inside.

T1 11 is basically exterior plywood which has been scored and finished on one side to provide a more finished look than plain plywood. It can be left to weather naturally, painted or, better in my opinion, stained with a transparent or opaque stain. The plain plywood (I trust it's exterior grade) is usually finished off with siding of some sort - like vinyl or shakes. You can always add siding to the T1 11 later if you wish.

As for the roof, there are some very sturdy and attractive metal roofs that I know of as "standing rib", but good quality ones are, so far as I know, still very expensive. We finished our wood-sheathed roof with roofing shingles that match our house and they have held up well.

I don't know your situation, but you'll probably want to choose a shed design and finish that complements your home. Also think about lighting and ventilation.

Diane

Rodent barrier cloth is a good idea. I hadn't thought of anything like that.

You can have vents added in to most of the kits, but I wasn't sure if I would need it. I do plan to have at least one and maybe two windows on the shed. Do you think I need a roof vent?

As far as lighting, I won't be using it much after dark so I hadn't planned to put electric in. But I saw an indoor solar light that I thought I might put in just in case I need to find something at night.

Here's another idea for a garden shed. This one turned out so nice I put a woodstove in it and use it as a guest house.

Here is a link that might be useful: Potting Shed

Sweetkountry,

Here's a little more information on the "Potting Shed".

Actually the stones you are speaking of are not stones, but 6" lengths of cedar firewood logs. I found some cedar firewood at a garage sale and cut them down to 6". Then began to stack them up using concrete with sawdust and wood shaving mixed into it. That's for expansion. I sealed the outside of the logs and concrete with CWF sealer.

The whole shed is built on a base of about 12" of #2 crushed stone for drainage. The bottom timbers that come in contact with the stones are pressure treated. The rest of the timebers are 8x8 hemlock. The roof is covered with cedar shake shingles.
Here is the book that I used for the idea. Go to: http://www.creativespaceplace.com/

Ciao for now,

Joe

"Rodent barrier cloth is a good idea."

Unless it's on a poured concrete foundation with a deep wall footer, it's VITAL because even a floating slab won't keep them from digging down, and under.

Buy a roll of 2 ft. wide 1/2" hardware cloth long enough to completely surround your shed and lay several inches of it under the foundation edge. Then, stake down the outside perimiter. They always try to dig right next to the foundation and fortunately, aren't smart enough to back off to look for the outer edge.

Joe Urda,
How did you construct the bottom of your potting shed. Is it just mortar and wood or did you have to protect the wood with something? I loved the look of it and would like to give it a try.

SweetKountry,

Here's a site that you might find interesting. You can even get the plans for free online. Looks nice and simple to build. It's not as complicated as the "Irish Potting Shed" that I built.

See the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Build this Potting Shed

Ok thanks Joeurda, so that site recommends a 3" stone base for the shed.

Birdwidow, thanks for telling me what the name of the "rodent proof barrier" is. That reminds me that I still have to look it up to check where I can get it and whaqt the cost will be.

Hi
Don't do what I did lol I bought one ,was going to put it in and discovered city ordinance won't allow it . It's too big and the location must be changed as the old one was too close to the neighbors property.
Good to check on these things BEFORE you do anything lol
gary

sweetkountry: Hardware "cloth" is just very small mesh, welded wire fencing. Look for it in the fence section of any home center. It should be right along with the rolls of woven wire fencing.

It's not very expensive and most usually comes in rolls about 15 - 20 ft. long. You can cut it with tin snips and may need to join some pieces to make a continous run, because you do NOT want to leave any gaps. For that, just pick up a package of the small but strong plastic slip ties used as wire clamps and overlay the seams.

BTW: If your shed will be a backyard feature and you want it's site to look nicer, you can get a pretty easy "2-fer" by laying garden timbers atop the wire along the outside edge. When you stake down the timbers, you will also be securing the wire, which beats tapping lots of big U staples down. Then, just fill in the space between the timbers and the base of the shed with some gravel, or get fancier and use decorative garden stone. Not in front of the door of course, but some patio pavers atop the wire there would provide firm, dry footing and hide the wire.

Also, if you dig out some around the shed under where the wire will lay outside of it and backfill it with gravel before you lay the wire, the wire will last a lot longer, because you will be providing drainage under it. Ditto the garden timbers.

Garyfla, that is one thing I don't have to worry about. I live in a very rural area.

Birdwidow, thanks for the instructions about the rodent barrier. So that is something you add after you set the building.

Joe, that shed is so charming. I love it!

Danielle

Gratefull Gardener,

See my posting above to SweetKountry. It will answer your question.

Joe

Joe,
Your potting shed is adorable. I love the snowshoes too. :)
Dawna

Sweetkountry: "So that is something you add after you set the building."

NO. You lay the wire down BEFORE you set the building, because you need the wire to run at least 3 inches UNDER the base, or more likely, the timbers or blocks you will use to make a foundation base for the shed.

The critters will dig right at the edge of the foundation, so you want to make sure that when they do, they run into an unbroken line of wire and as I noted above, they don't know to back off and look for a spot further back.

We used the same technique to keep weasels out of our poultry yard, except that instead of the outer wall of a building, it's 6' high woven wire fence, with garden tinbers locked down at the bottom, with the hardware cloth running under them, and out. The bottom of the fence is secured to the timbers on the inside of the yard with fence staples.

To keep predatators from climbing the fence, we ran several strands of hot wire around it, at about 2 ft. and 4 ft. up. Once they hit that hot wire, they don't try again, and even the Coyotes that got zapped trying to climb haven't figured out the secret to getting under, and they are a LOT smarter than any mouse, rat, or groundhog.