Cheap Diy Shed: Better Than Store-Bought

Since we've started YouTube, we've continued to collect tools and equipment so we can build different projects for you guys and we've got to the point where we have ladders and a bunch of lawn equipment just laying around our yard because we really don't have a place to put it so we're kind of in dire need of a shed which is the reason we're building one. And the shed isn't intended to be anything fancy, we're going to keep it nice and simple just to help keep costs down because at the end of the day this thing is just to store stuff. For the foundation, we leveled out some concrete deck blocks, then cut down a bunch of pressure treated 2x6s so we can start building the platform that the shed will live on. To fasten these boards together, we used 3.5 inch exterior deck screws and 3.5 inch nails. I then made sure the platform was nice and level, marked 16 in center, then cut out all my floor joists. And the sponsor of this video is Drio, a company that makes high quality fans and air purifiers, but more on them later. After installing all my floor joists, I added a joist hanger to each board just to keep things nice and secure. I had an extra 2x6 laying around so I decided to cut out a bunch of blocking because why not, then just like that the frame to the subfloor was complete. All the products that we need to finish this shed just got delivered, so we're going to see if we can finish framing this thing in just one day. We laid a bead of subfloor adhesive before installing the 3.25 inch OSB, then used 2.5 inch screws and nails to secure them to the floor joists underneath. The next step was to start framing out the walls, so we cut down a bunch of 2x4s to 86 inches. And the reason I'm cutting these 2x4s down to 86 inches is because this is going to be the back wall of this shed and the front wall is going to be a little taller, allowing the roof to have a slant to it. Since there isn't much room in between the shed and the fence, we're going to go ahead and install our sheathing onto the framing before we hang it up, just to make life a little easier. And I know some of you guys are going to say that I put the shed too close to the fence and all this crap, but I don't have a lot of space in my backyard, which is why I decided to tuck it in the far back corner as close as I can. And plus, this thing's not going to weigh too much, so we can easily pick it up and move it if we have to. After putting a few of the walls together, we used some more subfloor adhesive in between the wall and the subfloor, then screwed it into place. And before screwing the walls together, we made sure they were nice and level. And to secure everything into place, we used 3.5 inch screws and nails to allow this building to be structural and flex if it needs to. We also installed a bunch of 5 inch lag bolts to ensure this thing stays put together. Yesterday, we were able to finish up three of the walls. Today, we're going to finish up the front one, which is going to have a door inside of it. Then we'll start to put in our roof, and hopefully we can finish this thing up today. While we continue to build this shed, let's talk about the price. Before we decided to build this shed, we shopped around to try to buy a shed that was already pre-made that we can get delivered. And after going to four different places, the cheapest one we found that's the same size as the one we're building was $4,500, not including taxes or delivery. And I know what you're thinking. The price of labor costs money, and I get that. But we'll talk more about this in a second. I'm going to go ahead and double this up with another 2x4 here, just to help keep the framing together really well. So then I can go ahead and install my joists. I cut a bird's mouth into each 2x4 to allow the rafters to lay flat onto the framing, while still keeping the roof slant. I then spaced them 16 in center, then secured them into place using 5 inch lag bolts. And I'll come back later in the video and install a bunch of joist hangers to make sure they're secured properly. But let's get back to the cost of this shed. Since getting one pre-built and delivered was out of the picture, we figured we'd build our own. And after carefully coming up with a plan and figuring out all the products we needed, the total price of everything, including delivery, came out to $1,762.31. And I know, we still need to build it and there's a lot of labor involved, but doing it ourselves saves us almost $3,000. Which is crazy when you think about it, because spending almost $5,000 on a shed to hold tools is kind of ridiculous if you ask me. But let's get back to the building part of this video. After installing the roof sheathing, we installed a drip edge on the entire perimeter of this shed, which is made to direct water away from the building to help keep it dry. Okay, so now that we have our roof sheathing and our drip edge installed, we're going to go ahead and install this ice and water stuff. This stuff is really nice. You peel and stick it onto the sheathing and it basically heals itself when you run nails through it when you're doing your shingles, just to make sure this roof won't leak. After installing the ice and water sheets, I stuck a bunch of this seam tape in between the water sheet and the drip edge to help keep this thing as dry as possible for as long as possible. The next step was to install the roof shingles, and I know this is intimidating to a lot of people, but installing roof shingles is actually super easy. I use something called the stair step method, which allows you to have almost no waste. Then pop six nails into each shingle and you're good to go. This entire roof took me less than an hour to install, and honestly the crappiest part was bringing the damn shingles up to the roof. Now that our roof is installed, we need to install our soffit. We wanted to match the gym that we built earlier, so we picked up the exact tongue and groove boards and we stained them to the exact same color. We're going to go ahead and install them. For the people that have been asking about merch, we did get these hats in. If you guys want one, I'm going to link it down in the description below, but let's go ahead and install the soffit. After installing the soffit, I ran a bead of silicone around all the cracks and edges around the entire shed. So we're not going to install a fan in the shed, but we are going to install these two vents, one here and one here, just to allow for this thing to breathe because we don't want it to get too muggy in here and grow mold and things like that. Now that the vents are installed, it's time to run some electrical. Since the gym that we built in the previous video already has electrical, we're going to tap into it. So we drilled a hole in the shed and ran some conduit to the gym, then used this snake to pull the wire through the conduit and into the shed, then connected the wire from the shed into the wire that comes into the gym, wired them up, then screwed the conduit into the gym to make sure it doesn't move, then added a bead of silicone around the entrance to make sure it doesn't leak. On the inside, I drilled a couple holes so I can run a wire for my exterior lights and an outlet. Then just like that, the electrical to the shed was installed. The next step was to build a door. So I took the leftover piece of siding and framed it out with some 2x4s, then screwed in these L brackets that I had laying around on each corner. And for the doorway, I decided to add this seam tape to try and keep the entrance as dry as possible, then went ahead and put my door into place and installed these exterior hinges that I picked up at Lowe's. And so the door doesn't swing into the shed and has something to stop on, we installed these trim pieces, then went ahead and installed the door latch and some more trim around the entire perimeter of the door. We got the door installed and this gravity latch, but we just realized that if this door closes on you while you're inside, you're going to get locked in. So my wife came up with the amazing idea to add one of these strings and put it on the inside so if you get locked in, you can just pull yourself out. After making sure the string worked and no one can get locked inside of this thing, we went ahead and painted the trim, then ran a bead of silicone around the entire perimeter of it. And I had a bunch of 2x4s and scrap wood laying around, so I figured I'd make a shelf just to try to maximize the space inside of the shed. I'm going to keep my air compressor and lawnmowers inside of this shed, so I figured I'd add a small ramp. So I cut a few of these pressure treated 2x6s and added some seam tape, then picked up some trex decking so it can match the deck on the gym that we built in the previous video. And to finish this shed off, I wanted to add a small overhang above the doorway, because I'm really concerned that water is going to get into the doorway and rot it out over time. And this overhang will definitely reduce the chances and also make the shed look nicer. And the cool part is that I built this entire overhang out of scrap wood that I had laying around, which is something I wouldn't have been able to do if I would have purchased one of those expensive premade sheds. But then just like that, the entire shed was complete. Now that the shed is complete, we're going to install the DREO ceiling fan into the gym that we built earlier, because in the original build, we didn't include any ventilation, which was fine in the cooler months. But now that it's warming up, it's starting to get a little toasty in there while we work out. To help with ventilation, we picked up this DREO smart ceiling fan because it doesn't need a switch. The guy who built this thing just didn't install one. I started by making some measurements so I can install this fan in the center of this gym. I then scanned the QR code that it came with and watched a quick installation video just to make sure I installed this thing right. Okay, so now that I have my hole made, I'm going to go ahead and take this light off so I can take the power from this light and run my wire to the hole so I can go ahead and power my fan. Once I had my wire ran through the hole, I mounted up the ceiling fan bracket and put a shim on one side of it because I have a slanted ceiling and I need the bracket to be level. I then hung the ceiling fan that comes with the bracket while I wired it up, screwed it onto the bracket so I can go ahead and install the blades. The nice thing about this ceiling fan is that the blades come with different paint jobs on both sides so you can pick and choose. We chose white. We then clipped down the LED light that it comes with and you'll see why in a second why we chose the ceiling fan. I connected the wire from the ceiling fan into the junction box, flipped the light back in, and just like that my ceiling fan was installed. This fan doesn't require a switch which is why it comes with this nice remote, but you can also control this fan off the Driio app. I'm going to link it in the description below so you can get yourself one. The next thing we wanted to do was install a shelf because this speaker has been laying on the ground since we finished building this gym and I had a piece of white oak laying around from a previous build so I figured why not use it and plus building my own is going to save me a bunch of money because I looked online for white oak shelves and they go for about $250 which is really expensive but makes sense because white oak is just a really expensive type of wood to begin with so luckily for me I had this piece laying around but after cutting it to size and routering out the edges I gave it a good sanding then wiped it down with a damp rag to get out any loose wood that's in the pores and let it dry really well then sanded it again. And to seal the shelf I'm using this product called Rubio Monocoat which is a two-part sealer that gives wood one of the most professional looking finishes that I've ever seen. I'm going to link it down below just in case you guys want to get some. After applying it I immediately wiped it down with a dry microfiber then also applied the same stuff to these brackets that I built then let it dry for about three hours before installing it. I then brought the shelf into the gym screwed it onto the studs then just like that the shelf was complete. Now that the shelf is done I wanted to add more cable railing to the deck because in the previous video we did it to one side of the deck but not the other. This gym looks so much better in my opinion and throughout the summer we want to continue to upgrade our backyard so in our next video we're going to install a bunch of pavers build an outdoor kitchen and even add sprinklers. But then just like that the shed the fan the shelf and the cable railings were all installed.