The Mini Shed Project aka I built a shed for $30

The Mini Shed Project aka I built a shed for $30

Last October, flush with my success at building the mini greenhouse, I decided to build my own garbage can enclosure instead of buying a $299.00 plus tax plastic one from a building supply store. I wanted to spend as little as possible to put this project together, and so the scrounging began!

I had three 2x4s on hand and I bought three more. A friend had some leftover fence boards he didn't want and he even cut them down to 3' lengths for me so I could easily transport them and use them. I had 6 - 10' tongue & groove pine boards in my used wood pile and I found a pallet to use as a base.

I Google'd sheds and found a plan for a garbage container and wood shed that looked fairly easy to build. I modified the plan to suit my needs and began cutting the wood. All I have is a circular saw, so that's what I used. Then I built the very basic frame and began attaching the fence boards as siding.

Catch the fancy angled cuts on the roof rafters! I used a cardboard template for those so I could cut the two pieces with the same angle.

I used a pallet as the base.

Here is the list of scrounged items - 25 x 3' fence boards (didn't use them all), used OSB pieces I found while cleaning out my crawlspace as sheathing for the roof. (I had to add one more rafter in the centre because the OSB kinda sagged, the short piece of 2x4 was left over from the wood I had bought.) My neighbour gave me a piece of #30 tarpaper and I found 6 roofing shingles in my shed. The tongue&groove pine boards for the doors were leftovers, too (a little warped but serviceable!). Aside from the three 2x4s, the only things bought new were the hinges, drip edge flashing and handles.

The front of the shed is 48" tall, the back is 40" tall and the sides are 24" wide. It's the perfect size for keeping garbage cans out of sight!

Total out of pocket cost: $30.00 - a far cry from $299 plus tax!! Now I can have my garbage in my front yard, neatly hidden away and it's quick & easy to chuck it out to the curb on garbage day. I need to paint the underside of the roof and attach a couple of pieces of lattice over the triangular openings on both sides, but not half bad for being only the 2nd thing I've ever built!

ps you could totally use pallet wood for this project and get away with an even LOWER cost!

Check out the larger shed I built from old doors. Click HERE for more details

CHECK OUT THESE OTHER PROJECTS AS WELL!

Click on the photo for details.

and if you need a more detailed plan of how to build something like this, click HERE and you can download a pdf file of a similar plan.

Original article and pictures take designdreamsbyanne.blogspot.ca site