From scratch or from a kit?

[Bombarde16]

OK, next question for my backyard shop. Should I frame things myself or buy a prefabricated shed/garage/storage building? Prefab kit prices seem quite high, especially when you add in what the manufacturers deem to be "options": doors, shingles, a floor. Metal (i.e. Versatube) seems even pricier. As carpentry goes, I'm thinking it doesn't get much more basic than a 12'x24' box with a gable roof.

What would you do? What do you have now? Kit or from scratch?

[Sac]

Hey Rob, I am not sure about price difference and all that, but I see that you are in IL. How far north? Do you have a Meanrds near buy? I know that they use to have these things where you could design your garage. I used to play with them when I was younger. It would give you estimated based on your design. It might be worth an look. I am pretty sure that you design, then they will get everything that you will need and deliver. A Gable roof is easy enough to do compare to doing a hip an valley. I am curious about this as well. Let us know what you find out.

[Dan S]

I would say do it yourself, that way you can optimize it for your needs. By optimize, I mean put the door(s) & windows in convenient locations etc. Making the roof a little higher would be nice to.

OK, next question for my backyard shop. Should I frame things myself or buy a prefabricated shed/garage/storage building? Prefab kit prices seem quite high, especially when you add in what the manufacturers deem to be "options": doors, shingles, a floor. Metal (i.e. Versatube) seems even pricier. As carpentry goes, I'm thinking it doesn't get much more basic than a 12'x24' box with a gable roof.

What would you do? What do you have now? Kit or from scratch?

[Vic]

Rob,

It depends on how much you know about construction. I built my own, but it took me five years!! All out of pocket, though. It's here and here are a few shots during the build. http://www.flickr.com/photos/30350434@N07/sets/72157607208590456/

[nateswoodworks]

If it is an option for you I would do it yourself. The amount of money you save plus the pride of doing it yourself well outweighs the convenience of having someone else do it for you (at least it does for me). I built mine and have never regretted it, I am very very fussy so it took quite a while to plan and build. If it is not an option or if the negetives seem to outweigh the positives that is up to you, no matter what plan plan plan. I am super happy with my shop but the one regret I do have is not running water out there. I went with a detached shop so I had privacy, house stuff wouldn't make it's way into the shop, as well as not having to worry about waking my wife or kids in the middle of the night-the only downfall was the cost of running water out there was going to be about $200. It sure seemed like a lot of money for a little convenience back then but after 10yrs of cleaning brushes and spray guns in the bathroom sink being watched over by my wife I wish I would have spent the money. Just a thought.

Nate

[PaulMarcel]

Agree with Nate about the water... I'm in a garage shop so the sink isn't far, but an onyx China bowl sink isn't where I want to rinse varnish off with mineral spirits from bowls. Even the knob to the garage door started getting gunky. Had my plumber friend put in the pipes for hot, cold, and drain in a simple $50 HD "laundry" sink (very deep). Love it.

Since I didn't build a shop, I can't speak first hand, but I know there are factories that will make walls to spec. These are more or less tilted up later and attached to the sill plate. In effect, with a plan, they can deliver and tilt up and entire house in a day; a shop likely before donut break. Might be worth looking into so you can at least get the structure complete and leave finishing to yourself to do later.

[jimmykx250]

Compair the costs between pre-fab and doing it yourself. Im not a fan of the pre-fab truss design you cant store much up there because of all the diagonals. There is sometheing to be said about pre-fab time wise though. I built a 12x12 shed with a lean to (for my riding mower) 4 years ago and i did buy all of the materials form menards and one thing i did like is the delivery guy dropped all the materials with his loader right next to the location so i didnt have to lug the stuff. Keep us posted what you decide to do and post pics!

[Bombarde16]

Agree with Nate about the water...

Getting supply lines out there would be easy enough. Draining back into the sewer is another thing. (Slope of the land runs the wrong way.) If it's just a utility tub for hand washing, I wonder if you could run it into a French drain under a nearby flower bed.

[Vic]

Getting supply lines out there would be easy enough. Draining back into the sewer is another thing. (Slope of the land runs the wrong way.) If it's just a utility tub for hand washing, I wonder if you could run it into a French drain under a nearby flower bed.

If it's only gray water, yes. You can easily run it into a french drain. That's what I plan to do with my outdoor BBQ I plan to build next summer. Don't even be tempted to clean anything the least bit hazardous in it, though. Nasty stuff to put back into the ground or ground water.

[jHop]

If it's only grey water, you could even run it through a charcoal "pit" filter, and plumb it back into your water line. (go green, use rain water.) But if you plan on using it for anything else, save yourself the hassle and spend the extra money now. You'll be glad you did later.