DIY BIG BOY TOY SHED BUILD USING SALVAGED, RECYCLED, AND FREE THINGS. WE’LL BE STORING QUADS, MOTORCYCLES, DIRT BIKES, AND SNOWMOBILES IN HERE TO KEEP THEM OUT OF THE ELEMENTS!
It’s been a long time coming but all our other outdoor projects around the house are complete so the toy shed’s finally getting some attention again. (If you missed the earlier Toy Shed post you can see it here). If you followed along with me last fall you knew my son was on a mission to build a shed to store all his big boy toys. Well our backyard renovation took precedence, the days got shorter and colder, and before we knew it snow was flying and it was colder than the dickens, to cold to work outside adding steel to a building. So we waited…….
If you remember this is what the shed looked like when we quit working on it. The floor was in, the frame was up, the roof and shingles were on, but we ran out of time and good weather to move along any further with the project. Untill along came three 50 degree days in the dead of winter and we knew it was our chance to finish the shed project.
Everything’s been stacked in the shed to finish it so all we had to do was start adding the steel to the exterior, and the door to the front. We also have the windows but those will get put in when Spring rolls around again. This was a salvaged project that my son was doing on a budget. Many of the 2X4’s came from a home remodel of one of the other firefighters in town; he did have to buy some. The plywood for the floor and roof were left over from one of hubby’s jobs so he used that. The roll up door was a birthday present, and my dad gave him the windows from a house he’s remodeling.
The only thing he had left to purchase was the steel. If you look closely there’s several colors of steel on the building. We have a source near us where you can purchase the end cuts of steel for almost nothing. The only catch is you tell them how many sheets you need and you have to take them as they come. You may get every color in the rainbow or you may luck out and get several sheets in the color you truly want.
I went with hubby to pick it up and was watching closely counting how many of each color was being loaded onto our trailer. I kept a running tally in my phone and decided to come up with a game plan once we got home. We lucked out and had several sheets of white steel. We decided to add the white to the side that faced the house and the front (everything we could see from our home). We added gray and one sheet of brown to the opposite side that faces the corn field and used the crazy blue, green, and red sheets on the back side that faces the woods.
I decided in the Spring if I really wanted too I would paint the side that faces the corn filed white just to make it all match. I’d leave the back side with all the crazy colors that no one will ever seen as is. Once the weather warms back up the windows will be added (I played around and added them to the first pic just to give you an idea of how it will look). We’ll also add the electrical for overhead lights, build a work bench and add heat and air conditioning (which we also have).
It will make a nice spot to keep all the big boy toys and a nice work shop when repairs are needed. It’s so much nicer to have a dedicated spot for everything. We have a barn but it tends to get overrun with things for our business, so this is an inexpensive option for keeping things separate.
Love the shed/garage! One of the reasons we bought our current home is because it has a very large double garage on the main level for our cars…. and that’s all we have in it is cars. Around back and below the upper garage is a single garage that houses our J.D. lawn tractor, all of it’s accessories, and all yard equipment, ie” rakes, hoes, lawn trimmer, etc. Now when we discuss down-sizing to a smaller house, well…. I just can’t see it happening unless it has a nice lawn shed. Your husband will LOVE the new shed and so will you!
It looks really good and how clever!! I love how you have such great tips on being frugal, Dawn. I will remember these ideas in case I ever need them.
Nice job on the shed. That is so handy to have a place to get the tin at a discounted price. It looks great. It is so handy to have a place for the men to store all their toys …my husband a year ago finally got his wood shed /toy shed complete..very handy indeed.
I can’t imagine that it is easy to build a toy house in the winter.
It is wonderful to get free building supplies or next to nothing. Looking good! Kathleen in Az