Plastic Sheds

There are certain things a chap is supposed to own; a toolbox, a dinner jacket, and the obligatory shed. What man is replete without a place to stuff full of unused tools, old plant pots and ice-cream tubs full of random screws and nails. I finally take my place amongst the pantheon of men as I have become a shed owner. A shed I have bought myself, not inherited with a property. And as with all things modern, it is made of plastic.

Anything made of plastic is cheap and nasty, right? Well not so much. The shed I bought is the smallest they make but is still a £100 more than the wooden equivalent. So where is the justification for a plastic shed. Surely a plastic shed is nothing short of environmental terrorism? I’m not so sure. Yes it is made from finite oil resources but it isn’t going up in smoke and the whole point of plastic good is that they aren’t perishable.

My problem is this, there was an existing wooden shed occupying the same site in my garden. It can’t have been that old but where it was situated had resulted in sever water damage to said construct. It is a typical 15mm tongue and groove design that is too thin to resist the weather and once the damp begins to permeate, it warps and makes it easier for further moisture to find its way in. So I have a plastic shed that shouldn’t rot or warp. I’m hoping that it will stand the test of time.

Putting the shed together wasn’t hard work (for the most part), and although the instructions are poly-lingual it was fairly easy sailing. I have to confess that it was frustrating when the diagrams were unclear on how one or two choice parts were integrated, but when all is said and done, the whole thing is light weight and doesn’t require any muscle. The shed has been standing for a month now and it seems to be dry as a bone inside. My initial concerns about this construct being too light and flimsy have proven to groundless. Any doubts I had about the aesthetic component have vanished too; the colours seem to fade into the background and don’t look too drab or dour.

Would I recommend one?  Well, I think it depends on what you want to do with it. If you want to fill it full of shelves and store a myriad of tools and utensils then I suspect a wooden shed would be better as you could add as many shelves as you want and reinforce the structure to support some serious weight. The plastic shed recommends no more that 25kg per shelf (about 6”-8” wide). If you want to keep your bike dry and maybe store a lawnmower or the odd spade than it is more than adequate.