Look For This In a Quality Shed
- A beefy, heavy duty floor that will not rot:
- Use pressure treated 2 X 6's. This will handle just about any load and will not rot.
- Use 3/4" plywood instead of OSB. OSB is more prone to swelling around the edges if it ever gets wet.
- Look for 16" O.C. (on center) studs as many sidings require this and they increase structure stability.
- The shed should be well-designed, but not OVER-DESIGNED. That just adds additional expense for no reason.
- Un-insulated storage sheds don't really need the added expense of dual pane windows. Single pane is fine.
- Ridge beams are strong, but they cost more so why use that approach when trusses will more than do the job.
- Soffits add expense and aren't typically needed on a storage shed.
Factors That Affect Pricing
Price is always based on 4 things:
- Material and Labor Costs - every company has these and it changes with the shed design and the number of options/upgrades you want.
- Overhead - the amount of additional bills the company owner has to cover. For example, trucks, insurance, rents on pre-assembly sites for larger companies.
- Desired profit - this changes with the size of the company. Smaller, owner operated businesses where the owner is directly involved (instead of hiring help) may be able to charge less.
So the bottom line here is, if you can find a shed that has been designed effectively and you limit your upgrades you'll get a better deal.
Who We Are
I'm an old IT guy that worked for a couple of large software companies here in the Bay Area. Two-and-a-half years ago I started building sheds as Atlas Shed and I've never looked back. Yep... I went from "high tech" to "low tech".
All our sheds come standard with:
- The Floor - it's beefy. We use Pressure Treated 2 X 6's for the joist system and 3/4" plywood for the shed floor. This floor will literally support tons of weight and it won't rot. And if your over 50… this floor will probably last longer than you will.
- The Walls - are framed 16" O.C., just like your house and sided with LP Smartside, which has a prorated 50 year warranty. 16" O.C. framing is a requirement for the siding warranty, so it always surprises me when I see some of our competition using 24" O.C.
- Not OVER Designed - our shed is WELL designed, but not OVER designed. Here's what this means for you:
- Many Bay Area sheds use posts with ridge beams to support the roof. That's overkill because we don't have snow loads here that require support like that. Our sheds are designed to use trusses and they are more than capable of doing the job. These are much simpler and quicker to install than ridge beams and that in turn saves you money.
- When it comes to windows, many shed builders use Jeld Wen dual pane windows or similar. Those are good windows, but why spend the money for dual pane in a completely un-insulated shed? The windows won't help keep the temp down so why spend the money? We use attractive single pane windows.
- The roof lines of sheds in the Bay Area all look the same. They typically have a soffit and large 1X6 or 2X6 fascia. We've opted to go with a more streamlined look that has a simple 4" overhang on all sides. This small change will save you lots of money on materials and labor AND still provide for an attractive style.
We know that our sheds will last you a very long time.
And on top of that we're a small local company and you're always talking to the owner, not an employee that has no power to make decisions on the spot.
I am personally on ALL of our jobs. I might be the oldest shed builder in the Bay Area:) All of this leads to great customer service.
Next Steps
If you have questions or if you think you're ready to start your shed project - Just call or text us. Or you can ask your question on our Contact page.
** I am usually building sheds during the day so please expect an evening return call if I don't answer.