A new shed can be a valuable investment and very useful addition to your property. However, a shed can also be an expensive addition as well. There are some great ways to reduce costs of a new shed for your property, that you should seriously consider before starting any shed project.

The best way to save on shed costs is to build your own shed rather than purchase a prefabricated shed. This single decision can save you hundreds of dollars on the cost of a new shed. However, if you do not have extensive building experience, you may find the idea of building your own shed a bit intimidating. If this is the case, you should make sure that you have shed plans that are suited for beginning builders. They should detail step-by-step the building process, include helpful illustrations and materials lists, and ideally provide some useful shed building tips and information as well.

Another option is to use a shed building kit for your shed project. This will save you some money over a prefabricated shed, but not nearly as much as building a shed yourself. It can, however, be much easier and save you some time. With many shed kits, you simply assemble precut lumber. However, if you use a shed kit you will not be able to take advantage of some of the other cost reducing suggestions below.

Another way to save a lot on your shed costs is to use recycled materials. You should be able to find plenty of used lumber as well as old doors and windows that can be used in the shed project at a local salvage yard.

If you are not interested in using recycled materials, or cannot find all the materials you need, then you should also try to use local materials to save further on costs. This is especially true if you have a lumber mill in your area. Call and ask if they have any irregular lumber they are selling for a discount - you can often get great deals on new lumber this way!