Don’t risk buying a ‘bad un’. Do your research and always, if possible, go and look at your intended purchase before signing on the ‘dotted line’. Don’t end up in the situation – if only! Visit one of our show sites and see for yourself how good our sheds direct are. You won’t regret it.
All of our sheds direct to you which we sell are not the ‘cheap and cheerful’ buildings you can buy online made from inferior materials and down to a price. After 40 years in the business we know what is important in making a quality garden shed – one that will last and will look good in your garden.
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Ask These Questions BEFORE Buying a Shed Direct For Your Garden
1/ Will It Suit You?
It’s important before you buy a new garden shed that you do a little legwork to ensure that it will suit you and your needs. … more
2/ Can You See The Building Beforehand?
It’s vitally important to have the opportunity to view any potential building before buying and by doing so YOU can decide whether the price you are paying reflects your expectation of what you feel you will be getting. … more
3/ What Quality Timber is Used
The grade of timber used on many shed and timber buildings accounts for a large amount of the cost, however, this cost is well worth paying if you can buy a building which will stand the test of time. … more
4/ Is Redwood or Whitewood Used?
Essentially most sheds and are made from softwood timber, either redwood or whitewood deal. You will find that decent garden buildings are made using redwood deal and the reason for this is that it is slower growing. … more
5/ Are The Floor and Roofs Made from ‘Proper’ Timber
You will find on most of the cheap sheds that the floors and roofs are made using OSB (oriental strand board), wafer board, chipboard or cheap plywood and this is totally to do with cost. … more
6/ Do You Have The Choice of Size or Style?
You will find that most garden building companies offer a range of set sizes and styles and, whilst, you may find one which ‘will do’ surely it’s better to have a building to suit YOUR needs and your location. … more
7/ Do You Have To Pay Extra For Assembly of Your Shed Delivered Direct?
It can be quite hard work erecting a garden shed and it’s not everybody’s ‘cup of tea’. And you will find that the cheap building companies claim that it’s easy to build it yourself. But it’s not. … more
8/ How Thick is the Framing?
Crucial to the strength of your new garden building is the size of the timber framing so you need to ensure it’s of a good size. In an ideal world, you should go for at least 2in x 2in (47mm x 47mm) internal vertical frame size. … more
9/ How Tall is Your Proposed New Building?
Before buying always check the height of any building you are interested in and check whether they are INTERNAL or EXTERNAL SIZES, which can vary by up to 6in (150mm) as some companies are a little misleading about this. … more
10/ What Conditions are Attached to Guarantees?
Normally with garden sheds or garden workshops, there will be a standard warranty of at least 12 months, however, you will find some web companies offering 10-year warranties, which sound great. Peace of mind included – that’s got to be good. But like most things ‘if it sounds too good to be true then it usually is’. … more
11/ Are The Buildings Made in the UK or Stockpiled?
When wooden building are made in the UK for each customer the quality can be controlled but if they are shipped in from abroad or stockpiled in open yards then they could be damaged when being moved about. … more
12/ Conclusion and Advice?
It can be quite exciting to buy a new garden shed to share with your family or a timber workshop for your hobby, however, it’s important to ask questions beforehand. By using this guide you can ask the right questions and, by doing so, are likely to be happy with your new building and not to be regretting it and thinking – why did I not check. … more
Written By Robin - Expert in Garden Buildings For 44 Years.Hi, I'm Robin Antill, founder of 1st Choice Leisure Buildings, and I use my expertise gained over 44 years in the garden buildings industry to understand that each customer is different. With my manufacturing, retailing and customer service experience my articles help people choose their ideal shed, garden workshop, summerhouse, log cabin or garden office needs to suit their requirement and that is key to satisfaction. And what do I do when I'm not writing? You may find me following Grimsby Town Football Club or riding roller coasters - so plenty of 'ups and downs' in my life.
Beware when Buying – Avoid this Building Shed Trap
When you are thinking of investing in a new garden shed, summer house, garden workshop or garage do you rely on a computer screen or leaflet or do you take the conscious decision to actually go and touch the product. Yes – I know that actually touching the product may seem old fashioned but the fact is, with certain items you may buy then, this is the only way to know what you are going to get.
So buy your sheds direct after seeing them in the flesh. This will ensure you won’t be disappointed. We all can see the super, all dancing web sites where the marketing men have pulled out all the stops to entice you into believing that buying their new shed direct from them is the best option and also the cheapest. However cheap does not mean BEST value and you can’t even make a judgement until AFTER your new building has been delivered.
This is because YOU are unable to see what you have spent your hard earned money on until after it has been delivered. MOST internet shed companies do NOT have a UK display site to direct you to.
Surprisingly there are many companies out there who make the claim that it’s better NOT to have a display site as you can look at their photographs directly on their web site. They claim that this saves you from driving many miles to visit a display site. Whilst this is true as you can save on fuel, which is very expensive, but by not viewing you risk losing more money with a potentially duff product. So how can you be sure? Well you can’t without viewing and if you don’t view you may have well put your money on a horse – the odds are probably about the same as the horses ending up in Tesco Burgers (remember that from years ago although I’m certain that is not the case any more)
These very same companies also claim that companies which have display sites and where you can see sheds directly are outdated. They imply that if you buy a garden building from their company and you don’t like the quality of it you can reject it AFTER it has been delivered and assembled. RIGHT!!. More often than not it’s the lady of the house who is in when the building is delivered, and even if they were aware of what they should be looking for, and many ladies are, how uncomfortable could that make them, or you, feel.
It may be that all your garden items from your last shed are spread around the garden or house waiting for the new arrival. If you send it directly back to the factory then what are you going to do with these items? Are you going to wait 3 or 4 weeks more by refusing an unsatisfactory product?
Don’t take this risk, deal with companies who can supply sheds direct but have a web site as well as a display site, or radically, ignore the web and visit a shed display centre such as these based near Guildford and Woking. You can then make your own judgement of the strength of the buildings – you can push on the walls and jump on the floor – and this will ensure you are not sold a shed which you will regret after the first heavy cloudburst or winter.
Forward-looking companies such as 1st Choice Leisure Buildings had the foresight to combine quality buildings with great customer service. By being the first company to have a garden buildings web site in the UK and still back that up with a physical presence. This is not outdated but a great model for the future where customers are, and always should be, KING. Don’t regret not looking before buying!! Buy your shed direct from a company only after seeing it in the flesh, so to speak.
Sheds Direct To You Is A British Obsession
The humble garden shed is a very popular British obsession and is used for a massive amount of different purposes. Traditionally the shed is there for the storage of garden tools, bikes, barbecues, garden furniture etc but is quite often used for a home workshop where the house holder can spend time beavering away either making things for the house or by following their hobby.
Having a separate space away from the house allows anything you are working on to be left on the side in the shed ready for when you come directly back to it. You can also get a little bit of peace and quiet and some ‘me’ time which we all need in these stressful times. Many people share their sheds with others like minded people and they can bond over a model train, or some form of electronic hobbies. They can talk about the pros and cons of the various ways of looking at their hobbies. My wife has a garden potting apex shed which she uses to make greeting cards and quite often has friends down there so they can share their hobby.
By buying sheds direct from 1st Choice you are able to see buildings in ‘real life’ before signing on the dotted line. Besides these sort of uses the garden shed can reign supreme as a garden office where the basics of your home business can take place. Very useful where you need a little space away from the house for your paperwork and maybe answering a phone. It does get to be a little more involved if you employ people as planning permission is likely to be required also you need to be aware of any Health and Safety issues because you do not want to get sued – do you?
Pauline Barnett, the pioneering fundraiser, who lived in West Bromwich actually set up one of the town’s first charity sheds in her shed over 30 years ago. She also believed that it was for more than just storing lawn mowers and other garden equipment. And over a period of 20 years she was able to raise £65,000 from her shed directly for the Williams Syndrome Foundation by selling second hand clothes from this resourceful garden building which was also used as her garden office.
It was an novelty for a shed to be used like this and was called ‘The Shed Store’ – surprisingly – and attracted visitors from a great distance, Mrs Barnett’s daughter, Sue, said that people used to come from miles around and, in fact, one woman used to come over from Ireland with an empty suit case just to visit The Shed Store and fill it with bargains and then take these items bought from the shed directly back to her home.
If you are thinking of setting up an small business in a shed then we, at 1st Choice, offers sheds direct to you in timber. metal, plastic and concrete and their range should suit most people – and if not – they can make a bespoke one just for you. With any size shed direct to you from 6×4 up to 26×14 and all of which can be adapted to suit your needs you can make it work for you. And you could become one or the 1000’s of new businesses which start life in a garden shed each year..
