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New: a gravel shed base in 7 steps

Garden shed guides for first-time owners

Build or buy, timber or metal, gravel or concrete: plain answers for homeowners planning their first shed on a budget, with every cost in pounds.

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A small red timber shed with a pitched shingle roof on rough grass, pine trees behind
Free PDF6 chapters
The Shed Review Guide, sent by email

The Shed Review Guide, free by email

Six short chapters to read before you spend anything. It is the checklist we would hand a neighbour who asked which shed to buy.

  • Build or buy: the sums for both
  • Sizes: what fits in 6x4, 8x6 and 10x8 ft
  • Timber, metal and plastic compared
  • Bases: gravel, slabs, concrete, grids
  • The review checklist for any listing
  • A one-page shed budget planner

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A wheelbarrow parked against a white picket fence in a garden

Shed topics. Start with the question you came with.

A dark-stained timber shed on an allotment with a green wheelbarrow beside it

Budget for the whole shed

The shed, the base, delivery and a lock, priced before you order.
Small grey gravel meeting a strip of lawn, low down at ground level

Choose a shed base

Gravel, paving slabs, concrete or a plastic grid, and which suits your soil.
Stacked timber and logs drying beside a track

Compare timber, metal and plastic

How each one handles damp, sun and a winter of storms.
A row of timber sheds of different sizes on an allotment, a wheelbarrow in front

Choose a shed size

Measure what goes in first: a mower, two bikes, the garden chairs. Then add room to walk.
Spades, forks and rakes hung in a row on a shed wall

Fit more into a small shed

Wall rails, a shelf over the door and hooks for long-handled tools.

Why we start with the base

Most shed trouble starts at the ground. A base that is out of level twists the frame, sticks the door and lets rain sit under the floor, so every build guide here starts with the base.

Plan a shed in three decisions

  1. Shed size: measure what goes in

    Lay the mower, bikes and chairs on the lawn, measure round them and add 60 cm to walk in. 8x6 ft is a common place to start.

    A small wooden shed alone in a wide green meadow

  2. Base: get it level first

    Gravel inside a timber frame is the cheapest base you can build in a weekend. Slabs and concrete cost more and suit heavier sheds.

    A hand letting fine grey gravel run through its fingers

  3. Build or buy: count your weekends

    A flat-pack shed goes up in a day with two people. Building from timber suits odd sizes and takes several weekends.

    A timber frame standing on a cleared plot before the cladding goes on

Latest shed articles

Grey angular gravel stones, close up

Shed picks and how we are paid

Shed World is free to read. When you buy through an affiliate link, the shop pays us a small commission and your price stays the same. Each pick below is labelled as an example product, laid out the way we review one.

A grey timber shed with a shingle roof and an open doorway, in long grass

Example pick, timber

8x6 ft shiplap apex shed

Look for 12 mm tongue-and-groove cladding, a pressure-treated floor frame and roof felt you can replace.
A corrugated metal shed with its door shut, against a brick wall

Example pick, metal

6x4 ft galvanised steel shed

No rot and little upkeep. Check it comes with a floor kit, and anchor it down: light sheds lift in a gale.
A small timber hut clad in wooden shingles, set in a fenced garden

Example pick, budget

7x5 ft overlap pent shed

The cheapest timber option. Thin overlap boards need a coat of preserver every year or two.