Garden Tool Shed (based on plans for Small Outdoor Shed)

My husband and I built a garden tool shed using your plans for a "Small Outdoor Shed or Closet." We needed exactly this size for our available space. (THANK YOU! The video was really helpful and the plans were very detailed.) We are not handy at ALL, and are definitely beginners when it comes to woodworking. But, when the person who was supposed to build it for us was delayed, we thought we could try it, or at least START.

We bought a lower-end Kreg pocket jig and a secondhand mitre saw, and set to work, using T1-11 siding. We ended up building the entire shed ourselves, and were very surprised at the end result (and proud too!). The hardest part was building the doors, since we weren't really sure how to construct them to keep them from bowing. We ended up putting trim all around the edges of the T1-11 plywood doors, inside and out. (We were too far into building them when we realized we probably should have done it differently.) We also couldn't figure out how to get the double doors to stay tightly shut, but ended up using a rotating block (see picture) at the bottom and it works great, especially given that one of the doors had a slight bow at the bottom.

I think the only ways in which we deviated from the plan were that we added trim, an additional 2x4 up high across the back of the shed (for hanging long-handled tools), and two interior shelves on the left (from leftover siding). We used colored corrugated polycarbonate sheeting over the roof instead of asphalt shingles. (Unfortunately you have to use specific screws for the sheeting and one length was too short and the other too long and protrudes through the roofing slightly, into the interior. But we like the pop of color the sheeting adds, and REALLY didn't want to do shingles for such a small area, nor did we know how to do shingles.)

My final suggestions would be that a mitre saw and pocket jig are REALLY helpful and using star head screws is easier. I would also suggest that you paint everything (prime and color coat) before assembly and just touch up afterwards, especially if you use a lot of trim as we did. We primed and painted the siding but just primed the trim, and it was a real pain to put the color coat on all that 1x3 trim after construction.

This plan is listed as an "intermediate" project and I think that's probably a correct designation. As beginners, it just took BOTH of us to figure it all out (we work really well together) and to build it, and it took a much longer time than it would for someone with more experience.